To download the event program click here.

The Head Of Sales Symposium, Australia’s exclusive gathering for B2B sales leaders and teams, is set to launch 20 August 2024 in Sydney. Sponsored by SugarCRM and organised by headofsales.com.au, the country’s foremost sales publication boasting over 25,000 annual visitors, the Symposium promises a powerhouse line-up of experienced business leaders, industry experts, bestselling authors, and international speakers.

In an era where economic volatility and fierce competition redefine success metrics, the Symposium emerges as a vital platform. Recent statistics reveal that more than half of sales professionals struggle to meet targets consistently, while a staggering 80% of sales leaders express doubts about having the right team to achieve success. These challenges not only strain bottom lines but also impact mental health and overall wellbeing.

Designed as a half-day intensive, the Symposium features four educational presentations and a panel discussion.The event, hosted at the prestigious five-star venue L’Aqua, promises a premium experience with gourmet meals, afternoon tea, canapés, and networking drinks against the backdrop of Darling Harbour’s stunning waterfront views.

The Head Of Sales Symposium is proud to feature a distinguished lineup of speakers, each bringing a wealth of expertise and insights to empower B2B sales leaders and professionals. Tony Hughes, renowned for his 35 years of corporate and sales leadership across the Asia-Pacific region, is Co-founder and Sales Innovation Director at Sales IQ Global. His accolades include being ranked a top global sales blogger and thought leader by LinkedIn, with a substantial following and multiple bestselling books under his belt, including “COMBO Prospecting” and “Tech-Powered Sales”.

Cian McLoughlin, CEO of Trinity Perspectives, brings a global perspective to sales transformation, specialising in Win Loss Analysis. Originally from Dublin and now based in Sydney, Cian’s ethical approach to sales has resonated with ASX and Fortune 500 clients, supported by his Amazon #1 bestseller “Rebirth of the Salesman” and consistent recognition in the Top 50 Sales Blogs and Books.

Charmaine Keegan, Director of Smarter Selling, is a prominent figure in sales training with certifications in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and a deep interest in human psychology. With over 30 years of experience and numerous authored eBooks, Charmaine empowers sales leaders to excel with integrity and authority, making her a sought-after speaker internationally.

Sue Barrett, Founder and CEO of Barrett and salesessentials.com, is a pioneer in human-centered sales strategies, advocating for ethical practices and emotional intelligence. A transformative figure in business and community activism, Sue’s leadership in the Selling Better Movement and commitment to ethical business cultures highlight her impact beyond sales training, including founding the March4Justice movement and promoting women’s empowerment through initiatives like Sell Like A Woman.

Together, these speakers represent the forefront of B2B sales innovation, offering Symposium attendees actionable strategies, ethical frameworks, and transformative insights to navigate today’s competitive sales landscape with integrity and success. Their collective expertise promises to inspire and equip sales professionals at every level to achieve sustainable growth and leadership in their fields.

Key takeaways for attendees include strategies to implement new sales tactics, insights into emerging market trends, techniques to enhance customer acquisition and retention, pathways for career advancement, and unparalleled networking opportunities with like-minded B2B sales professionals.

“We are thrilled to host the Head Of Sales Symposium, providing a critical forum for industry leaders to navigate the complexities of today’s sales landscape,” said Joseph Sing Publisher of headofsales.com.au. “This event is not just about knowledge-sharing but fostering connections and equipping our attendees with actionable strategies to thrive amidst adversity.”

Adam Frank, Vice President and General Manager, APAC at SugarCRM, expressed excitement about the upcoming symposium, highlighting its significance for B2B sales professionals in Australia. He stated, “The B2B sales professional in Australia has historically been starved of opportunities for professional development on this scale. Till now. Never before have so many industry powerhouses been gathered under one roof and it promises to be a fantastic experience for learning and networking alike. I for one am very excited in seeing this symposium going live, and am honoured that SugarCRM is a founding sponsor.”

First release pricing ends 31st July. For more information and registration details, visit https://www.headofsales.com.au/symposium/

About The Head Of Sales Symposium: Starting 12.00pm Tuesday 20th August at L’Aqua in Darling Harbour. Delegates attend a ‘half day‘ of four educational presentations, one panel and two networking sessions. There event is curated for sales leaders and for sales professionals. The event is fully catered at a five-star venue with a sit down lunch, afternoon tea, canapes and networking drinks at sunset.

About headofsales.com.au: Headquartered in Sydney, headofsales.com.au is Australia’s leading online publication dedicated to B2B sales insights, attracting a diverse audience of industry professionals seeking cutting-edge strategies and thought leadership.

About L’Aqua: Located in the heart of Darling Harbour, L’Aqua is renowned for its sophisticated event spaces, panoramic views, and exceptional service, making it the ideal venue for premier corporate gatherings.

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Here are 7 of the best formulas that boost email reply rates. Each example highlights the language that shows each formula.

(1) Before-After-Bridge (BAB)

Before! Here’s your world now
After! Imagine what the world would be like if you solved this problem
Bridge! Here’s how to get there

Copy template below to email

(2) Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS)

Problem! Identify a pain point
Agitate! Agitate that pain point
Solve! Offer a solution

Copy template below to email

(3) Star-Chain-Hook

Star! The big idea
Chain! A series of facts, sources, reasons, and benefits
Hook! The call to action

Copy template below to email

(4) Attention–Interest–Desire– Action (AIDA)

Attention! Grab the reader’s attention
Interest! Make it personal to engage their interest
Desire! Build desire for what you’re offering
Action! Ask for a response

Copy template below to email

(5) The 3-B Plan

Brevity! Keep it short
Blunt! Get to the point
Basic! Keep it simple
Give the reader a clear sense of who you are and what you want from them.

And get to the point quickly

Copy template below to email

(6) Praise-Picture-Push (3P’s)

Praise! Open with a sincere, respectful compliment
Picture! Use cause-and-effect reasoning to paint a picture describing how your product/service/idea will deliver
Push! Ask them to commit

Copy template below to email

(7) Awareness-Comprehension- Conviction-Action (ACCA)

Awareness! Present the situation or problem
Comprehension! Describe how it will impact them
Conviction! Create desire by explaining how your solution fixes the problem
Action! Ask for a response

Copy template below to email

Sourced from the e-book “10 Cold Email Formulas That Just Plain Work” produced by Yesware.

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Albert is fanatical about his work, striving to deliver value to companies he works with and the people within his team. He brings extensive expertise across Banking, Financial Services and Insurance and core focus areas in Financial Crime, Fraud, Data, Analytics and Identity.

In his free time, Albert is a passionate target rifle shooter and volunteer, serving as Director of NRAA, Chairman of the Victorian Rifle Association and Vice-Captain of the Australian F-Open Rifle Team,

(1) What was your first sales role and in which industry?

My first sales role was when I left South Africa in 2006 and moved to New Zealand. I had to find a job pretty fast to secure a work permit and found myself selling EFTPOS terminals to small retailers. The role was entirely phone based and taught me incredibly valuable lessons in how to be successful as a salesperson. 

(2) What was the first lesson you learnt on the job?

My first lesson as a sales professional was that input equals output. It’s a rather simple one, but one that had a huge impact, especially in a role that offered remuneration directly linked to my efforts. If I put in the work, hit the phones, engage with clients, follow up on my leads with determination and grit, the dollars will start to roll in. I understood very quickly that if I apply this simple lesson, I could take control of my own destiny and be in control of how much money I get to take home every month. With a young family at the time, this was incredibly valuable. 

