Alex Bruschi’s Post

I'm just gonna say it: Competitive Intelligence Dialogue should always try to avoid "But We Can" types of defensive statements. (where's a 'no buts' allowed emoji when you need one...) I just had an excellent convo with a consulting client and wanted to share it here to get some other CI professional feedback. Battle Cards and Sales Enablement training should always be focused on the Offense, NOT the defense. If you're writing a battle card at all, you (should) know what's likely to come up in the convo. Craft the resource in a way that prepares your stakeholders to Get Out Ahead Of It! 🏄♂️ If you know you're prospect well enough, you should have an idea of who else they're likely researching or have possibly already talked to. Work your CI 'knowledge' statements into the conversation to answer the 'but can you do x' before they even get asked. General functionality, differentiators, and industry-specific features are common enough knowledge and you should know where you stand. Which leads me to a final thought...should you even try to 'counter' every single point that comes up? This could leave the prospect feeling like you're 'grabbing straws' or worse, 'dishonest'. Maybe it's ok sometimes to just say "yeah, they do that really well. Here's how we handle that" (no buts). Chances of that single feature being the 'make-or-break' for the deal are pretty slim...but if it is their crux, then you probably aren't the right solution for them anyhow. 🤷♀️

UNDERRATED PIPELINE REVIEW ADVICE Target one deal per rep. Every sales rep can rattle off details about a bunch of deals. But that’s just information dumping. Let’s try critical thinking instead. Ask your reps to bring their single most pressing deal to your pipeline review. Have them (briefly) explain where they’re at and why they’re stuck. Then have the team collaborate to identify closing strategies. Now you’re peer coaching. This approach turns new hires into veterans FAST. And it promotes accountability since each rep has to come back to the table next week and tell the team what happened. When your entire team collaborates, closed deals are a win for everyone.

Buying cycles rarely happen overnight. There are stakeholders to get aligned, evolving requirements, trust that takes time to earn through consistency. Don’t force or rush that natural process out of impatience. Instead, nudge the prospects forward, proactively. → Ask thoughtful questions upfront to map potential roadblocks → Bring decision-makers and coaches into the mix at purposeful stages → Hold off on reckless proposals before real needs crystalize → Create low-pressure, educational experiences to gather buyers along Too many impatient reps leave trails of alienated clients, anger at "no decisions", and hollow ROIs in their wake. They tried sprinting a marathon and burned out. Instead, take a meticulous, consultative approach. Study the industry, build credibility over time, map desired outcomes before ever pitching. See delays as opportunities to solidify fit and value.

"Whose problem is it to fix?" This has to be one my favourite questions to ask when doing a discovery call. Identifying responsibility and accountability is crucial in your sales process. Here's why: 1) Clear lines of communication & decision-making are established when you know who owns a problem. This will quickly guide you where you must focus your efforts. 2)It reveals dynamics within the company and potential process gaps. Who benefits from the resolution? Who might be affected? 3)Creates Accoutabilty before you even win the deal you know who is responsible, This will help your CSM to establish quick wins. 4)It helps scope the problem effectively. Tactical, strategic, or systemic? Guiding solutions and allocating resources accordingly. 5)knowing who owns the problem helps tailor your pitch to address their pain points. Navigate internal politics like a pro! #DiscoveryCalls #ProblemSolving #Accountability #ActionableSolutions

UNDERRATED PIPELINE REVIEW ADVICE 👀 Target one deal per rep. Every sales rep can rattle off details about a bunch of deals. But that’s just information dumping. Let’s try critical thinking instead: -Ask your reps to bring their single most pressing deal to your pipeline review. -Have them (briefly) explain where they’re at and why they’re stuck. -Then have the team collaborate to identify closing strategies. Now you’re peer coaching. This approach turns new hires into veterans FAST. And it promotes accountability since each rep has to come back to the table next week and tell the team what happened. When your entire team collaborates, closed deals are a win for everyone.

