Paul Peissner

Enterprise Account Executive at Curiosity Software

Selling to enterprise customers... Remember to 'read the room' before you start a discussion

I spent some time asking HR how and why people are rewarded in the space I sell into...

My hypothesis: If people generally behave based on "how" they are rewarded then could we put people (personas) in groups and generally assume that they may have "themes" that 'should' interest them in a first conversation.

Based on this I have created a conversation compass that helps me start and drive conversations around the way groups generally see value in what I am selling...and it helps me to stay away from topics they have no interest in.

Which of the persona groups do you sell to by default...

Attached poll

63%

Business buyers: above & after the line...market/external strategic outcomes

50

16%

Governance buyers: above & before the line...corporate/internal strategic outcomes

13

16%

IT/Ops/Shared Services: below & before the line...efficiency/internal functional goals

13

4%

Development: below & after the line...collaborative/external functional goals

3

Files Attached

4 Enterprise Persona groups.png

4 Enterprise Persona groups.png

👑 Sales Strategy

☁️ Software Tech

🗝 Sales Enablement

8

18 comments

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Pachacuti

Politicker

15

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

I usually open the conversation talking about politics and end it talking about the intricacies of either their closely held religious beliefs or lack of sex life.

But that’s just me.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

5

🦊

‼🐈‼

oldcloser

Arsonist

1

💀

Often, if I’m lucky enough to notice a photo of the prospects children. I like to open by verifying the children are theirs (gotta be careful), then ask “how did THAT happen?!”

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

7

☕️

Please expand on why you went to HR to discuss rewards instead of the leaders of the teams these personas report to.

HVACexpert

Politicker

2

sales engineer

To build on this, I think more data points is key. Talk to not just HR but also the leaders and people a part of these teams. You’ll dial in your compass more

0

Enterprise Account Executive

‘If people generally behave based on "how" they are rewarded…’ HR summarized their reward systems for me…

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

1

☕️

Okay…but did you talk to any people leaders? HR doesn’t build reward systems, people leaders do. If you didn’t, that’s fine too.

1

Enterprise Account Executive

Yes - I got OKRs, MBOs, KPIs…from folks I generically call HR (a legacy name). Just like the other generic legacy names I use to group people in enterprise organizations. Those companies tend to hang-on to and still use legacy titles.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

2

☕️

I’m not sure I’d ever call the VP of Sales HR, but I get your point (I think).

oldcloser

Arsonist

4

💀

Ok but seriously, this conversation compass seems like it could be useful in training new sellers from SMB or script readers from an inbound op. Your post, well-intended as it seems to be, is a lesson itself in room reading.

Maximas

Tycoon

4

Senior Sales Executive

When I used to sell to the UK customers I was always opening up my conversation talking soccer being the top sport there like mostly everyone there has a team to support.

I believe we need to consider country, age culture and even education if we know it, when selling to each type of these personas to be able to identify and create what interests each of em the most at the conversation starter!

TennisandSales

Politicker

2

Head Of Sales

Solid idea! This could for sure be helpful in training new folks!

0

Enterprise Account Executive

And for creating demos with Sales Engineers that can pivot when you suddenly identify the ultimate buyer in a conference room. And target their concerns.

HVACexpert

Politicker

1

sales engineer

As far as the compass goes maybe give each quadrant a number and reference those instead of something weird like “above and before the line”

0

Enterprise Account Executive

I add an image with some work I did a few years back. All of this was created after reading the the book: Selling Above and Below the Line by
William 'Skip' Miller, and working through MEDDIC with Command Of The Message training both were good but had gaps (or selling flaws). But both inspired me to develop this work with my regional team (BDR, AE, SE & Account development team) to help us all work together better when pivots are needed.

oldcloser

Arsonist

1

💀

Seeing it now- how about a bit deeper into personas with buying behavior and psych profile.
BB: Will need signoff from product and procurement
PP: Researched, low risk adversity, but needs external validation for confidence.

fcmf

Valued Contributor

1

RSM

Depends, there are times that you need to go directly to topics and the build the rapport in the middle of the conversation, that can show you are interested in the topic and don’t want to waste their time. They are also aware of the break the ice chatting and specially in the very first interaction can be a little bit transactional. It can also gives you time to get to know better what to talk about

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

0

Sales Rep

Have you read Daniel Pink's book "Drive" on motivation, curious your thoughts on it?

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