Selling Inside Your Own Organization and Account Management Mindsets with Steve Popp

Mark McGraw talks to Steve Popp about the often overlooked connection between internal collaboration and external sales success.

Steve explains how improving the way you "sell" within your organization—asking questions, managing projects, and fostering collaboration—directly impacts the speed and efficiency of your external sales efforts.

To find our handout for this episode, click here.

Tune in to learn how strengthening your internal relationships can create a more supportive environment that sets the stage for faster, more impactful client interactions.

• Steve Popp is an experienced sales, leadership and management training expert--and the Senior Vice President of Operations and Enablement at Epsilon.
• Steve starts the conversation by explaining why he got into sales and how traveling can make you better at sales.
• Steve explains how building strong internal relationships is the key to long-term sales success.
• Building internal relationships is about gaining buy-in for ideas and navigating relationships to make the sales process smoother.
• By soft-selling and managing relationships before you need them, you can ensure that your internal teams are ready to support you when it’s time to close deals.
• Mark compares the ability to manage internal relationships to being a conductor of an orchestra. You're not playing the instruments, but you're getting people internally to present music that the customer wants.
• Steve breaks down the Parrot Syndrome. If you bring up your idea enough to people and make them feel like it's their idea, then they’ll start parroting your idea as their own.
• For Steve, to encourage people to take ownership and sponsorship of an issue, it’s important to frame the conversation in a way that emphasizes their role in making a difference.
• One of the key elements of being a master seller is consistency. Consistency equals trust. The more consistent you are, the more trustworthy you become.
• According to Steve, it’s more beneficial for a salesperson to be a general contractor than an expert in just one field.
• By asking the right questions, you position yourself as someone who can find solutions and bring in the right experts when needed.
• Mark and Steve agree that the value a seller brings to the table comes from the questions they ask, not from knowing everything about a product.
• Steve talks about cross-selling and how it can make you a better salesperson.
• Steve explains how the job as a seller is not to have all the answers but to show the client that you understand their pain points and have ideas on ways to solve them.
• Steve talks about the power of asking the right questions. Clients feel more comfortable with you because you’re actively working to understand their challenges rather than simply selling them a product.
• Mark and Steve talk about successful cross-selling and why it’s less about pushing products and more about understanding the client’s unique challenges.
• How to develop the mindset of a problem-solver, not just a seller.
• Steve and Mark go through a four-step process to guide your journey from recognizing a need to proposing a viable solution:
  • Recognize: Stay alert to client cues or hints that reveal a possible need or challenge.
  • Qualify: Ask two or three key questions to confirm the potential of the opportunity.
  • Quantify: Assess whether there’s sufficient pain or budget behind the need to pursue a solution.
  • Solution the Concept: Present an initial solution concept that aligns with the client’s problem without requiring a fully developed plan.

 

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/follow

Sandler.com

BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/sandler

Steve Popp on LinkedIn

BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/1