Sales Transformation

Sales Transformation

menu close

#224 S2 Episode 93 - From SDR to Sales Leader with Pradeep Sridar

/ 31:41/S2:E93
This episode of the Sales Transformation Podcast with Collin Mitchell features Pradeep Sridar, currently the VP of Sales at Wingman, software that allows you to record your calls, review deals, scale coaching and build a repeatable sales machine. Pradeep recalls cutting his teeth as a young SDR and getting heaps of rejections until he switched his tactics and deviated from the call script. As a sales leader, Pradeep’s leadership skills draw from his own experience of tweaking his process to his personal selling style. Today, he encourages his sales reps to be creative, believe in the product that they are selling, and be genuinely interested in solving the client’s problem.

Book Your Free Revenue First Podcast Strategy here!

Get Your Free Dial Session here!

Claim Your Free 200 Leads here!

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Less about the product, more about the client 
  • Ask only the questions that you really care about 
  • Connect with the problem and close with the value 
  • The disadvantages of using a call script
  • Painful transition from SDR to AE
  • You can't teach negotiation skills 
  • Salespeople need to fundamentally believe in their product
  • Adapt to the evolving sales technologies to avoid getting antiquated

QUOTES

Pradeep: "I hate call scripts. But the things is I can help you with the framework. Using that framework, if you are able to generate value for your buyer, you can be extremely successful. If you're failing, then keep doing it again and again, and eventually you'll learn."

Pradeep: "The problem with call scripts is that you're just taking one person's opinion, and they are imposing it on tons of different people. And that often, to me, creates cringeworthy moments. Because even if I want to think of all the personas of Wingman, I cannot think of it in a blink. I'm only thinking about one persona, like the VP of sales. Then it might not appeal to a sales manager."

Pradeep: "When you're hiring freshers, you will hire people who are incredibly passionate about selling. You hire people who are natural talkers, natural conversational-builders, and who genuinely care about customers. You look for all these traits. So, if all of this are in the check box, then you should let them operate in their way for quite a while to even understand and get to know-how of what their style is. Else you will just be making a flock of sheep."

Pradeep: “In this kind of a complex marketing-driven, marketing-lead, then sales-led buyer persona, it is extremely important that you create value to every step of your sales process. And call scripts, they basically break that.”

Pradeep: “You just got to stick with the value. And for that, as a salesperson, you need to fundamentally believe in the product. If you're not believing in the product, that is exactly why I'm saying negotiation cannot be coached. Because salespeople are not believing in the product, then they are just going to keep throwing away discounts.”

Pradeep: “If you're not going to adopt these technologies, eventually, you're going to get antiquated. Because with the kind of millennial sales people, the way they think the way they sell is all different. They are too focused on the buyers and not very much focused on the admin work.”

Learn more about Pradeep in the links below:

Learn more about Collin in the link below: 

Also, you can join our community by checking out @salescast.community. If you're a sales professional looking to take your career to greater heights, please visit us at https://salescast.co/ and set a call with Collin and Chris.

#224 S2 Episode 93 - From SDR to Sales Leader with Pradeep Sridar

headphones Listen Anywhere

More Options »
Broadcast by