Success!
The behaviors and models for success as a sales leader and rep
Heather, Joe, Nikki, Alan, Dave, Brandon. Just a few names of the best salespeople I’ve worked with over the years.
What made them great? You’d have to see them in action. How they work. On a call. In front of a customer. Or watch them game plan their way through a deal. It’s not a coincidence.
As a colleague, manager, or peer - the best get noticed and sought out for secrets, tips, and processes.
Nothing is better than shadowing, practicing, and modeling behavior after the best.
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly -
Jami Thomas discusses the top traits of a successful sales leader.
Insightful episode as Jeremey Donovan chats with Lauren Rayappu about the behaviors of successful AEs and the best salespeople she’s worked with.
Plus more snippets to shine a light on the behaviors and models for success either as a sales leader or salesperson.
THANKS for reading!!
-Grant
And lastly - as always, if you find this newsletter valuable- subscribe or share it with someone who might as well 👊.
STRETCH SHARES
Traits of a Successful Sales Leader
As we talk about successful models for sales leaders, I stumbled on this great article from Jami Thomas - VP Sales at Zillow on the top traits of a successful sales leader. Her list?
Work ethic. Leaders must set the example for their team on what it means to work hard.
Curiosity. Learners are earners. (this is one of my new favorites)
Consistency. Great sales professionals follow a repeatable, scalable process.
Coachability. Leaders too must be open to coaching from their leaders AND team.
Authenticity. Embrace what makes you unique.
Ambition. Setting a high bar for yourself and others creates contagious enthusiasm.
The Behaviors of Successful AEs
I love hearing from other successful leaders and AEs as they open up about their day-to-day.
As such, one of the main podcasts in my regular rotation - Hey Sales People with Jeremey Donovan delivers time and time again.
Check out this quick and insightful episode with Lauren Rayappu - Enterprise AE at Yotpo - talking about the behaviors of successful AEs, the best salespeople she’s worked with, starting out as an SDR (and how to work in tandem) and so much more.
Give this a quick listen and share it with your team.
STRETCH SNIPPETS
Kathleen Hogan, Chief People Officer at Microsoft, pens an insightful piece in Fast Company on the ONE thing employees want most from their managers. Hint: Not micromanagement. Her recipe?
MODEL, COACH, CARE.
One-on-one conversations
Team agreements on how they’d like to work together
If your goal is to MINIMIZE the magnitude of the concessions you give (i.e. discounts, flexible payment terms, bonus products) while INCREASING your customer's level of satisfaction, the solution is simple,
David Priemer says: Give. In. Sloooooowly. And gives us 3 ways we can do just that.
Julie Hansen offers 5 tips for working with gatekeepers, and not against them. (Show Value, Set Yourself apart, Talk the Talk, Know what you want)
Another gem of a podcast from KD as he talks with George Leith, CCO at Vendasta on scaling success. Scaling Headcount, scaling skills, scaling culture, and scaling success and common trends of top performers. Must listen!
Chorus gives us the top 4 rule-breaking tips for sales call success. Hot takes are:
Mention pricing on cold calls
Talk about competition
Prepare to talk about Discounts
Master your sales call monologue
🧠 Mindset
Thanks for reading!
My hope is if you find this valuable, consider sharing it with friends (or signing up if you haven’t already).
— Grant 👋
About stretch vp: confessions, learnings, and insights from sales leaders in SaaS
Compiled and aggregated from a network of sales leaders in SaaS, Stretch VP showcases learnings, insights, and experiences as well as best practices to overcome common hurdles, obstacles, and setbacks in your quest for excellence as a sales leader in SaaS.
Are you a VP, Director, thought leader, or content producer in the SaaS space? We’d love to have you contribute. Contact Me HERE.
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