Talking points included:

• The reality of today's buyer
• Reframing Buyer Skepticism
  • It's an opportunity
• Using MEDDICC to build proof
• What are buyers actually examining
• Equipping your Champion to win over skeptics
• Addressing Scrutiny before it arrives

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources

Talking points included:

• The Path to President's Club
  • What it means to earn President's Club
  • Knowing what needs to be done to get there
  • Talking with your manager
• Myths, Perception, Reality
  • Perceptions of salespeople and what good looks like
  • Myths about good sellers and what makes them great
  • The reality of what makes a great seller
    • How you can do the same
• Winning Habits
  • Practice daily
  • Finding a way to win
• Goal Alignment & Focus
  • Focusing on targets
  • Making this a known goal for yourself
• Working With Your Team
  • Dominating your company's ecosystem
  • Working as a team
  • Winning together

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources & Referenced Materials

• The President's Club Mindset: Inside the Winning Strategies of Tech's Most Successful Salespeople [Bob's Book on Amazon]
• Revenue Builders Podcast episode [The President’s Club Mindset: Inside the Behaviors, Beliefs, and Discipline of Elite Sales Performers with Bob Kocis]
• March 14, 2025 - Ascender Insights: When to Walk Away [Event Recap]

Talking points included:

• Level-Setting
  • No matter what you do, make sure you're using your company's AI policies
• Evolution of AI in 2025
  • AI has made it easier to build, so there is more competition than ever
    • But this means you can now see better differentiation in newer products that don't have the power yours does, or in the freedom a newer product can afford because they have less customers - It's up to you to make sure that your values align with your customer's values
  • Sellers have more tools than ever to leverage
    • You have a world of data at your fingertips
• Making AI Work for You
  • Utilize personalization
    • We don't mean one random fact from their LinkedIn page, but rather speaking like a human, understanding their problems, and making sure your language matches how you actually speak
  • Edit anything that has been touched by AI
    • It is not perfect and can make mistakes
    • There are things that people will consider a dead giveaway to something generated by AI
  • Keep using the same language as the buyer
  • Use AI to help you keep track of things like Mutual Action Plans or Coaching Your Champion
• Future-Proof Your Skills
  • Use AI to create efficiencies
  • A question we must answer, now that we’re seeing software become a commodity: How do you create budget?
    • The answer is that you create efficiencies
  • Get better at analytics
    • Data is everywhere, and it's only as good as the insights that come with it
    • Outside-In Analysis
    • Outcomes-Based thinking
    • Use AI to help you think, but do not stop thinking critically yourself!
  • Try making some of your own GPTs

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources & Referenced Materials

• Seth Godin - Mentioned by Max
• Lenny Rachitsky - Mentioned by Max
• Adam Lazzara's LinkedIn Post - Mentioned by Joe

Talking points included:

• Level-Setting
  • Mindset shifts
  • Remembering it's not the first time it's happened
  • You can still sell and organizations are still buying
• Working on a longer cycle than normal
  • A freeze does not mean that companies aren't spending money
    • Find ways to become the key priority
  • Triangulate the solution
  • Align to their priorities
• Using MEDDICC for impact
  • Maintain momentum in a lull
  • Establish your value
    • It's more important during longer cycles
    • You have to do it over and over and over and….
    • Involve your Champions (or coaches)
• Becoming the Champion of your Champion
  • Your solution isn't always the sale
    • Sometimes, the sale you need to make is even doing the project!
    • Average vs. Elite sellers
    • Lean into Marketplace changes

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources & Referenced Materials

• May 12, 2023 - Ascender Teams Workshop - Getting your team to think multi-threaded [Event Recap]
• October 6, 2023 - Ascender Insights - The Collective Yes [Event Recap]
• October 4, 2024 - Ascender Insights: Building Consensus with Metrics [Event Recap]

Talking points included:

• Level-Setting
  • Mindset shifts
    • Success Mindset
  • Go-to-market (GTM) & Business Models are ever changing
    • We're in the midst of a shift, now
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Scrutiny
  • Buyer Expectations have changed
• The Success Mindset
  • The Buyer Journey and relationship starts it's depth with sellers
  • How the Success Mindset works
• Setting Intentions
  • Be clear about your role
    • How to set yourself up to remain in contact
  • Clarify Value Realization Timelines
    • Working with your team to show how powerful the solution is to Business Problems
• Start With the End in Mind
  • Finding out what their "end" is
    • Goals, pains, onboarding
    • "When should we expect to see value"
  • Finding out what your "end" is

