He left for lunch and never came back

Published: Wed, 04/12/23

April 12, 2023

TOGETHER WITH

They say that April showers bring May flowers, but did you know that April leads bring May deals indeed? Don’t worry, we’re not turning this newsletter into poetry hour – our art comes in the form of sales memes. In this week’s issue, we’ll continue our interview series with a German-based Sales Director, share a Sales Fail about quitting on day one, and give some advice to a car salesperson who feels sorry for their customers. Let’s go.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

82% of B2B buyers think sales representatives are underprepared.

Source: Zippia

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

Formula 1 racer Daniel Ricciardo went undercover as a phone salesman ahead of the Melbourne Grand Prix, but ended up getting pranked while in the middle of his prank (prank inception?) Decked out in coke-bottle glasses and a fake mustache, Ricciardo was told what to say through an earpiece. Needless to say, it didn’t go as planned. You can read the article and watch the clip here.
In another athlete-related sales incident, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant was accused of threatening a shoe salesman along with eight or nine other men, forcing him to hide in the back of the store. The incident happened after the salesman allegedly helped another customer before Morant’s mother, who called her son and allegedly asked him to intervene. You can read the full story here.

FEATURE

Serge Schlotthauer

An interview with Serge Schlotthauer, Sales Director at SoSafe, a German “human” cybersecurity company

(note: this interview is part of a new series where we profile sales reps and sales leaders across industries. If you’d like to be considered for an interview, click here).

Tell us a little about yourself

I’m 34 years old, and from Cologne, Germany. I lead a team of Enterprise AEs at SoSafe Cybersecurity Awareness, which is one of Germany's fastest growing scale-ups (370 employees). I’ve been in the SaaS sales game for the last six years.

You started your sales career as an SDR at Salesforce. How did you land the job? When did you decide that sales would be your career?

After graduating from business school, I started my career at a nonprofit organization, but soon realized that my personality and ambition was better suited for a sales career. Actually, the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator personality test really helped me realize this (turns out I’m an "ESTP"). The side hustles I enjoyed most as a student were always customer-facing, so I was already familiar with the concept of earning a commission based on performance.

So I trusted my intuition and wanted to join "the best SaaS sales school" out there. Everybody recommended Salesforce, so I applied for an entry level SDR role in Dublin (EMEA HQ). It’s hard to say how I landed it, but I was super motivated and "hungry," plus well-prepared. I think that's what a hiring manager wants to see, especially from an SDR with no previous sales experience. It was definitely one of my best career choices.

How is selling in Germany (or Europe) different from selling in the United States?

Two things come to mind:

1. Culture. We don't "waste" much time with small talk and get down to the business part of things quicker. Personal details are usually not shared openly and it takes more meetings to build rapport and trust. We are notorious for being more direct, which can be a good thing in sales: A "yes" is more likely to be a real yes and not just somebody being polite.

2. GDPR. German Data Protection Officers take their job (and GDPR) very seriously. While this is generally a good thing, sometimes it feels irrational and almost like an "obsession." This can be a pain in the ass during negotiations, especially when you’re using subcontractors that have a legal entity in the US (e.g. AWS). The same goes for legal negotiations. My highlight was a prospect that literally wanted me to write in the license agreement that "one year consists of 12 consecutive months." Combine that with selling to the government and you’re in for a real treat... ;)

What does a typical work day look like for you? Walk us through it.

As a first line manager, I’m the link between my team (currently six Enterprise AEs) and upper management (VP Sales & CRO) – but also to other departments like Sales Enablement, Marketing, Sales Development, CSM, RevOps, and Product. After jumpstarting the day with lots of coffee and (sometimes) a gym workout, I usually start work by catching up on Teams & E-Mails. Typically, my calendar is pretty packed with 1 on 1’s, team meetings, customer calls, syncs with other departments, plus the occasional hiring interview. I try to spend a lot of time with my team, helping out in more complex proposals, negotiations, and also join discovery and demo calls for coaching purposes. Last but not least I have to be prepared for our weekly forecast call – typically by doing constant deal reviews and reminding reps to update their Salesforce. ;)

What's the one thing you’ve found that helps you be successful in sales?

Normally, I would say things like "focus on deep discovery, never stop prospecting, embrace the grind and always ask for micro-commitments."

Instead, I want to highlight a skill that often gets overlooked in our profession, but is super important to deliver constantly without losing your edge: learning how to manage stress.

Ambitious targets, constant performance pressure, full transparency, annoying prospects and (nowadays) even the possibility of being laid off when you don't hit quota. Sales is stressful and burnout is real. There’s nothing we can do about that – only learn how to cope with it.

I try to make a conscious effort to recover from all the stresses that my job brings. That means blocking time in my calendar to really unwind (and stick to it!). For me, these things include “mini-retreats” (without wifi), not working after a certain time or on weekends, using PTO to fully disconnect and recharge, spending quality time with friends and family, and hobbies and meditation. Everybody needs to find his or her own way there – just do what helps you to unwind after work so you can be your best self again tomorrow!

What are your long term career goals? Early retirement or future CRO?

Both of course! :) I am planning to retire before turning 67 (which is the current legal retirement age in Germany). If finances allow, I wouldn't mind settling down a bit earlier. To get there, working myself up to CRO is definitely a possibility. Becoming a founder myself is also something that I find very intriguing. For now I am enjoying the ride – let's see where the road takes me!

