Summary:
Gone were the days when hitting hundreds of cold calls or sending thousands of emails were the trend. As SDRs get smarter and tools more sophisticated, it’s not about the quantity of leads you have anymore – rather the quality of them and the process on how you actually get these leads as paying customers.
Today, David interviews Sahil Mansuri, CEO of Bravado, a new platform that aims to make salespeople who give value to stand out more. Sahil shares a multitude of insights and examples from his past and present experiences in sales. Listen as he talks about what importance personalization plays in getting your leads to notice you, why it’s more about the service differentiation these days, and what benefits you get from being the person to provide value to people.
3 Key Points:
1. Stand out from the crowd by being extremely personalized with your approach.
2. No automation or robot will understand your clients’ pain points — use that to your edge by being the person to solve their problems.
3. Differentiate your product or service to people by providing them real value.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
- 00:00 – Subscribe to our show on YouTube and review us on iTunes
- 00:37 – David welcomes Sahil to the show
- 01:13 – Sahil shares how he met David 7 years ago
- 01:24 – They were both part of the first classes of salespeople hired by Glass Door
- 01:45 – Sahil ended up in product & marketing at Sales Predict, a lead scoring platform
- 02:12 – He recently founded Bravado, a place where salespeople can build reputation and credibility
- 03:01 – Sales development for Sahil is now on 2 different planes
- 03:12 – “I think sales teams are getting smarter”
- 03:40 – SDR teams are getting more sophisticated
- 04:23 – Buyers are getting sick of getting cold calls and generic emails, and ultimately, they are frustrated and distrustful of sales development practices
- 07:28 – Personalization is KEY
- 08:34 – Being extremely personal with messaging is something Sahil saw that’s most effective when he was in Sales Predict
- 09:34 – You only have one chance — make sure that when you reach out, you’re being personal and targeted
- 13:00 – It’s laziness when SDR teams use quantity to cover quality
- 13:42 – Sahil talks about his Meltwater experience
- 14:12 – Every single PR person in the list has been called and everybody hated Meltwater — it took years to repair the relationship
- 14:55 – Learn to be respectful
- 15:45 – Bravado was built for warm intros and referrals
- 16:30 – 71% of customers are willing to give testimonials or referrals for products they enjoy using
- 16:54 – Only 11% of sales people are willing to ask for testimonials or referrals
- 17:51 – The future is building your business through referrals
- 19:11 – Utilize every single referenceable customer that you have to build a community of ambassadors
- 20:25 – Bravado focuses on the single methodology of asking for referrals
- 21:43 – There is a time and place for outbound outreach
- 22:06 – Sahil walks us through how they did outreach at Virool
- 26:11 – It’s important to invest in a mighty sales process
- 26:50 – Make sure every email is VALUABLE, PERSONAL, and something that will NOT EMBARRASS your company
- 28:26 – Sahil hates when companies think that leads are prey for hunting
- 30:47 – Step away from volume and focus on quality
- 32:27 – “We just need to hold on a higher standard of what success is”
- 32:40 – Creating a GREAT EXPERIENCE for a buyer that makes them want to engage with your brand is SUCCESS
- 34:10 – Focus on creating REAL VALUE with every interaction
- 36:23 – Growth EQUALS Retention
- 37:30 – Sahil was a customer first before he joined Sales Predict
- 38:00 – Retain and delight your customers and you will magically get more
- 39:45 – “Growing without a scalable product and market fit is suicidal”
- 42:12 – Sahil talks about why sales territories doesn’t make sense for him
- 44:49 – “The only way you should get into an account is if you get referred to it”
- 46:39 – Concept of territory makes sense within industry
- 48:22 – Create industry expertise within your sales team
- 51:17 – Today, it’s all about service differentiation
- 54:28 – Become a source of information for people
- 57:49 – Try to spark a conversation and create value in that
- 58:30 – No robot will deeply understand your clients’ pains — build your brand as a trusted advisor
- 01:00:21 – Sahil built Bravado because as a buyer, he had a difficult time choosing who to trust
- 01:01:17 – He mentions Breezy, a representative from Moo.com
- 01:04:32 – Bravado aims to create a way to make salespeople who give value to stand out
- 01:05:25 – Bravado wants to ensure that people who join them are ones who are people centric
- 01:05:56 – The waitlist is open! Sign up at Bravado.me
- 01:07:23 – David and Sahil talk about John, a great person in sales
- 01:09:35 – Be honest, be transparent, and be yourself
- 01:12:10 – “Be known as the breath of fresh air”
- 01:14:00 – Subscribe to our show on YouTube and review us on iTunes
- 01:14:10 – Contact us to discuss your sales development needs
Resources Mentioned:
- Bravado – Sahil’s new venture where salespeople can build reputation and credibility
- Glass Door – Company where David and Sahil met
- Sales Predict, Meltwater, and Virool – Past companies where Sahil has worked with
- Moo.com – Website where Sahil found an outstanding representative
