1 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:12,360 Welcome to software sales simplified MOOC to success, your 2 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,120 weekly podcast for the latest and greatest with respect to 3 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,360 selling enterprise software. Whether you are a seasoned pro 4 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,800 or just getting started out, please come and join us here 5 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,680 every week for insights and the latest and greatest on what's 6 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,240 happening in the world of enterprise software sales. 7 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:28,640 I'm Kevin Donville. I am your Co host. 8 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,400 I'm joined by my illustrious as colleague and partner in crime, 9 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,240 Matt Long. Matt, how you doing? 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:36,960 I'm doing great, Kevin. How's everyone doing? 11 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:40,360 Doing fabulous here and we're joined by our special guest this 12 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,160 week. We're being joined by Lynn 13 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:44,280 Powers, who's going to be telling us a little bit about 14 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:48,000 her experiences with respect to software sales, a little bit 15 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,880 about her journey and some of her advice on how people who are 16 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,320 looking to be more successful and perform better in the world 17 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,440 of sales may be able to achieve exactly that. 18 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,640 But before we go any further, do want to remind you folks, if you 19 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,640 are liking what you hear, please take a moment like subscribe and 20 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:08,840 follow our podcast and we'd love to see you here every single 21 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,280 week. So without much further ado, 22 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,400 Lynn, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me on. 23 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:16,920 Super excited to be here. Thanks Kevin for the 24 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,440 introduction. Well, we're super happy to have 25 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:21,080 you here, Lynn. You and I have already had an 26 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,560 opportunity to chat a couple of times in preparation for the 27 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,520 call today, and they were fun conversations and I really 28 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:29,320 enjoyed the chats that we were able to have. 29 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,280 I'm very excited about being able to go in and introduce you 30 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:34,440 to our listeners here on the show. 31 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,000 I mean, I know a little bit about your background. 32 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:38,360 You've got a very interesting path. 33 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,480 You know, you were commercial agents, you were an instructor, 34 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,480 you were a board member for Women in Revenue. 35 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,600 Can't wait to delve into more about those things. 36 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,840 So for those who don't know you, take a moment, take the floor, 37 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,280 please tell everybody who you are, what you do, and and the 38 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,960 organization you're with now. Yeah, so great to meet everyone. 39 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:03,120 My name is Lynn Powers. I have been a seller, we'll call 40 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,120 it for the last 10 years in the technology space. 41 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:10,080 I originally started selling database software technology, 42 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:14,400 went to Oracle, sold at map bar. And the reason why I bring that 43 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,960 up is because originally I really wanted to harness my 44 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,920 career around a couple different areas in sales. 45 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:26,840 So one being at a Fortune 500 company, another one being 46 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,840 through merger and acquisition activity, another one being sold 47 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,800 through an acquisition, right. And I have the lovely fortune to 48 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,440 work at Clary now. And I've been at Clary for the 49 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:41,120 past six years and my career trajectory at Clary has been 50 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:43,680 substantial. I've been our top performer 51 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:48,640 since we'll call it 2019. So have consistent been hitting 52 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:50,800 quota. One of the things that I'm well 53 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,720 known for, no pun intended with my name, but linearity across my 54 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:59,840 pipeline is a great one for me. And so I spend a lot of my time 55 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:02,560 really diving in really deep with my customers. 56 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,200 My trajectory here at Cleary is no surprise that I do really 57 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,400 well with my customers. And that journey has really 58 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,400 taught me a lot because I started in commercial really 59 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,600 learning and understanding how do you deal with the volumes of 60 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:19,120 deals and then moved into more of a mid market position where I 61 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,200 got more strategic, really dialed into what are some of the 62 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,120 other components of a sale that I need to start bringing into to 63 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:29,360 have larger deals. And now I'm a part of our 64 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:31,680 enterprise team. And so I work with our most 65 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,240 strategic customers on their success within Clary and have 66 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,400 been doing that for the past couple years now. 67 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,400 And so in the midst of the work that I do at Clary, I also spend 68 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:46,200 a lot of my, we'll call it voluntary time working with 69 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:51,120 other sales educators and different media companies that 70 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:55,560 are really hoping to drive better sales across the 71 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:57,840 universe. And no matter what industry or 72 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,320 what you are doing today and just make it aware that it is a 73 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:03,960 job out there. I think the other thing that I 74 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,440 hold myself really prideful on is just being a woman in sales. 75 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:12,720 So it's not common to see a lot of faces like mine in the world 76 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:14,520 that I live in. But one of the things that I 77 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:18,880 hope to do as I spread my success in my journey in sales 78 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:22,760 is also bring awareness and bring other women into the 79 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,760 forefront to have also an experience in sales. 80 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,520 We've had a couple of guests on our show already that have had a 81 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,920 similar type of experience to yours and they've shared that 82 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,480 same perspective as well. So it is an interesting one. 83 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,160 Before we get too much further along though, tell us a little 84 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:41,240 bit about Clary. I mean, you've been there for a 85 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,800 while and you've had a lot of great success for what is for 86 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,160 maybe some of our listeners who weren't familiar with it so. 87 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:50,080 Clary is a revenue platform. So what we do is we help 88 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,560 companies create, convert and close all of the different 89 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:55,800 revenue motions that happened across their business. 90 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,760 So the way that I like to think about it is anyone from a BDR 91 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:04,040 that starts that initial inception or that first market 92 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,800 touch that goes out there and someone's trying to reach out 93 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:12,280 until a board member is listening to the feedback of 94 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:14,800 what's happening across your business and trying to 95 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:19,000 understand where your investment should be put in every moment in 96 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,240 between that should be measured for most companies, you would 97 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,200 think it's, it's dialed in, but a lot of these efforts and with 98 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,080 technology coming to where it is in this evolution, a lot of 99 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,320 folks are moving from spreadsheets or a BI tool or a 100 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:34,560 mixture of a bunch of different solutions. 