HOW TO IDENTIFY A (REAL) SALES OPPORTUNITY

Too many reps spend their days spinning their wheels, wasting time with the wrong prospects.

Knowing how to correctly identify a real sales opportunity can mean the difference between a closed deal and a month spent hoping and wishing with our fingers crossed.

Patri, an AI-Powered Revenue Intelligence Platform, has put together a free ebook that shows you exactly how to identify strong sales opportunities.

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The 3 main components of a strong opportunity
How to quantify opportunity fit for your company
The tools that can help you quantify fit

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Teach yourself how to work smarter, not harder. Grab the free ebook here.

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Bonus: New FREE tool from Patri - RevFit AI. An AI tool for your pipeline. Find your ICP, prioritize your pipeline, de-risk your quarter.

Click here to learn more.

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

What notable milestone is Salesforce known for?

A. First cloud computing company to be publicly traded
B. Slowest loading software in history
C. First cloud computing company to reach $1b in annual revenue
D. First company to create CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

This story is still one I tell people all the time. I don’t know why, but I find it absolutely hilarious. A long time ago, maybe fifteen years ago, I was in my mid 20’s and working in sales. I had another friend who was a fast-talker and really personable, and I always thought he would be great at sales too.

At the time, he was working in restaurant kitchens and maybe had a bit of a drinking problem. But I tried to give him some advice and told him he could do well, he just needed to get his foot in the door somewhere.

He took my advice and found a job doing telemarketing fund-raising for one of those firefighter charity things. I’m not exactly sure how it works but basically his job was to call people and ask them to donate money, which I honestly thought he would be amazing at. I even acted as a reference for him, and he ended up getting the job.

On his first day there, he got on the phone in the morning, then called me about an hour later thanking me for helping him get the job. He said it was better than working in a kitchen and he was excited to see how well he could do. I told him to call me if he needed any help or advice.

That same day, around 1pm, he called me back. He was whispering into the phone and I could barely hear him. He told me that he’d left for lunch and that he wasn’t going back to the office. But since he didn’t have a license and had gotten dropped off there by his girlfriend (who he didn’t want to tell that he was quitting), he needed somebody to pick him up.

I had a lot of flexibility at my company and I found the whole thing amusing, so I agreed to go get him. Here’s the funniest part: for some reason, he was hiding in the woods behind the building. He had gone to lunch and then hid in the woods behind the parking lot until I could pick him up. When I got there, he basically lunged out of the woods and jumped into my car.

I was dying laughing at the whole thing. He’s actually in sales for a furniture liquidator now and does quite well. I guess that first job just wasn’t meant to be.

Anonymous Location withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- April 2023

WORTH A PEEK

Do you know which words to avoid when talking to prospects? Well, you should! Dooly put together a list of ten words and three sales phrases that you should keep out of your vocabulary if you want to close more deals. Check out the quick list here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team,

I work in car sales at a mid-sized dealership. I’ve been here for just over a year. I'm pretty good at what I do. I’m able to build relationships with customers and generally end up in the top half or top quarter of sales reps every month. If it matters, I did go to college but never finished my bachelors. Some personal family problems prevented me from finishing my degree and I ended up going into the workforce rather than finishing school.

The reason I’m writing in is because of this strange feeling I get when I’m at work. Basically, I feel guilty when selling to many of my customers. The majority of our customer base is either working-class, middle-class, or struggling. We don’t really have a lot of rich people here. But when I talk to most of my customers, I always feel bad for them, and then I end up feeling guilty when trying to convince them to get into a vehicle that most of the time (and let’s just be honest here) they can’t afford.

Of course, if somebody comes in and they have a bunch of money and knows what they want, I don’t get this feeling, and it makes for a much easier sale. But what I want to do is to tell most of my customers to go buy a used economy vehicle for as little money as possible, and then work to build up their finances, or spend money on things that are more important. It’s actually really emotionally draining to feel like this all the time. I really don’t like it.

Is there anything I can do to make this feeling go away? I consider myself a financially responsible person, and I like the type of money I can make in sales. But if I have to feel like this for the next few decades, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to last. What are your thoughts?

Feeling Guilty in Michigan

Dear Guilty,

You can’t stay in car sales. In fact, you probably shouldn’t stay in B2C sales at all. Dealing with the general public is already complicated for a myriad of reasons, and if you find yourself being so strongly affected by their personal situations, you won’t be able to do your job effectively.

You should consider making the switch into B2B sales. It’s a completely different experience. In some ways, it’s easier. In some ways, it’s more difficult. But when it comes to your particular problem, you won’t have to deal with it when selling to businesses. Of course, you’ll definitely still come across sympathetic people, but businesspeople are able to make business decisions, and there’s no reason to feel sorry for them unless your product is a scam.

If, however, this doesn’t appeal to you, or if you find that even B2B sales engenders certain feelings that you can’t live with, then you should consider another profession. There’s no shame in doing what’s best for you, and sales simply might not be it. Good luck!

Quiz Answer: C – First cloud computing company to reach $1b in annual revenue

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Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik, Erica Furgiuele, Steve Rado, and Emily Hill.

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