Best Expert Advice on Enhancing Sales Operations and Customer-Centric Growth

A rich tapestry of strategies emerges, featuring insights from our esteemed Scale Your Sales Podcast guests. Illuminating the path to optimizing sales operations while nurturing a customer-centric growth approach. Our expert influencers, each with their distinct perspectives and experiences, provide a treasure trove of wisdom for those seeking to scale their sales.

This compilation of expert insights creates a roadmap for elevating sales practices and nurturing sustainable growth with an unyielding focus on customer-centric values. It presents a comprehensive guide for navigating the complex realm of sales operations, fostering an environment where customer excellence and business success are intertwined.

When asked what strategies our expert guests use to optimise their salespeople and sales operations, here's what they said:?

According to Sara Brooks , start with a massive focus on hiring - even when hiring at scale, always maintain value. Encourage focus on strengths and bringing personality and authentic selves to their work. Prioritise enablement as a recurring principle. Create avenues for sustained advancement and options for progressing within careers. Essential are adeptness in the product and industry and the cultivation and consolidation of executive presence.

Likewise, Jamie Crosbie shares her approach to securing the finest talent available and equipping them with the skills to become consultative and trusted advisors to their clients.

Wissam Tabbara , from Truebase , outlines their sales optimisation strategies, which involve prioritising prospecting velocity measurement and implementing a comprehensive prospecting process. This includes steps from qualification to personalisation, streamlined through substantial automation. Their campaign approach is marked by scientific experimentation, constantly refining methods based on monitored results. A blend of disciplined processes and data-driven tactics contribute to the sales team's efficiency and efficacy.

For Matt Garman - The Corporate Adventurer? , the pivotal elements are Vision, People, and Process - set them up with absolute clarity of expectation. Getting the right people in the team (from his adventure experiences) and providing a clear written playbook on what is expected and how to deliver it.

Alper Yurder concurs that the paramount strategy involves maintaining a sharp Focus. Assigning one person to handle 1-2 tasks on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis establishes a framework for concentrated effort and enhanced transparency. His advice is to avoid overloading tasks. While acknowledging the challenge, especially for startups necessitating extensive testing, ensuring the clarity and complexity that arise from attempting too much simultaneously, ultimately leading to unproductive outcomes.?

Similarly, Rupert Deering shares that they don't impose a heavily toxic KPI-driven environment. Clock-watching is not a practice they endorse, as they value efficiency over mere effort. They believe that the best strategy is to ensure your staff are happy. That means understanding their strengths and weaknesses as an individual and investing in their constant coaching, learning and development.

Eamonn O'Brien, Strategic Storytelling Expert emphasises concentrating on a select few 'specific' target audiences, those he deems most suitable to assist in any given moment, instead of embracing a scattered or generalist sales approach that involves trying various tactics and hoping for positive outcomes. He firmly subscribes to the idea that achieving excellence with a limited focus is more advantageous than pursuing a broader approach that might yield only mediocre results.

Mick Gosset emphasises their concentration on internal efficiencies. With complete visibility into everyone's bandwidth and corresponding workload capacity, they have implemented a system that identifies bottlenecks at their inception—stating that their team of five achieves the same workload completion as a team of thirty while everyone experiences a sense of mental tranquillity.?? ?

Expert guest's view on how customer experience impacts sales:

Mick Gosset stresses that customer experience is essential. Stating data indicates that the customer experience is mainly out of our control, with only 5% shared with a seller. Regrettably, many Sales Organizations fall short of meeting these expectations. These organisations frequently grapple with disarray. Revenue operations primarily emphasise optimising the top of the sales funnel, often leaving later-stage workflows largely manual. Consequently, internal task turnaround time can constitute up to 30% of the entire sales cycle, substantially harming the customer experience and eroding credibility.

Wissam Tabbara underscores the importance of refining the customer experience before product launch. Users must view a highly relevant demo and rapidly discover the product's value. Sharing that this experience needs to be seamlessly embedded in every customer interaction. Once this foundation is established, it is a solid lever for positively driving sales.

