In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis, Co-Founder and CTO of Aerion Technologies and Co-Founder of DevReady.Ai welcomes Paul Sargeant, Co-Founder of Sales Director Central. Paul provides a deep dive into his role as a fractional sales leader and how his team supports technology businesses in selling complex B2B products. He outlines how Sales Director Central aids organisations by setting up effective sales frameworks and managing sales operations until they are ready to hire a full-time sales leader. Paul’s approach emphasises bridging the gap between technical and business teams, ensuring that the sales process aligns with the client’s buying journey to speed up deal closures.
Paul explains that his team utilises a comprehensive 75-point “blueprint” checklist to build robust sales structures. They integrate into the client’s organisation for a period of 6-12 months, focusing on not just implementing growing revenue but embedding a sales framework that aligns with the company’s business goals. This process involves assessing and correcting existing sales practices to ensure that every sales activity is meaningful and contributes to achieving business objectives.
One key aspect of Paul’s service is helping businesses avoid common pitfalls in the sales process. He highlights that many companies fall into the trap of focusing too heavily on their product’s features rather than addressing the customer’s needs. Paul’s team works with clients to shift their focus from merely presenting features to understanding and solving real problems for customers. This approach transforms sales conversations from product pitches into value-based discussions, enhancing the effectiveness of their sales efforts.
Paul also discusses the importance of understanding the buyer’s journey in enterprise sales. By the time buyers engage with a company, they are typically well into their research phase. Paul’s team helps clients establish a “know, like, and trust” relationship through strategic content and an effective online presence, which helps filter leads and set the stage for successful sales engagements. They emphasise the need for multiple touchpoints and aligning the sales process with the buyer’s perspective to improve the likelihood of closing deals.
In addition to these strategies, Paul highlights the importance of a solid onboarding process and clear role definitions when hiring new sales representatives. His team assists clients in creating a clear sales DNA and onboarding plan to ensure that new hires are effectively integrated into the company’s sales operations. Paul also advises on the right type of sales rep needed based on the company’s specific needs, helping to avoid the mistake of hiring based on strong interviewing skills alone.
The episode concludes with Paul discussing how Sales Director Central supports businesses by offering mentorship and ongoing support beyond initial engagements. His team’s extensive experience in sales and leadership allows them to stay involved with clients, providing continued guidance and adjustment to sales strategies as needed. Paul invites listeners to reach out via email or their website for further information or to book a call, emphasising the value of their expertise in driving sales success for their clients.
Key Topics
- Fractional sales leadership
- 75-point sales framework checklist
- Bridging technical and business teams
- Customer-centric sales strategy
- Sales rep onboarding and support
- Role-specific training (SDRs, account managers, BDMs)
- Sales process optimisation
- Mentorship and ongoing support
Key Quotes
- “What we do is we go in and we help the organisation set up, establish a sales business. It’s not outsourcing sales to us. You still own the salespeople and we put a framework in place and run sales on your behalf to the point in time where you can actually have a full-time sales leader in place.” (0:46 – 1:03)
- “One of the things that you find in that complex sales environment is the number of people that are involved in the decision-making process. Often you think that you’re selling to one person or two or three people, but sitting in behind that, we’ve had up to 40 people involved in the decision-making process in a large organisation.” (2:15 – 2:31)
- “The first thing that we do is what we call a blueprint. And as part of the blueprint, we’ve got a 75-point checklist that basically measures the sales DNA of your business and the framework that we look at guides us about where the gaps are.” (4:39 – 4:55)
- “The trap that we often see at that stage is that, as the founder—and you were talking about your passion and your why and your reason and that’s what you’ve gone out and sold—as your product develops, you get really proud of your product and suddenly your view moves from that ‘why’ and purpose into ‘my product, my baby’. Often what we see is that you do a whole bunch of product training and get a whole bunch of product collateral and you put the product at the center of what you’re selling and you turn selling into telling and selling is not telling. Selling is about listening.” (13:17 – 13:52)
- “Our job as salespeople is to help them make the right buying decision. And when I say to new reps or reps starting out, I say, the number one rule is help someone make the buying decision and number two rule, once we understand enough about what they’re looking for and we firmly believe that we’ve got the right solution, number two kicks in, which is selling our products. Help them make a buying decision—that is us. And I can’t do that if I don’t know you.” (16:49 – 17:15)
- “And the two things about commission is: think about when it’s earned and when it’s paid—they’re separate. I can earn it on closing the sale, but I get paid when the customer pays.” (32:52 – 33:03)
- “What we leave the business with is—all of those processes. We’ve done the mentoring; we’ve done the training and the templates—that’s there as well. So, we deliver the templates.” (35:24 – 35:32)
- “Build and manage high performance sales team if you want predictable, sustainable revenue.” (36:08 – 36:10)
- “We often say, hope it’s not a strategy.” (40:31 – 40:32)
- “All the mentors in our team have got 15 years of sales leadership experience and ten years of direct sales behind them in a B2B environment. So, we talk about having our experience, having our IP and working with the founder of that business to get the growth.” (40:56 – 41:12)
- “We often get asked to hang around after. They might be ready and hire a new sales leader because the business has grown; and say, ‘can you hang around and help mentor the team and stay around for the next 12 months?’ So, we’ve got customers that we’ve been with for two or three years.” (41:19 – 41:36)
Important Time Stamps
- The Secret to Faster Deals? Understand Your Client’s Internal Sales Process (0:07 – 3:54)
- Stop Just Sending Proposals: How to Build a Meaningful Sales Framework (3:55 – 8:26)
- Scaling Your Startup: When It’s Time to Hire a Sales Team (8:27 – 12:22)
- Selling vs. Telling: How to Shift from Product Pitch to Value Delivery (12:23 – 18:08)
- The Buyer Knows You Before You Speak: Leverage Content for Sales Success (18:09 – 23:17)
- The Biggest Mistake Companies Make When Hiring Sales Reps (23:18 – 27:27)
- Are You Losing Deals by Overloading Your Sales Reps? (27:28 – 33:02)
- Sales Planning 101: Build a Machine That Runs on Its Own! (33:03 – 40:36)
- Paul Sargeant: The Sales Leader Who Stays with You for the Long Haul (40:37 – 42:02)
Useful Links
Sales Director Central | LinkedIn
