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Press & Media

Sandler Enterprise Selling

Hunker Up…..for your Clients

May 2020 – Sales Pop with Brian Sullivan 

Hunker down. It’s a phrase we all knew but rarely used. Heard occasionally in the US Southeast during hurricane seasons, its Scottish origins date back to the early 1700’s. “Hunk’ring down upon the cald grass” referred to assuming a low squatting position and “sitting hunker-tottie”. So much for the history lesson and truth be told, I’m not sure I want to know any more than that! 

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Only a Real Risk Tests the Reality of a Belief 

May 2020 – Top Sales World with Brian Sullivan

Of course, we've all been tested of late. And much has been written and discussed about positivity and optimism, traits that can certainly help people weather storms. But it's the power of beliefs in the real risks referred to in Lewis' quote that I'd like to focus on. And ultimately, in reference to selling.

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KARE in Crisis

April 16, 2020- Sales POP featuring Brian Sullivan

In turbulent times, it’s especially critical to stay connected with others, to help and to serve. While we typically think first of family and friends, our connections with clients and prospects in difficult times are important as well. In Sandler Enterprise Selling, we teach a process that adds clarity to these business connections and, given the dynamic nature of selling, it’s refreshed frequently. 

Losing Major Deals and the Black Boxes of Learning

February 17, 2020- Sales POP featuring Brian Sullivan 

In selling to and serving major accounts, no matter how effective you are, you must face a harsh truth. Losing happens. Regardless of your focus, time and effort, you’re certain to come up short on occasion.

In Enterprise Selling, Losing Happens

September 2019 - SalesPOP by Brian Sullivan 

In the world of enterprise selling, the simple fact is that losing happens. Regardless of your best efforts to maximize your likelihood of success, you will fall short on occasion. And in the midst of the grief after losing a major deal, someone will invariably say, “We should learn from this to make sure it doesn’t happen again”. A very logical idea, of course, gaining lessons learned from a loss. It’s amazing, though, that some of the most sophisticated enterprise selling organizations do a lousy job of performing post-mortems.

 

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Different Accounts Awaken Your Different Beasts

January 2020 - SalesPOP by Brian Sullivan

 

In Sandler Enterprise Selling, our KARE account profiling process has developed a worldwide following since it rolled out in 2015. It’s based on the premise that in selling, we group our accounts into designations – geographic, vertical, size-related and other logical buckets. Such categorizations certainly add clarity and should, if utilized correctly, increase efficiency. Descriptive information has value but what do you really learn from these types of bundles about clients’ traits and tendencies? How do the groupings really help you win, grow and keep enterprise accounts?

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In Enterprise Selling, Losing Happens

September 2019 - SalesPOP by Brian Sullivan 

In the world of enterprise selling, the simple fact is that losing happens. Regardless of your best efforts to maximize your likelihood of success, you will fall short on occasion. And in the midst of the grief after losing a major deal, someone will invariably say, “We should learn from this to make sure it doesn’t happen again”. A very logical idea, of course, gaining lessons learned from a loss. It’s amazing, though, that some of the most sophisticated enterprise selling organizations do a lousy job of performing post-mortems.

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Buyer-Networks – Navigating the Behaviors

September 2019 - Top Sales Magazine Brian Sullivan

 

In the enterprise world, it's well known and widely implemented. But what about the other side of major account deals? What about the other collaborative strategy? That's right – team buying. And I reference major accounts because that's where complexity lives and thrives. For some context, consider selling to small and medium-sized businesses, where you typically have the luxury of direct contact with the actual decision–maker, often the owner of president of the firm. 

 

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Sales Playbooks – Roadmaps to Victory

August 2019 - Sales POP by Brian Sullivan

With the exciting Women’s World Cup just concluded, fans had a terrific opportunity to enjoy the outstanding competition and some very competitive games. And with all the media coverage, we received detailed insights into team strategies and even how specific plays were executed. One of the Fox Sports broadcast crews which consisted of ex-players dissected a pivotal corner kick from the standpoint of the playbooks of both the offense and the defense.

 

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There’s Still Time

July 2019- Sales POP featuring Brian Sullivan

A midsummer night’s dream. Not Shakespeare’s, though, but the sales manager’s dream of the second half of the calendar year so strong that it drives the numbers up, salvaging the year and ensuring robust performance. Dreaming aside, H1 has been filled with many positives and negatives but your sales optimism tells you that there’s plenty of time left before the ball drops in Times Square. Time to accelerate your team’s improvement. Time to close strong. Time to hit your year-end numbers. There’s still time.

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Summer Sales Strategy

June 2019 - Top Sales Magazine with Brian Sullivan

It’s summertime. Longer days and slower pace. Thoughts of vacation and holiday dance in your head as you revel in relaxation. And then, reality hits. You remember that you’re a sales manager and that summertime means simply that half of your year is gone. H1 has been filled with positives and negatives but you look ahead with a heaping dose of selling optimism, knowing that the calendar still gives you time to take actions to accelerate your team’s improvement, close strong and make your year­end numbers.