Tonya Bjurstrom offers that across multiple industries, numerous studies have found that organisations that focus on the customer experience increase sales - not only within their existing customers but also in new customer acquisition.?

According to Jamie Crosbie , client experience is vital in driving sales. Satisfied clients exhibit loyalty, make referrals, and engage in repeat business, boosting sales and revenue. Furthermore, a positive client experience enhances a brand's reputation, opens doors for upselling and cross-selling, and offers valuable insights for refinement. This collective impact leads to heightened sales performance and overall business success.

Rob May affirms that customer experience has an unquestionable impact on sales. He highlights the pivotal choice between aiming for a single transaction or fostering an enduring customer partnership. With clients loyal for decades, Rob attributes this longevity to prioritising customer service as a central element in every Ramsac relationship. Their approach is the key driver behind their sustained success and lasting client collaborations.?

For Eamonn O'Brien, customer experiences are critical pre-, during, and post and every stage of your sales cycle. It fuels the stories your prospective and existing customers infer every time they interact with you AND influences their behaviours and attitudes.

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Similarly, Justin Leigh - Business Growth Coach asserts that positive customer experiences are foundational for accelerating growth and reputation. Justin emphasises that we must create successful clients who want to give positive feedback and recommend, as it is a growth accelerator.

Grant Lira views customer experience as everything. According to him, if the customer does not look at you like a mentor, how can you guide them into a decision to help them? His goal isn't to be liked by prospects but to earn their respect as a trusted expert. He differentiates his approach from salespeople who attempt to befriend prospects, as he recognises this can undermine trust. Ensuring a positive experience during calls goes beyond merely having a pleasant interaction; it's about providing valuable guidance. Grant strives to help prospects navigate their current situations and shed light on potential blind spots. He acknowledges that these conversations aren't always comfortable, but his genuine desire to assist people supersedes discomfort.

Rupert Deering acknowledges the substantial impact of customer experience on sales decisions. He refrains from investing after poor buying experiences and seldom renews products following unsatisfactory post-sales encounters. Rupert points out that evolving buyer behaviour necessitates an evolution in sales strategies. He references Alper Yurder's insights from the Timbertalks event, noting that buyers seek increased transparency and autonomy in the sales process. This shift underscores the need for adaptability in sales approaches to align with changing customer expectations.

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When asked what steps they have taken as a sales organisation to develop buyer and customer-centricity, the answers were:

Alper Yurder's approach demonstrates a sharp dedication to customer-centricity within the sales organisation. Rather than referring to it as client success, they prioritise client happiness, reflecting a commitment to inspiring clients, sharing best practices, and showcasing real-world use cases. Alper notes that while their product's user-friendliness is inherent, they recognise the importance of meeting clients' broader needs. Operating as an early-stage startup, they maintain close connections with clients but are also actively developing processes to sustain this as they scale. Their focus spans the entire buyer journey, ensuring optimisation at every step for both prospects and clients.

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From Wissam Tabbara 's perspective, Truebase cultivates a holistic customer-centric culture beyond just the sales department. Their core values are public and underscored, with 'Customer Obsession' holding a central place. Their product roadmap evolves incrementally based on customer usage, demonstrating a commitment to refining their offerings in response to actual needs. Wissam places notable emphasis on lost prospects, viewing each instance as an opportunity for improvement and growth, carefully dissecting objections raised for further enhancement.

Matt Garman's strategy involves centralising the customer in all aspects of the organisation's operations. He advocates for processes designed to assist the customer rather than solely improving internal efficiency. This aligns with his core principle of placing customers at the forefront of every decision, ensuring their experience is consistently elevated.?

Justin Leigh - Business Growth Coach ’s approach involves fostering partnerships with clients, particularly those who operate through channels. Collaboratively enhancing their channel partners' sales capabilities becomes a focal point. Through this approach, he contributes to his client's success and their partners' and customers', elevating their collective experiences.

Comparably, Grant Lira adopts a proactive approach in his interactions with prospects. He openly communicates the purpose of the call, focusing on understanding the gap between their current state and the desired outcome. This upfront transparency sets the stage for meaningful discussions about potential next steps, aligning the conversation with the prospect's needs.?