101 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,240 And So what Clary does is we really bring all of those key 102 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,640 revenue moments into one platform to really help 103 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,440 orchestrate the team from marketing, customer success, 104 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,560 sales, any cross functional partners to really have a more 105 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,680 predictable pulse of the. Totally see why that would be 106 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:54,480 important, particularly in our world, that's been traditionally 107 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,400 a very challenging thing for organizations to be able to do 108 00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:59,520 and, and the downfall of a lot of them, even though they had 109 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,680 great products and great teams. Just the orchestration of that 110 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:05,960 right being a failure point. But you've been, you clearly 111 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,120 understand the value of your solution and how your solution 112 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,400 helps your customers with having been as successful as you've 113 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,800 been, as you said since 2019, you've been the top performer. 114 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,720 What goes into that? How does a person end up 115 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:21,560 enjoying that kind of success for that duration? 116 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:26,160 Yeah, I think the number one thing for me is just being able 117 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,040 to create this arena of success around me. 118 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,600 Being able to have the support of my customers, prospects, my 119 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,040 network, my cross functional partners internally is really 120 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,360 key for me. One of the things that I think 121 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:42,360 helps me over perform is being able to stay focused. 122 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,200 And what I mean by being focused is being able to finish one 123 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:50,160 course until successful. And So what that means to me is 124 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,560 I have to set certain intentions before I get started on what 125 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:56,160 ways do I want to leave meetings? 126 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:58,800 What ways should I be wanting to make an impact in this 127 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,520 conversation? How can I take this task and 128 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:05,320 bring on others that might be able to help or get involved 129 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:06,880 with what we're trying to work towards? 130 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,280 And so in order to do that, I try to take this approach of 131 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:14,360 being able to feed my pipeline on that create side all the way 132 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,600 to really understanding how much do I need to convert, how much 133 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,800 pipeline do I need to have to be able to convert and then to be 134 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,840 able to close successfully. If you think about now of a 135 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,400 day-to-day of a seller, there's a lot of different tools that 136 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:29,640 are out there. There's AI in our pocket that's 137 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:33,200 helping us, right? So it's also understanding where 138 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:35,960 do we need to embed the different ways to help 139 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,000 accelerate that process with the people that are involved. 140 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:42,640 I'm just curious, who do you, who is your, is your buyer of 141 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:44,680 your solution and who do you target first? 142 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,760 Do you target them or does it get rolled in up to them or how 143 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:48,600 does that work? Yeah. 144 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,640 So great question. My target buyer is typically 145 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:54,920 basically someone within the revenue space, right? 146 00:07:54,920 --> 00:08:00,360 So a CRO is our typical buyer. However, I think now there's 147 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:04,920 been an evolution in what I like to think is what is, what is a 148 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,480 buyer in this world? And I think it's evolved to be 149 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,640 more of a buying committee. So there's a lot more people 150 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:13,400 that are getting involved in these deals. 151 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,680 It's not just, yes, sales wants a tool. 152 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:17,440 So let's just talk to the sales team. 153 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,280 And now it wants to know if there's AI, what else? 154 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,440 What else do we need to be double checking from a security 155 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:25,960 standpoint? Should we do that right? 156 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:30,040 So I think it's a, it's a loaded question in the current times of 157 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,440 who is buying and, and how is that approach? 158 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,720 Like one thing that I've done really well with my customers is 159 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,480 really just try to understand what is the pain that they're 160 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:44,120 trying to solve for and what happens if they do absolutely 161 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:47,320 nothing, right? And that then tells me who my 162 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,560 real buyer is, because whoever has the largest purse string to 163 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:56,440 be able to fix that and cannot do without making a change are 164 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:58,920 the ones that are likely going to be the ones that champion us 165 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,320 through. So I have Michael Buyer, but I 166 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,400 would say that's where I like to get creative. 167 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,800 And I imagine that change somewhat also going from 168 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,960 commercial to SMB to enterprise because that audience gets 169 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,920 larger and larger as you get up the the chain there. 170 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,960 What are some strategies I guess you used to define or identify 171 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,440 who those people are that you actually need to talk to? 172 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:22,280 Yeah. So one of the things that I 173 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,880 typically we like to do is just understand overall what is it 174 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:28,120 today that they're doing for those current solutions. 175 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,080 So we'll take it just from a forecasting perspective, right? 176 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,080 If I know that they would like to change something around 177 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,560 forecasting well likely might involve someone from finance 178 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:41,920 that's trying to put up a projection typically to their 179 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,120 board. Depending on how deeply involved 180 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:48,240 their board is. If it's an SMB company or a 181 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,360 smaller commercial business, they might have a very heavy 182 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:53,840 advisor, right? That is going to influence what 183 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:57,320 is actually happening in that particular deal versus in the 184 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,800 enterprise space. It's a lot different in terms of 185 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,400 sometimes it needs to pilot it, sometimes you need to have a POC 186 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,280 that validates that. Sometimes there needs to be a 187 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,920 formal RFP that's released and you need to abide by whatever 188 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:13,600 that RFP is, right? So it's really being able to be 189 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,840 agile about what is your customer looking to accomplish 190 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,440 and how do you then provide the right solutioning and the value 191 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,080 that you're trying to drive with the customer so that you close 192 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,160 those gaps. I can see why I was getting so 193 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:28,880 excited when I was talking with you as just as you're going 194 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,840 through your explanation and there was three major pillars 195 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:32,720 there that you were talking about. 