In this episode, we had the pleasure of interviewing Derek Grant, SVP Marketing Strategy at SalesLoft. He shared with us his best sales tips, experiences, and more! Watch the full video or read the interview below.
What’s your name? Where do you work?
Hi there, my name is Derek Grant, and I work for SalesLoft.
Your most embarrassing sales story
A champion I was working with decided that the person who needs to sign the contract is this particular person, then I found out that person is in the hospital, after having a heart attack at the end of the quarter. A much much younger me, not thinking about the optics of it, sent a “Get Well” card to the hospital. This guy never heard of me, doesn’t know me, and of course the deal doesn’t get done.
What do you love the most about sales?
I love the depth of relation that you can build with a champion and certainly well after they’ve become a customer and beyond.
Funniest thing a client has told you
Clients told me that they are dumbfounded that someone who sounds as country as I do, can actually deliver any sort of significant value. I’ve been called hillbilly, redneck… I love calling into New York because they basically hear banjos in the background whenever I’m selling.
The worst mistake to avoid
I gotta believe it’s single-threaded. You never know the person you’re working with might win the lottery tomorrow, get hit by a bus, retire, fired, whatever the case may be, and so having multiple people who know you and who have your back, and who you have a relationship with within an account is critical to win the deal.
Craziest thing that happened to you during a demo
We’ve had the system completely stopped! Quite honestly it’s a hard one to recover from, when the system isn’t there for you, during a meeting with a customer who expects it to be there.
Sell me a walnut!
If I was gonna sell you a walnut… When I talk to people who are looking they generally want low saturated fat walnuts with really hard shells. Now, is that the sort of walnut that you’d be looking for? Great well how many would you like? Great, I’d love to get a few of those over to you- where do I send the contract?