(3) How or why did you become a sales professional?

What’s interesting is that I didn’t become a sales professional by choice. I moved to New Zealand 15 years ago and I needed a job. However, once I fell into sales, I never looked back.

Sales is the only profession that can shape the culture of an organisation. As salespeople, we get to engage with everyone across an organisation, be it the product development team, operations, marketing, procurement, customer service etc. The culture of the sales team will shape the overall culture of an organisation. In a nutshell, the sales team has the power to drive a high-performance culture, and to shift and lift a culture through accountability.

(4) How would you describe your approach to sales and what are the values that you live by?

My approach to sales is two-pronged. Firstly, in order to be great at selling, one has to be inquisitive. You have to be curious about what are the challenges of your clients, understand their pain points and their long-term goals. Being a great sales professional goes beyond just closing deals. It’s about providing solutions to your clients.

By being curious and genuinely wanting to know about your clients, you will be able to unlock trust and value. The clients will quickly understand you are committed to their success and will start to see you as their partner, an extension of their team. If you can unlock trust as a sales professional, your clients will keep coming back to you, even if you don’t close that deal today.

In terms of the values I live by, I’m a man of my word. If I say I’m going to do something, you bet I will follow through with it. It makes me reliable, it builds trust with my team, clients, and other stakeholders. I don’t over-promise and under-deliver and if I make a mistake, I’ll own up to it.

(5) In your view, what are the three most important factors that determine sales success?

In my experience, the three most important factors are:

Taking action – to be successful in sales, you need to have the willingness to spring into action and be proactive about it. You can’t afford to sit back and wait. You need to have the willingness to make phone calls, go door-knocking if you have to, engage with your clients, etc.

Curiosity – if you ask the right questions, you will uncover your client’s pain point and therefore will be in a better position to offer the right solution for them

Drive – a successful sales professional is also one who has a never-ending hunger in the belly. This hunger is what will keep you going, hit those numbers and build up your sales pipeline.

(6) What did/do you love about sales?

What I find the most exciting and rewarding is when I get to see how my clients, or others are positively impacted by the solutions I provide to them. Especially in my current role at GBG where we help create an environment where everyone can transact online with confidence by reducing the risk of fraud, there is a bigger societal impact to what we do. Cyber criminals and fraudsters use stolen money to trade children, slaves, drugs. To know that in my role at GBG I am contributing to putting an end to this, is deeply rewarding.

(7) What did/do you dislike about sales?

The perception that people have of sales professionals is what I don’t like. We are often seen as manipulators, liars and money-driven vultures. And to defy this perception comes with the job, day in day out.

(8) Tell us about your most memorable sale and why.

The biggest highlight of my sales career is when I closed a multi-million deal with one of the four banks, at a company where the average order value was $10K. It took 18 months and multiple conversations across the organisations to find out how each department would benefit from the software I was selling at the time, in order to finally get it over the line.

(9) What is the best piece of advice a sales manager passed on to you when you were in sales?

The best advice I received very early on in my career was that there are multiple ways to achieve success in sales, depending on your personality, the industry you’re in, what you’re selling etc. Very often, once sales professionals reach their high, they think they’ve unlocked the secret formula to closing deals. And they tend to believe that their approach is the only approach that works, which is not true.

So, it’s important to be open-minded to other people’s approaches, learn from them and keep evolving your own formula for success.

(10) What do you wish you had known when you first started out in sales that you know now?

I wish I had known that I didn’t need to buy the most expensive suit and tie for people to take me seriously. While how you present yourself as a salesperson is important, it’s not what will impress your stakeholders. 

(11) What traits do you believe are critical for success in sales management and sales leadership?

Support – Get to know your team and their preferred ways of working. Provide the support, resources and training they need and commit to their success and their professional development. Ultimately, you are only as successful as your sales team

Accountability –  Hold yourself and your team accountable and be ready to have the hard conversations. 

(12) What is the secret for sales leaders to get the best out of their teams?

Clarity of message is of utmost importance. Very often, the reason why sales teams don’t deliver is not because they are not hardworking or don’t have the right skills. It’s because they didn’t understand the tasks, the products, or how to cross-sell or up-sell.  As such, it is important to also foster a culture where your team feels comfortable to ask questions when in doubt or if they need clarifications on anything before sending them out on the field.

(13) How has your industry evolved in the last 10 years or so and what changes do you see coming in the next 10 years?

Fraud detection and identity verification have taken on a new meaning altogether in the past decade. With financial crimes on the rise, organisations across the globe are increasingly relying on technology to protect their businesses and customers against rapidly evolving financial crimes. Organisations both large and small are increasingly looking for comprehensive identity verification and fraud prevention practices to try to keep up with the rapidly evolving threat landscape. 2020 has particularly been a pivotal year for identity-based fraud. COVID-19 created both a global healthcare and economic crisis, making the environment ripe for sophisticated fraud rings to capitalise. 

In the next 10 years, the use of Artificial intelligence (AI) to fight fraud will become even more widespread in identifying fraudulent transitions and strange behaviours. It will be increasingly possible to analyse thousands of technological and behavioural data points in a matter of seconds. However  according to some reports, fraudsters will start to use fake faces for biometric verification whereby these “Frankenstein IDs” will use AI to combine facial characteristics from different people to form a new identity, creating a challenge for businesses relying on facial recognition technology as a significant part of their fraud prevention strategy.

(14) How do you balance life and work?

By setting clear boundaries, for myself and for those around me. You have to create your own work-life balance, it won’t just happen. I make sure I take the time for myself. For example, every Friday, I commit to working from a remote location in the country. A weekly change of scenery keeps me feeling refreshed and this translates in my work as well. I’m more energised and it makes me more effective.

(15) What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I’m a competitive rifle shooter and I grow strawberries on my farm to make delectable jams.

About GBG Plc

Headquartered in the UK and with over 1,000 staff across 16 countries, GBG Plc specialises in digital identity and fraud solutions. Its technology helps clients transact quickly, safely and securely with their online customers. Many of the world’s best-known businesses rely on GBG to provide digital services and keep the economy moving, from US e-commerce giants to Asia’s biggest banks and European household brands. 

For more information visit https://www.gbgplc.com/apac/

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#5 Leadership Q&A with Ricky Chanana of Twitch  

Ricky Chanana is the Head of Sales for Twitch ANZ, where he believes in utilising consumer research, actionable insights and market awareness to help his clients supercharge their digital campaigns and drive business results.  
Read more…

#4 10 Psychological Triggers To Become Highly Influential

If you don’t understand the psychology of selling, then the words are going to fall flat if they’re not used in the right context. You need to understand why your prospects behave the way they do.
Read more…

#3 Leadership Q&A with Ghay Haidar of FarmaForce

Ghay Haidar is the Sales Director of FarmaForce. Eight times, across different organisations, Ghay has led teams who have won the coveted PRIME Awards’ “Sales Team of the Year” in Primary & Secondary Care.
Read more…

#2 Five Signs You’re An Order Taker And Not A Salesperson

Order-taker is a derogatory term used to describe a person who has a sales title and job description but does no actual selling. Here are five telltale signs that indicate that a person is really an order-taker and not a salesperson.
Read more…

#1 The “So What” Card

As a prospective customer of yours: It’s not my job to care, it’s your job to make me care. During your presentation dry-run, every time you make a statement which relates to your business or your solution, hold up your ‘So What’ card.
Read more…

Congratulations to Cian McLoughlin for authoring the most read article on Head Of Sales. We thank all of our lead authors for their contribution to a successful launch.