196 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,800 I picked up on your dedication to being disciplined in your 197 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,840 approach, the preparation that you do and also the way that you 198 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:42,880 are focused on pipeline development with respect to 199 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:44,440 that. But then as you start talking 200 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:47,840 about how you engage with the customers that themselves, the 201 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,000 tenants right out of the methodology that Matt and I 202 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:55,280 adhere to, the move methodology were like just right there 203 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:57,320 following right along with what you're talking about. 204 00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:58,960 What is the pain? What are they doing? 205 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:01,400 Who really owns it all that about motive. 206 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:04,520 What's the cost of doing nothing relative to that area? 207 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:07,720 And then operationally, how do they buy? 208 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,120 If they need to buy, how do they buy? 209 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,080 What are the mandatory steps as you're going through? 210 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:17,800 And how do I map the value of my solution to the way they need to 211 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,400 understand that to go and justify and validate the spend, 212 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:25,760 go and drive this solution home? And I got so excited listening 213 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,720 to you talk about that when we spoke earlier on, Lynn, and I'm 214 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:30,800 getting excited about it again here. 215 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:35,200 Do you think that the way that you think about selling, how 216 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:39,560 pervasive of it is that kind of way of breaking deals down? 217 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:42,680 I'm looking at the solution. How common do you think that is 218 00:11:42,680 --> 00:11:46,040 in your vertical? I think it's, it's, it's a 219 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:47,480 little bit different in a couple ways. 220 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:50,920 One is because I think a lot of competitors that are out there 221 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,600 in particular that I come across in relation to Cleary, they 222 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,040 might have a very pointed solution, right, of what we're 223 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,320 trying to solve for the beauty of Cleary, it's a platform, 224 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,240 right? No matter which angle we want to 225 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:04,880 go, we can take it in that direction. 226 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,040 However, it's the value that you're creating for the customer 227 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,040 of what does that actually mean for them? 228 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:15,360 So typically folks might say, Oh yeah, here's my 700% ROI number, 229 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:19,200 right, that I'm trying to track for this, this buying group 230 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:22,440 where in the reality of it is, is they really just need to 231 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,440 understand what is it that they're changing and how are 232 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,240 they going to orchestrate that change across the business? 233 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,760 And when you start to think about it from that lens, it's a 234 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:33,000 lot different from just a, I'm solution selling. 235 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,240 I'm trying to find the pain. I'm trying to map the solution. 236 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:39,920 It becomes how can I stay ahead of what they might need to 237 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:46,040 deliver on and what ways can I then insert different value 238 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:49,760 points for them to be that strategic advisor or to have 239 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:54,520 that strategic guidance right? So I think it's, it is a reframe 240 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:59,040 of a mindset of the process can no longer just be, oh, here's 241 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:03,200 the, the stages I need to execute on becomes OK, great, I 242 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,680 have this information, I'm constantly being agile with this 243 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:09,200 information. Now I just need to just stay 244 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,760 prepared in order to act on it once the time comes. 245 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,800 And I think that's the really balance of trades that you get 246 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,480 within a sales job is you might not know what's coming or you 247 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,720 might you might have an agenda planned, but there might be 248 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,200 other things that intersect in those moments where you can 249 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,320 really take advantage of them if you're prepared to have those 250 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:32,000 conversations in those moments. So I think it's about from a 251 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,680 competitor perspective, it's not just showing that you have the 252 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:37,640 material, not just showing that you have a feature available. 253 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,120 It's how are we going to learn this together? 254 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,240 Here's how I'm prepared to be curious about your business 255 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:45,880 based off of what I know. And here's where I think it 256 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:49,120 might make an impact, but I need more guidance to really partner 257 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:50,600 with me on how to deliver that I. 258 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:55,680 Think one key aspect or one aspect or feature of Clary is 259 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,280 call recording and then analysis, right? 260 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:00,440 Because I think we use that our last company actually. 261 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:02,280 I'm just curious from your perspective. 262 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,000 I mean, the thing I've noticed over the years is that as we've 263 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,120 gone virtual, so many more of these meetings actually happen 264 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:09,880 online. So you can record them, right? 265 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,880 Because before a lot of it was done, you know, as much as an in 266 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,960 person and you weren't captions, you rely on people's notes. 267 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,560 So I think that's fundamentally changed our visibility and 268 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:22,560 understanding of the sales process. 269 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,040 I'm just curious from your perspective, how do you use 270 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:30,000 Cleary now in that respect? And does that help you and the 271 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,080 whole sales team kind of get aligned better in terms of how 272 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,080 you're attacking your particular opportunities? 273 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:41,040 Talk a little bit about how I approach my Clary because it 274 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:42,960 really orchestrates my entire process. 275 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:47,800 So inside of Clary, I have what is called a cadence, which in 276 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:51,200 any business you have 13 weeks that you have to accomplish 277 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,040 something in one of those weeks. And if you're not looking 278 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:56,920 forward, if you're not looking back, you might miss what's in 279 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,440 front of you. Essentially, the beauty of AI is 280 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,720 I'm able to get those triggers of, hey, this one might have 281 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,720 some risk in it or this one might be moving faster than you 282 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,920 typically would move it and it will flag me of where I need to 283 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,720 spend my attention. The way that I then use Cleary 284 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:14,640 is I have triggers that literally tell me what's going 285 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,840 on in any one of my accounts and then also showcase for me what 286 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,120 is the best message? What is the best time? 287 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:24,080 What are the other folks that I haven't been reaching out to? 288 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:26,640 And it populates that as actions for me. 289 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,640 You mentioned call recording. I love my Cleary copilot because 290 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:35,080 after every single call I'm getting a Slack message to me of 291 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:38,880 a example follow up e-mail based off of what I typically send. 292 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:41,560 I also am getting a list of actions that I need to 293 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,160 orchestrate not only internally but externally as well. 294 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:49,200 I'm getting that fed into specific slack channels so that 295 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:51,760 I don't have to go update my team on any of this. 296 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,000 I have alerts set up for all of my technical counterparts. 