#11 - How to Sell Like a Consultant | Noah Flower

#11 - How to Sell Like a Consultant | Noah Flower

What’s the difference between how a consultant sells, and how a typical software AE sells?  In one word: EVERYTHING!  My first four years at Salesforce, I spoke to customers like many AE’s do.  I was friendly, charismatic, and asked a lot of questions about their current situation.  If I thought we could help the client, I shared our value proposition, overview of the software, and asked for next steps, such as a demo or deeper discovery.  I worked hard and considered myself a good “closer,” who could reel in any fish I had on the line using discounts, incentives, and old-fashioned persistence.  Overall, this approach worked okay, and allowed me to make 200K-300K/year on average. Pretty good living, right?  I thought so too.  But I never BLEW IT OUT of the water.  During my first four years as an Enterprise AE, I hit quota my first year, missed it badly in my second and third years, and finished 95% my fourth year (that one stung the most!) While my income was decent, I felt like a failure compared to so many reps who were blowing it out of the water, selling over 200% of quota, and making BIG money at Salesforce!  I wanted to know what they were doing differently.  One thing I consistently heard is that the top performers were using a “consultative selling” approach, and many of them engaged a group at Salesforce called “Ignite.” This group only worked with the most strategic accounts who wanted to transform their business, and their approach centered around design thinking to drive digital transformations.  I was determined to run an Ignite in one of my largest new logos: Berkshire Hathaway Home Services.  I engaged my Ignite Partner, a man named Noah Flower.   I was fortunate to book a meeting with the COO of BHHS, and invited Noah to join me.  When I saw how Noah interacted with him, my mind was blown.  It was like nothing I had ever seen before.  He asked strategic questions focused on the COO’s highest priorities, biggest challenges, and long term vision for the company.  He asked about competitive threats, shifting market dynamics, and his personal goals.  He listened attentively, dug deeper to understand everything the COO shared, and was deeply curious and interested in the clients business.  Not once did he mention anything about our Salesforce or our solutions, nor did he try to pitch an Ignite Engagement.  At the very end of the meeting, he said that he believed we could help, and shared a bit more about Ignite.  For this approach to work, we would first need to gain consensus from the entire C-suite, and Noah offered to help our COO prepare for an internal stakeholder meeting.  Within just a month, the COO had arranged for us to have 1:1 interviews with their CEO, CFO, and CIO prior to the Ignite Workshop.  Within 6 months, we had closed the largest deal of my career.  The reason why Noah was so effective in front of customers is because he was not a “seller.”  Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast/ [https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast/]

#10 - She Cried Uncontrollably on the Street After Closing $1.7M | Christina Godwin

I want to share how this story ends before I tell you how it begins.  Christina Godwin had just closed $1.7 million in 36 hours. It was the last stretch of her fiscal year at Workday. She left the Empire State Building, walked out onto the street in New York City, and started crying uncontrollably.  She was on her way to buy herself a Prada bag because she felt so proud of her accomplishments, yet she couldn’t stop sobbing.  She had just finished number one globally at Workday, finishing at 375% of quota with 37 transactions closed in a year. She closed more ACV than I did in my biggest year at Salesforce. And her body finally let go of everything it had been carrying all year.  These weren’t tears of happiness…they were tears of relief because she no longer had put herself under so much pressure to finish #1, and she could finally let go. On the last day of the fiscal year.  This story tells you everything you need to know about what it actually costs to be the best in the world at sales. It requires showing up every single day, being obsessed with achieving your goal, and overcoming constant roadblocks and obstacles to win. And staying cool, calm, and collected while everybody else around you freaks out or crumbles.  Christina is one of the top sellers I’ve ever coached. She has been an AE at Workday for seven years, and made President's Club every single year. She’s been  over 150% of plan and does it while managing a family, working only nine to five, and saying no to almost everything that doesn’t create new pipeline or advance her deals forward. Christina didn’t start in software sales, nor does she have a traditional sales background.  Before Workday she worked in accounting at Deloitte doing tax work she hated. She got into Workday as a solution consultant because she didn’t have the enterprise sales experience to compete for an AE role directly. She spent three years as an SC, describing herself as “mediocre” at it.  When she finally got her chance to prove herself in sales, she was determined not to squander it. She quickly became a top workday performer, and invested in coaching to take her sales game to the next level.  She went ALL IN on herself, attending every weekly call, office hours, and listened to the training videos in the Untap portal on walks or while doing laundry.  But most importantly, she APPLIED what she learned. One one coaching call I told Christina that the top sellers get 80% of their revenue from 20% of their accounts, and she didn’t believe me at first. But she trusted me, and decided to focus only on her biggest accounts. She joined UYSP in 2023, and her results since joining her program have been jaw-dropping.   She’s averaged 223% of quota and $5.52M ACV the past 3 years!  In this week’s podcast, she shares exactly how she’s been able to achieve these results while only working 9-5 and showing up for her family.  Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast/ [https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast/] Email Christina at: ckgodwin12 [at] gmail [dot] com