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources & Referenced Materials

• Seller Deficit Disorder [Force Management Blog]
• Seller Deficit Disorder [Ascender Article]

Talking points included:

• Level-Setting
  • Your product is likely very similar, so how are you different?
  • You need to uncover whether or not you're actually a better solution
• Qualifying "Real" Deals
  • Is this a real deal or are they just fishing for a quote?
  • How to know the deal is real
  • Utilizing the "Pouli" Discovery call
• Identifying Weakness
  • How are you different?
  • Are you stating your differences well?
  • What is your positioning?
• Shape the Buying Process
  • First conversations
  • Multi-threading tips
  • Illustrating the cost of staying
• Live with Pouli
  • We invited two folks on live throughout the webinar to talk about some common issues. Be sure to listen in to hear them!
    • Timestamps:
      • 27:55 - Nick
      • 48:23 - Nori

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources & Referenced Materials

• March 14, 2025 - Ascender Insights: When to Walk Away [Event Recap]
• November 1, 2024 - Ascender Insights: Differentiating Yourself as a Salesperson [Event Recap]
  

Talking points included:

• Level-Setting
  • It's not always easy to tell
  • YOU have to make the call
    • But you should always talk with your manager, first
    • Having a strong pipeline makes the decision easier
• Knowing when to walk away
  • Warning signs
    • Misaligned metrics
    • No definition of Decision Criteria
    • Seller is the only person driving things forward
    • No Champion in the deal
  • Getting to the truth
    • Test your Champion
    • Pressure-Test the urgency
    • Validating budget and process
    • Be direct and ask
    • When is it time to walk?
  • Strategic Disengagement
    • How to walk away gracefully

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources & Referenced Materials

• Email template [Ascender Resource]

Talking points included:

• Level-Setting
  • These trends are more like evolutions, rather than something brand new
• Top Trends to look for
  • AI & Storytelling
    • How to use AI in storytelling
    • Finding patterns
    • Analyzation of your storytelling
    • Integrations into your workplace
  • Hyper-personalization
    • Using personality assesments
    • Must be agile in how you sell
    • Using how you sell as a differentiator
    • How to handle more critical buyers by using hyper-personalization
  • More educated buyers
    • Longer experience
    • Less first-time buyers
    • More intimate knowledge of the buying process
    • Avoiding assumptions
• We were joined by a few voices from the call
  • Using AI means you have to be careful
  • Know your policies at your company

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources & Referenced Materials

• December 8, 2023 - Ascender Teams Workshop 4 ways to use Gen AI to maximize your time [Event Recap]
• Generative AI Prompts - Ascender Resources
• Notebook LM – Pouli Referenced
• November 1, 2024 - Ascender Insights: Differentiating Yourself as a Salesperson [Event Recap]
• April 7, 2023 - Ascender Insights - Selling to the CMO [Event Recap]

Talking points included:

• Franchise Mentality
  • Own your territory
  • Be willing to share with your manager on what you need
• Account Planning
  • Let others know your plan
  • Ask for help where you need it and be transparent
  • Participate in your own rescue
• Operating Rhythm
  • Have your plan, but be ready to change course
• The Four Questions
  • What problems do you solve for this buyer?
  • How, specifically, do you solve those problems?
  • How do you solve those problems better or differently than everybody else?
  • Where have you done this before?
    • Proof points
    • Case Studies
    • Testimonials

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources

• Ascender Resource - Plan to Make the Plan Activity sheet (clicking this link opens a window for a downloadable .xlsx file)

Talking points included:

• Level-setting on what we mean by Experienced Buyers
• Highlighting who can be considered experienced during the buying process
  • Focusing in on two buyer personas
• Ways you can identify experienced buyers
  • Signs to look for
  • Questions to ask
• How to gain access to these levels of buyers
  • Oftentimes, these experienced buyers are at a higher level within an organization
  • Tips on how to permeate your account and avoid becoming single-threaded
• Creating meaningful conversations
  • Digging into their business problems
  • Tying ourselves to positive business outcomes
• Getting them to "Yes"
  • Focusing on the process and avoiding "event" thinking

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources

• Statistic Cited by Antonella about referrals
  • "91% of customers say they'd give referrals, but only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals. An overwhelming majority of satisfied customers would refer your product or service – if you ask them to do so. The problem, however, is that only a fraction of salespeople bother to ask for referrals."

Talking points included:

• Framing your approach
  • Moving away from "nice-to-have" and becoming a "must-have"
  • Buyer perception
  • Becoming important to their business's success
  • Becoming important to the person's success
  • This is how Jörn sets up his value-based approach
    • Value Pyramid - on slides
    • Value matrix
    • Some specific examples of how to get to the Economic Buyer
• Value-Based Selling (Check resources below for more!)
  • Execute effective discovery to uncover business pains and
    outcomes
  • Create justification for an urgent and premium solution
  • Help them define requirements for a solution that
    achieves their PBOs (and favors your solution)
  • Pull your solution’s value and differentiation into
    negotiations
    
  • Provide the proof
• How to position yourself
  • Getting beyond features
  • Remember that you'll still need
    • Proof points
    • Customer stories
    • Testimonials
  • Tie into Core-Business problems and pain points
• How Jörn uses Ascender
  • Content to stay current on trends
  • Community forums to ask questions
  • Community forums to exchange experiences with people from multiple backgrounds
  • Community events for trends and to speak with experts
  • Curriculum to build a foundation

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources

• Don’t Forget These Key Steps to a Value-Based Sales Conversation (Blog)
• How to Coach Value-Based Sales Messaging Aligned with C-Suite Priorities (Blog)
• Our Best Content on Value-Based Selling (Collection)
• Tips for Using Value-Based Messaging with MEDDICC (Blog)

Talking points included:

• Seller-Deficit Disorder
• Setting the tone
• Fighting stigmas and misconceptions
• Trusting your process
• Killing your desperation
• Focusing on outcomes
• Coaching internally
• Getting everyone moving the same direction
  • The "Peloton Formation"
• Avoiding selling "bad fit" deals
• Common language
  • Using customer language
  • Using easy to understand language
• Owning your focus
• No wasted motions
  • Sprinter mindset
• Becoming the best listener you can be

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources

Talking points included:

• How to frame your questions
• Some questions to be sure to ask
• How important it is to frame things for your audience
• What kinds of strategies to bring for each persona
• Why procurement needs to be an ally
• How to actually build consensus

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments!

Additional Resources Referenced

November 1, 2024 - Ascender Insights Webinar: Differentiating Yourself as a Salesperson [Registration link]

October 6, 2023 - Ascender Insights: The Collective Yes [Event recap]

Talking points included:

• Anchors and how to use them to your advantage
• Common Pipeline objections
• The types of objections you'll run into most often
• How to handle Price and Access objections
• Questions from the audience to Antonella

Let us know what thoughts you have in the comments and be sure to check out the deck and recording below!

Some of the key talking points were:

• Establishing if the company you're selling into is actually a fit
• How you can establish that you're on their side
• Finding out what they think of you
• Helping your customer qualify themselves
• Using "how you sell" as a differentiator
• Returning to past proof points
• Reestablishing your position as you near the end of the deal
• And more!

Tim and Nicole did an amazing job sharing their points of view while also answering so many questions. Be sure to check the recording for all of the great questions and tips from the audience, as well!

This Ascender Insights webinar was all about working with our managers and talking about the relationship that we have with them. They're a great resource, but John points out that they're not just here as a "Super rep". Listen in for some tips on how to build trust and retain agency in your role. There's something for all skill levels, especially as it relates to how Enterprise-level reps can work in situations where the manager might play favorites.

Some key points from the talk:

• Building effective communications
  • How to get alignment on priorities
  • Navigating internal landscapes
  • Leveraging Managers and others for external resources
• Building the relationship
  • How to help build your own case
  • How to give back to the relationship
  • Building an entrepreneurial mindset

Check out the recording and the slides from the talk, below.

Due to a technical issue, the recording from this session is unfortunately unavailable.

But we've got you covered on the key points of the webinar here with a recap and the slides from the presentation. Be sure to check back later this week for a resource we're excited to create and share!

Does the Ascender Community seem like a place you'd want to be where you can join live events or seek answers from peers and Force Management's world-class facilitators, alike? Then email us at Community@Ascender.co for your first year of the Ascender Connect plan for free, giving you access to the Explore and Engage tabs!

Some key points from the talk:

• Influence & Prioritize
  • Influence required capabilities
    • You can't just be a note taker
    • You need to know when to solve and when to influence
      • Diana says, "It's really easy to just want to jump in and solve things. It seems easier and allows you to control the narrative, but it's not THEIR narrative. You need to remind yourself throughout the process that they're the ones that are going to make the decision in the end. You're there to help guide and influence."
      • One of our commenters shared, "I think control is a myth. Always remember that the Buyer is in control. You can only influence."
    • Get the entire picture
    • Be strategic about your discovery questions
  • Prioritizing Required Capabilities
    • Ask people, directly and clearly, to lay out their required capabilities. Ask them to stack rank them.
      • "People rarely argue with their own conclusions"
      • Diana says, "People make this part a lot tougher than it needs to be, at times. We can just be direct and ask the customer what's important. You're not going to convince them to change their opinion of something that's, in their minds, not important. (She talks more about this in the "Focusing on Value" section, below).
        
        We have to be in a place of trust before we can get real answers. So be curious, open-minded, and strategic about what you're asking and when."
• Understand & Differentiate
  • One of the top skills when conversing with a customer is to "hear" what they do not express
  • Seek to Understand
    • Be curious and pay attention
    • They might not be expressing something, so you need to note that and understand what might be behind the surface
    • Diana says, "Everyone says they know not to do it, but it can be comforting to just jump into features when things aren't going the way we want. We think we're delivering value because we're helping to solve their issues. But what if it's not the solution they're looking for? If things feel uncomfortable, take a beat and re-center. Get confirmation. You are here to understand the entire picture, so take your time and get it right."
  • Clearly differentiate
    • You're differentiating so that they can visualize the future
    • Check to make sure you didn't add things that they don't need
    • Gain validating to confirm
      • Oftentimes, we assume that we've differentiated, but the customer doesn't agree
• Focusing on Value
  • Create the space for your customers to be real with you
    • Too often, we aren't creating a space for people to tell us the truth, and so they tell us what they want us to hear. But that doesn't do us any justice and we end up having to work upstream or finding out that we've been working on the wrong things. This can cost us time, but more often is can cost us the entire deal.
    • Diana says, "Build an experience they will remember. Find a way to stand out as a salesperson. Be different, be bold, but be authentic. You'll have to work to create a safe space where you can get the truth!"
  • Articulate Value Clearly
    • Everyone thinks they're articulating value clearly, but so often we're just saying the things that have worked on other calls. Ask yourself some questions and then verify it with the customer.
    • Diana says, "It's not enough to just think you have value. Ask yourself questions to make sure that you've got the right points that you want to be working on, but then be direct and ask your client if they see it the same way. You can not assume, especially when it comes to this part of sales. If the prospect or customer is on a different wavelength, you're not working toward the same goals."
  • Focus on the Right Things
    • If they're talking price, they're not seeing the value.
    • Your Champion needs to understand and verbally agree to the value you're discussing.
  • The Honey-Do List Story
    • Diana says, "We once did a training session and I asked if anyone there had a healthy honey-do list. A volunteer put up their hand and after some time talking, they mentioned that their fiancée had requested that the porch fan be fixed. It had been five months of it not being fixed! So we dug a little deeper into why he wasn't fixing the fan, and we arrived at, 'It's not a problem for me. I don't really sit outside.'
      
      And there it was! Our eureka moment!
      
      People do things for one of two reasons: They are in pain and it's causing problems. OR it's exciting and the prospect of changing things could lead the organization in an entirely new direction. In this case, it wasn't a problem to our volunteer because he never sat on the porch and it wasn't exciting to them because it wouldn't really be a big new get. No pain. No excitement. No change."
    • Joe shared, "I come from the buyer's side, but I can say that early in my career, I had a hard time selling the idea of community or community software internally because I didn't do 'executive speak' and didn't know the best way to sell my ideas internally. So even when I was willing to be a Champion, I couldn't move the needle as well internally and lacked the influence to convince others. Coaching your prospects on value and what to speak to is key to getting to the economic buyer."
• Proof Points
  • You have 90 seconds or less to deliver relevant proof points
  • It must be interesting AND relevant!!!!
    • Don't just try to tell the same story over and over
    • Diana says, "It is really easy for people to fall in love with ONE proof point story. You can't do that. Founders will get like this often, but your job isn't just to show that one really cool story worked. You need to find the right story for the right person at the right time."
  • Remember this conversational flow: Problem - Solution - Proof
    • Problem: You have a confirmed problem that both you and the customer are in agreement on.
    • Solution: You have a clear solution that the customer has agreed would be an ideal solution for their problem.
    • Proof: Your proof point is relevant, powerful, dynamic, and delivered at the appropriate time.

Additional Resources

Podcast: Articulating Value and Differentiation After the Sale

Article: Five Ways to Prepare for Your Next Sales Meeting

Podcast: Competing Against Other Priorities

Video: Making Sure the Customer Understands Your Differentiation

Article: The Currency of Value

Article: Remember These Steps to a Value-Based Sales Conversation

Sean and Doug are two amazing leaders from great organizations. They sat down with us to talk about how individual contributors can break into management and knowing when that's right for them. One of the best things they discussed was how clear you have to know that it's the right path for you. It isn't just about being the best salesperson (though they definitely mention that you need to be hitting your numbers!), but also about your passion to help others grow.

If you're looking to break into management, be sure to check out the recording below. This was a big conversation with lots of rich content!

Some key points from the talk:

• TIps for those looking to move into the sales manager role
  • Earn the right to ask
  • Begin conversations with your management team
  • Find ways to share how you're passionate about this team and its growth
  • Knowing if you should move up or move on
• Advice for first-time managers
  • Best practices and lessons learned
  • Misconceptions of the role
  • Mistakes a lot of first-time managers make
  • Traits of great leaders

Check out the recording below and be sure to check out future events as we share them!

Paddy Mac walk through a ton of topics, including laying a base understanding of the three buyer personas you're most likely to run into on your sales calls. There's a solid Q&A section near the end and we had two people jump on with Paddy, LIVE! This is a great recap and we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Some key points from the talk:

• Buyer Personas
  • Economic Buyer
  • Technical Buyer
  • Operational Buyer
• The power each persona has
• What each persona really cares about
• The organization structure you're likely seeing today

Check out the recording below and be sure to check out the community for events as we share them!

Below is a download of the deck from Paddy's presentation.

Some of the biggest themes from John's talk are about the Franchise Mentality, Account Planning, and your Operating Rhythm. By being realistic and honest about what lies ahead, you're able to not just take stock and inventory, but actually lay out concrete steps to rise to the challenge of an elite-level quota.

John shared his story about why he began the theory of "the Plan to Make the Plan" as a result of feeling initially like he might become a victim of his own success. But once he and his manager sat down to discuss how he could overcome this new quota, John was able to rise to that challenge and break his own record!

Some key points from the talk:

• The basic components
  • Gather & analyze
  • Plan & strategize
  • Organize & execute
• Remember that your plan is a process, not an event
• You own your plan
• What is involved in your Account Planning stage?
  • Economic landscape
  • Political landscape
  • Operational landscape
• What is your cadence?
• Always, always have success measures in place

This was an incredible call and conversation with lots and lots of questions asked and answered. We hope to see you around here and at the next event!

Catch the full recording here:

Attached please find the deck from the session.

Here's a link to the Ascender Live companion workshop's recording!

I’m talking to them about the correct high level initiatives, hitting the right personas with the right messaging, but the corporate structure within them space I sell in has been acquisition heavy leaving former business owners now with bosses and the possibility of losing credibility or worse so they don’t want to touch it.

I’ve been good at getting them to send me in the right direction with endorsement, but I am trying to get them back into the sales process a step earlier than they ever want to be and I think my strategy hinges on positioning value at this unique time.

What are some tips/tricks to lure them into a demo 2 in a discovery > demo 1 > demo 2 (which I want to do discovery/demo 2 with EB) > negotiation > close type of structure (I tried to keep that brief so cut out some stuff after the demo 2 spot I’m looking to pull them into)

Some of the highlights included Daria sharing how you can hold her attention, research what role the COO has (since it can be quite different, org to org), and a story about cupcakes… Diana shared some amazing tie backs, keeping things clear and actionable for you when you're selling to the COO (and other C-Level executives, as well!).

Let us know in the comments what your takeaways were and be sure to ask any additional follow ups to Diana in the community!

Some great tips in here around how to uncover what kinds of metrics are important at the moment for each prospect, how remain fluid so you can rise to meet the CRO where they're at in their business's lifecycle, and the story about how a salesperson highlighted their solution's ability to attach to an existing initiative to create even more value.

Greg told us very specific things we can be doing to help streamline our process while building credibility. John then took a lot of the things Greg was giving us and tied it back directly to MEDDICC and how you'll be able to implement best practices during this process.

Dom's insights into what he's looking for paired up with John's takeaways and tips on how you can capitalize will truly impact how you're selling. Share what you thought and what stood out in the comments.

Find out what how Jori interprets things and what she wants to see from salespeople during their calls, how to get the CMOs attention, and some really creative tips for you to see what's working.

Share your takeaways in the comments and let us know what resonated most with you!

Listen in about what's important to the CFO, how they're thinking through the buying process, and a really great tip on how you can get in front of the CFO.

Share your takeaways in the comments and let us know if there's anything more you'd want to check out!