297 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,680 So they're getting pings if security or IT or something 298 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,320 specific has been mentioned that they weren't on a call of. 299 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,560 So there's a lot of background work that I would typically have 300 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:06,440 to do where I have this busy work of. 301 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,000 So then I get to reinvest my time into other things. 302 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,960 And so the question then becomes, OK, if you don't have 303 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,240 to do all that, where is your time actually spent? 304 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:19,360 I can fit probably 12 meetings, probably more with customers 305 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,000 throughout the day, which in a normal world would have been 306 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,920 completely insane as like now I can run really fast and go 307 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:29,000 really wide with the types of conversations I'm having because 308 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,640 I don't have to do that heavy lifting of, hey, I need to 309 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:33,920 follow up with this. I need to go figure out this. 310 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,640 And all of those resources are driving to me so that I'm just 311 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:39,240 actioning on them. I think the other thing that's 312 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,680 really powerful is I get this lens of not only what's 313 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,880 happening in deals that I have an opportunity in, but the ones 314 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:48,720 that I don't have an opportunity in, which is also vital. 315 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,880 So it's educating me on where do I need to feed my funnel, but 316 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:56,400 also convert the opportunities I have at hand and then 317 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,600 continuously repopulate that with, hey, here's another 318 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:02,320 opportunity that might come up based off of this intent that 319 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:05,079 came from this account. So from an end to end 320 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:09,160 perspective, I would say it helps me spend my time more with 321 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,839 customers. I'm able to see that I'm able to 322 00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:16,280 generate more pipeline from it and I'm converting at a higher 323 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:19,400 clip than I've ever seen in my career, which typically I've 324 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,240 always been a top performer. But here at Cleary, I can really 325 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,720 dial it up in the way that I typically look at it is all of 326 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:27,640 the quotas, we can call them double. 327 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:31,080 And if I'm hitting at least 2X of my coverage on that, then I'm 328 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,840 gonna go way over my number. And so as long as I'm 329 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,520 orchestrating that entire 13 week process inside of Cleary, I 330 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,640 know what is needed of me, when it's needed of me and I can just 331 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:44,440 really focus on my customers. So the day-to-day admin work 332 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:48,520 that I would typically spend time on is either automated or 333 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,640 everyone has that information feeding to them, where I don't 334 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,240 have to be the facilitator of giving that information to 335 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:56,160 anybody. That sounds excellent because 336 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,840 one of the challenges that Matt and I had seen over the years is 337 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,200 people have tried to go and manage particularly complex 338 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,240 sales cycles that have a lot of potential stakeholders involved 339 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:08,440 with. It is how do you make sure that 340 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:12,080 your organization is ready to engage them correctly and that 341 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:15,880 everybody understands and the the lattice work of, of success 342 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,480 criteria that ends up manifesting as a result. 343 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:20,960 And it sounds to me like Clary's doing a really good job of 344 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,760 helping you automate and streamline and manage that 345 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:26,600 process so things don't get out ahead of you guys. 346 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:29,440 Is that correct? I would say not only that for us 347 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:31,360 internally, but also for my buyers. 348 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:35,360 So like I have mutual action plans that are created within 349 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:38,560 Clary that I then share with my customers so they're able to 350 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:43,000 dive in and jump in and recourse me if I'm on where I have a mile 351 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,160 incorrect or timeline incorrect. And so when you think about it 352 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,840 from that perspective, it's not just my manager pressure testing 353 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:52,160 me. I've like, Are you sure you're 354 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:53,560 going to commit this this quarter? 355 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:54,840 Are you sure you can bring it in? 356 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:58,360 And then it just be this weird conversation that slips every 357 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:00,640 quarter, right? Like they can directly see that 358 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:04,000 I'm engaged with my buyer, what my buyer is signing themselves 359 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,960 up for, how my buyer is holding themselves accountable. 360 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,960 And if we both are missing that mark, it becomes a how can my 361 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:14,400 leader come in and help orchestrate or help guide into a 362 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:19,240 better success path forward versus a weird interrogation and 363 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:21,920 then this emptiness with the customer, whether you know or 364 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,960 you don't know the information. So I think it just opens the 365 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:28,960 lens in general between not only what's happening internally but 366 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,960 also externally with my buyers to know what to expect from me. 367 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,760 That's, that's critical. And, and one of the things I 368 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:41,560 admire about your methodology and your, your daily practice is 369 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,440 and you hit upon it earlier and the phrase you used was learning 370 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,280 together. And it's something that I think 371 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:49,760 is so important. And I can understand why Clary's 372 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:52,520 helping you there, because it's helping create visibility, what 373 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:54,760 you are learning together with your customer. 374 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:57,800 But that thing about helping the customer learn things about 375 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,280 themselves, about their own process, about their own 376 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,200 challenges and their needs that they may not be fully aware of 377 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,960 as they get into the sales cycle with you is so critical to 378 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,400 building that. Trust and that long term 379 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,280 relationship and the platform upon which you're going to 380 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:15,560 create this, this contract, if you will, of delivering value to 381 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:17,600 them. Yeah. 382 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:21,880 And that's, that goes so much more deeper than just, you know, 383 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,200 what other people in the industry are doing. 