In our 43rd episode of #NutsAboutSales, we heard some brilliant sales tips from Aryeh Abramowitz, the Director of Sales at Wordtune from Ai21 Labs.
Watch this amazing episode to learn why you should always lock your office door when you demo from home, understand why you should never single-thread, and hear about the funny subject line he used to start a conversation with an important prospect.
Watch the video or read the transcripts below:
What’s your name and where do you work?
I’m Aryeh Abramowitz and I’m the Director of Sales at Wordtune from Ai21 Labs.
What’s your most embarrassing sales story?
So, right at the beginning of COVID before I kind of had my Zoom pattern down to a science, and you need to ask everyone, “So are you seeing the right screen now?”
I started a demo, and about 15 minutes in, they said, “Your kids are very cute, but we’re looking at your desktop and not at the platform.”
What’s the craziest thing that happened to you during a demo?
One time, I forgot to lock my office door, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw my six-year-old walk in with an inflated water balloon. I needed to scream to my wife that there was about to be a huge mess, but I didn’t want the client to know what was going on.
So I muted myself, and I needed to talk like a ventriloquist to make sure that they didn’t know that something was going on. And in the end, it all worked out okay.
What’s the deal you closed that’ll stay in your Pantheon?
A few years ago, I closed a high six figure deal that I was particularly proud of because it all started with cold outreach on LinkedIn.
Commiserating with the stakeholder on how to both work from home and entertain kids during COVID. And the title when I sent that in message was, “Who’s your favorite PAW Patrol character?”
What’s your biggest challenge when demoing?
I think it’s fighting that internal urge to show more bells and whistles and more features, even if it doesn’t necessarily align to the customer’s business case.
What’s the worst mistake to avoid?
Hinging a deal on a single person.
Right before COVID got bad, I was actually flying back home. And right before we took off, I sent a DocuSign for tens of thousands of dollars. And by the time I had landed 10 hours later, the budget was frozen. The person I was talking to was made redundant, and my deal was dead.
So, never single-thread. You need to multi-thread.
What’s your golden rule in sales?
Avoid doing something that would get you upset. So, think twice before oh, just checking in. Or if you’re making a call right before the weekend. Think how that would make you react.
Remember that your customers are also trying to do a job, and your job is to help them and not bother them.
Sell me a walnut!
So, we all know that we should be doing as much as we can to make sure that we’re healthy. We’re looking after our heart, blood pressure. You could do a lot of different things, right?
Imagine if there was something that you could also be doing. It’s really accessible. You probably pass it three times a day in, like, the office snack counter, or you’re passing it in the supermarket. And it also has amazing health benefits. So, how about a walnut?