#9 - The #1 Global AE at Mambu Wasn’t Even a Salesperson | Ashwin Sirse

One of the biggest myths in sales is that top performers all look the same. They're charismatic, extroverted, and natural-born salespeople. They're great at presenting, excellent communicators, and master negotiators.  But after coaching hundreds of top performers, I've found the opposite is true. The best sellers win because they lean into their strengths…not because they try to become someone else. This week on the Untap Your Sales Potential Podcast, I sat down with Ashwin Sirse, a UYSP client who became the #1 Global AE at Mambu, finishing 295% of quota and closing multiple eight-figure deals. What makes Ashwin's story so compelling isn't the result. It's how he got there. When Ashwin entered enterprise software sales, he had no banking experience. He was surrounded by people who had spent 10+ years in the industry. He struggled with anxiety, imposter syndrome, and questioned whether he belonged in sales. And yet, a few years later, he was the top performer in the company. Why? Because he stopped trying to be a stereotypical salesperson.  Instead, he leaned into his superpower: Project Management. Before sales, Ashwin worked in client services managing complex projects. Most people would have viewed that background as irrelevant, but Ashwin turned it into his competitive advantage. He used his project management skills to build and execute a repeatable sales motion.  He used his project management skills to build out org charts and empower his champions to multi-thread.  He used his project management skills to build a comprehensive spreadsheet to map out the exact steps and timeline that clients need to follow for a successful project.  His philosophy was simple: "Keep customers so busy they don't have time to look elsewhere." He introduces mutual action plans in the second or third meeting, not when the deal is ready to close.  He even introduces himself to clients as the “Project Evaluation Lead,” not an AE.  Because real deals are not “opportunities,” they are “projects.”  This approach helped him close an 8 figure deal and convert 40% of initial meetings into qualified projects.  But this interview isn't just about enterprise sales. It's about building confidence, reducing anxiety, and learning to trust yourself.  And becoming the person you're capable of becoming. In this Fireside Chat, Ashwin shares: • How he overcame anxiety, self-doubt, and imposter syndrome in sales • The mindset shifts that helped him build true confidence • His approach to executive conversations and point-of-view selling • The exact mutual action plan process that accelerates eight-figure opportunities and a demonstration of the spreadsheet he uses • Why he took a three-month sabbatical after becoming #1 globally • The coaching lessons that changed his life forever The biggest lesson I hope people take away from this interview: You don't need to become someone else to be elite. Everything you need to succeed is already within you. You just need to trust yourself and lean into the unique abilities that make you great.  That's exactly what Ashwin did. And it's exactly what every seller can do. Learn more at https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast [https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast]

#8 - He Almost Lost His Job, Then He Made $1M Two Years in a Row | Jonathan Samuelson

