⚡️ Today’s level up ⚡️
Today’s edition talks about the all important first ninety days in a new role and a simple principle you can apply that puts you in a stronger position to succeed than following the traditional onboarding path most companies put you through. Let’s go!
Read time: <5 minutes
If you missed last week, read it here.
Traditional onboarding focuses on product, when it should be more about business conversations
“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.” — John Maynard Keynes
The traditional onboarding sales process employed by most SaaS companies sucks.
I can attribute winning an MVP award and achieving 177% to target in my first year as a Strategic Account Director at my last company by bucking the normal onboarding trend, and instead, running a different strategy – one focused on accumulating as many (real) business conversations as possible in my first ninety days.
The traditional onboarding process for most enterprise and strategic sellers, however, is one designed around taking it slow out of the gates and immersing yourself in the product.
The problem with this approach is it lulls sellers into a false sense of security, where you feel you can take it easy and build your territory thoughtfully. But the pressure starts mounting as quickly as month four, and your well-meaning strategy gets decimated in favor of an uninspired, high-pressured and activity-driven approach forced down from the top.
The power completely shifts out of your hands, and by that point, it’s tough to gain it back. I’ve witnessed sellers even getting fired within their first six months when they thought they had more time to build their book of business.
Let’s unpack a better way so you never find yourself in this vulnerable position.
Fast in the beginning, slow later
“If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.” — Benjamin Franklin
In Step 5: Build a Transformation Mindset of 7 Steps to 7 Figures, I share the story of how I was able to land an exciting deal with Aramark using my existing connections at Apple.
The key was alerting them of my intentions before I even started in my new role. That allowed the opportunity to come to me (literally on my first day) and give me something tangible to work on immediately.
The other opportunity won in that first year was the Delta Air Lines deal that leveraged the infamous Open Letter approach. That opportunity materialized because I requested it and solidified my account list before joining.
See a trend emerging here?
A lot of the juicy work that led to making an impact in my first year as a strategic seller happened before I even got my laptop and office badge (more on that later).
The key driving principle was to move fast when others were slow, so that I could slow down later when everyone else was fast and frantic.
What exactly did that look like?
A better onboarding approach
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”— Albert Einstein
The first step was knowing I was in the right environment by doing the proper due diligence in evaluating a new opportunity against my old Enterprise AE role (that I had been happy in) and feeling confident I was taking the right chance with a new Strategic Account team.
The next step was giving myself ample space between my old role and the new one. Between accepting the new role as a Strategic Account Director and my official start date, I gave myself a month to recharge and refocus.
My wife and I spent a week in Napa Valley where I completely decompressed, and then went I got back home, with three weeks still left before my start date, I got to (deep) work analyzing LivePerson’s value proposition, watching the CEO on inteviews with CNBC, and studying their largest customer.
I practiced owning the CEO’s point of view as my own…until I had a perspective that was indeed my own.
The third step was to come in ready to execute at a frantic, but purposeful pace out of the gates. The “pre-season” work paid off handsomely (literally). While my peers were still getting up to speed on how the product worked and fully understanding the value proposition, by the end of February (I started on January 15th), I already had two meetings with Aramark, one with Facebook, one with IBM to pursue Apple, and opened dialogue with Delta.
These business conversations taught me more than any onboarding videos or slides could ever do.
At the end of that first year, I was the only seller on our team to surpass their number and was awarded MVP. This trust futher enabled me to be rewarded with new opportunities that passed the desk of my C-Suite and the performance earned me a promotion as a VP (without having to manage a team).
That first year of purposefully moving fast put me in a position the following year to earn more than I ever had as a corporate seller ($1.5M) and slow down, be more methodical in my approach, and operate on my terms from that point on (until I retired to do my own thing in 2022).
One of my Diamond Program members, Himanshu, is living out this reality as we speak.
He’s about two months into a new strategic role, one he was able to cultivate for himself during the interview process by outlining and pushing back on what he wanted (to be more strategic vs being an activity-driven enterprise AE).
He then took a month before joining and we worked through formulating his strategic point of view. And already in just less than eight weeks, he’s had a slate full of meetings with some of the world’s largest brands and consulting firms. His pipeline is full with opportunities, and ones where he gets to operate in a way he wants, that lights him up, not in a way that feels forced or constrained to a narrow solution set.
Remember this principle: Move fast when others are slow and slow when others are frantic and fast. This contrarian way of operating works wonders.
That’s a wrap! See you next week.
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY READING: Identifying The Right Accounts Can Earn You More In Less Time
***
Here’s how I can help you right now (changes coming soon – get these while you can):
1 | Unlock the 7 Figure Seller OS
Learn how to use design and systems thinking to become a 7 figure seller. There are 3 options to allow you to customize your learning journey.
2 | Download The 7 Figure Open Letter
Get the creative strategic selling strategy that landed a $5.9M deal with a top 4 major global airline. Bonus inside!
3 | Book a 1:1 coaching session right now
You can book a 60-minute coaching session with me (although the Pro above option provides access to 1:1 coaching with me at a 70% discount).