A special mention the top five contributors who were Tony Hughes (22 articles), Anthony Iannarino (14 articles), Charmaine Keegan (14 articles), Sue Barrett (11 articles) and Mark McInnes (10 articles).

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Throughout his career at media agencies and publishers, Ricky has worked with major global and local brands within prominent categories, including FMCG, auto, finance and retail.

Prior to joining Twitch, Ricky was the Managing Director of Unruly (News Corp/Tremor) for three years where he led the sales, operations and other business functions. During Ricky’s tenure the business grew to be one of the most profitable (EBITDA) in the APAC region. Before changing lanes into the sales side, Ricky spent 11 years at the buyers’ side. He was at GroupM, with the last years leading Maxus (Wavemaker) investment nationally as Head of Investment.

1. What was your first sales role and in which industry?

My first sales role was as an account exec for Mediasmart, the publisher of for the Yellow and White Pages—talk about the heydays of digital advertising!

2. What was the first lesson you learnt on the job?

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. This is a cliche for a reason—networks are incredibly important in the sales field.

3. How or why did you become a sales professional?

From my early days selling lemonade in front of my parents’ house to being named employee of the year for customer service in my teens working at McDonald’s, I’ve always had a knack for sales—it’s seemingly built into my DNA. I love conversing, building connections and creating positive outcomes with people in all parts of my life. This coupled with my real passion for commercial acumen and hustler soul made jumping into sales a no brainer.

4. How would you describe your approach to sales and what are the values that you live by?

The two most important mantras I live by are:

• Progression before perfection. I truly believe in this manifesto as time is our biggest, most sacred commodity. Everything you as an individual or a team do has to be accountable—there should be a value proportion attached to your work, with you ready to sell it at any given time. This thinking also helps to continually improve new iterations of your offerings rather than waiting for the perfect solution, as there’s no such thing as ‘being perfect’. For example, steam engines haven’t been reinvented since the 17th century—they’ve instead been consistently evolved in line with customer needs and modern technologies. This analogy should be applied to everything we do.

• Be your biggest devil’s advocate. This is the only way to keep up and remain relevant as times change. I fundamentally believe that we need to stop sitting in meetings where everyone agrees with everything said, like the group thinks the world is full of waterfalls and rainbows. Don’t kid yourself! Instead, throw tough questions in, be ready for uncomfortable situations and pressure test every scenario. If there is one thing we’ve learnt in 2020, it’s that there’s no such thing as future-proofing!

5. In your view, what are the three most important factors that determine sales success?

Without a doubt, relationships, honesty and transparency.

6. What did/do you love about sales?

Outside of hitting targets and the multiple benefits attached to this, I get such adrenaline when there’s an all-round positive outcome for every party involved. Any sale is ultimately the byproduct of hard work, multiple meetings, negotiations, contracts and everything else in the middle that’s agreed upon along the way. So at a macro level, you could almost attribute a sale to eternal ‘happiness’.

7. What did/do you dislike about sales?

Winning and losing are essential elements of every sales process. However, my biggest dislike has to be not receiving feedback from a lost deal as it means you can’t truly unpack why you weren’t successful in converting the deal and learnings can be missed. There’s so much emphasis on winning, yet the biggest insights come from losing.

8. Tell us about your most memorable sale and why.

This has to be unlocking one of the biggest FMCG clients in a previous role. After spending no money with my team for several years, they became one of our highest-value clients in the ANZ region. This didn’t happen overnight—it was off the back of constantly asking the client for feedback on why they didn’t see us as a partner in the first place. We worked constantly on their feedback and it paid off. I’m proud to say we became their best partner in recent decades.

9. What is the best piece of advice a sales manager passed on to you when you were in sales?

‘People with problems need solutions’. Some time ago, I attended an Elkiem High Performance Masterclass, and this sentiment has stuck with me ever since. Solutions are fairly easy to locate within your arsenal once you know what the exact problem is, so spend time sharpening your axe!

10. What do you wish you had known when you first started out in sales that you know now?

Know your audience. One size fits all has never worked in the fashion industry and will never work for any organisation trying to keep its customers happy. Be agile, be dynamic and always bring the customer lens to everything you do.

11. What traits do you believe are critical for success in sales management and sales leadership?

The three key attributes of a successful leader are:

• Trust
• Respect
• Like

My advice is to spend your time on the first two elements—once your team trusts and respects you, the last likeability will come automatically. Too often can leaders spend time on getting the team to like them, however, this doesn’t necessarily mean they trust or respect you.

12. What is the secret for sales leaders to get the best out of their teams?

Your words should never travel far away from your actions. To foster a high-performing sales culture, you need to lead by example in everything you do. Soft-skills are essential here—empathy, emotional intelligence, resilience for your team and clients are all just as important as objection handling. Success starts from the top, so walk the walk.

13. How has your industry evolved in the last 10 years or so and what changes do you see coming in the next 10 years?

Embrace the disruption or be disrupted. Across my advertising career, I’ve tapped into so many industries and have to say this applies to everything we’ve seen in the past decade and what’s coming up over the next 10 years. I’m sure some in the taxi and hotel industries are still scratching their heads on what went wrong, but really, most could see the dominance of Uber and Airbnb coming miles away.

This ladders back to the importance of creating a culture of self-critique. Put your own ideas, offering and solutions through a pressure cooker, then view them through the customer lens. If you’re struggling to be your best devil’s advocate, bring in a third-party for some brutal honesty. Reflecting even on the events of 2020, it’s clear that every organisation needs to have a strong focus on the ‘why’. The stronger the reasons, the wider your choices.

All this said, I’m really excited to see what the next 10 years have in store and I truly believe Twitch is the future of entertainment. Throughout the shelter-in-place restrictions, we’ve experienced an unprecedented surge in the number of hours our audience is watching and all-time high levels of engagements with not just gaming content but also sports, music, entertainment—you name it. People want connection and it’s what our powerhouse community does best. My big, hairy, audacious goal is to cement our place among Australia’s biggest media networks, so watch this space!

14. What are some of the biggest challenges in moving from management into executive leadership?

As your career progresses, you move from a part-time to a full-time delegator and spending time on being proactive than reactive. This is all while being accountable to every function within the organisation. To find true success, you need to embed a leadership team at the management level who are respected and trusted by business and reflect your wider decision-making process.

15. How do you balance life and work?

To be honest, my work-life balance isn’t great at the moment. With the work from home arrangements, I’m still learning to differentiate between where work finishes and home starts. However, I’m getting better at this every day. What’s helping me is to implement walking meetings, move away from my desk every hour or so, and shut all devices for a minimum of three to four hours when the ‘workday’ finishes, like I do when physically working at a place.

16. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I’m really gifted to be surrounded by some amazing friends and family. Usually, my spare time’s filled with hanging out with them, which sees my wife and I enjoying lots of breakfasts, dinners and even house parties. By no means am I a pro at golf, but I love to hit the greens every now and then. Really, I love a good workout—there’s nothing better than working up a sweat at the gym and getting the endorphins pumping to destress.

About Twitch

Launched in 2011, Twitch is a global community that comes together each day to create multiplayer entertainment: unique, live, unpredictable experiences created by the interactions of millions. It brings the joy of co-op to everything, from casual gaming and world-class esports to anime marathons, music, and art streams. Twitch also hosts TwitchCon, the biggest community event of the year, where tens of thousands of people come together to celebrate and connect with others who share their interests and passions. We’re always live at Twitch. Stay up to date on all things Twitch on Twitter and on our Blog.

