In one of the latest episodes of How I sell, LinkedIn’s Chief Operating Officer, Dan Shapero, answered some of the most burning questions we can ask from the leader who oversaw LTS’ growth from a $50-million-a-year business to a $1.5-billion-a-year business during his sales leader carrier which helped the company on its path to becoming the $7-billion-a-year business it is today.
Read along to learn about Dan’s sales philosophy, how to be a best seller, and more.
Dan’s sales philosophy
“Great selling is about helping a customer see massive opportunities more clearly, and galvanize the customer organization to take action in pursuing them. s…] Ultimately, the best sellers are relentlessly invested in their customer’s success, and are comfortable bringing strong points of view that help the customer solve problems.”
Activities and mindset to coach your sales team
- Understand your buyers: Buyers want you to understand them and have a more opinionated perspective that helps them unlock their organization's value.
- Multithread: Lean into the idea of buyer groups and make sure you find the influential people in the room.
🤫 The most influential people in the room are not always the most senior folks.
Find that right person who/s deep in the topic yet senior enough to have a voice. - Find hidden allies: Potential allies know who you are, know what you care about, and see you as someone trusted and effective.
🤫 Dan shares that companies don’t recognize these hidden opportunities. If you understand the importance of finding these people, you can be ahead of the game and find more open doors. - Share thought leadership on places like LinkedIn, because buyers are curious about sellers and more and more start connecting with them based on the content they share.
The great seller
“The best sellers are the ones that can understand how to build connections with their customers, map out an organization, and help that organization solve a problem. l…] My experience with great sellers is that they make the most of every opportunity. Deep sales unlocks that because deep sales is incredibly powerful in taking small, successful relationships that you have with a customer and turning them into huge, powerful relationships across that organization.”
Tips on building credibility
Sharing facts before you share opinions. You can take inspiration from these starters:
- “I've read your usage data and see the following trends emerging…”
- “I've talked to your team members and this is what they say.”
- “I've analyzed your peers and this is what they do that's different from what you do.”
You have to say something that your buyer haven’t heard before.
Make sure you've done various things that laid the groundwork to build credibility that makes you worth listening to.
I highly recommend reading the full blog post and hear more about what’s Dan the most excited about in sales, what he thinks about B2B businesses, how he chose next hires and more. There are so many great insights, it’s pure gold! Please let us know in the comment which tip resonates with you the most.
