Focus on problems

Salman Mohiuddin shared a success story about a BDR at Salesforce. The BDR's manager asked about their improved performance, and the BDR credited a focus on understanding problems.

Seven months earlier, the BDR sought Salman’s help to excel. Salman asked them to set aside the product initially and focus on a four-step process:

1. Persona:

   • Who are you targeting?

   • What does their day-to-day look like?

   • What are their responsibilities?

2. Problem:

   • What problems do they face daily?

   • How do they usually deal with these problems?

   • Avoid buzzwords and jargon.

3. Impact:

   • What is the impact on them, their team, and the organization?

4. Metrics or KPIs:

   • What are they measured on?

   • How are these metrics affected by the problems?

They put this info into a spreadsheet: Persona > Problem > Impact > Metric.

This approach helped the BDR lead conversations confidently, making them the top performer for two months in a row.

The key? Talk about problems.

How to quickly become a top performer in any role

Ian Koniak shares his playbook to become a top seller:

• Adopt a growth mindset: Believe you can improve and learn.

• Find a mentor: Learn from someone who has excelled in the role.

• Set a vision: Define what you want to achieve.

• Identify key activities: Focus on actions that will help you reach your vision.

• Execute daily: Commit to consistent effort and trust the process.

Success follows successful people because they consistently apply these principles. It's not luck!

HBR: 7 surprising traits of top sellers

Keith Weightman shared a Harvard Business Review article about the seven surprising traits of top sellers:

1. Modesty: Top sellers are humble.

2. Conscientiousness: They take their job seriously and feel responsible for results.

3. Achievement-Oriented: They focus on hitting their goals.

4. Curiosity: They ask lots of questions, even tough ones.

5. Resilience: They bounce back from disappointments easily.

6. Bias for action: They prefer taking messy action over doing nothing and are okay with failure.

7. Introversion: They tend to be less social, with a 30% lower preference for social interactions.

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