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The blueprint for sales success in an enterprise company is unlikely to work for small business. Likewise, sales strategies for highly regulated industries such as healthcare and financial service are unlikely to work for retail.

Opinions (and input) from external parties who have industry experience, matter. Your direct competitors might be well positioned to locate the missing pieces to the puzzle but the chances in having a competitor share sensitive information, is highly unlikely and more importantly anti-competitive.

‘Trial and error’ is an option adopted by many, although the opportunity cost of fixing an error or pivoting in a reactive manner, is high once you’ve committed time and resources to achieve plan A. Sometimes, there is no turning back or a suitable plan B.

When formulating or choosing a strategy, using quantitative data will help to realign emotion and intuition reducing the need of navigating blindly and relying on guesswork. If your ‘gut feel’ is right at least 51% of the time (technically a majority win), the expected value from a coin toss will only deliver hope rather than certainty.

The global State of Sales 2020 report, conducted between 13 May to 30 June 2020, surveyed 5,951 full-time sales professionals across Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East and – all respondents were third-party panelists (not limited to Salesforce customers).

The top four sales tactics for success over the next 12 months were:

1. Increased flexibility with customers

2. Improved data quality and accessibility

3. Simplified sales processes

4. Personalised outreach

Why is each strategy important and how sales leaders can do it better?

4. Personalising Outreach

Authored by Jo Schonheim, Head of Sales and Marketing of True Sydney.

By (my) definition, personalising outreach refers to the tailoring of targeted outbound marketing. It can be personalised either to the individual recipient or organisation, and in a myriad of ways. Either addressing something about the recipient (their name, their role, a personal attribute), the company or industry they’re in. Mission critical, it includes something specifically of value to them: an industry insight, a personalised offer or CTA (Call to Action).

The intention is to demonstrate empathy; so the recipient feels seen and understood. Two of the most important things us mere mortals crave. This is powerful in forging foundations of rapport and connection. 

It’s important as the more personalised it is, the more likely it is to resonate. The more powerfully it resonates, the more likely it is to have impact and elicit an emotional response in a prospect. Afterall, emotion drives behaviour. And behaviour drives action.

It’s also rare, meaning it stands out and cuts through the noise.

Can you remember receiving a personalised piece of Marketing?
What was your reaction?
What was your opinion of the organisation after reading it?
Did you sit up and pay more attention?

I’m guessing worst case, you lingered over it longer then you normally would, before fast filing it? And best case, it sparked enough curiosity causing you to act on the CTA, and click through?  Am I right?

All great outbound marketing shouldn’t be to try and SELL. And by great, I mean effective. It should be to pique enough CURIOSITY to move prospects to the NEXT STEP (through the CTA).

How Can Sales Leaders Can Do It Better? 

1. Less is more. Like time with family, it’s Quality over Quantity.
Gone are the days of “it’s a numbers game”. Volume is for spam.
And there’s no ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card if you get slapped with a Spam filter.
Niche your focus when building your Leads List so you can afford the time to personalise your marketing.

2. Precision is everything; without a target, you’re bound to hit it.
Get laser focused on not just WHO you want to target, but WHAT you want to achieve. What’s the Objective? Get clear on what success looks like for your outbound reach. 
Define the Outcome and reverse engineer achieving it.

3. One hour’s thinking, 5 minutes work – not 5 mins thinking, an hour’s work
Don’t be that douche that failed to plan. Think it through and craft your message (and yes, typos and poor grammar erode trust and credibility faster than one dares to imagine).
Slack input equals sloppy output, which will just see you work harder, to achieve less. 

4. Empathy: take time to know what you don’t know.
Research, prepare and share valuable insights. Insights could be talking to their pain points, developments in their industry or movement in their market. Your objective is to deliver value straight out of the gates; capturing their attention in the first few seconds. No more powerful way to do so, than to personalise with empathy, so it feels like you’re talking to them, about them in a personal human-to-human way. Remember, resonance drives action.

5. Being dry as toast is not going to land the lead.
You are not a robot. So bin the corporate speak. Remember, you are a human speaking to another human. Use a human voice, in a professional tone. Don’t be afraid to be a little cheeky; capturing attention is different to seeking attention.

The Golden Rule: Resonance is Everything.

3. Simplifying the Sales Process

Authored by Bill Beedie, Head of Sales ANZ at Houston We Have

Establishing a Sales Process in a sales organisation used to be fairly straight forward. The Sales Process was a set of repeatable steps that a sales person and business would undertake to move a prospective buyer from Suspect through to Client. Whilst allowing for industry/company variations the main stages would involve: Prospecting, Preparation and Approach, Demonstrations/Presentations, Negotiations, Close and Implementation.

It was ALL about The Seller’s Sales Process!. How we reached out, educated, persuaded and eventually won over the client.

TODAY EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED – from Buyer Push to Customer Pull.

Sophisticated buyers of today do their own research online through a variety of digital and social platforms and by the time they reach your business they will likely know what they want, what you offer, and what price they want to move forward.

The “Buyers Journey” is now the start of the sales process and the implications of this are profound for sales operations not yet on board with this new paradigm.

Is the Modern Sales process now more or less complex? New processes may first appear daunting, complex and fragmented, however once the rules, processes and technology of the new game are embedded, it will prove to be simpler. We will get more done, using less resource, to reach target markets more effectively and do business faster.

How Can Sales Leaders Can Do It Better? 

1. Marketing and Sales need to work seamlessly to deliver high value experiences for new and current clients
2. Don’t focus on your product or service (no one cares), it’s what your solution or service does to assist clients with their problems, so do you really know your customer and your value proposition
3. If clients are researching online, can they find you, will they see value in how you profile your services, goods, and culture, will they be comfortable you can assist them in their business
4. When clients reach out for information is your business adding value to their investigation, i.e. quality digital assets, value add white papers, testimonials, etc
5. Are your sales team members skilled using online tools for investigation and know how to professionally contact and follow up
6. Are your sales people adding value to the clients “Journey”, clients are looking for things they don’t know: insights on business, their market, trends in the industry, examples of how you’ll make it work for them
7. Traditional soft sales skills in business, negotiating skills, relationship building, are still critical but now need to be applied in the new paradigm, is your sales team digitally enabled?

It’s an extraordinary time in B2B sales and business leaders and sales leaders alike need to stay on top of current trends and invest in technology and their people to stay abreast of the challenges and take full advantage of the benefits, the digital and social media age offer. 

2. Improved data quality and accessibility – Data breadth vs Data Depth

Authored by, David Christiansen,  Director, Sales and Marketing at ACP Solutions

As sales people, we are always after a sale made easier by a higher close probability and a shortened sales cycle. Sounds easy enough. Target the right person or people within your ideal customer profile and bang – they are ready to buy and they’ll pay what you propose. Wish it was that simple right? How do I get my hands on a list that has the right coverage with the right data elements which can then be fed to my SDR’s or even better, my CRM to support my pipeline requirements to cover 4X quota?

These questions have been the challenge for data sellers for years and where they choose to invest their resources in data build with breadth or depth continues to provide headaches for all sides. Do I buy the data set that has the coverage I am after or do I buy the smaller data set that has the data elements or data depth that I value?

