Betting on our Sales Talent

Why we’re focused on professional development and trainingBy Michael Zippiroli, Head of Sales

Like many reps, early in my career I had a mistrust of “sales training.” Training time pulled directly from time that could be spent working on deals and attaining quota. The irony is that every time I went through a structured sales training program I have had enormous growth spurts immediately following the training. I will never forget the very first time I had the opportunity to do this with Kevin Hofburg. He emphasized how learnable sales is and to remove any fixed mindset that top performers are naturally gifted.  This is why I'm so excited to roll out Nex’s sales training program in partnership with Challenger Sales Organization. This program will be impactful for new sellers still building skills and confidence, and senior sellers hungry to perfect the craft and add new tactics to the bag.We are rolling out the sales training not just to our AEs, but to all roles in our go to market org including Lead Development, Sales Development, AE’s, as well as our Customer Success Managers. We view this as a strategic investment in our sales people to create a common sales philosophy and develop a skill set sellers can take with them throughout their career.TData from LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence Index says of Zoomers (those born between 1997–2012) who plan to quit their job in the next six months, 76% will do so for more opportunities to learn and practice new skills. We want NexHealth talent to stay at the company for a long time, and we know that won’t happen without investing back in our talent. And at the heart of our sales vision is building a brand that is synonymous with sales excellence. Having “NexHealth” on your resume will open doors to any go-to-market job you want to pursue in the future.

Why “Challenger” is the key

The modern sales org is all about “playbooks” making it easy for sales talent to read scripts, use templated emails for follow up, and tag resources like co-primes and deal desk to close, and so many training programs focus on a step-by-step structured process that encourages a fairly rigid customer experience. That is why we are so excited about Challenger.  Any seller that wants to be part of disrupting an industry, or selling something new or cutting edge, will be required to understand the fundamentals of how to change someone's mind. “The Challenger Sale” is more so about a mindset shift that allows sellers to keep their own sales process, while understanding the underlying principles that help open prospects up to new perspectives, ultimately allowing sales message “to land” and for deals to close. “The Challenger Sale,” identifies five different sales personas:

• The Hard Worker
• The Relationship Builder
• The Lone Wolf
• The Problem Solver, and
• The Challenger

Research shows that 54% of high-performing sales professionals use the Challenger method, which disrupts the prospect’s thinking to align their goals with yours.

Our Vision of a “Modern” Sales Organization

Nex’s mission is to accelerate innovation in healthcare. While we have a “clean sale” – can often close in a few days – the long tail will take years for us to accomplish. We have millions of practices that we can sell into to change the way patients engage with the health system.

To accomplish our mission we need a special breed of sales talent – reps that are independent thinkers and problem solvers. That is why we brought in Challenger.  So often I see new sellers evaluating companies based on the “perks” they offer, while the most important professional development experiences are lacking.

We are excited by people who are curious and want to challenge themselves. And that is why we are offering this new program to every Sales and Success team member, regardless of tenure or role.

We know many sales reps will be at NexHealth only for a few years, but in that time you’ll gain new skills that will stick with you for the rest of your career. This serves NexHealth’s ambitions–more of our reps will beat quota and allows us to hire managers from within. We also know this will give reps a competitive edge they’ll take through their career.

Automation should be built around systems and processes, not around people development. Our bet is training the high-impact sales reps is an investment that will compound across our organization.

Zipp