Page 52 - The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million - PDFDrive.com

big smile and a friendly handshake. She connected with her prospects on a
personal level, often beginning discussions with banter around kids,
vacations, and the performance of local sport teams. Prospects loved her
and they bought from her.

Sam was a bit confused by these observations. He thought to himself, “Is
selling at ACME Company all about the personal relationship?” Over the
years, Sam had succeeded in sales through disciplined meeting preparation
and a deep understanding of customer needs. However, Sue, ACME's top
salesperson, didn't seem to care about any of that stuff. Sam thought to
himself, “Maybe I just need to learn to be a relationship seller?”

This “ride-along” approach to sales training is very common in the industry.
However, the approach concerns me, especially as it relates to the conclusions
that Sam is drawing from the experience.

My best salespeople are individually great for very different reasons. They each
have what I refer to as “superpowers” in a particular aspect of the selling
process. These superpowers often differ across top performers. Having a new
hire learn exclusively from one of our top performing salespeople would provide
a limited view of the ideal sales process. Yes, new hires might get a taste of
excellence in one dimension of the sales process, but they would also likely be
exposed to some bad habits.

“Every top-performing salesperson succeeds in her own unique way. Heavy
reliance on ride-alongs during the training process jeopardizes a new hire's
ability to shine using her unique strengths.”

This fictitious story is not far from actual scenarios at HubSpot. I had two top-
performing salespeople. I'll call them Betty and Bob. Both of them were early
additions to the HubSpot sales team and, as of the writing of this book six years
later, are still on the front lines doing well. That sort of longevity is no small feat
in the fast-paced environment at HubSpot.

Betty and Bob achieved this level of success in very different ways. Betty was
the best rapport-builder I had ever seen, much like Sue in my example. She knew
everything about her prospects. More often than not, half of a product
demonstration with Betty would revolve around catching up on kids or pets or
favorite foods or music. Her prospects loved her. They all bought from her.
Across the rest of the sales process, Betty ranged from “average” to “very good.”