It’s crunch time as you work to get those last-minute deals in by the end of the year. In this short episode, John Kaplan gives you some words of advice as you finish strong. 

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.

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As we approach the end of the year, it is time to reflect on what’s gone well and what can be improved going forward. An important part of your year-end reflection is evaluating whether or not you’re at the right place to apply your skills. Today, John Kaplan gives you the tools to assess if you’re at the right company and breaks it down to three key considerations: what, how and why you sell.
Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Essential Questions to Help You Become a Better Salesperson | Ascender Article
• The Currency of Value | Ascender Article
• Making Sure the Customer Understands Your Differentiation | Ascender Video
• Attaching to the Biggest Business Problem | Podcast
• Finding the Next Sales Job | 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

Join John Kaplan this Thursday for a conversation on equipping new hires to ramp faster. He'll be joined by the Shift Group's JR Butler. They'll cover key ways you can improve that onboarding process. It's a great conversation for anyone who manages a team. 

Register here: https://www.forcemanagement.com/know-your-people

Discovery can be a demanding process, and finding the right questions to ask requires intensive listening and thoughtful preparation. Fortunately, there are a few questions that are relevant to every deal and can help you get the ball rolling. These include:

• “Can you walk me through your current process?”
• “What’s working well in your current process?”
• “What struggles are you currently facing?”

In today’s episode, John Kaplan goes into detail about the standard questions to ask in every discovery process and explains how to use the answers to dig deeper and ignite a sense of urgency within the buyer.

Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Executing Your Discovery Strategy | Ascender Course
• Deepen Your Discovery | Ascender Course
• Key Questions to Ask in Your Sales Discovery Conversations | Ascender Article
• Uncovering Hidden Pain Points | Ascender Article
• How to Convince Your Customer to Take Action in Your Sales Process | Ascender Article
• Creating Urgency with Your Customer | Ascender Video
• The Coat of Pain | Ascender Video
• Providing Value in Discovery | 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

The ultimate goal of every rep is to close deals, and in today’s episode, John Kaplan outlines the necessary steps for sellers to maximize their odds of landing the big one. He discusses:

• Prioritizing pipeline generation.
• Voracious qualification, the most critical factor for closing deals.
• Aligning your value proposition with the priorities of the buying company.
• Implicating the customer’s pain.

Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Plan to Make Your Plan | Ascender Course
• How MEDDICC Helps You Sell Better | Ascender Article
• Value Pyramids in Sales | Ascender Article
• Uncovering Hidden Pain Points | Ascender Article
• Our Best Content on Decision Criteria | Ascender Article
• From Features to Value: Shifting Your Sales Approach to Close Larger Deals | Ascender Article
• Reassess Your Pipeline Opportunities | Ascender Article
• Building Your Pipeline | 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

In this episode, we cover one of our most popular topics among our listeners: metrics. And its popularity is well warranted, as it remains a major stumbling block for many reps. John Boney joins us to give pointers on leveraging metrics to strengthen deals while steering clear of the common pitfalls. He discusses:

• The different types of metrics and what matters to whom.
• Why reps tend to struggle with higher-level metrics.
• Asking the right questions to align with the customer’s metrics.
• Turning metrics into proof points.

Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Achieving a Collective Yes | Ascender Course
• Executing Your Discovery Strategy | Ascender Course
• Navigating the Political Landscape | Ascender Course
• Ascender’s Best Content on Value-Based Selling | Ascender Article
• How Big is the Pain: Identifying Pain with MEDDICC | Ascender Article
• A Perspective on Metrics in MEDDICC | Ascender Video
• Freezing Up With Metrics and PBOs | Podcast
• Using Metrics Effectively in Your Sales Conversations | 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

Check out this and other episodes of the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Have you checked out Ascender yet? Our online platform to help reps with the daily grind of sales. 
Don't miss our upcoming events: 

Webinar: Selling to Experienced Buyers with Antonella O'Day
 - Register here: https://hubs.la/Q02XTCl_0

Visit the Ascender Platform: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/Explore
Check out Ascender's Community: https://community.ascender.co/

As we approach the end of 2024, many companies are in the process of setting their priorities for the new year. In today’s episode, John Kaplan talks about aligning your solution with the corporate priorities of your customers as opposed to simply a department. He discusses:

• The need to talk to those with access to discretionary funds.
• Understanding the problems that you solve and the implications of those problems.
• Questions that will reveal the initiatives the Economic Buyer prioritizes.
• Obtaining a comprehensive view of the buying organization and being able to traverse it fluidly.
• Advice on selling to the CFO.

Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Getting to the Economic Buyer | Ascender Course
• How to Get Higher in Your Prospect’s Organization | Ascender Article
• Engaging the CFO | Ascender Article
• Our Best Content on Selling to the C-Suite | Ascender Article
• Rise Above the Noise | Ascender Video
• Selling to More Decision Makers | Force Management Article 
• Broadening Your Sales Conversations | Podcast
• Ascender Insights: Selling to the CFO w/ Jim Kelliher

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

Maintaining contact with accounts provides many benefits for an organization, and salespeople play a huge role in setting the foundation for a long-term relationship between two companies. Today, Brian Walsh draws on his wealth of experience to explain what reps must do to keep their organization tethered to accounts. Topics of discussion include:

• Having a mindset of long-term growth and lifetime value.
• Laying the necessary pre-sale groundwork to remain tethered to an account post-sale.
• Positioning yourself to be able to ask the buyer for access.
• Avoiding mistakes reps often make when trying to stay tethered to accounts.
• Additional strategies to stay in touch with customers.

Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Getting to the Economic Buyer | Ascender Course
• How to Add More Value to the Sales Process | Ascender Article
• Building Up Your Referral Business | Ascender Video
• Time to Value | Podcast
• What the Best Salespeople Do | 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

Staying in control of a deal is all about qualification. Today, John Kaplan gives advice on being proactive, not reactive, in ensuring that the deal progresses in your favor and with urgency. He talks about:

• Being prepared for and adjusting to unforeseen changes.
• Dealing with the entrance of a new competitor.
• Qualifying proactively with MEDDICC.
• The importance of meeting the buyer where they are.

Here are some additional resources:

• Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!
• Validating Champions | Ascender Course
• Adapt and Deliver: Positioning Value During Changes | Ascender Article
• Our Best Content on Decision Criteria | Ascender Article
• Being Audible-Ready to Change Tracks in Sales Conversations | Ascender Article
• Key Steps for Qualifying Your Deals | Ascender Video
• When Leadership Changes in Your Prospect Account | Podcast
• Making MEDDICC Work for You as a Rep | 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