Welcome to Season 1 of 10/10 GTM: The Podcast for Revenue Leaders!
Our guest this week is Maura Brady, Head of Verticals at 6Sense. Maura brings more than a decade’s worth of sales wisdom to the conversation with experience at 6Sense, Medallia, Oracle Marketing Cloud and Responsys (Acquired by Oracle).
In this episode, Ross talks to Maura about her three tips to improve deal execution and the importance of “the meeting before the meeting.”
Listen to the episode here, and get the key takeaways from our conversation below.
Point 5 meeting: Where deals are made or broken
The point five meeting, referred to at 6Sense as “the meeting before the meeting,” is the prep meeting that takes place between the sales rep and their champion prior to a full-team demo or proposal. The purpose is to troubleshoot questions and concerns while preparing a compelling case for why the product or service is necessary and solves the problem at hand.
It also gives the rep an opportunity to pressure test their agenda, get more one-on-one coaching from the champion, and ultimately determine how to make the meeting a 10/10.
Oftentimes, this is where deals are made or broken because it also reveals whether or not the rep has a champion in place. If there’s no one at the organization willing to prep the sales rep, then the question becomes, “How do we course correct before taking the next step?”
3 tips for driving consistency and improving deal execution
To master the art of sales, the following three strategies should be your go-to playbook:
1 - Follow the process - The process exists because it works — follow it. It isn’t necessary to recreate the wheel. When you take the right steps, in the right order, you make it easier on yourself and reduce deal uncertainty.
“The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war." - Norman Schwarzkopf
2 - Prep - The best sellers do the most extensive prep work. They make it their mission to research the business and understand its unique needs before going into any meetings. This way, they’re at ease and prepared to answer questions and leverage resources accordingly.
“I’ve found the time you put into prep, you get back twofold shortening deal cycles,” says Maura. “People still buy from people and they’re going to know if you did the work and are coming in with a strong perspective that helps drive the conversation and ultimately, decision.”
3 - Demonstrate urgency - In this economic climate, it’s really hard to buy. There’s a lot of pressure to maximize resources and make the best business decisions. By demonstrating urgency and being the vendor that’s in control, you speed up the sales cycle.
Before ending a meeting, align on the next step and lock it down. Send a follow up email as quickly as you can — don’t wait 24 hours because that’s too long. Your buyer is busy, and if you want to maintain their attention, you need to be consistent, proactive, and quick.
Blocking time after meetings to seal the deal
Calendar roulette is a real thing in sales, and reps are often in back-to-back meetings. To avoid delays, block time after important meetings.
Use this time to determine the state of the deal, and what the next steps are. If the deal is dead, clear it out. If it has potential, work with internal stakeholders to determine the next steps and key outcomes you’re aiming to drive.
Once the next steps are laid out, quickly execute on them.
Rapid fire: Maura’s fast sales insights
In a rapid-fire Q&A session with Maura, we discussed the key aspects of building a successful revenue team. Let’s dive in!
What's the main reason most teams miss their ARR goals? Prioritization. Spending time in the wrong place.
Favorite resource related to revenue leadership? My CMO’s book, “No Forms. No Spam. No Cold Calls. The Next Generation of Account Based Sales and Marketing,” and “The Jolt Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision.”
What's the number one challenge for revenue leaders in 2023? Surviving.
What’s the best segment — SMB, Mid-Market, or Enterprise? Enterprise because of the challenge and the team selling aspect of it.
What’s the most important organization on a revenue team? Is it new business sales, customer success, or marketing? All of the above…and our operations team.
Best way to unplug from the demands of revenue leadership? Tequila and my guilty pleasure, Bravo.
The road to successful revenue leadership is paved with . . .? “I don’t know how paved it is but it’s full of pit stops.”
About Maura
Maura Brady is a seasoned sales leader with more than a decade of experience. She has excelled in roles as a BD, IC, frontline manager, and head of sales. Prior to jumping into the world of sales, Maura spent 3 years at Morgan Stanley as a Finance Analyst and Associate.