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No Happy Storybook Endings in Enterprise Selling

June 2019- Sales POP featuring Brian Sullivan

I hate to provide such a negative title for an article but I’m a big fan of being real, especially when it comes to selling, especially enterprise selling. We live in a task-driven world, highlighted by starts and stops, defined beginnings and defined endings. And we find comfort in the modularity of our lives, knowing when to enter and when to exit. It characterizes our days, our projects and even our lives from birth to death.

T.S. Eliot and the Enterprise Selling Secret

May 2019 - Top Sales Magazine Brian Sullivan

After graduating from college, I embarked on a long summer of training in the famous Professional Selling Skills (PSS) program, SPIN and other powerful Xerox material. At summer’s end, I was off to sales training’s global mecca, Xerox’s International Training Center in Leesburg VA. Upon arrival, I faced the ultimate sales test, the passing of which would earn me the right to stay for the world’s best sales training program. For the unfortunate ones, failure sent you packing, literally and immediately, back to your Xerox home branch to face shame and often termination.

Beware the Monkey’s Paw

November 2018 - Top Sales Magazine Brian Sullivan

They wrapped the roping around itself at the ends, creating what appeared to be clenched fists or monkey’s paws. Sailors heaved them from the decks to dockhands far below, who caught them, safely securing them. Something small, therefore, brings in something large. David Sandler, Sandler Training’s founder, related the concept to selling, helping countless sales reps win business by proposing smaller pieces of larger deals to convince prospects to take action – monkey’s paws.

Two Sides to the Enterprise Selling Coin

May 2019 – Sales POP! blog featuring Brian Sullivan

I hear the question often. “What is Sandler Enterprise Selling?”. But first, a broader question must be considered. “What is enterprise selling itself?”. Indeed. At Sandler, we believe strongly in pain – the great motivator. “No pain, no sale” is one of our classic quotes. And in selling, while the focus is typically on the prospect’s pain, sales teams feel acute pains as well. So, we define enterprise selling in terms of the unique pains and challenges faced by organizations selling to large enterprise accounts versus small and medium-sized businesses – SMB’s. And while many pains apply, our focus is on those we believe cause the most grief.

Team Selling and Team Planning

April 2019 – Sales Pop with Brian Sullivan

Pre-call planning. As all sales managers know, there are tons of reasons why sales reps tend to avoid it like the plague. “I don’t do scripts”, “I’m best when I’m spontaneous” or “I can spend my time much more effectively doing other things” are all in the chorus. Then there’s, “It’s just a waste of time” or “Don’t worry – I got it. I’m good!”. Behavior profiling aside, it does seem that many people drawn to selling have an aversion to pre-call planning. Of course, this isn’t true of all sales reps but even with the availability of electronic tools and apps to streamline the process, many still view planning as a waste of time. They simply don’t believe in it.

Major Account Retention – The Grammar Lesson

March 2019 – Sales Pop with Brian Sullivan

The statistics are compelling. Most selling organizations generate 80% of their business from 20% of their clients. Winning a new large account costs up to 20 times more than keeping a current one. And just a small increase in a company’s major client retention percentage drives even greater revenue and profit increases. On the negative side, retention rate decreases spawn long-lasting negative impacts that can be crippling. 

 

In Enterprise Selling, Pain Cuts Both Ways

March 2019 – Top Sales Magazine with Brian Sullivan

Interesting. At Sandler, we believe strongly in the concept of pain. One of our most iconic quotes is, “No pain, no sale”. How true. And in selling, while we typically think of pain in terms of the prospect, as sales teams, we stare down the demon as well. So, we define enterprise selling in terms of the unique pains and challenges faced by organizations selling to and serving large accounts as opposed to small and medium­sized businesses – SMB’s. And while many pains apply, our definition focuses on what we believe are the eight most harrowing.

Proceed with Caution – Monkey’s Paw Ahead

February 2019 - Sales Pop with Brian Sullivan

 

In port cities, we see the massive mooring lines that securely tie huge ships to the docks. Getting those ropes down to the piers from the giant vessels was a problem that inventive sailors solved long ago by wrapping the roping around itself at the ends, creating what looked like monkey’s paws. These were heaved from the ships to the dockhands below, who caught and safely secured them. Something small, therefore, secured something big. Sandler Training’s founder, David Sandler, related the concept to selling, helping countless sales reps win business by proposing smaller pieces of larger deals to prompt prospects to act – monkey’s paws.

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With Major Accounts, Retention is not a Noun

January 2019 – Top Sales World with Brian Sullivan

We’ve all heard the compelling statistics. Most selling organizations derive 80% of their revenues from 20% of their clients - the Pareto Principle. Acquiring a new major account is up to 20 times more expensive than keeping a current one. And even a small percentage increase in a firm’s overall major client retention rate has an exponentially positive effect on revenues and profits, delivering value to all stakeholders.

What about Team Buying?

January 2019 – Sales POP! blog featuring Brian Sullivan

Team selling. We know how critical it is in the enterprise selling world. Marshaling your most important organizational assets – your people, to win enterprise deals is a survival skill. The mantra of “Everybody Sells”, when put to work in large pursuits, positions you to face one of enterprise selling’s top challenges – team buying!

