This Podcast is about the inspirational journey of Jamie Shanks, the CEO of Sales for life who has trained over 100 thousand personnel across various verticals in sales. He provided training in six continents in organizations such as Microsoft, Oracle, American Airlines, and many more! He has also authored highly acclaimed books such as Spear Selling-Account Based Selling for Modern Digital Professional.
Jamie Shanks talks about his life and journey of becoming a successful entrepreneur. If we peek into Jamie’s childhood, he had an entrepreneurial streak in him as a child. He was also fortunate that his parents gave him complete freedom to take chances and deal with his failures. This made him a strong individual who could put his failures behind him and move on.
Jamie started his career in sales at SaaS in Toronto in 2009. But he had an urge to set up a consultancy for sales where he could guide other sales professionals. He started his consultancy in Jan 2010. However, it was not all rosy for Jamie. He was on the brink of bankruptcy after 18 months. Through all this wreckage, Jamie decided that he had to discover an alternative way of business which was beyond email. He came across social science and 6-7 years later he is at the pinnacle of success.
He seems to live up to a quote by Henry Kaiser, “Problems are just opportunities in work clothes.”
Following is the summary of highlights of Jamie’s interview by Rebecca Twomey:
Biggest Lessons for sales as per Jamie
Time Management in selecting the accounts is the foundation of sales methodology. He feels that an average seller never really focuses on his competitive advantage. It is important to identify the competitive advantage you have in your new accounts.
Another aspect that has changed his business and that of 300 global companies that he is working with are focusing on asymmetric accounts and the advantages that you can leverage from them.
Jamie’s thoughts on “What does it take to be successful?”
As a seller, you need to be confident so that your buyers will connect with you. At the same time, you need to be humble to acknowledge that you do not have all the answers. Your buyers will provide you ample opportunities to get the answers.
Importance of Storytelling according to Jamie
Storytelling forms a framework in sales methodology. It is an important step before engaging your customers. You will need to write a script for the way you want to tell your story. You can try different stories to see which one connects with your customer.
Tip for better storytelling
It is a good idea for sales professionals to learn from their peers about customers based on their experiences. They can collectively craft a better story once they know the pitfalls, challenges, best practices, etc.
Jamie authored his first book on Social Selling in 2016 which focused on introducing sales professionals to digitization.
His second book has now been released that focuses on Spear Selling or targeted selling.
He plans to write his next book on the ecosystem around digital selling. This book will focus on how to coach and how to lead meant for the CEOs, Chief Revenue Officers, etc.
The book that inspired him was “Challenge Yourself.”
Actionable Tips by Jamie
- Research every account and compare them on the basis of the advantages and disadvantages they offer.
- Research your competitors.
- Work on establishing relationships.
Final Words: In case you want to know more, you can read Spear Selling!
