I set 9 meetings in 2 hours last week using this strategy
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Engaging Previous Champions
Here's why this works:
- I've trained 3,500+ reps across dozens of sales teams in the last 5+ years
- The avg. rep/leader changes jobs every ~2 years
- That's dozens of new opportunities every year with people I've already done business with
Your previous champions may not be ready to do business with you right away. But they're great to network with, ask for referrals, get introductions to others in the org, etc.
Scale this across an entire org of reps and you'll see massive returns.
Here's how to execute this strategy:
✅ Keep a list of every stakeholder in your deals
I use LinkedIn Sales Nav for this. I have two lists:
→ Champions & important stakeholders in deals I won (and lost)
→ Every rep/manager I engaged with during the trainings
✅ Monitor the list every week/month
This is where Sales Nav helps. Keep a lookout for:
→ Job changes
→ Promotions into leadership positions
→ Content they're posting
→ Company triggers (growth, contraction, new products, etc.)
✅ Nurture the relationship
It's important to give before you ask. Make a habit of doing this a few times every quarter. This isn't complicated.
→ Send over helpful content
→ Make an introduction to a peer (this is super high value)
→ Like/comment on their posts
✅ Make the ask
When appropriate, make the ask.
→ Ask for a meeting to catch up, share insights, see if there's an opportunity, etc.
→ Ask for an introduction to a mutual connection
Pro tip: Get to a texting relationship with every champion. This type of outreach gets way easier when you can text.
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This takes a decent amount of work to set up. But once you get to 1-2+ years at a company, you'll build a big network of previous buyers.
Selling gets way easier when you can get intros and referrals from previous champions.
How do you nurture relationships with previous champions?