Sales is an Endurance Sport w/ Brandon Bruce [Episode 645]

Brandon Bruce, COO and Co-founder at Cirrus Insight, joins me on this episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Brandon says the biggest challenge facing sales reps today is adapting to the fact that what used to work for years has diminishing returns. Five years ago, the biggest email list won. Now it takes intriguing content.
• Making it easy for the customer to do business works well for Cirrus Insight. They share their calendar on their website. Customers set an appointment (or request a call) on the “Schedule a Demo” page and a rep will be ready.
• Words matter. Show that you are making a meeting convenient for the prospect if they want to meet. Use the best copywriters on the emails and content.
• Writing is one of the human skills of connection. People who can show character and the values they stand for are in high demand. People need soft, collaborative skills, not just technical skills. Where do we train these soft skills?
• Brandon talked to business students at both Maryville College and the University of Tennessee. They have marketing classes and finance classes, but no sales classes. Shouldn’t we include sales in business school?
• The rise of digital marketing has created a sense that startups only need to put up a website, send some emails, buy some PPC ads, and call it sales. No. You need to talk to prospects and customers.
• Brandon talks about a 508-mile bike race in the Mojave/Death Valley. It took him 35 hours and 7 minutes, which included a 17-minute nap because he had been hallucinating. It ended at 29 Palms. He was in fifth place.
• Business is an endurance sport. How do you navigate a sale that might take a year to close? How do you build up a business over a decade, so it has staying power? Just keep working on that problem. Keep chipping away.
• Andy sees it as a matter of character and preparation. Persistence and resilience are character traits. Grit is a character trait. Get to the answer or give it your greatest effort. Brandon tells how he prepped for his bike race.
• Brandon talks about doing randonneuring bike races. Andy equates race preparation with sales preparation. Define your values, goals, and what you stand for. It comes out when you talk to people.
• Don’t work a lot of surprises into your pipeline. Have transparency, accountability, and reasonable expectations.