Jason Wagner: Relationship Seller

Steve Jobs famously said, "The doers are the major thinkers. The people that really create the things that change this industry are both the thinker and doer in one person." On this episode of Open Source Selling, I bridge the gap between thinking and doing and discuss as Jobs points out, that to be a successful account executivea, to become a top performer, you must be "both the thinker and doer in one person."

Thomas Edison once said, "Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think." Is learning how to think really that rare and valuable? Cal Newport seems to agree as he hypothesized in his book, Deep Work, "The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive."  I believe our ability as account executives, and other sales professionals, to carve out time to think and do what Cal Newport calls Deep Work, will increasingly be at the center of differentiating ourselves and becoming top performers in the field of B2B Sales!

On today's episode of Open Source Selling, I discuss the importance of carving time out in your day to think. This sounds simple, but in today's ever connected, "too much to do and never enough time" world, thinking seems to be a dying art even though the importance of it has never been more important. Tom Watson, founder of IBM, said ,"All the problems of the world could be settled easily, if people were only willing to think." As you reflect on the world's greatest innovators, problem solvers, business, education, church, and government leaders most of them were or are some of the greatest thinkers! My experience has been so are the greatest account executives!

On this week's episode of Open Source Selling, I address a few more common objections and offer insight on how to approach, understand, and handle them. I also address what is at the core of effectively overcoming objections: better understanding your customer's perspective and then merging their perspective with your product, service, or solution to radically improve their current situation. How do we do this? We ask effective questions, know why we are asking the questions we ask, where we want the conversation to go, listen attentively, clarify, and then bring into alignment the two competing perspectives.

On today's episode of Open Source Selling, I discuss another common objection: 'we have no budget' and share my experience in how I have approached handling it. We often receive this objection when we are on a prospecting call or in the early stages of discovery. However, it is common to get it later on in the sales cycle too. Regardless of when we get this, or any objection, we should be grateful for the engagement and use the objection as a springboard to seek clarity by asking additional questions. If done sincerely and effectively, we will build additional trust, improve relationships, and develop our skillset in overcoming objections as account executives, customer success reps, and sales development reps.

On today's episode of Open Source Selling, I start this first in a series about effectively handling common objections. I start by sharing some general thoughts on handling objections--what we should know, how we can try and handle them before they come, how we should be thinking and approaching them, and how to try and best prepare for them. I also share an analogy to provide some perspective on how to think about more challenging objections, because let's face it some are a lot more challenging than others. Of course, I enjoy sharing my experiences so I have a few stories as well. I then dive deep into the first of eight common objections we all receive and how to overcome it.

On today's episode of Open Source Selling, I discuss 3 universal selling principles that have helped me more effectively partner with customers, drive more productivity, advance deals more quickly, and close more business.

On this week's episode of Open Source Selling, I discuss the five types of sales reps as outlined in the book, The Challenger Sale. To help explain the importance of why you should know which type of rep you are and the value you can bring an organization, I draw from the wisdom of John Bunn, legendary Stanford basketball coach who said, "A great coach doesn't try and change a great player. Instead, [he] discovers what is unique, what is great, about people and honors it, is happy for it, uses it." This is true in business and sales as well. The best managers recognize what is great and unique about each rep on their team, the different selling styles, and looks for ways to help magnify their respective strengths and mitigate against their weaknesses. This helps accelerate the reps potential and performance. But in order to do this most effectively, reps must understand and embrace their own style of selling, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and be able to be coached accordingly!

This episode of Open Source Selling is my entire conversation with Jason from start to finish without interruption and little commentary. The bulk of our discussion centers on how to work with and sell to the CIO, although, we discuss other topics like goal setting, being consistent, how to maximize your performance, and what it takes to become a top performing rep. One thing is clear, for almost 30 years Jason's success as a top performer has come because he develops strong lasting relationships with his clients.

On today’s episode of Open Source Selling, Jason and I wrap up our conversation talking about the art and science of selling, what it takes to become a top performer, goals and being consistent in your activity toward achieving them and some of the best advice he has received and lives by! Join me as we ask, listen, and learn together!