Eamonn O'Brien's philosophy centres on relentless dedication to personal relatability and relevance. He underscores the importance of recognising that all selling interactions are inherently personal, regardless of the nature of the engagement. Eamonn's perspective drives him to establish connections that resonate deeply with each client.

Offering one tried and tested strategy on how to scale sales.?

Alper Yurder imparts a proven strategy for scaling sales: recognising that most selling occurs internally when the salesperson isn't present. Drawing from extensive interviews with sellers and buyers, he introduces the concept of 3As: availability, autonomy, and authority, which buyers seek. He emphasises that contemporary buying patterns mirror the shift from asking strangers to take our pictures to taking selfies whenever we desire. Alper proposes the "3 selfies" approach to align with this trend: make your selling compatible with self-paced, self-served, self-empowered.

Grant Lira suggests a strategy centred on empowering potential clients throughout the sales process, guiding them towards a mutually beneficial partnership if their needs align. This involves creating value based on their unique priorities and solutions that effectively address their challenges, fostering meaningful sales conversations.

Mick Gosset 's strategy involves transparency and structure, focusing on adapting to the buyer's process rather than imposing a sales process. By providing guidance, expertise, and best practice advice while accommodating the buyer's journey, sales professionals can create a positive and effective sales experience.

Sara Brooks offers a systematic approach to scaling sales by proving the product's value to the customer. This includes:??

• Demonstrating what the before and after would be?
• Calculate and show current cost vs. saving or added value?
• Provide transparent pricing, including potential costs for growing or reducing the package in the future?
• Solution validation to remove doubt in the product capability of trials?
• references?
• remove risks?
• Provide accurate and detailed onboarding plan and ongoing support.

For Tonya Bjurstrom , focusing on understanding your sales process from your customer's perspective is a proven strategy. Conducting Win/Loss interviews with customers can yield valuable insights into the buying experience when it's still recent in their memory.

Matt Garman's strategy involves empathising with the customer's perspective and streamlining the buying process for maximum ease and convenience, aligning with their needs and preferences.

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In parallel, Eamonn O'Brien advocates prioritising the customer's reasons over one's own when assisting them in purchasing decisions. This approach not only leads to better outcomes but also fosters customer satisfaction.

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Rob May introduces a powerful sales question for effective scaling. He advises asking customers to rate their readiness to sign a contract on a scale of 1 to 10, then delving deeper. "If they answer 7, ask, why aren't we a 6? No one ever expects that, and they then tell you everything they like about your pitch. Once they've told you that, you can ask, "How can we get to 10?".?

Jamie Crosbie 's tried-and-true approach focuses on cultivating a high-performance culture with top-performing sales talent and nurturing robust referral partnerships, all of which contribute to scaling sales successfully.

Lastly, Justin Leigh - Business Growth Coach 's approach revolves around forging partnerships with clients, particularly those operating through channels. This approach benefits both the client and their partners by elevating the sales capabilities of channel partners, ultimately resulting in enhanced customer experiences and effective scaling. ?

Drawing from the insights of Scale Your Sales Podcast expert guests, a comprehensive guide emerges for optimizing sales operations and prioritizing customer-driven growth strategies. Remember, success follows the right actions. It is about fostering lasting relationships, comprehending distinct needs, and weaving a narrative of unparalleled value. Equipped with these expert-endorsed strategies, you are ready to navigate sales with precision and a customer-centric focus.

Thank you to all Scale Your Sales Podcast guests who generously shared their insights and experiences.

Please take a moment to listen to the full Scale Your Sales podcast interviews with each guest and connect with the experts on LinkedIn.

Which of the guest responses most challenged your thinking??We look forward to your comments.

Sara Brooks

Mick Gosset

Tonya Bjurstrom

Rob May

Jamie Crosbie

Eamonn O'Brien, Strategic Storytelling Expert

Rupert Deering

Alper Yurder

Grant Lira

Wissam Tabbara

Justin Leigh - Business Growth Coach

Matt Garman - The Corporate Adventurer?