 

Whose Value is in the Value Proposition?

December 2018 – Sales POP! blog featuring Brian Sullivan

We know all about value propositions, don’t we? Or do we? The term, “Proposition” is defined in the dictionary as “a statement that expresses a judgment or opinion” or a “scheme or plan of action”. Very interesting. While delivering subject matter expertise in enterprise selling is important, most would agree that listening is even more rewarding than “expressing judgments and opinions”. And “schemes”? Even the most transparent sellers would be unlikely to share with prospects any information about “scheming” to win their business.

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Major Account Pursuits – You have to Pay to Play!

November 2018 – Sales POP! blog featuring Brian Sullivan

We’re all aware of the unique challenges faced by sales teams in complex enterprise account pursuits. As opposed to opportunities with smaller accounts, enterprise deals present much more frustrating pains and complexities to selling organizations. Long sales cycles, wide buyer networks, and highly capable competitors are just a few of the obstacles that must be faced and overcome. Pursuing enterprise business is not for the faint of heart. It demands that you bring your very best effort and then execute with precision to walk away with a win.

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Get your Account’s Fingerprints on your Solution

July 2018 – Sales POP! blog featuring Brian Sullivan

The question often comes up regarding defining enterprise selling versus selling into smaller accounts. Given the criticality of pain in selling, I define enterprise selling in terms of the unique pains and challenges that selling organizations face in dealing with large enterprise accounts. Long sales cycles, extensive buyer networks, and sophisticated competitors create problems not encountered with smaller accounts. But the payoff of winning a major account is a truly game-changing, transformative development.

 

The Effective Win-Loss Analysis

May 2018 – Sales POP! blog featuring Brian Sullivan

Selling teams often struggle with analyzing enterprise wins and losses. Human nature in sales, of course, typically motivates rapid movement to the next deal and hopefully, the next win. But hope, as we all know, is not a strategy. But the most important reason that effective win-loss analysis rarely happens, if at all, isn’t about the selling psyche. It’s about the lack of practical Go/No-Go processes that dictate whether major deals should be pursued in the first place.

 

TOP SALES MAGAZINE, MAY 2016 ISSUE

May 16, 2016 - Top Sales World interview with Brian Sullivan

Brian Sullivan, co-author of the recently published SANDLER ENTERPRISE SELLING: Winning, Growing, and Retaining Major Accounts book and Vice President of Sandler Enterprise Selling, sat down with Top Sales Magazine’s Jonathan Farrington for a great interview about the book. Brian provides and overview of Sandler Enterprise Selling and its six highly strategic stages designed to help you win, serve, and grow large, complex accounts.

Read the article >>

Listen to the interview >>

The biggest challenges for enterprise-level sales professionals (and how to overcome them)

July 13, 2016 - Docurated.com featuring Brian Sullivan

Brian Sullivan, co-author of SANDLER ENTERPRISE SELLING: Winning, Growing, and Retaining Major Accounts and Vice President of Sandler Enterprise Selling at Sandler, reveals on Docurated.com what obstacles today’s enterprise-level sales professionals are combating and what steps they can take to differentiate themselves and succeed in an increasingly tough atmosphere.

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KARE for your Accounts

May 12, 2016 - The CEO Magazine by Brian Sullivan

Brian Sullivan, co-author of SANDLER ENTERPRISE SELLING: Winning, Growing, and Retaining Major Accounts, was featured a guest blogger in The CEO Magazine. So how do you build meaningful profiles of your clients and prospects? You start by thinking about four types of accounts – Keep, Attain, Recapture, and Expand (KARE).

Put Time on Your Team

April 29, 2016 - StrategyDriven.com by Brian Sullivan

The sales cycles can be long and drawn out when selling to large enterprise organizations. Months, and even years, may pass in a significant opportunity with a large account. But with all of the difficulties the passing months bring, positives do present themselves for selling teams that are effective and organized.

2016 Top Sales World's Top 50 Sales Books

Sandler Enterprise Selling: Winning, Growing, and Retaining Major Accounts was named one of Top Sales World's top 50 Sales Books in 2016!

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School for Startups Interview

April 21, 2016 - School for Startups Radio interview

Brian Sullivan was interviewed by School for Startups, which airs on Liberty Express Radio, Business Radio X, and is syndicated to 11 stations. The focus of this interview was SANDLER ENTERPRISE SELLING, which begins at 29:20 in the audio.

Money for Lunch Interview

April 19, 2016 - Brian Sullivan Money for Lunch interview

Brian Sullivan was interviewed by Money for Lunch, which aired on BlogTalkRadio and iHeartRADIO. The focus of the interview was SANDLER ENTERPRISE SELLING, which begins at 16:00 in the audio.

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Sandler Enterprise Selling Spotlight

Brian Sullivan, Vice President of Sandler Enterprise Selling describes how the Sandler Enterprise Selling Program enhances Sandler’s award-winning selling system to win, grow and retain enterprise accounts through its six highly strategic stages.

 

 

IN OUR CLIENTS' OWN WORDS... 

Sandler Enterprise Selling Success Stories

Listen as some of our Sandler Enterprise Selling clients share their success stories with the program.