384 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,320 And, and you would hit also earlier on about talking about 385 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:29,800 how things are changing about the way people are buying. 386 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:34,400 How is that ability to help the customer learn about themselves? 387 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:38,240 How does that translate to success over the terms of your 388 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:39,400 engagement with them? Yeah. 389 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:44,120 So I think the way that I like to leverage this particular kind 390 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:47,640 of relationship with my customers is I'm an extension of 391 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:49,400 their team. I want to be able able to jump 392 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,160 in and support them. I want them to feel confident 393 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,200 about any of the presentations, any of the paperwork I'm putting 394 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,960 in front of them. They should also feel very fluid 395 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,680 about how to approach it, how to present it also to other folks. 396 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,400 I think one of the things in this lens of time that folks are 397 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,480 getting away from, as I mentioned earlier, this concept 398 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:13,680 of ROI. So the way that I approach ROI 399 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:17,160 is it takes multiple decisions that need to be made. 400 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,960 It's not just the number that they're trying to get the return 401 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:23,320 on investment of. It's what actually are you 402 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:27,200 serving for my group that I can hold to a measurable attainment. 403 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:32,240 So how has your of being a customer with us impacted you in 404 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,080 comparison to what you were doing before? 405 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:37,920 And so I like to paint that picture and then decide who 406 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,840 should be held accountable for what and how, how can I showcase 407 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:45,640 the change of that within our time together in presales, 408 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,360 right. So it's really about weighing 409 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:53,640 what exactly does value mean to who and then understanding how 410 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,320 do we then go showcase that back to their team? 411 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:01,320 And is it a buyer or just one person who owns the check that 412 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:02,880 you need to go get that answer from? 413 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,040 Or is there multiple validations that need to happen across 414 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:08,760 multiple different places and then we're going to get an 415 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,560 answer? One thing that I do to help 416 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,240 empower my prospects and my customers throughout this 417 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:18,960 process is really sit with them and really understand how do 418 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,960 they buy, How do they sell? Then I can almost mimic that 419 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:28,400 same home, same phrasing that they're using to then approach 420 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,720 the way that they're using our platform and be able to use it a 421 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:36,280 lot better instead of force feeding a feature function that 422 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,720 may or may not hit the mark with the way that their maturity 423 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,240 curve is with technology. Yeah, I like that. 424 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:46,240 We had a guest on several weeks ago that was a kind of a value 425 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,560 consultant and his thing was like speaking the language of 426 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:51,520 the customer, not in your language. 427 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,800 Understanding that and really hearing how they express their 428 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:58,200 problems and the solution and how they care about it is all 429 00:22:58,200 --> 00:22:59,800 really important in that process. 430 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,520 I'm just curious from just the way that you go to these 431 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,480 opportunities, do you work with an SC that helps you? 432 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,520 Do you work with consultants? What does your team look like 433 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:11,600 and how do you kind of orchestrate that during the 434 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,400 course of delivering or executing on this opportunity? 435 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,120 Yeah. So I typically just partner with 436 00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:22,520 an SEI, don't have a BDR. I use robots for most of that 437 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,400 stuff. So it's again new age of time, 438 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:29,440 but I'm going into most of these conversations with just an SE. 439 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:33,000 What I want to drive with the customer, however, is that 440 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,360 strategic lens. So I think, Kevin, you mentioned 441 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:39,720 this a little bit earlier too, of what value or how exactly are 442 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,000 you providing value through this process? 443 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,480 And I think it's a part of this evolution too, between humans 444 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,840 and AI, where an AI robot or something can spit me out a 445 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,800 follow up e-mail, which is great. 446 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:56,400 But what touch can I put on it that will make the buyer feel 447 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,320 like, oh, this is something that I can use or this is something 448 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,400 that I actually care about. And that's where I think that I 449 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:06,320 personally love to share what I call my liturgy or enthusiasm or 450 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,920 the efforts that I put towards the project. 451 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,280 But what I'm really trying to do is create that experience where 452 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,040 they're not just using a tool, but it's a structure of how 453 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:16,920 they're adopting to use it long term. 454 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,800 So is it something that they're checking in with their teams on 455 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,840 or is it a persona that does something specifically in the 456 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,200 tool that they're held accountable to do every week? 457 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,560 Like what is that cadence we're building with them? 458 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,920 And then the way that I also think about this is again, 459 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:37,680 there's this is a market where you can have a spot solution for 460 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,440 just the call recorder or just the note taker or just the 461 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,720 forecasting or my lovely spreadsheet that's hiding, you 462 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,560 know, like there's multiple different ways that people go in 463 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:49,400 and take on these different solutions. 464 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,160 Understanding that is a big part of my process. 465 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,600 So just taking it apart, undoing it, redoing it, understanding 466 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,360 why it was built that way. Why shouldn't you change? 467 00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:01,680 Why would you change? And then really getting them to 468 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,520 realize what is that process? Because the biggest fear for 469 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,680 most folks when they're buying is just the change, right? 470 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,240 And if you can hand hold me through the change, I'll 471 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:15,200 probably be a lot happier and a lot easier to go talk about it 472 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,200 than me being very unfamiliar with something, not knowing how 473 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,000 to do this. I've never done it before. 474 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:23,360 And that's really the value that you're driving almost from a 475 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:25,920 human, human behavior perspective. 476 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:28,640 You've touched on one thing I think is really critical is 477 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,600 after all the years in enterprise sales and in 478 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,840 business, it's really about process optimization, 479 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,080 understanding the process and be able to optimize it. 480 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:40,680 And, you know, so that's part of the solution that you're 481 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:42,840 delivering because I love that because a lot of times it was 482 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:46,960 about actually helping your customer figure out how they're 483 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:48,760 going to make this thing happen, right? 