For years this was a challenge I had in my role as a Director responsible for marketing data at a firm recognised as having the best data quality and data coverage in Australia. Building and maintaining data hygiene with the right elements, containing the right insights with high quality analytics appended is so expensive especially when these records may not be ordered by the clients I rely on to help me build them. How to price is them is a whole other discussion altogether.

We know that certain data elements in a business record do not change as often as other data elements. Addresses, company names, Chief Executive name and even their email address is pretty much publicly available. Additionally, these people are marketed to constantly and have filters protecting them against salespeople like us to stop them being bombarded.

Each person on earth will generate an average of about 1.7 MB of data per second. Daily smartphone and computer usage means that the volume of data is expanding rapidly. The average user shares dozens of media links daily, and all of that has to be stored somewhere. There is too much data to manage if you don’t have a plan to consume it.

How Can Sales Leaders Can Do It Better? 

1. Choose data depth and recency over data breadth.
2. Analytics, insights, and automation augment your ability, they don’t replace you.
3. Recognise the value of YOUR time and talent. Be smart with how you use data.
4. We all have a part to play building data and making it actionable.

1. Flexibility with customers – how flexible are your team?

Authored by, Charmaine Keegan, Sales and Mindset Training Specialist of Smarter Selling

Flexibility with customers is going to be the top skill required during 2021. This is going to the pivotal difference between winning a piece of business – or not.

Flexibility with customers, what does that even mean? It means you are engaging with your customers in a way that suits them, and not dictated by what suits you.

Many salespeople have ‘their way’ (their default if you will) of how they interact and engage with clients.  COVID saw many face-to-face reps unravel when they couldn’t conduct business in their ‘normal’ way. 

Their challenges were suddenly building up – the customer won’t return my call, I can’t see their reactions, they can’t see me, they don’t want to jump onto zoom etc.

Quite simply they have never had to exercise the prescribed skills. They are not used to being flexible.

Yet others embraced the opportunity to increase and enhance their skills, recognising that adopting different approaches was going to better their position.

This realisation that customers need us to work with them in different ways, and our need to be flexible, starts with that very first interaction when you are trying to convert them into a customer.

Learning how to handle clients preferring, for example, to only communicate through live chat or email, we as salespeople need to be able to foremost accept (not begrudge) these different communication methods to then be highly skilled in handling multiple ways of engaging, so that we are able to form a relationship, get the intel required, position ourselves as the trusted advisor and then put forward a compelling reason for that client to buy into us and ultimately get positive results.

What can a leader do to help their team be more flexible?

As a leader you can drive this by essentially being flexible yourself. Not complaining when a client asks to email rather than speak on the phone.  Adjusting positively to the ‘new normal’ (you over that term yet?).  Getting your team highly skilled on live chat, how to handle enquires exclusively through email. How to be polished on video conferencing. How to be resilient and adaptable and of course, arming them on how to professionally give the client a reason as to why jumping on a VC or seeing you face-to-face will be of benefit to them – but never assuming that that is the only way to communicate.

Flexibility in sales means acquiring a sophisticated, intelligent approach where you adjust your method to suit the client, and at all times, regardless of how you are engaging with them, you position yourself as the trusted advisor and solution provider.  It’s about being open to adjusting your approach, style and manner befitting to your client.

We call it ‘the dance’ i.e. You shouldn’t be forcing the client into dancing your way but adjust your footwork to match theirs. After all, our jobs as salespeople is to make the interaction seamless and easy – make it easy for the client to buy of you.

Keep up that fancy footwork.

Publisher’s note – I thank Jo Schonheim, Bill Beedie, David Christiansen and Charmaine Keegan for sharing their views and I encourage you to connect with them on LinkedIn.

Disclaimer – you can download the State of Sales report as it details drivers for business growth and resilience based on statistical feedback from thousands of sales professionals who will encounter many of the same challenges as your organisation.

This article is not a sponsored post and has been written independently of commercial influence. Head Of Sales is funded by advertising from many organisations including Salesforce.

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1. What was your first sales role and in which industry?
My current role is actually my very first role in sales! That said, having come from a marketing background, I have always worked closely with sales-based colleagues.

2. What was the first lesson you learnt on the job?
Alignment – both internally and externally.

3. How or why did you become a sales professional?
I was the Marketing Manager at Hyne when the National Sales & Marketing Manager’s role became available. The business wanted to promote from within, and I had a vision (that had been developed over my previous 4 years in the business) – supported by a track record – for where we needed to be and how to get there.

4. How would you describe your approach to sales and what are the values that you live by?
My overarching approach is to a) think ‘strategy first’, b) understand the data, fact and detail of your subject matter, and c) be very clear and honest with people.

5. In your view, what are the three most important factors that determine sales success?
A sound strategy, well documented and communicated planning, and buy-in from all of the key people involved.

6. What did/do you love about sales?
At times, sales can feel like the toughest job in the world – which actually serves to make the good days great; a feeling of reward that I’ve not yet found elsewhere.

7. What did/do you dislike about sales?
The constant pressure to perform is always there, but it’s also what makes a sales role so exciting!

8. What is the best piece of advice a sales manager passed on to you when you were in sales?
The best advice I was given was to “… forget trying to be everything to everyone!”. This is sometimes hard for sales professionals to accept in the customer space, but the reality is that it’s simply not possible at all times. A well-constructed strategy and planning should assist in providing this direction i.e. what we are not doing, and with who.

9. What do you wish you had known when you first started out in sales that you know now?

The art of the humble enquiry.

10. What traits do you believe are critical for success in sales management and sales leadership?
Drive, organisational discipline, knowledge of your subject matter and excellent communication skills are the 4 cornerstones in my view. It’s also important, I believe, to have the ability to inspire your people.

11. What is the secret for sales leaders to get the best out of their teams?
Understanding what makes each individual team member tick. I do this through monthly 1-on-1 discussions where the topic is the individual and how they’re going, not the outcomes of the job that they’re doing.

12. How has your industry evolved in the last 10 years or so and what changes do you see coming in the next 10 years?
As an Australian manufacturer competing in a global commodity market, it’s become hugely important to leverage the available data and technology. This is absolutely true in the sales space also, where closely watched customer performance measures demand the best possible service level at the lowest possible cost base. Importantly, interpersonal relationships are far less influential and for many salespeople, this pivot towards a data driven customer decision-making process is a challenge. But for those who are agile enough to stay ahead of this evolution, an opportunity.

13. How do you balance life and work?
The more important something is, the greater the need to plan for it. So if having a balance in life is important, in my experience, you need to make sure your calendar reflects that accordingly. Time with family and friends, to spend on hobbies and simply to relax is always scheduled and within reason protected in my calendar.

14. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Eating out with family and friends, attempting to get fit and riding motorcycles!

About Hyne Timber

Hyne Timber is one of Australia’s largest producers of sawn timber products, a leader in preservative treatments and an iconic supplier to the Australian construction industry. Operating throughout the Eastern Seaboard and exporting timber to a number of global markets, Hyne Timber is a leader in technology implementation, product development and quality control with a world class manufacturing capacity and environmental standards that underpin our unwavering commitment to sustainably grown plantation timber production and supply.

For more information visit https://www.hyne.com.au.

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Jo is a straight talking, values led, results driven leader, coaching her team for high performance through EQ development, accountability and strategy.
Leadership in servitude, both for customers and team alike, is her true north. 

