P.S.I. Selling

When revenue planning goes really wrong, it’s usually not because of bad math. It’s because of bad judgment. Companies often start planning too late, failing to take account of the lead time they need to get ahead of their sales cycles. Startup founders used to acting fast and driving quick results need to adjust to a world where today’s outcomes have a lot to do with moves they made six months ago… or even longer. What’s worse, it’s easy to be in denial about the challenges

In The JOLT Effect , Matthew Dixon and Ted McKenna highlight a critical barrier to purchasing decisions: customer indecision. 40-60% of deals end in "no decision" limbo in which customers express the intent to purchase but never buy.  Why don't those deals go through?  Customers fear messing up more than missing out. In other words, they may agree that they should change but they fear the negative consequences of making a bad decision. The book introduces the JOLT method—a fr

Leadership transitions are among the most critical periods in any career: Your first few months strongly predict your overall performance...

We tell our sales reps to "level up" their conversations so they can persuade executives to make a purchase. But what do we train them on? Product demos and competitive battle cards. In other words, we fill their heads with features and then wonder why they can't engage effectively with executives who care about business outcomes. Let's give our reps the business background they need to persuade serious decision makers. This collection of blog posts will help AEs understand t

This article contains summaries of the videos on the P.S.I. Selling Presentations Page . Together, they provide an overview of the the core of the P.S.I. Selling methodology. Each entry below can stand on its own as an introduction to the topic or as a way to quickly review the material in the video. You can also review them all in a series to familiarize yourself with the entire methodology. Below is a table of contents with clickable links that will take you to each of the

Being a good talker isn’t enough to win complex deals. Prospects usually make their decision during an internal conversation when you’re not in the room. Your champion might meet with their VP and their CFO to make the case for a purchase.  If you can’t influence that conversation, you’re leaving money on the table. So how do you influence it? Start by mastering persuasive sales writing. If you write well, their executives will engage with your written materials when they mak

"What Great Salespeople Do" argues that sales is fundamentally emotional rather than logical. Traditional approaches that rely on ROI...

Andy Grove's "High Output Management" applies engineering principles to management, creating a framework that helps leaders prioritize...

Mark Roberge's "The Sales Acceleration Formula" offers a comprehensive framework for developing and scaling effective sales teams....

Negotiation doesn't have to be a positional battle of wills where both sides start with extreme positions and gradually make minimal...

Want to master some of the best sales ideas out there and some of the business concepts that SaaS salespeople need to know? These digests will get you up to speed quickly. Where should you start? These my are top three recommendations for sales reps: SPIN Selling The Challenger Sale Strategic Selling Sales Reading The resources below will help you master the fundamental ideas of effective selling. SPIN Selling : Learn the art of effective discovery that helps you uncover need

In "The Innovator's Solution," Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor provide a framework for creating sustainable growth through...

In "SPIN Selling," Neil Rackham argues that the key to sales success in complex sales is to build the customer's perception of value through effective questioning early in the sales process. He disagrees with conventional wisdom that argues that selling is about handling objections and deploying closing techniques. Rackham recommends that reps ask several layers of questions about the customer's problems and get the customer to articulate the importance of solving those probl

In "Good Strategy/Bad Strategy," Richard Rumelt presents a clear framework for understanding effective business strategy. Good strategy...

"The Challenger Sale" advocates for an assertive approach to sales based on teaching customers something valuable that leads them to want what your product offers, tailoring messages to different stakeholders, and taking control of the sales process. This approach stands in contrast to traditional sales approaches that are focused on building personal relationships or asking questions to uncover needs. The Challenger Sale's key insight is that success is as much about provi

Miller and Heiman's "The New Strategic Selling" argues that success in selling to large organizations comes down to building a coalition in favor of a purchase by speaking to the specific interests of each member of the buying committee. This book is useful for sales reps seeking to sell to complex organizations because it provides a framework for understanding how to persuade different types of buyers. The Four Buying Influences in the Complex Sale Complex sales involve mul

What's a really practical way to shorten sales cycles? No, don't put a gun to your sales team's head. Instead, give them a deal guide!...