484 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:51,000 It's about, you know, how are they going to implement what's 485 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,200 that's going to look like? Can you hold their hand through 486 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:55,920 this process? And the more that you can convey 487 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:59,160 that that's the case, the more likely they are to trust you to 488 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:01,720 go to the next step. Because it's not always about 489 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:03,720 the money. They have money to spend, but 490 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:04,920 it's like, I'm going to spend this money. 491 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,080 Am I going to get the value I need out of it? 492 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:09,400 And the value is it's going to be used, right? 493 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:12,720 You brought up a really good point with that that I love, 494 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:16,040 which is you become an advisor. The way that I like to put this 495 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:19,720 had on is like you need to be a trusted advisor when you're in 496 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,600 these conversations. The greatest analogy I have for 497 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:24,960 this is if you just bought a house and you're trying to 498 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,680 install flooring and you're gonna call flooring person and 499 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:32,480 they're gonna give you a tile, a carpet, like all these different 500 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,240 options and you're gonna have to choose something, right? 501 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:39,280 If I know that I'm going to go fill my bathroom with something 502 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:41,520 and someone comes directly and says, well, you need this 503 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:43,680 carpet. Like I probably wouldn't listen 504 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,080 to them as much as I would someone that's talking to me 505 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:50,360 about tile in a bathroom, right? So it's just being very simple 506 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:54,000 about what is it that you're dealing with that is the problem 507 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:58,160 or is it just a optimization you're looking to have within 508 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:01,240 the business? And let's focus on that core 509 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,720 piece. Most customers I speak with, 510 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:08,720 it's I'm trying to go IPO. We missed our forecast last 511 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,840 couple quarters and we need to get back on a better trajectory. 512 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,800 I'd rather spend time talking about that knowing that it holds 513 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,760 a lot more weight across the entire company than me saying 514 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,600 there's the call recorder, it can help you take notes 515 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:23,400 afterwards. And this is going to drive you 516 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,400 impact in a certain way. It won't, it won't, it will miss 517 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,640 the mark entirely, right? Like you need to bring the 518 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,600 information that you're learning, be agile with the 519 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:34,680 different personalities, different people that you're 520 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:38,400 involving yourself with within the buying committee and then 521 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:40,960 determine the right solution for them that comes from that 522 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,160 trusted advising place. Well thank God. 523 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:45,440 Carpeted bathrooms I think went out in the 70s. 524 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:50,920 You know, you're bringing up an aspect of selling that is I 525 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,920 think an elevated way of being able to engage the customers. 526 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,000 We're not talking about what our solution does. 527 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,200 We're talking about the value of having us there and not 528 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:04,440 necessarily just as a product, but as a partner going forward. 529 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,000 And you're mapping the value with them and reaching across 530 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,320 going you need to fix this problem and it's critical to the 531 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,240 entire enterprises. You were just describing that it 532 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,080 is a bigger issue that has a broader footprint and a broader 533 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,520 impact on the overall success of the organization. 534 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:24,960 How often are you able to bring that part of the conversation to 535 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,520 a sales cycle where it's like it's not just the product you're 536 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,360 getting, you're getting us. We're going to work with you and 537 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:35,800 we're going to collaborate with you to create this awesome 538 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:39,320 degree of value and success. I think I do it pretty often. 539 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,920 It's critical for my sales process personally. 540 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:47,160 The reason why I say that is because if you're not diving 541 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,880 into the why, you're likely going to get a churned customer 542 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,120 2 years from now, right? And as someone that's closed 543 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,240 multi $1,000,000 here at Clary, I hold that weight very 544 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,720 seriously, right? Where if I'm driving the value 545 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:05,040 and the intention really early, I know exactly what their 546 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:08,320 expectation is going to be 5 years from now when I'm asking 547 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:12,960 for them to renew again, right? So I think one of the key pieces 548 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:17,320 that sometimes people might overlook for example, is what is 549 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,720 it that will help me see the customer differently? 550 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:23,680 And then how can I apply this again and again and again so 551 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:28,680 that I have a pipeline full with deals that can convert versus 552 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,640 this one deal I'm banking on and it must come in, otherwise I'm 553 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,760 going to miss my number, right? There's that balance of trades 554 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:40,680 of you owe it to yourself as well to find those common 555 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:44,320 denominators across your account patch and say, OK, great. 556 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,720 This is a typical problem that I'm seeing across these 557 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:50,360 different businesses. And now I can be a consultant on 558 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:55,440 how I've seen others attack that one solution versus again, 559 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:58,760 feature function go to battle, put on my box and gloves with 560 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,400 every vendor that's in every single one of these accounts. 561 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:03,360 Like it doesn't make sense to do that. 562 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:08,120 So I think it being maniacally focused on what is it that the 563 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,640 business is trying to solve and then attach myself to that. 564 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:13,800 And then the other mentality that I like to keep that's a 565 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:18,120 little bit different is you can't have this limiting belief 566 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:20,880 that the whole company is also going to reach out to this 567 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:23,960 customer and they will only know about us because all of the 568 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:25,320 great work our whole teams doing. 569 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:29,360 Like, no, as a sales Rep, you are the sole person that is 570 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:31,400 responsible for that relationship. 