With a richly diverse career spanning start-up to corporate, Jo was a 4 x Awarded entrepreneur by 25, and has worked in National Account Management, Buying, Product Development and as Chief Rainmaker for a Business Accelerator. 

1. What was your first sales role and in which industry?

My first sales role was for the company I started at 25 in costume jewellery design. As an entrepreneur, I started out doing everything. Without sales, you’re dead in the water. Needless to say, I learnt how to swim pretty quickly!

2. What was the first lesson you learnt on the job?

That everyone has a story.

“You never know, what you don’t take the time to know”.

After serving 38,000+ paying customers over 7 years in business, I’m convinced that working in retail is tantamount to a pHD in humanity!

Skills in rapport building, forging connections quickly, with almost anyone, have been lifelong lessons, not just in sales, but in every relationship.

Sales are a type of relationship. They’re beyond a transaction.  Ultimately, it’s your ability to shape someone’s thinking, through asking the right questions; the sharing and incepting of ideas.
Sales are a reflection of your power to influence.
                                                                  

3. How or why did you become a sales professional?
I never set out for a career in sales. But I was always passionate about business; about entrepreneurship in particular. The intersection where imagination meets pragmatism.

I discovered my talent in sales almost by accident. But that’s a story for another time. Essentially, I love people, and I’m endlessly fascinated by consumer psychology. We’d all like to believe we’re rational creatures, deciding by logic but the truth is, we decide with our hearts.

And I stem from a long line of entrepreneurs, brought up on my grandfather’s philosophy, that “people do business with people”. I see myself as a lifelong student of the mastery of human connection, empathy and influence.                                

4. How would you describe your approach to sales and what are the values that you live by?
My approach to sales is a little contrarian and unorthodox.
I don’t believe the customer is always right, as not everyone is the right customer. 

“I don’t believe getting to ‘yes’ is the be all and end all”.

If you had to pigeonhole me, I am a Challenger salesperson. I believe the fastest way to YES, is through NO and I actively seek out my prospects’ objections.

I’m also big on selection criteria. My prospect and I mutually assess one another, ensuring there’s a solid partnership and values synergy. I don’t want to do business with just anyone. It has to be a right-fit. 

My top 3 values are: connection, growth and authenticity.
                                                                 

5. In your view, what are the three most important factors that determine sales success?
1. empathy
2. powerful listening and insightful questions
3. a willingness to serve.
                                                                  

6. What did/do you love about sales?
I love meeting new people; the privilege of meeting them where they’re at, through curiosity and empathy, and then reverse engineering a solution to realise their ambition, or solve their problem.

7. What did/do you dislike about sales?
There’s genuinely nothing I dislike about sales.

There are some approaches to sales management, however, that I’m not a fan of :

• Carrots and sticks as ‘motivators’. We’re not donkeys.
• Nonsensical KPIs. 
• Sales processes that aren’t customer centric.

8. Tell us about your most memorable sale and why.
I once met a client, the eve before her surgery to remove malignant tumours. She was dreading the months ahead in hospital. So she  asked to set her up with several design projects to pass the time and distract her from the pain.
It was the most meaningful sale as I knew we were contributing to her mental wellbeing, and that her finished projects would create tangible joy.

9. What is the best piece of advice a sales manager passed on to you when you were in sales?
Glen Carlson, from Dent Global and KPI taught me, “people will only pay for value they can SEE and RECOGNISE”.                                   

10. What do you wish you had known when you first started out in sales that you know now?
To never, ever take anything personally. Rejection and objections are not to be feared. They are the ticket to the game. It means your sale is on the right track and is just beginning.

And to spend at least 85% asking questions and listening.
The trusty adage of “we have two ears and one mouth.
Use them in that order, and ratio.”                                                              

11. What traits do you believe are critical for success in sales management and sales leadership?

• Empathy; a genuine interest and care for the humans on your team. Take the time to understand their external interests and talents, and see how you can leverage that in their role. 
• Imagination and enthusiasm – people want to follow people on exciting missions. How you show up every day, is critical. Your team takes their cues from your energy; it’s contagious in fact!
• Pride – if you’re a values led organisation, then imparting the nobility of the profession should be a cinch, and it’s imperative. If you’re confident what you’re selling makes a positive impact in people’s lives, then you’re not a salesperson, you’re an evangelist.
                                                                    

12. What is the secret for sales leaders to get the best out of their teams?

• Psychological safety for your team; permission to bring their authentic selves to work.   
• Empower them through autonomy. Build upon their confidence and skillset so it’s exciting and liberating, not daunting and overwhelming.
• Invest in developing their EQ through coaching.
                                                                    

13. How has your industry evolved in the last 10 years or so and what changes do you see coming in the next 10 years?
It’s changed dramatically with a focus on VALUE and content marketing has been a big proponent in the scramble to cut through the noise. Messaging and comms has become far more sophisticated, and more personalised with powerful CRMs. Sales feels more like humans talking to humans. 

I believe empathy is finally getting the focus it deserves. It’s the heart of all things sales. As it’s at the heart of all healthy relationships; mutual value exchanges.

As companies hone their focus on values and purpose, sales are going to become less transactional and the power balance is going to shift to more of a partnership ethos. 

Microniching, thought leadership, influencers are also all major themes on a J-curve.
                    

14. How do you balance life and work?
By putting proverbial compression pants on work! Work will expand to whatever size you afford it, so I’m firm on my boundaries. When I ran my own show, I was working 110 hours a week. I learnt the hard way that burnout is long and expensive. For me now, being a high performer is not just about work, it’s about having a rich, full life where I invest in myself. If I am healthy and balanced, then I can be in flow, bring my A-game everyday and support my team.

15. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I train 3-4 times per week in boxing and weightlifting. That for me is my meditation. I also paint portraits, love to cook and am a big fan of Blinkist, the app that allows me to ‘read’ several books a day, mostly on leadership, high performance and personal development.

About True

True is a full service advertising agency, best known for growing companies by creating and amplifying their brand stories. They use their bespoke methodology to solve the communication problems worth solving.

True believe that businesses should be a force for good in the world and that belief has been the catalyst for their alignment with the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development. Their latest quest is #1millionhoursofpower, where every transaction with clients and key milestones within the business result in providing renewable energy to communities in need. Their goal is 1 million hours in the next 12 months.

Ultimately, True exist to help companies craft and amplify their business narratives to the right people with the right intent at the right time, so they can grow and do more good in the world. Paying it forward because that’s how they roll. 

For more information, visit www.truesydney.com.au

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Joining Commvault in 2020, as Regional Vice President of Partner and Alliances, Dino is responsible for managing the company’s partner program, strategy, and execution, across Asia Pacific and Japan.

1. What was your first sales role and in which industry?

I’ve always been in the IT industry. I started as a programmer writing code in a room for eight hours a day, back before smoking in enclosed spaces was regulated. After two years I moved into my first pre-sales role as a Sales Engineer. Here, sales reps would bring me into meetings as the ‘technical person’, but because they were technical sales, I always tended to be the person talking the most.

One day I said to myself, ‘Hey, I could do this sales role without the rep’. Funnily enough, not long after, the sales lead was out sick for week and I was brought in to look after the account — during this time, I closed the deal! This is probably the biggest deal I’ve ever closed in my sales career, and it wasn’t even me as the salesperson so I didn’t get the commission! It was my first real taste of what could be, so from here I went from pre-sales into a full sales role carrying a quota.

