Sales Transformation - #225 S2 Episode 94 - A Revenue Leader That Writes Code & Books with Jeremey Donovan

#225 S2 Episode 94 - A Revenue Leader That Writes Code & Books with Jeremey Donovan

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01/10/22 • 27 min

Sales Transformation

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HIGHLIGHTS

From semiconductor engineer to serial salesperson
Rolling up the sleeves: Moving from Fortune 1000 to smaller companies
Smaller companies don't have red tape
Coding on the side and forecasting quotas
You can be a coder and a leader, but it may take some convincing
Writing a book is not usually lucrative, but do it anyway

QUOTES

Jeremy: “A cog in the wheel is the wrong way to put it but I felt that way sometimes that I had to stay in my lane very tightly. And then when I got into leadership at those bigger companies, I felt like my whole day was just meetings, this is long before the 'Zoom' world.”

Jeremy: “One can delegate and code. You can be both. But a lot of companies I've worked in, you're sort of branded and it's hard for people to maintain in their heads that you can both be a great leader and a high impact contributor. It's really hard for people to manage those simultaneous brands.”

Jeremy: “Know that if you want to be a wicked coder, or hacker, I should say, that may, in weird ways, limit your career opportunities. What's important is to understand what's possible -- that you need to know. And if you're not gonna code, you need to find somebody who can code.”

Jeremy: "I can't remember the exact statistics but basically you just go in expecting you're gonna lose time and money writing books. I believe the reason you should write, particularly, business non-fiction books is because you're trying to figure something out and you're trying to structure those thoughts and learn and understand and then great if someone else picks it up."

Learn more about Jeremy in the links below:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremeydonovan/
TruPeer: https://truepeer.com/
Email: [email protected]
Book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Deliver-TED-Talk-Presentations/dp/1468179993

Also, you can join our community by checking out @salescast.community. If you're a sales professional looking to take your career to greater heights, please visit us at https://salescast.co/ and set a call with Collin and Chris.

Book Your Free Revenue First Podcast Strategy here!

Get Your Free Dial Session here!

Claim Your Free 200 Leads here!

HIGHLIGHTS

From semiconductor engineer to serial salesperson
Rolling up the sleeves: Moving from Fortune 1000 to smaller companies
Smaller companies don't have red tape
Coding on the side and forecasting quotas
You can be a coder and a leader, but it may take some convincing
Writing a book is not usually lucrative, but do it anyway

QUOTES

Learn more about Jeremy in the links below:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremeydonovan/
TruPeer: https://truepeer.com/
Email: [email protected]
Book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Deliver-TED-Talk-Presentations/dp/1468179993

Previous Episode

#224 S2 Episode 93 - From SDR to Sales Leader with Pradeep Sridar

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Get Your Free Dial Session here!

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HIGHLIGHTS

Less about the product, more about the client
Ask only the questions that you really care about
Connect with the problem and close with the value
The disadvantages of using a call script
Painful transition from SDR to AE
You can't teach negotiation skills
Salespeople need to fundamentally believe in their product
Adapt to the evolving sales technologies to avoid getting antiquated

QUOTES

Pradeep: "I hate call scripts. But the things is I can help you with the framework. Using that framework, if you are able to generate value for your buyer, you can be extremely successful. If you're failing, then keep doing it again and again, and eventually you'll learn."

Pradeep: "The problem with call scripts is that you're just taking one person's opinion, and they are imposing it on tons of different people. And that often, to me, creates cringeworthy moments. Because even if I want to think of all the personas of Wingman, I cannot think of it in a blink. I'm only thinking about one persona, like the VP of sales. Then it might not appeal to a sales manager."

Pradeep: "When you're hiring freshers, you will hire people who are incredibly passionate about selling. You hire people who are natural talkers, natural conversational-builders, and who genuinely care about customers. You look for all these traits. So, if all of this are in the check box, then you should let them operate in their way for quite a while to even understand and get to know-how of what their style is. Else you will just be making a flock of sheep."

Pradeep: “In this kind of a complex marketing-driven, marketing-lead, then sales-led buyer persona, it is extremely important that you create value to every step of your sales process. And call scripts, they basically break that.”

Pradeep: “You just got to stick with the value. And for that, as a salesperson, you need to fundamentally believe in the product. If you're not believing in the product, that is exactly why I'm saying negotiation cannot be coached. Because salespeople are not believing in the product, then they are just going to keep throwing away discounts.”

Pradeep: “If you're not going to adopt these technologies, eventually, you're going to get antiquated. Because with the kind of millennial sales people, the way they think the way they sell is all different. They are too focused on the buyers and not very much focused on the admin work.”

Learn more about Pradeep in the links below:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pradeep-sridar/
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.trywingman.com/

Learn more about Collin in the link below:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/collin-saleshustle/

Next Episode

#226 S2 Episode 95 - Staring In Commission Only Sales To Cybersecurity Sales with Kevin Bartlett

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HIGHLIGHTS

A rebel without a cause
Getting into selling commission-only real estate by accident
Always test what works for you
Find your "why" and go from there
From real estate to medical device sales
Growing up with learning disabilities and developing a fighting spirit
Following a leader and transition to IT and cybersecurity

QUOTES

Kevin: "I think it's kind of in my nature. We'll call it a rebel without a cause. I kind of liked to pave my own path. I liked to work hard. I liked to play hard. So in doing so, everything I learned from sales while in school was you kind of create your own path. To me that was exciting."

Collin: "Not everyone is for sales, but not everyone is for commission-only sales."

Kevin: "I love the idea of just trying different things too. Hey I have been doing this and I have some moderate success. Let's go try this and let's test it, maybe I'll get some more success, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll create a blend of the two. I think that's part of the evolution as we continue to push and get better and don't just rest on our laurels.”

Kevin: "I always had a chip on the shoulder or almost, like an insecurity like, man, I wish I could read like you and understand that. I wish I could remember that. I wish. So early in life I said that that hurt me internally. But later on in life, it's become like a super power like I recognize that I own it and it's part of who I am."

Kevin: "Look in the mirror, you're not competing with anyone else. There's a lot of things in the world that are gonna distract you and you're gonna look at people's highlight reels and look at that mirror and make that person proud and I think that's kind of what drives me."

Learn more about Kevin in the links below: