Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: 10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.  11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?  12Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Christian Based Selling

The bible teaches us that a team of two or more is better than one.   This is true but in order to maximize the effectiveness of your team in a corporate sales context each person needs to understand their role and goals for the meeting.   This alignment is critical to showing up well.  

As sales professionals we are typically working with one or more colleagues who serve in a specialist role that we cannot fulfill on our own.  We could not win deals without these colleagues.  These colleagues possess varying degrees of sales experience and skill which is to be expected because they are not trained sales professionals.  The less comfortable may need coaching on how to best support you in the client meeting while other colleagues may need clarification on roles.  You need to guard against non-sales specialists who believe they are good at sales overstepping boundaries in  the client meeting.      

Therefore we must always schedule a prep session in advance of a customer meeting to discuss roles and goals for the meeting.  If you are working with colleagues for the first time in a business development context, ask if they are comfortable with the role you are asking them to fulfill.  For client presentations with planned speaking parts, schedule at least one dry run to get the kinks worked out.        

We may have colleagues in the meeting who  are senior to us.  In the client meeting you need to make it clear that no matter who you brought with you--you are the leader of the meeting.  You do this by kicking off the meeting and serving as the quarterback throughout.  The last thing you want is your own teammates wrestling with you over control of the meeting.  It doesn't matter if you have your CEO in the meeting--a smart CEO will empower you in your role.   This is why we meet in advance to set clear expectations on roles.  

Tip: let your colleagues know there should only be one sales person in the room.  Many times colleagues help out (ha) by asking sales questions.  Their intentions may be good but it can be disruptive to your sales process and minimize your authority in the eyes of the customer.  The customer begins to wonder, who is in charge here?  Who should I be dealing with?  Explain to your colleagues that you trust them to do their part and they need to trust you to do yours.  

What do you do to prepare your team to bring its A game to client meetings?     ​