2. It was the first lesson you learnt on the job?

During my pre-sales days, I experienced so many different personalities and it soon became clear that the most successful salespeople were empathetic with their customers. These reps were  good listeners, who also put themselves in the shoes of their customer to understand what their needs were from both a business and personal perspective. In understanding the customer in a holistic way and establishing a rapport, it became clear that these relationships opened up other opportunities with the customer.

3. How or why did you become a sales professional?

What really struck me about sales was the dynamic nature of the role. My time as a Sales Engineer helped me realise that developing quick rapport with customers was one of my core strengths and something I enjoyed.

The aspects you’d expect, like making a lot of money and solving customer’s challenges, came after. I was based in Sydney, working across the CBD and regions state-wide, which challenged me to adopt different approaches for each customer. To diversify and create new relationships, I had to actively apply critical thinking, new strategies and understand the market.

Sales is anything but stagnant, and I thrive with the interpersonal relationships — had I know this sooner, I likely wouldn’t have become a programmer!

4. How would you describe your approach to sales and what are the values that you live by?

Three values that underpin my approach to sales are:

• Accountability: It’s the number one tenet I uphold in everything I do, and I expect it from my team as well
• Be well-prepared: From a customer meeting to a quarterly business review and even an internal planning session, I’ve learnt the hard way that you can’t be prepared enough
• Empathy: Being empathetic to your customers but also to the team you manage as a sales leader

5. In your view, what are the three most important factors that determine sales success?

Integrity, accountability and transparency. These factors are all important in establishing credibility with customers as ultimately, they want to do business with people that they trust.

Holistically, sales success is often determined by the numbers — and yes, this is important — but customer is more important. A customer will always remember the things that you do for them, and these may not necessarily relate to back to meeting your quota.

Back in the 90’s, I had a customer who was in trouble with their network — it was down, and they needed help to get it back up. It was the Australian Olympic Committee when they were preparing for the 2000 Olympics and I knew they didn’t have any budget for this project, so I corralled another technical-minded person and we went out to help them get back up and running. It was a weekend job, it wasn’t an easy fix and we didn’t charge the customer, but we were happy to do it.

We didn’t hear from them for about three months, but down the track they came back remembering this moment. They valued the effort that we went to and our trust went through the roof — all because we put the customer first before our quota, before the numbers. Ultimately, if you put your customers at the forefront and look after them, everything else will fall into place.

6. What did/do you love about sales?

Frankly, I sold myself short when I became a programmer — I thought I was an introvert, but boy, was I wrong! I love how you build friendships through your relationships with customers, in fact, I still talk to my former client from AOC to this day.

I love that you get to meet customers, understand their business and personal needs, then take on the challenge of coming up with a value position that helps them achieve their business goals and grow their career. Sales has taken me across continents, from working in California to speaking at conferences across the Asia Pacific, so it really is borderless.

7. What did/do you dislike about sales?

I dislike when the business and customer aren’t aligned, meaning we can’t put the customer first. I’ve worked at an organisation where our business as a vendor was like ‘putting a square peg through a round hole’ — what we were trying to sell wasn’t aligned to what customers wanted or needed, and we were trying to force the sale.

This is an interesting example, as the company wasn’t always like that — this change was driven by a revenue number, and to hit the sales targets they changed their approach and put the customer last. Fortunately, this changed the next quarter, as the business realised it was impacting their customer retention.

The takeaway is that not putting the customer first can have a long-term negative effect on your organisation.

8. Tell us about your most memorable sale and why.

Back to the late 90’s when I was a SE and went out to take care of an account while the sales rep was out sick for a week, I really had to dive right in and fill the sales person’s shoes.

I worked probably 10 hours a day trying to close the deal as the customer had a hard deadline that we needed to meet. This deal had been in the works for six months, so the hours of work that’d been invested were weighing heavy on my shoulders. I closed the AUD$2.5 million deal, which at that time and for an organisation of that size was a big deal.

What’s so memorable about this experience isn’t the commission — which went to the sales rep — it’s that it gave me a real taste of what sales was like. I was exposed to the CEO, CIO and procurement to negotiate, and I had to learn on the job as there was no one to show me how to talk too these people, but I was able to. This was a real pivot point in my career that showed me there was more than just pre-sales — there was a bigger opportunity out there, plus a bigger commission check.

I have to say, the sales rep was very generous when he came back from sick leave. We celebrated the success and told the whole world about it, including giving me kudos in front of our organisation. He celebrated the success with the people who deserved it, which showed me the importance of revelling in the wins and providing the accolades to everyone involved.

And yes, he took the team out and I don’t think it was just dinner either. He bought a watch for me too because he realised he was making a commission while I wasn’t and thought, “Okay, this guy deserves it.”

9. What is the best piece of advice a sales manager passed on to you when you were in sales?

The customer relationship is everything, so being empathetic, understanding the customer’s needs and putting them first is essential for any salesperson. I learnt the importance of transparency early on — always being open and honest with the customer about what you can and can’t do and setting realistic expectations.

I’ve always approached sales by getting to know my customers on a personal level and building genuine, authentic relationships, which reinforce that you’re not just in it for the revenue. At our core, we’re all human and we often relate to hobbies and personal passions outside of the office as opposed to our day-to-day work.

I look after Asia Pacific and Japan, so how I approach this varies per country. Australia’s a sports-mad nation, so I always make an effort to understand what sport and team the customer follows. I’m a rugby coach and referee in my spare time, so this comes easily! I have a note on my phone where I jot this down, and my customers are always surprised when I bring up recent news about their team or what’s happening in the sport itself. In Japan, it’s all about the saké, while karaoke is big in Korea and China, so our dinners always include something extra! I always try to give the Korean & Chinese songs a crack and make a fool of myself, but I think my customers like me more for this! – a willingness to understand and assimilate into their culture.

10. What do you wish you had known when you first started out in sales that you know now?

To always put the customer first, before the number. It’s easy to get wrapped up by the revenue targets and your potential commission, so that it consumes your life. But, this can have consequences for long term customer relationships. If I’d known this from the beginning, it would have helped me a great deal.

If I were  to give any advice to a new salesperson, it would be to live, breathe and die by the customer. When you’re focused on the customer, everything else will fall into place.

11. What traits do you believe are critical for success in sales management and sales leadership?

There are a few key traits I believe are essential for sales leaders:

• Empathy, not just for your customers, but also your team
• Passion and belief in what you do and the goals you’re targeting
• Being highly engaged – if you’re not, how can you expect it from your team or customers

Goal alignment is also critical, and there are nice parallels to my rugby union coaching here, as there’s a lot of strategy involved. I was a rugby coach before I was a sales leader, and the mentoring aspects are quite similar. Before we go into a match, we’re talking about what our goal is and breaking down the strategy to achieve this. I also speak to each individual about how their role on will help to reach this goal, which fosters that ‘one team’ mentality. I use a similar approach with my sales team for meeting our quarterly targets — we talk through the strategy together, and make sure each team member understands how their role contributes to the overall success of the team and the business.

One area many leaders can overlook is celebrating the successes, but taking the time to revel in the wins, acknowledge each individual who contributed and share the accolades with everyone in your organisation is critical for a high-performing team.

At Commvault, we love to celebrate the successes. With COVID, we haven’t been able to get people together, but we still share accolades on Zoom and email with the wider team. We’ve also sent t baskets to team members as a thank you of their hard work and effort to hit some big targets. I do miss the in-person celebrations and my team is full of extraverts, so we’re itching to get back out there when it’s safe to do so.

