When it comes to rejuvenating stalled deals, urgency is the factor that moves the needle. Today, John Kaplan joins Rachel to talk about driving urgency in deals, discussing the use of discovery to uncover and attach to the customer’s biggest business issues, getting them emotionally connected to solving those issues, and subsequently articulating your value and comparative differentiation.

Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Executing Your Discovery Strategy | Ascender Course
• Essential Questions to Help You Become a Better Salesperson | Ascender Article
• Creating Urgency with Your Customer | Ascender Video
• Rise Above the Noise | Ascender Video
• The Coat of Pain | Ascender Video
• Find a Balance in Your Sales Discovery | Ascender Video
• Controlling the Deal | Podcast
• Discovery Questions You Don’t Want to Forget | Podcast

Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.

Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison

In today’s episode, Brian Walsh joins Rachel to discuss building rapport with prospective customers. Brian covers the true meaning of rapport and how it applies to client conversations, as well as the right mindset for sellers to take into their early conversations with prospects, the importance of active listening as a way to gain trust, and determining the right time to deploy tactics such as storytelling and sharing case studies.

Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Building Rapport Through Virtual Channels | Ascender Course
• Active Listening | Ascender Course
• Key Tips to Help You Have Better Sales Conversations | Ascender Article
• Key Things to Practice Before Your Next Sales Conversation | Ascender Article
• Three Ways to Make Sure You’re Focused on Business Conversations | Ascender Article
• Finish Strong in Your Sales Conversations | Ascender Video

Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.


Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison

Enjoy this replay of a great episode with John Kaplan. When selling a solution, you want to align with wide-ranging corporate initiatives and not just departmental one-offs. Many reps struggle to not only identify, but also align with company-wide initiatives that buyers are navigating with inside of their organization. John Kaplan explains how to recognize a corporate buyer and align your business outcomes with their pain points and other business issues.


Here are some additional resources:

• Three Common Sales Challenges and What to Do About Them 
• How to Get Higher in Your Prospect's Organization

Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

A robust pipeline is key to maintaining a steady flow of prospects and keeping track of the progress of each toward closing. With the current proliferation of AI tools on the market, sellers are better equipped than ever to tailor their prospecting approach to the unique concerns of each individual lead. Still, regardless of the technology, the fundamentals remain unchanged. Today, John Kaplan joins Rachel to discuss the need for reps to grasp the foundational steps of pipeline generation first and foremost. He then describes how sellers can use AI as a means to refine and strengthen their approach.

Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Ascender’s Prospecting Elite Selling™ Certification
• When to Use Customer Case Studies in the Sales Process | Ascender Article
• From Features to Value: Shifting Your Sales Approach to Close Larger Deals | Ascender Article
• Key Tips to Help You Have Better Sales Conversations | Ascender Article
• Amplify Value Negotiation with AI | Ascender Video
• Building Your Pipeline | Ascender Video
• Building Up Your Referral Business | Ascender Video
• Building a Rhythm Around Pipeline Generation | Podcast

Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.


Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison

Enjoy this replay of a great episode with John Kaplan. Preparing for your deal is critical. Preparing others for your sales call has equal impacts on your success. If you want someone to join you on a call (product engineer, manager, etc.), you have to be able to provide them with fluency about the deal and clarity on their role in the conversation. John Kaplan covers what information you need to share and how help ensure those joining you are best prepared.

Here are some additional resources

• How to Ask for Help on Your Deals
• 5 Things to Do Before Your Next Sales Conversation
  • https://apple.co/3Fkf18L
• Key Things to Do After Every Sales Call
  • https://apple.co/3Dtcnvu

Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

When it comes to attaining a consensus in a customer account and achieving the crucial “Collective Yes”, the greater the numbers on your side, the higher your chances of success. Today, Antonella O’Day joins Rachel to discuss the need to expand the depth and breadth of your presence in customer accounts, applying a multi-threaded approach in order to achieve top-down organizational agreement on your solution.

Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Achieving a Collective Yes | Ascender Course
• Navigating the Political Landscape | Ascender Course
• Building Rapport Through Virtual Channels | Ascender Course
• The Currency of Value | Ascender Article
• The Importance of Multi-Threaded Selling | Ascender Article
• Expanding the Sales Conversation | Podcast
• Talking to Other Departments | Podcast
• Staying Tethered to Customers | Podcast

Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.

Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison

Customer handoffs are a natural part of the selling process, but you don’t want to lose the customer relationships that you’ve worked so hard to build. Indeed, staying connected to customers over the long-term has numerous benefits, not only for the success of your solution, but also for your career as an individual seller. Today, John Kaplan joins Rachel to discuss these benefits, and he shares the techniques he’s accumulated over the years to remain tethered to clients.


Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Active Listening | Ascender Course
• Gaining Commitments | Ascender Course
• Navigating the Competitive Landscape | Ascender Course
• The Seller Deficit Disorder | Ascender Article
• Why Your Active Listening Skills Are Crucial to Hitting Your Number | Ascender Article
• When to Use Customer Case Studies in the Sales Process | Ascender Article
• Building Up Your Referral Business | Ascender Video
• Staying Tethered to Accounts | Podcast

Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.


Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison

Not many things are granted in sales, but adversity is one of them. When difficulties arise, resilience becomes a seller’s most valuable attribute. Joining Rachel for today’s episode is Force Management Facilitator Jim “Pouli” Pouliopoulos to cover the importance of resilience in sales. Pouli discusses the need to focus on what you can control, staying motivated when it feels nothing is going right, leaning on MEDDICC qualification to overcome sales slumps, and asking for help.

Check out Pouli’s book, How to Be a Well Being, and connect with him on LinkedIn.


Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Deepen Your Discovery | Ascender Course
• Training the Seller’s Brain for Positivity | Ascender Article
• Asking for Help | Ascender Video
• Dealing with Rejection in Sales | Podcast
• Carefrontation | Podcast

Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.


Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison

Enjoy this replay of a great episode with Brian Walsh. Ever had a customer ask you to consider a pilot project? Perhaps they don’t want to sign up for the full investment or they want to prove success before they move forward. Should you sell it? How should you handle it? Brian Walsh gives you a few things to consider. He talks about:

• Why pilot projects pop up.
• When it is beneficial to take on a pilot project.
• Ways to increase the likelihood that a pilot project will lead to a permanent solution.
• Getting your customer to see the benefits of the metrics.

Here are some additional resources:

• Selling “Pilot Projects” | Ascender Video
  • https://bit.ly/425YzUw
• What the Best Salespeople Do | Podcast
  • https://bit.ly/3Vyf1ut

Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content of a similar nature every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.

Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison

Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

As a rep, a deal review is your time. They are your chance not only to level-set with your manager and teammates, but also to get whatever help you need in getting your opportunities over the line. It is within your control to own the agenda. In this episode, John Kaplan advises reps on ideal preparation in advance of deal reviews and the mindset necessary to get the most out of them. He also discusses how managers can foster a deal review environment in which reps are empowered to share their concerns and ask for the help they need.

Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Effective Opportunity Coaching Sessions | Ascender Course
• Preparing for Opportunity Coaching | Ascender Course
• Key Questions for Managers to Ask in Deal Reviews | Ascender Article
• Preparation | Ascender Video
• Asking for Help | Ascender Video

Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.


Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison