Paul Papaphilippou

What is the ultimate position in Tech Sales? To be your customers' Trusted Technology Advisor. Nowhere near enough Account Executives and sales teams build trusted relationships with their customers, hoping their company brand will do the real work for them whilst they push products. What most sellers don't realise is that the stereotype of the used-car salesman must be broken in all customer relationships, as customers wonder 'who the hell are you?' and question your competence & credibility. The element of 'stranger danger' puts customers defenses up as they avoid being 'taken from' or 'scammed'. By leveraging the simple brand formula of Trust = Frequency + Familiarity, Sellers must develop trust by showing up frequently for their customers & deliver value with every interaction. This builds your all-important personal brand as a good person to deal with in Tech, setting you apart from all the other anxious sellers pushing to hit their quota. With consistent customer-focussed value you will hit that all-important moment in your customer relationship, when you are inside their trusted personal network - the 'who you knows'. Negotations become conversations, Businesses become partners, Account Executives become Trusted Technology Advisors. You as the 'People' person in Tech should be focussed on delivering a quality customer experience, building a brand of trust & competence through consistent customer-focussed actions. Get this right and you'll never have to worry about quota again - the customers will come to you! This customer-centric & service-based mindset is the core of what I teach at Tech Sales Academy, giving you the skills & tools to transform from a non-Technical seller into a Trusted Technology Advisor. The Account Executive's Toolkit was custom-built for your success as an AE, check it out here: https://lnkd.in/g-ZfycwE

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You can get B2B sales information all over the internet. But it's cooler to get it from Forbes... (And yep. Yesterday, I was featured in Forbes, talking about the importance of proactive outreach for their new article on 'How to partner with big businesses when you're a start-up!') Huge thanks to Kerryn Fields for making the connection - and if you're interested in the article and why it's so important for small business owners to be selling to corporate clients now? Check out the link in the comments!

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Not many sales leaders can say they helped build a unicorn... But Paddy O'Neill already has 2 under his belt so far 🤯 Joining both Intercom & Spendesk whilst still early stage start-ups And leaving after they had reached €1bn+ valuations We talked about how he: ✅ Started out as an SDR ✅ Built Spendesk's UKI team ✅ Became VP Sales at Metomic And a whole lot more... On Episode 9 of Sales Leader Stories Links to watch and listen in the comments 🎙

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Later next week see's the publication of the biggest Sales Coaching survey we believe ever undertaken from MySalesCoach and Aircall - And its just possible that one of its many jaw dropping findings is how sellers and leaders have very different perceptions of the sales coaching in their teams. **Please like or comment on this post btw - If Richard Smith sees I'm teasing the findings of the report, I will be #opentowork on Monday.** So why could it be that sellers and leaders are looking at two very different sides of the same mountain? 1:1's - Managers feel they have coached, sellers don't. Dedicated time together doesn't equal coaching if skills aren't being developed and future growth unlocked. Pipeline Reviews - Here it's even worse. Sellers feel interrogated. Leaders feel they are coaching. The question is are they creating an action list of what to do in the current deals in play, or truly growing career skills? What they want from coaching - Sellers want to grow. They want to develop skills that impact their career and success. Managers typically want, frankly, teams to maximise revenue this quarter. Agenda - Whose agenda is the coaching sessions that (supposedly) managers are having? Helping to develop the skills sellers crave? Helping them with mindset and overcoming the very real anxieties, confidence issues and imposter syndrome that are so frequently shared with managers (sarcasm inserted) holding them back from success? Managers can't easily leave their personal agendas at the door. So any coaching happening, is tainted by the personal agenda and goals of the manager, not the seller. Poor quality - A forthcoming survey may share some more here (dammit, stop doing that, your just asking for your P45). How many managers are great coaches? Have experienced great coaching themselves? Have been supported in becoming a great coach? Watch this space next week - and make sure your are following me (or even better Richard Smith - it may help me save my job)

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London is calling! 🇬🇧 What do you do when you have a tool that helps merchants push revenue while dropping your return rate, crunch your returns handling time, and helps your CSM team with bathing in time because questions about returns are dropped to an all-time low? Exactly... Checking whether we can help UK merchants and the Fulfilment centers. That's why this week Marijn Prijs and I will be rocking the eCom Expo in London. We're looking forward to reconnecting with all partners, and obviously adding some legend to the Returnless Selection. Are you attending as well? #ecommerceexpo #partnerships #returnstrategy

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Cash 💰 being used to budget against the cost-of-living crisis 💸. @smart-prepay.co.uk - gives 32,000+locations to top up your SMART meter. Do your customers have enough ways to pay for Energy with 💷?