12. What is the secret for sales leaders to get the best out of their teams?

Like with rugby coaching, it’s all about having a plan and communicating with each individual what their role is to help the team reach the overarching goal.

One thing I’m excited to implement at Commvault is a social justice program where our teams can work with a local organisation like Habitat for Humanity or a soup kitchen to achieve a shared goal outside of work. Everyone is human, and there’s an innate part within us where we want to do good and help. Initiatives like this are priceless for building culture within a team as they bring out the best in people, while bringing everyone closer together.

13. How has your industry evolved in the last 10 years or so and what changes do you see coming in the next 10 years?

The last 10 years has seen drastic and rapid advancement for the data market, fast-tracked by the pandemic this year. Data volumes are growing exponentially, and with 5G underway, data will grow at even faster speeds.

For businesses, if the right data management approach is not taken, we will have a big problem. Public awareness and spotlighting of data privacy have grown dramatically with data breaches making headlines and data privacy becoming a hot topic across the world.

The pressure is on for businesses to map out a clear data architecture for access, management, privacy and security. Particularly with remote work trends, mandating the use of devices that are secure and cloud-based systems where data management discipline can be applied will be high on the agenda for businesses.

There will be an increased focus on analytics as we recognise the value of our data and focus on abstraction in IT. Data analytics will increasingly support intelligent decision making, and strengthen compliance stances within organisations. In the coming years, expect more businesses to make analytics a priority as we customers realise new data opportunities and the possibilities enabled by AI and ML.

14. How do you balance life and work?

If there’s one thing that’s important to me, it’s making time for my family. I have four boys, all in their teenage years, so it can be a real challenge to spend quality time with each of them. Luckily, we share a love for rugby union and we’re all members of the East Rugby Club where we can enjoy each other’s company while the boys are on the field, and I’m refereeing.

There are games every weekend and trainings twice a week, so incorporating this into my schedule means I have dedicated time outside of work ensure I don’t neglect my relationships with my kids.

15. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

The free time I do have left, I spend with my wife — without her the whole thing would fall to pieces. We’ve been married for 21 years now, and the secret to our success has been enjoying a weekly date night. This standing date night is usually on a Friday or Saturday evening, where we spend two, three hours without the kids, just chatting and we do this without fail.

About Commvault

Commvault is a worldwide leader in delivering data readiness, enabling customers to intelligently manage data with solutions that store, protect, optimize and use data. Commvault software automates mind-numbing IT tasks and makes data work harder for customers— so they can gain invaluable insights for their businesses. Commvault solutions work across cloud and on-premises environments, leveraging the digital tools and procedures already in use. Commvault software, solutions and services are available from the company and through a global ecosystem of trusted partners. Commvault employs more than 2,300 highly-skilled individuals across markets worldwide, is publicly traded on NASDAQ (CVLT), and is headquartered in Tinton Falls, New Jersey in the United States.

For more information visit https://www.commvault.com/

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Danya is an experienced Publishing and Software Sales and Marketing Leader with a successful track record in delivering growth within the accounting, corporate and legal markets.

Danya’s key focus is growing top line revenue in highly competitive industries by developing and driving best practice processes and sustainable business improvement. She applies a high end, consultative approach to the sales function.

1. What was your first sales role and in which industry?

I started my sales career in Retail working for Michael Hill Jeweller in New Zealand, a forward thinking company that invested heavily in sales training and KPI tracking.  The skills I developed in retail were transferrable into B2B selling and Sales Management, they certainly held me in good stead as I looked to advance in my sales and Sales Management career.

2. What was the first lesson you learnt on the job?

Never judge a book by it’s cover and never make assumptions!  Essentially be open minded and develop the ability to build rapport, trust and open a conversation skilfully.

3. How or why did you become a sales professional?

I took a gap year before University, as I had an interest in Gemology I looked for a sales role in retail jewellery.  I was a confident 17 year old with good communication and presentation skills and sales felt like a good fit, this proved to be true and I haven’t looked back.

4. How would you describe your approach to sales and what are the values that you live by?

My approach is very relationship oriented, it’s important to me to have a foundation of trust and to strive for solutions for clients, my ethos has always been one of honesty and integrity.

The ability to build rapport and trust and to leverage this into a well planned and executed discovery session is critical to building the foundation for a professional sales engagement.  In a competitive environment when product and price aren’t a key differentiator, a client will include people in their decision making ie is this person and the company they represent, someone I can trust and can see myself doing business with for a long time.

I view myself as lucky to work for an organisation whose corporate values align to mine, these values propel us to put the customer at the center of everything we do, honor our commitment to continuous improvement and innovation, aim high and deliver the right results, and most importantly: win as a team

5. In your view, what are the three most important factors that determine sales success?

Product, price and people.  Be the expert in your product, understand how to handle and present price and be the person your clients want to do business with

6. What did/do you love about sales?

In my 30 year sales career I have never been bored or complacent, I love the challenge and constantly changing landscape that I have to navigate, its exciting, challenging and sometimes confronting and has always kept me on my toes.

7. What did/do you dislike about sales?

My one frustration would be the lack of respect I see for choosing sales as a career, it is sometimes viewed as the ‘default’ career rather than the exciting and challenging career option that it is.

8. Tell us about your most memorable sale and why.

We talk about a lot about the requirement of tenacity and resilience in sales, my personal motto has always been ‘no just means no right now, it’s not no forever’.  My most memorable sale was applying this tenacity and resilience to land a client 14 years after my first contact with them – very satisfying

9. What is the best piece of advice a sales manager passed on to you when you were in sales?

Listen more than you talk and take very good notes!

10. What do you wish you had known when you first started out in sales that you know now?

That sales is more about listening than talking, we all subscribe to the old adage of the smooth talking salesman when in fact quite the opposite is where you will find success

11. What traits do you believe are critical for success in sales management and sales leadership?

The three C’s – Coaching, Consistency and Credit

12. What is the secret for sales leaders to get the best out of their teams?

Coach more than you manage and don’t fall into the trap of micro management, be consistent in all you do and your asks of your team to create a strong team foundation, you hire people for their skills which are hopefully better than yours so give them room to shine and give credit where its due.  Accountability is critical to build a winning mindset and trust underpins a winning culture.

13. How has your industry evolved in the last 10 years or so and what changes do you see coming in the next 10 years?

Our industry of Legal Publishing has seen enormous change of the past 20 years as we moved to digitise our content and embrace Cloud Platforms to improve Research Access.  Our Global and Regional growth has been driven by investment into software which has radically altered our company from traditional to forward looking and progressive.  It has been an exciting and challenging journey.

14. How do you balance life and work?

It’s important to me to strive for a work life balance, this balance for me means ensuring exercise and well being is factored into my days and ensuring I take time to appreciate my personal life by setting dedicated time aside where work doesn’t take priority.

15. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I’m a dedicated foodie and enjoy cooking and entertaining at home, I love getting out in nature whether it’s at the beach or hiking and one day soon I hope to be able to travel again.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer is a global provider of professional information, software solutions, and services for clinicians, accountants, lawyers, and tax, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and regulatory sectors. They help professionals improve the way their organisations do business and solve complex problems in an ever-changing world.

Wolters Kluwer N.V. is an American Dutch company headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands and Philadelphia, United States. Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a merger between Kluwer Publishers and Wolters Samsom.

Its over 183-year legacy and portfolio represent thousands of customers worldwide including 93% of the Fortune 500 companies.

For more information visit www.wolterskluwer.com.au

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