Hacker Warning ⚠️ If sales leadership only focuses on the overall count of how many calls were made or how many emails were sent, their "data driven" strategies won't be as effective as they think. The context of each interaction is the most important part. Did the first conversation lead to a deal? Was it an internal training zoom call? Was it a follow up call? Looking at the overall number of interactions isn't enough anymore if you want to create a better sales process for your team thats focused on maximizing impact. And for individual reps who want to become top sellers. Knowing the context of each interaction will help you improve faster than others who wait to be coached by leadership. It's time sales teams maximize impact and create autonomy within their org. Come Sale ⛵️ into a new way of time management with us. PS. Even though our ICP probably hasn't watched "The Circle", this was by far one of my favorite videos to be a part of!

I know comparing yourself to others isn't great. But as a rep, I always paid attention to what top reps at top companies were doing. In many occasions I reached out to meet them. I always asked about OTEs, Quotas and Sales Metrics like my personal favorite: ...drumroll... The talk-to-listen ratio. Top companies have reps talking less and listening more. I found that their superb training and business acumen helped them uncover A LOT of pain. By executing on great discovery and uncovering the right problems, top reps only talk 40% of the time while bottom reps do 70% of the talking, to later chase a lot of deals that go into their pipelines...to die. 💀

Betting on yourself is terrifying But it’s also the most empowering and rewarding feeling out there Sure every day might look a bit different than the day before but the reality is the day is what you make of it Since we’ve stepped into The Reeder full time, here’s 3 things I’ve learned ✅ some weeks will he heavier sales weeks while others will be heavier project deliverable weeks. Both are important and necessary. ✅ having a healthy sales pipeline is crucial however, being honest with your prospects on who’s a great fit and who’s not should be your business’ ethical foundation. That ideal customer profile is still important. ✅ build a CEO scorecard to go through your business metrics is critical. It provides a wholistic snapshot of how the business is doing and keeps you all on the same page. Stay tuned for more learnings!

Took a call with a CRO yesterday. ‘I join meetings at the top of the funnel, not at the bottom. It gives me greater control of my pipeline. Parachuting in to help negotiate terms and close isn’t a good use of my time - helping to qualify and set up solid sales processes is.’ Love the sentiment - question the scalability. However this CRO is not alone in moving their attention upstream. Jointflows is seeing an increased focus of senior leadership time (and treasure) on early funnel activities. We’re also seeing a trend where this expensive effort is being undone by poor quality deal management and execution later in the deal, especially relating to buyer expectations that can be elevated by senior seller interactions. Further layers of Sales Management are not the answer. Businesses looking to scale profitably will need to find a way to systematise deal execution

Just because you found an issue doesn’t mean it’s big enough to prioritize. And it does not mean that the person you're speaking with can or will do the mental math to see the true cost of the problem... Let's say that you’ve identified that a sales team is wasting 20% of their time on manual tasks. Great, right? But the business is already paying for those 10 people, and the sales manager has plenty of other things going on. So if you stop at the surface level pain points, you might not have a compelling business case vs. other priorities and initiatives. 🛠️ Uncovering a problem is just the first step. To make a real impact, you need to understand the downstream effects. More specifically, the implications and consequences By identifying that 20% of time is wasted, you need to explore what else this impacts. Could they spend more time prospecting, making calls, or following up? And what about looking at the long term costs? Without addressing inefficiencies, they might need to hire more sales reps and managers, increasing complexity and costs. 🔍 Steps to build a strong business case Identify the core problem: Start with the issue at hand, like time wasted on manual tasks. Explore downstream effects: What else does this problem impact? More time for prospecting and follow-ups could lead to higher revenue. Calculate long-term costs: Consider the cost of inefficiency. More hires, more training, and potentially more management layers. Showcase the value: Help stakeholders understand the broader impact. Don’t assume they’ll connect the dots on their own. #projectmanagement #discovery