I ventured into a job function and industry which were both very different from the ones that I hitherto had been in throughout my entire career. While I was able to use and apply the professional experience in Customer Success that I gained throughout the years along with my ability to solve problems creatively and resourcefully, I still had to develop a new set of skills.
Maximal Independence
Chartering a path into multiple unknowns
Everything was new to me: the role, the industry, and the product itself. On top of that, I had also never worked in a Spanish-speaking environment before. It felt a lot like when I got my first job out of college.
Fully understanding the product's value proposition was a key starting point for me, as it provided some much-needed direction.
An onboarding program provided me with the essentials, but it was obviously too much to absorb in just a handful of two-hour sessions. I had to figure many things out on my own using the available resources that I had at my disposal.
I had to quickly internalize the short-, mid-, and long-term goals that were assigned to me, learn the things that were needed to achieve them as well as their levels of priority, while achieving demonstrable results.
I also had to find quality resources that would help me achieve such goals, without relying on a single source for any given topic (for example, cold outreach) just so I could try out different things and determine which ones worked best for me.
Prospecting
Finding those who need your product
After getting my feet wet with an initial list of contacts to qualify as prospects, I had to figure out ways to generate new ones. Since I was initially assigned to two European countries, I quickly devised a way to efficiently gather and qualify a large pool of contacts within a short period of time, while strictly adhering to data privacy regulations.
Since I had minimal knowledge on the two European countries, especially in the context of the industry that I was now in, I looked for a list of cities and regions as a starting point.
Applying the knowledge that I had gained from the initial list of leads (such as common patterns), I quickly grew a list of my own by gathering as much industry-related information as I could on my assigned countries, which I was able to do thanks to tech knowledge that I already possessed.
This wide-net approach was due to the fact that I was still new to the industry and the role; thus, I had limited knowledge on which details were important. Within a short period of time, however, I learned to filter out those details that were less important and focus on those that were.
Time management was also important, and so I came up with a system where I dedicated specific days of the week to this repetitive and manual process.
Prospect Outreach and Engagement
Extending a helping hand to strangers
I use multiple channels to reach out to potential customers, whether by phone, email, or social media.
No matter the channel, though, the first outreach is always the hardest, but going into it with the right mindset helps a lot. The best tip I got from my boss was to approach it from the standpoint of someone who's offering value to those who need our products and services, thus making any negative response a refusal to such value.
Outreach is then followed by investing time to build trust with receptive prospects to lay the foundations of a mutually beneficial business relationship.
I found that all prospects start off as "cold", and eventually "warm up". In the case of cold calls, my personal approach is to clearly show respect to the contact at all times during the interaction by (1) getting their consent by asking if it's a good moment to speak, (2) respecting their time by preparing with a spiel beforehand, and (3) adding positivity to their day by maintaining a friendly and cheerful tone.
In the same way that a cold outreach could end in an outright rejection, it could very well also result in an actual sale. For such a niche sector in the industy, I was able to close two deals within a few months on the job as a result of cold outreach.
However, those are exceptional cases as the prospect often choose not to respond in the first place. This is a fact of the sales process, and the only way forward is to maintain visibility for your product so that they'll have it in mind should circumstances change.
While not all prospects eventually end up purchasing the product, there is always something to be learned from interactions with prospects. The lessons gained from such interactions continually help me refine my skills.
Objection Handling
Turning doubts into selling points
An aspect of sales that I initially found particularly difficult, it was only after fully understanding the product's value proposition, the niche that it occupies in the market, as well as its strengths and weaknesses, was I able to effectively manage opposition from potential customers.
Though not guaranteed to result in a sale, skillfully handling objections may cause the prospect to doubt their status quo and pull them out of inertia. This is in addition to demonstrating how one's product fits a prospect's business needs.
While not every objection can be foreseen, I found that a strengths-based approach to objection handling is more powerful than a defensive approach. This entails focusing the conversation on the problem and how the product solves them, rather than just attempting to explain why they need it.
In addition to demonstrating the fitness of one's products, I found that correctly handling objections helps build trust with a prospect because it furthers the conversation with them while resolving any concerns that they have.
Product Demos
An opportunity to share one's passion for the product and to exchange ideas
More than just showing a product's features to potential customers, demo sessions are the best opportunity to show one's passion for the product (which can be infectious), as well as to learn more about the prospect's business needs and the challenges that they face.
I found that fully leveraging such an opportunity can turn product demos from a one-way informative session into a collaborative exchange of ideas on how the prospect can achieve their goals and overcome challenges using the product.
Securing demos provide excitement and hope, but these are easily dashed when the prospect communicates their inability/refusal to move forward or when they stop responding altogether (nowadays called "ghosting"). This could happen for any reason, such as lack of budget or a deemed mismatch with their business goals.
This is another reality in sales, and the best way forward is to just periodically reach out to them to ask how they're doing, as maintaining visibility keeps your product in mind for when they are ready for it.
Sales Proposals
Reducing all things that have been agreed into writing
While sales proposals are usually generated from templates, it is important to ensure that any special terms agreed with a prospect are clearly reflected and that such special terms are harmonized with the rest of the document.
This prevents any breakdown in trust as no one likes receiving a contract that does not embody the entirety of discussions that have been had in good faith.
To ensure that errors are prevented, I automated the company's sales proposal templates with the use of available functionalities on Google Docs. This was in addition to bringing the template itself in line with the company's brand style guide.
Closing Deals
Beginning a mutually beneficial relationship
Consistently keeping the conversation going with prospects, along with maintaining presence and visibility with them, ultimately culminates in negotiating a deal that works for both parties.
However, I've learned that while they say "it isn't a done deal before the ink is dry", this seems to be less true in the paperless world of the SaaS industry. I've had prospects who appeared so sure about the product and suddenly backed out (or ghosted us), even after they confirmed the purchase.
Contrary to a common misconception that the sales process ends when a client accepts the proposal and signs the contract, a client in the SaaS industry needs to continue buying the product throughout the course of the business relationship.
It is vital, therefore, to continue nurturing the relationship that was so carefully built over months and even years. Of course, this part of ensuring the product continues to provide value to the customer.
CRM Software
I know how to use tools like Pipedrive
I quickly learned how Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools are crucial to any sales operations of scale.
More than just a tool to organize contacts, a good CRM provides the ability to track progress in business relationships in a quantifiable way. Personally, it helps me devise strategies that are more personalized based on the needs of groups of individual contacts.
Organization
Devising practical systems for maximum productivity
While I was never scatterbrained, I also never exemplified the organized worker.
Faced with a vast number of contacts gained through multiple channels, however, I had to devise a system to methodically track my activities to prevent confusion and repetition of effort (invention is, after all, the mother of all invention).
Since not all contacts could go into the CRM for a variety of reasons, I learned to organize all of my contacts neatly in spreadsheets that tracked their essential details as well as the actions related to them, with each spreadsheet arranged according to the type of contact.
While this is by no means a groundbreaking innovation that's about to change the world, it helps me do my job efficiently and effectively as it dramatically reduces errors, especially in repetitive sales-related actions. This then allows me to focus on more strategic aspects of sales such as persuasive communication and message refinement.
Customers rarely commit to a purchase after a single touchpoint; thus, a successful Sales strategy ensures that it is complemented by strong Marketing and Business Development strategies.
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