571 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:36,200 And so if there's a way that I can either at least know about 572 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,960 what they're going through or understand or meet the leaders 573 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:42,400 that are controlling a lot of what's happening in those 574 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,840 companies, like that's a bigger win for me because I'm 575 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:50,200 understanding a lot more things beyond what the scope of their 576 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:54,120 my accounts are deal by deal basis, but also my whole 577 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:56,840 territory. And how can I be successful 578 00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:01,800 across my whole territory versus having this limiting belief that 579 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,600 I am the only person that's going to get benefit from all 580 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:06,880 the pipeline that's going to come to me? 581 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:10,920 It's like, no, you need to go do it and you are the person that 582 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,800 they want to hear from. There's a degree of investment 583 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:17,200 in the relationship that you're talking about, and you're 584 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,960 bringing your own value beyond just what the organization and 585 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:24,080 the solution is doing there. And I love that phrase you meant 586 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:27,800 about not going down and getting into a knife fight in a phone 587 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,800 booth over feature function. Well, I've got this button, 588 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:32,400 which is better than their button. 589 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,920 What advice would you give to an AE out there? 590 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,200 Who's listening to the podcast? Who's struggling with getting 591 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:43,440 the conversations above that? What kind of tactics or 592 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:47,000 practices can they put in place to try and and avoid getting 593 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,200 themselves boxed in? Because I hear people on calls, 594 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:51,400 they'll box themselves into that conversation. 595 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:54,000 What advice would you give? Them I would say know your 596 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:57,760 strengths and play to them. Let me give you an example of 597 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:01,320 what that means to me. So for example, I come across 598 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:06,240 Salesforce and every ideal they are, every customer has to have 599 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,240 sales force. And so any person that I'm 600 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,960 engaged with, they at least have the knowledge of what sales 601 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:16,680 force brings to the table. Where I see myself as a kind of 602 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:19,560 a differentiator in where I would run with this advice is 603 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:21,880 you don't have to be that person. 604 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:25,040 Know them well enough to know the expectations that they would 605 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:26,960 deliver and then go challenge that. 606 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:29,840 Just know that you're not stuck in this box of OK, I need to do 607 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:31,640 another demo. I need to go do another like 608 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:34,440 technical qualification, like I need to go do something else 609 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:36,720 that is in your typical workflow. 610 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:39,920 It's OK to break things up. I have a lot of pipeline. 611 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:43,200 So I like to disqualify just as much as I like to qualify. 612 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:47,320 And so one of the things that I like to do with that is be OK 613 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:51,320 with saying, yeah, Salesforce, go run your course with them by 614 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,280 week 4. This is where I would be if you 615 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:57,680 are not there by week 4, we should be friends outside of 616 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,360 this Zoom conversation. And you need to call me on a 617 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:04,600 serious note and say I have X budget and I only have X much 618 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:06,440 time because I made the wrong decision. 619 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:09,880 Like those come from a very confident place, but as a 620 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:12,800 seller, you need to be comfortable with being agile 621 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:14,760 enough to make those decisions for yourself. 622 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:18,080 No one's going to give you that kind of overhead advice either 623 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,960 of like this one's going a little S maybe let's close lost 624 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,600 it and we'll focus over here. It's like you need to be able to 625 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:28,120 know, hey, what can I do differently within this deal 626 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,560 from a strategic perspective that might have to put it on the 627 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:34,600 back burner for a second only for me to play faster later. 628 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:39,800 So I would say my biggest advice to anyone listening to this 629 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:43,680 podcast, please take away from this that don't stay in your 630 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:46,600 box. Be authentic, use your strengths 631 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,960 and double down on whatever those strengths are in a very 632 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:51,960 confident. Manner, yeah, I love that. 633 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:55,200 And also, you know, having that North star of the value that 634 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:58,800 you're delivering always helps because you know, you can pivot 635 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,320 however you want, but you're always calling back to what they 636 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,840 want to do. Maybe your tactic is different 637 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:06,280 or your approach is a little bit different, but you know, the the 638 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:10,320 ultimate goal remains the same. One more question for you before 639 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:12,600 we kind of wrap up here. But you know, getting back to 640 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:15,040 process, I think you said, you know, one of the things you 641 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:18,320 loved about Clary is the fact that it helped you kind of cover 642 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,960 the blocking and tackling of all the things that go on and 643 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:25,120 opportunity allowing you to focus on the things that are 644 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:26,440 more important. I think one of the things you 645 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:31,560 said was FaceTime, but what are the other high value things that 646 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:33,719 you can do? Once you have all these other 647 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,000 things taken care of, Where would you focus your time? 648 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:39,520 Yeah, I always like to focus my time on where else can I 649 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,679 optimize, right. So if I look at my last sales 650 00:34:43,679 --> 00:34:47,760 cycle that I did was half the time that I normally spend on a 651 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,880 sales cycle that large. And so it was a lot of OK, 652 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:55,600 great, I have this time now given back to me, where can I 653 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:59,080 fine tune things? And so as part of this learning 654 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,400 experience in the deal I just closed last week, it was OK, 655 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:06,720 great, Chachi BT can help me in XYZ ways, but how do I get 656 00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:10,960 dangerous with it where I'm starting to think more ahead 657 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:13,680 than I typically would? And how can I get ahead of those 658 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,920 things a lot sooner and maybe put it on a calendar or like put 659 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,280 it on as the agenda for the next meeting, right. 660 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:25,240 So for me, it's always reflecting on what could be 661 00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:29,000 different and how I could be different, but using that time 662 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,960 wisely to then use it with the customer. 663 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:35,360 So again, I mentioned earlier, I spend way too much time in 664 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:37,360 customer meetings, which is the best thing in my world. 665 00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:41,120 But having the time to spend with those customers or meet 666 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:44,600 with more people within that particular buying committee or 667 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:47,920 the influencing committee is going to move my deal a lot 668 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,000 faster than me doing another prep doc. 669 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,440 I like bite my tongue saying that because I love my prep 670 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,840 docs, but at the same time I know that if I just hit the 671 00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,360 phones and talk to people I'll get more accurate information. 