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Sales is purely transactional, right? Wrong! In this weeks The Revenue Circus episode, Helen Stehniei 🇺🇦 explains the power and importance of emotional intelligence in sales. 😄 We spoke at length about how emotions drive your conversations and how you can harness them to build a base of trust that will help you at any stage of your deal cycle. It was interesting to learn how Helen employed emotional insights throughout her sales career to advance both her position and the discovery calls she was booking. 🤔 Tune in via the link in the comments to find out why and how you should sell more emotionally! ⬇ #therevenuecircus #arrtist #podcast #eq

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In the latest case study by Enabley, we explore how digitizing helped MHFA England® navigate the difficult pandemic period and prosper thereafter. See why they chose Enabley to help bring them online, and why we continue to make training easy for their members.

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With 80% of customers now expecting tailored interactions, this article delves into the strategies retailers should adopt to enhance personalization, boost engagement, and stay competitive. It explores the challenges of managing high-quality data, the impact of poor data on product recommendations and marketing effectiveness, and solutions for overcoming data fragmentation. Learn how AI-powered chatbots are transforming customer service and discover the delicate balance between automation and human interaction in e-commerce. Explore more on the state of e-commerce in this insightful podcast: [Link to the Podcast] #eCommerce #Personalization #AI #Retail #CustomerService

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🎥 Look mum I made it! 😂 Take a listen to this quick tip on #leadnurturing and #inboundmarketing to help you boost your #B2Bsales 💸 #customersuccess #sales

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Your business model and life stage set your Sales and go-to-market strategy Businesses launch with referral-first sales Services-led businesses create a sales function when referrals can't deliver the required growth Product-led businesses have to move beyond referral sales relatively quickly The larger the deal size the slower businesses move beyond referral sales The smaller the deal size the sooner a business needs a sales function First process, then data, then growth

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Is the cost of living crisis still biting? 😬 Average fill ups in the UK have been slowly dropping and are almost 5% lower now than at the turn of the year. 😲 Want to know how your sites compare? Talk to your Customer Success Manager about EdgeBenchmarking, or find out more on the link in the comments. 👇

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Last week I got accepted to coach CXO's, VCs, GTM Leaders & Sellers with Hard Skill Exchange as one of their expert sales coaches; problem is, the HSE community don't really know who I am... So we're gonna fix that! Tomorrow at 5pm UK time, we're running an AMA (ask me anything) with the community, so I can actually answer their questions. 28 questions have been submitted already, things like: "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘺?" "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨?" "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦?" It feels like an interview! 😂 It's been quite a while since I've done an AMA like this, and the HSE is full of some really impressive people! They're all CXO's, VCs and GTM Leaders who know their stuff - so I'm genuinely looking forward to answering their questions and providing value 1) If you want to come along, DM me and I'll send you the invite 2) Any questions you think should be submitted beforehand? Anything you wanna know? #sales #coaching  

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We got the data from 110+ B2B SaaS companies. In this webinar, we will answer: -What impact does Value Selling have on win-rate, sales cycle length and deal size? - Which combination of tools, people and enablement drive the best results? - How do you drive the best sales team adoption to scale value selling?

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"I'm not stressed," said the seller who had become so used to pressure that they no longer noticed its weight. More often than not, quite literally. Jeff Riseley insights on mental health in sales reveal a startling truth: 70% of sellers are struggling with mental health issues. It doesn't have to be that way! While we can’t control everything that causes stress, there are a few things we, as sellers, can manage. I don’t have all the answers, but I do know two things that consistently help reduce stress and anxiety: 1. Planning and routines – Jeff Bezos once said, “Stress primarily comes from not taking action over something that you can have some control over.” Setting plans and taking action can significantly lower stress. 2. Play a game and/or exercise – When you engage in physical activity, your body releases "feel-good" hormones which naturally elevate your mood and reduce pain perception. Regular movement supports better sleep and overall mental resilience. If you’re experiencing chronic stress, seek help. What are you go to stress busting strategies, share it the comments below? #stress #sales #mentalhealth #b2bsales

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AI, a divisive topic of debate at every conference I’ve participted in this year, including #procurecon Barcelona this week. I certainly view AI as a key to help with operational workload, making more time to solve problems that demand lateral thinking with human intelligence. I guarantee there are plenty of those complex (yet fulfilling to resolve) problems in every business!

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