Scaling Sales Development Ali Irshad, Top Hat Sales Hacker Series - Toronto February 11, 2015

1. PICTURE IT…

2. Asking for the date…
Let me think about it
I never make decisions on the spot
I’ll get back to you if I’m interested
I’m swamped… Can I get back to you in a few weeks?
Now’s not a good time
Maybe next quarter
Let me talk to my colleagues and I’ll get back to you
I’m definitely interested, follow up with me in 2016

3. Asking for the sale…
Let me think about it
I never make decisions on the spot
I’ll get back to you if I’m interested
I’m swamped… Can I get back to you in a few weeks?
Now’s not a good time
Maybe next quarter
Let me talk to my colleagues and I’ll get back to you
I’m definitely interested, follow up with me in 2016

4. What would you do?
• A) Would you still negotiate a follow up in the future
even though you didn’t convince the DM on the phone
because there is no harm in a follow up?
• B) Would you recognize there is no deal this moment,
but send regular emails to check-in, in hopes that they
can be turned by your constant presence?
• C) Would you mentally walk away or take the
opportunity away from the prospect because you don’t
have time to chase weak scenarios?

5. THE
FEAR OF
LOSS

6. ANOTHER EPISODE OF:

7. From: Johnny
Subject: Thank you For connecting
Hi Ali - thank you again for taking a few minutes to connect. It sounds
like we found a great use case for at Top Hat, so I'm excited
to help bring your team on board with a trial.
Please feel free to send my contact information to marketing and we
can work towards getting your teams into their accounts.
Thank you again and I look forward to working with you moving
forward
Date: 9/23/2014

8. From: Johnny
Subject: Staying on top of mind
Good afternoon, Ali - I haven't heard from you yet and was reaching
out to stay top of mind.
Looking forward to connecting with you and discussing next steps for
a trial.
Date: 9/25/2014

9. From: Johnny
Subject: Thank you For connecting
Hi Ali - I just tried giving you a call to see how the internal discussions
were going. Feel free to give me a call back or shoot back a quick
response.
Excited to get things running.
Date: 10/06/2014

10. From: Ali Irshad
Subject: Update
Johnny,
As a quick update, I don’t believe I’m in a position to take advantage
of your offer.
We decided to focus on different initiatives within the sales team, and
our marketing team is putting all efforts into building new content for
us.
Although I did appreciate your demonstration this will not be a
priority initiative for us within at least the next 6 months.
Put me down as a task for end of first quarter 2015 we can catch up
then.
Date: 10/07/2014

11. From: Johnny
Subject: Thank you For connecting
Hi Ali - thanks so much for the update. I agree with you completely
that it's always best to run a well qualified trial and not rush into it. I'll
be sure to reach out to you in early 2015 to begin an evaluation once
you are prepared.
Thanks again.
Date: 10/08/2014

12. From: Johnny
Subject: Great Content
Hi Ali - hope your end of month is going well. Last time we spoke, you
mentioned that you wanted to wait until there was better content
available for your team to utilize. I did some digging on the website
and happened to find some pretty great collateral.
I liked learning about Mobile as a learning device as well as Cell
Phones in the Classroom. I found the presentation on Integrating
Student Response into the Classroom to be the most visually
stimulating.
I would love to begin conversations with regards to introducing this to
sales team. Are you available for a quick connect in the next week?
Date: 10/30/2014

13. From: Johnny
Subject: Heads Up
Hi Ali - I wanted to give you a heads up with what's going on here. Due
to the short months of November and December, I would be able to
work out a fantastic promotion if we can resume conversations and
work towards a December trial.
When can we connect to discuss some next steps in order to get your
team into their accounts?
Date: 11/11/2014

14. From: Johnny
Subject: Set something up…
Hi Ali - I would like to grab a few minutes of your time so we can
establish a timeline to introduce our service to you. I know you and I
found some great value for the team, so I would like to discuss some
next steps together.
Are you available for a quick chat this week?
Date: 12/08/2014

15. From: Johnny
Subject: Just sitting by the phone…
Date: 12/17/2014

16. From: Johnny
Subject: Professional Courtesy
Hi Ali - Haven't heard from you in a couple months now with regards
to setting up a trial for Top Hat. Let me know if this is still something
on the radar for your team.
Date: 01/20/2015

17. From: Johnny
Subject: RE: Professional Courtesy
Ali - just bubbling this up to the top of what I'm sure is a very busy
inbox. Appreciate your thoughts
Date: 01/28/2015

18. From: Johnny
Subject: Opened Emails…
Ali - I see that my emails are being opened (see image). I would
appreciate knowing where we stand with regards to introducing our
service to your sales team.
Date: 01/28/2015

19. EMAILS SINCE DEMO
JOHNNY ALI
11 1
CONSECUTIVE EMAILS SINCE
PROSPECTS LAST INTERACTION
FINAL EMAIL SINCE PROSPECTS
LAST INTERACTION IN DAYS
9
99

20. Why People DON’T buy
1. They don’t believe the issue or problem to be
big enough to solve right now
2. They don’t believe your solution is the right
one for the problem

21. Recognizing Symptoms of Fear of Loss
• Treating everything as a special case
• Leaving multiple emails/voicemails without a
response
• Holding on until the prospect says NO
• Never “close lost” run demo’s
• Making excuses for the prospect
• Denial!

22. Overcoming Fear of Loss
• Calling out what you see
• Asking more challenging and uncomfortable
questions
• Don’t let them off the phone
• Lean into NO’s
• Disqualifying prospects
• Creating “Out’s” for the prospect
• Never allowing the relationship to turn into
email exchanges

23. My Parting Advice
• Play defense on your pipeline
• Disqualify as much as you qualify
• Watch your tone
• Don’t end the demo without a clear game
plan established with the prospect.
• Be indifferent
• Always remember why people don’t buy