About This Episode

We often focus on the product, the service, the features, and the functionality. And by doing that, we forget about the why. Before we make that first cold call or jump into a demo, we need to remember why we’re here.

That’s what we’re talking about on today’s episode of The Sales Engagement podcast. Our guest today is Ryan Reisert, Co-founder and CEO of The Sales Developers, a company focused on delivering world-class, outbound sales. On this show, Ryan talked about the why — why we do what we do.

Let’s dig in.

Why The Why Is So Important:

At some point, at some time, your company was built because there was a why.

There was a need or a problem in the market you serve. That problem was so big that your company’s founders created a product or service to solve that issue, to meet that need.

That’s the why. It’s why your company exists.

The why isn’t your product, service, or widget. It’s the problem that your company is solving.

Before we make a call, start a conversation, or do a demo, we have to remember the why.

How You Get Focused On The Why:

When we hire and train new sales reps we usually have some sort of onboarding bootcamp. And in that bootcamp we focus on product demonstrations, features, and benefits.

We don’t usually cover the why.

But why do we have that product with all of those features in the first place?

When we onboard new reps, we need to shift our focus from product demonstrations and product knowledge to the why.

We need to highlight our customer. We need to make sure new reps know who our customer is and what a day in their life looks like. They need to understand what the customer’s problems are and how our company can help their life get better.

So, from a tactical perspective, how do you do this?

Putting Your Employees In the Driver’s Seat

How do you get your employees to connect with the why, to understand what it’s like to be a customer, to have a problem, and to need your company’s solution?

Hubspot is a great example of a company that puts their reps in their customers’ shoes. Under Mark Roberge, they didn’t spend a lot of time in training focusing on product features and benefits.

Instead, they had each new rep set up their own personal blog or website. It had to be something they were passionate about that they could deliver content around. Then they had to use Hubspot to drive traffic to that site. The goal was for the reps to learn how using Hubspot allowed them to get their message to market.  

If you’re an outbound marketer, put yourself in a sequence. Figure out what the messaging looks like. How does it feel to get an email every other day? Does it resonate with you?

Another option, especially if you’re a smaller company, is to give your reps a chance to talk to your founders. Because they started the company, they know the why. Get that knowledge transferred from founder to rep.

The goal is to identify with the customer. Think about their problems. Think about how your solution helps to solve that issue.

Strive to become a product expert, not because you sat through a demo, but because you truly understand how the product can meet the need.  

Once You Know The Why, You Need to Know The Who:

The next step is to figure out the who. You need to know which organizations have the problem you’re trying to solve and who within that organization cares about it.

Who gets hired, fired, or promoted because of the why?

Once you’ve identified the who, talk to those people.

If your who is CFOs go talk to a CFO. Chances are you know a CFO, you know someone who knows a CFO, or you have a CFO.

Go interview them. Ask about what’s important to them? What keeps them up at night?

By interviewing the who, you’re picking up on their messaging — the way they talk, the terms they use, etc. And when you talk to a similar prospect, you can incorporate that messaging to really resonate with them.

You need to understand the why, and the who, but you also need to say the right things when you communicate.

Tying Product Features Back to The Why:

At the end of the day, your reps do need to know about the product features.

So, how do you teach them to map those back to the why?

When talking about features with prospects, focus on why that feature exists. Focus on how that feature helps to solve the problem you’re addressing. Tie the feature to the why and the outcome it achieves.

The more you understand the why — and the who — the more successful you’ll be.

So, why are you selling what you’re selling?

This post is based on a podcast interview with Ryan Reisert from The Sales Developers. To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to The Sales Engagement Podcast.

If you don’t use iTunes, you can listen to every episode here.

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