Welcome to Season 3 of 10/10 GTM: The Podcast for Revenue Leaders!
Our guest for Episode 27 is Peter Borkovich, SVP of Sales at Yotpo. With a wealth of experience spanning two decades, Peter has held leadership positions at InVision and Salesforce before joining Yotpo.
In this episode, Ross and Peter discuss the why behind deals, the 3 levels of a sale, and how to make it easier for buyers to buy and sellers to sell.
Listen to the episode here, and get the key takeaways from our conversation below.
The why behind deals
As a sales rep or leader, you’re not just a seller — you’re also a professional consultant that helps people make informed decisions. This means you need to understand your buyers’ actual needs. To do this effectively, there are two questions you need to focus on:
- Why do you need to buy?
- Why now?
These questions are the foundation you’ll build the deal on, so they need to be specific and quantifiable. "The 'why' is the heart of the deal," says Peter. "Why do they truly need your solution? For instance, were they recently mandated by the board to achieve a specific uplift in retention, or face undesirable consequences? That’s an amazing ‘why’ with a real reason behind it.”
Make sure you don’t assume the why. Validate it with your client. Without this alignment between why you’re offering and what the buyer truly needs, there’s a risk the deal won’t close, even if your solution could really benefit them.
The 3 levels of a sale
In the sales process, there are 3 levels to account for: technical, financial, and operational. All of these elements need to be balanced to make a strong business case that resonates and closes the deal.
Here’s a brief overview of each:
- Technical: Feature-focused. A walkthrough of what your product or service offers the prospect.
- Financial: Is the juice worth the squeeze? This assesses whether the investment aligns with the prospect’s business goals.
- Operational: Understanding the parts of the business your solution will touch and the impact.
Most reps do a good job understanding the tech and financial aspects of their prospect’s business. But many fall short on the operational side — and this can cost them, big time. The larger the transaction, the more people that say no to it. So you really need to account for who in the business your solution is touching.
To build a strong business case, account for the ‘why’ and ‘why now.’ Skipping steps could cause the deal to stall or fail. As Peter says, “If you do all this work upfront, it gets easier at the end.”
Here are some guiding questions you can ask your prospect to understand the operational impact:
- Which areas of your business will be affected by implementing our solution?
- Who are the key stakeholders we need to engage with?
- How can we provide information or resources to support them?
- Are there specific security protocols or documentation we need to address?
- What are your expectations regarding integration capabilities?
By honing in on the operational impact, you’ll build trust and rapport with your prospect, resulting in a more successful sales journey.
Make it easier for buyers to buy & sellers to sell
Selling is hard, and so is buying. With so many options available, the sales process can be overwhelming for both buyers and sellers. Make it easier by removing friction.
Here's how:
- Be transparent: Have your pricing options clearly displayed on your website. This helps you build trust and credibility with buyers, and enables your sellers to be upfront. Explain to buyers what they can expect during the sales process, and follow through.
- PLG: Give buyers the option to sign up and try a product with minimal barriers. Examples include free trials and freemium products.
- Empower sellers: Make sure key information is readily available for your sellers so they aren’t wasting time searching for it. Give your team the training and resources they need to be successful.
By making it easy for buyers to buy, and sellers to sell, you create a seamless, straightforward sales process.
Rapid fire: Peter’s fast sales insights
In a rapid-fire Q&A session, Peter shares his insights with us on a wide range of topics:
What’s the main reason most teams miss their ARR goals? Fake deals.
What’s your favorite resource for revenue leaders? Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle.
What’s the number one challenge for revenue leaders in 2024? Focus.
SMB, Mid-market, or enterprise? Respectfully pass. I love them all.
What’s the most important org: Sales, CS, or Marketing? Rev Ops.
Best way to unplug from the demands of leadership? Travel. I have a rule with my team, you always have to have two trips booked: one to look forward to, and one to look forward to on your way back.
About Peter
Peter is a technology veteran, investor, and advisor. As the SVP of Yotpo, he spends his days helping brands save time and increase ROI. Before joining Yotpo, Peter held leadership positions at InVision and Salesforce.
