Hey there 👋
Happy 2023! Hope you had a chance to relax, recharge, and spend some quality time with your loved ones over the holidays.
As we all kick off the year and set goals, I’ve been reflecting:
What’s the #1 quality that makes a top seller, manager, leader?
That 1% teammate who always takes ownership of their goals, never misses a target, and is a step above the rest on any team they're on?
People overcomplicate it... it's not communication skills, coachability, business acumen, etc.
In my opinion, it's the same as any profession, sport, or hobby: dedication to their craft.
A deep hunger to be the best at what you do, and willingness to put in the time to get there.
There are no shortcuts, unique personality traits, or secret frameworks – just getting better every single day.
Compound those learnings over time, continuing to have 1) the WILL, and 2) honing your SKILLS until you've failed & won enough times to come out the other side a master at the craft.
Every top performer has their own style, but no one got there overnight and without outworking every one of their peers.
Here’s to another year of passion towards your craft and sustaining the energy & drive to get better every single day 🙌
Feel free to hit reply and let me know what you’re striving for this year :)
Cheers to starting 2023 strong 🥂
- Ross
In this newsletter:
- Enroll in MAP University (& get free Accord access!)
- Best practices for introducing mutual plans to your buyers
- What we’re reading: top posts from top sales leaders
🎓 MAP University: New Workshop Led by Top Reps at Figma & Dealpath
Excited to continue MAP University this month! 🎓
ICYMI – MAP University is an interactive workshop series designed to help top sellers & sales managers use Mutual Action Plans like the pros.
We held our first workshop in early Dec covering the “why” behind MAPs & basic building blocks, led by sales leaders from Atrium & Zerigo Health.
In Part 2, we’ll dive into how to make each piece of your mutual plan 10/10 – from your executive summary to your next steps, resources, and more!
It’s happening next Thursday, Jan 12 at 12pm ET, led by top AEs Aaron Cramer (Figma) & Bobby Nefzger (Dealpath).
Sign up to register for the workshop & get access to all other MAP U resources:
✅ 3 live & recorded MAP workshops led by top sellers & sales leaders
✅ Free Accord access for you & up to 10 teammates
✅ More MAP resources, including a Slack community with your peers
All workshops will be recorded, so no worries if you can't attend live – you'll still get access to the same resources. :)
Register for Part 2 of MAP University here!
💬 How to Introduce Mutual Action Plans to Your Buyers
The biggest barrier that keeps reps from controlling deals and embracing Mutual Action Plans?
Fear of seeming “pushy” or risking the deal when they introduce a MAP to their buyer.
But in reality, if your prospect is a good fit, they’ll APPRECIATE the clarity & context that mutual plans provide (and the work you’re taking off their plate).
The key is learning best practices for when & how to introduce MAPs – and then just getting out there & doing it IRL!
⏰ When to intro your MAP
When your champion has shown that they want to continue the evaluation (beyond discovery).
At this point, you need to make sure you’re aligned on your buyer’s goals, the steps & timeline required to achieve them, DMs to loop in, etc to keep things moving forward.
🤔 How to intro your MAP
First of all, don’t do it via email.
Walk through the plan in a call/screen share so you can answer questions & get feedback in real time – this makes a HUGE difference in getting your champion’s buy-in!
🏃 How to walk through each piece of your MAP
1 - Start with the “why” (aka, your executive summary). This is the main piece your champion will use to sell internally.
2 - Align on next steps. Walk through your typical process, then get your buyer’s input.
3 - Establish a timeline. Identify your buyer’s target go-live date and work backwards to set key due dates to other steps.
4 - Multi-thread & identify stakeholders. Ask your champion who the DMs are & get them on board ASAP.
Get more tips for each of these steps so you can get out there and try it (plus talk tracks to use with your buyers!)
📚 What We’re Reading
Here’s a couple quick reads for you today (in the form of 10/10 LinkedIn posts from two people named Todd):
⭐ From Todd Caponi on how sales needs to embrace being a SERVICE profession.
“We don’t buy when we are convinced…we buy when we can predict. Help the buyer predict. And if the truth won’t sell it, don’t sell it.” 💯
⭐ From Todd Busler on closing the year strong (but these tips are definitely still relevant as you kick off 2023!)
“Most workback plans end with the signature date but that's focused on you! Provide detail and the high level steps you will take to drive the GO LIVE date so the customer can see the point of value.” 🙌
Thanks for reading From Vendorship → Partnership 👋 Any feedback on this newsletter or things you’d like to see us cover in 2023? Just hit reply :)
Ross Rich (CEO and Co-founder)
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