672 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:01,280 Right. Go, go where the money is and go 673 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:02,720 where the money generates, right? 674 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:06,720 I always say if this actually I constantly ask myself this 675 00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:09,760 question if I do a task or if I'm in a meeting, it's like, is 676 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:14,080 this revenue generating activity or how can I make it a revenue 677 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,680 generating activity? That's, that's great advice. 678 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,000 That's a great perspective to look at those things, right? 679 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,560 And that's a, that's a really valuable litmus test to use on 680 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:25,000 anything you're doing on a day-to-day basis. 681 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:27,720 Lynn, one of the reasons why I was so excited about bringing 682 00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:31,840 you on to the call today is because I really think there's 683 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,320 so many practical things that you've brought up today about 684 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:39,520 how you engage your customers, selling, solutioning. 685 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:44,160 If there's are people out there that are sitting there going, I 686 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:48,640 just can't get stuff to land, I'm spinning my wheels, why am I 687 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:50,840 not making more progress on my quota? 688 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,560 What advice would you give them If they're just they just don't 689 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:57,320 know what to do next? Say go find a friend in the 690 00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:01,000 company and learn from them. It could be anybody, but at 691 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:04,400 least you'll have a litmus test of what's happening if you're 692 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,560 even hitting a wall at that aspect. 693 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:09,880 I just like to get creative with just who humans are. 694 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:14,280 This sounds really crazy, but you know, if you're networking 695 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:17,280 with a bunch of people that live in a big city or there's a 696 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:20,520 different topic that is top of mind for people that are in that 697 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:25,400 region or an event or something specific that can gravitate 698 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:29,320 their attention towards something that might be helpful 699 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:31,640 or it might be valuable for them. 700 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:36,080 Or find that common relation with them and then try to 701 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:37,720 attract it from that perspective. 702 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:43,720 But my always go to is find a friend and network as much as 703 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:46,000 you can within the account because the knowledge that 704 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:50,640 you'll gather can inform what you're actually orchestrating in 705 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:53,640 the deal itself. And then you can always pivot 706 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:55,960 and ask for guidance and questions from those early 707 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:58,720 people that you tried to network with or get advice from. 708 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:00,880 That's great advice. I concur. 709 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:05,760 I, I do believe that mentorship and and collaboration, sometimes 710 00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:09,000 it can only take a matter of a few tweaks and it can have 711 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:11,600 tremendous impact on your overall success. 712 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:14,240 I know that mentorship is extremely important to you. 713 00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:17,400 If there are people that want to reach out to you, Lynn and, and 714 00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:21,400 find out more about you, what you do, your philosophy or seek 715 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:23,640 guidance from you. Is there you being their phone, 716 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:25,840 a friend? What's the the best way for them 717 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,280 to reach out to you? Yeah, the best way to reach out 718 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:31,680 to me is on LinkedIn so you can find me at Lynn Powers. 719 00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:37,720 The other high loving advice I would give to anyone looking to 720 00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:41,240 grow their career or get some type of mentorship in sales is 721 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:45,080 Women in Revenue also has a really great mentorship program. 722 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:48,320 So if you're not involved with them or if you're looking for a 723 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,120 new mentor, looking for someone to mentor you or a group to be 724 00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:55,480 surrounded by, really great place to go is so great. 725 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:57,680 Also to spend time with folks here, I would love to get 726 00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:01,400 people's feedback if there's any questions that they have on my 727 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:04,800 particular deal process or how I typically engage or how do I 728 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:08,880 over perform So much so happy to chat with you one-on-one. 729 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:12,080 Send me a message. Well, and we'll make sure we put 730 00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:14,920 that in the notes for the episode. 731 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:16,960 It'll be in the description. So people will reach out to you 732 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,480 on LinkedIn and they can also get find out more about women in 733 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:23,960 revenue as well. Matt, turn the turn over to you. 734 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:26,320 Anything you'd like to go and share with Lynn before we go and 735 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:29,680 bring your episode to the close? No, it's just been a pleasure 736 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:32,360 talking with you, Lynn. I love your enthusiasm as well 737 00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:35,400 as just your methodical approach to things that differently 738 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:38,360 dovetails nicely with our careers and kind of things that 739 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:41,000 we thought were important. So thanks again for sharing 740 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:43,160 everything you've shared today. Absolutely. 741 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:45,800 Thanks for joining us, Matt. Lynn, thank you so much for 742 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:48,960 coming out of the call. I enjoyed this conversation 743 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:50,920 immensely, just like all the other ones we've had. 744 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:53,040 And I look forward to future ones we're going to be having 745 00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:54,880 again in the future. But we do need to bring the 746 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:57,240 episode to a close, much to my chagrin. 747 00:39:57,240 --> 00:40:01,280 But thanks to you for coming in and talking with us today. 748 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:03,840 And thanks to the listeners who've been listening to today's 749 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:06,360 episode. Folks, if you love what you hear 750 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:09,920 here, drop us a comment like, follow, subscribe, share your 751 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:12,640 thoughts with us so we can bring more great content to you that 752 00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:15,720 matches what it is you guys need if you want to know more about 753 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:17,520 the methodology that you've heard us bending. 754 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:20,400 Back and forth about today, go onto the website and buy, you 755 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:23,600 get the link over to being able to buy your own copy of our 756 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:25,600 methodology. You can find the links to do 757 00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:28,240 that there. But unfortunately we are going 758 00:40:28,240 --> 00:40:32,560 to bring this episode to a close and looking forward to being 759 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:33,760 able to go. I'm here. 760 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:35,760 We bit of an echo just waiting for it to go away. 761 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,880 So folks, thank you for spending time and we're going to be able 762 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:41,360 to coming back again next week with another great guest and 763 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:43,960 hopefully we'll have Lynn back on again soon. 764 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:46,520 Thank you very much. We'll talk together soon.