When I interviewed Jonathan Samuelson, I knew his numbers were incredible. 248% of quota his first year with Untap Your Sales Potential, 318% the next, and two consecutive years earning over $1,000,000 W2 in tech sales.  What I didn’t know was his personal story and how much adversity he’d overcome to get here.  Before joining UYSP, Jonathan had been at Genesys for five years and had nearly lost his job due to poor performance. Then his son Miles was born with a heart condition and couldn’t breathe on his own from the moment he entered the world. They spent 21 days in the pediatric ICU. By God’s grace, his son survived and he’s now a happy and healthy boy.  When Miles stabilized, something shifted in Jonathan as a father and a man. He had a much deeper purpose in life, and a greater appreciation for how fragile and precious life can be. At that point, he made the decision to invest in himself and go ALL IN on his career, his family, and his future. The next year he was at Chairman's Club. Then he did it again. In the process, he also runs Ultra-marathons including running a 100-miler. To top it off, he published a children's book called Little Trail Runner to teach kids some of the valuable lessons that he learned from trail running, and is raising two kids under four at home. Want to know how he does it all? This is exactly what we discussed on the podcast.  This conversation is one of the most inspiring and energizing ones I’ve had since starting the podcast. Here is what we covered: * His rock bottom before starting coaching: spending his workdays browsing Zillow, being constantly distracted, and feeling deep anxiety from not performing at his potential * How Miles being born with a life-threatening heart condition became the moment everything changed * Going from under $200K to over $1M in his first year in the program, and the exact shifts he made to 5x his income  * The daily planning system that keeps him focused and intentional despite having ADHD * How he closed an $8M ACV deal at the director level without ever having true executive access, and what that taught him about champion-building * The 40X ROI of coaching: investing $20K and earning $800K that year  * Why he started doing daily affirmations after mocking them for years * How faith changed his relationship with anxiety and quota pressure * Running 100 miles in 24 hours and what that taught him about endurance * Writing a children's book * The decision to go ALL IN that changed his entire life If you are sick and tired of getting average results, this conversation will inspire you to make the necessary changes to succeed at the highest level in sales and in life.  Learn more at https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast [https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast]

#7 - He Sold $87M at 34 Years Old | Mike Brandt

When I was at Salesforce, I fiercely competed for the #1 Enterprise AE position against another seller named Mike Brandt. I haven’t spoken to him in 8 years since then, and we recently caught up for this month’s Fireside Chat.  You may not have heard of Mike Brandt before, but after today’s conversation you won’t forget him. Mike has one of the most impressive track records I’ve ever seen in tech sales: 12 of 13 years over quota, earning 500K to 1M as a top Enterprise AE at Salesforce, before getting promoted to Enterprise RVP and now leading one of Snowflake’s strongest teams. Mike and his teams have personally sold over 87M in net new ACV!  The most impressive part – he is only 34 years old.  And he’s achieved this without sacrificing his health or personal life.  Mike has five kids under eight years old and his family is “screen-free.” He lives on a small hobby farm with goats, sheep, chickens, and a pony. He’s also been sober for three years. Mike is a force of nature, and this is the first time he has ever gone public with his story. Here are some of the topics we explored during our conversation:  1. How he “does it all” The habits, boundaries, and lifestyle choices that enable him to lead at an elite level, finish work by 5pm, and spend quality time with his family.  2. How he landed a job as an Enterprise AE at Salesforce at just 22 years old.  3. Why selling like a consultant is key to landing big software contracts, and the exact playbook to sell like a consultant.  4. How he develops sales superstars with the goal of getting one person on his team promoted every year, and another to pay off their house!  5. The shift from license to consumption model in software sales, and how to adapt your sales approach to meet the changing market landscape.  6. Why Mike got sober three years ago, and the impact it’s had on his mind and health.  I know this conversation will inspire you as much as it inspired me.  Learn more at https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast [https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast]