Early on in Amy’s sales career, she went through a career-defining training that taught her how to have conversations about customer’s businesses.
It taught her how to ask the right questions:
Who are their competitors? What are their own corporate values? How do they communicate with their partners?
She truly had to learn about their business, not just go in and sell.
The aha moment came when one day she picked up the phone to do her cold calls. She dialed out, and the president of the company picked up the phone.
Amy introduced herself and said she really wanted to take the opportunity to learn about their business. “I’m selling long distance. I want to learn about your business and how you communicate with your various subsidiaries.” He said, “Great! When can you come in?”
Amy scheduled the meeting. She ended up getting the business. It was a big deal.
On that day, Amy discovered: People do want to listen. It’s about being relatable and human.
Talk to business people about their business. Not your business.
When Amy thinks about her career and how it transpired, that was a pivotal moment.
It’s not about selling to someone, it’s about having a conversation. It’s about the customer experience. That customer is a person. You don’t know who is on the other side of the table unless you ask: “What matters to YOU in this moment?”
Listen into this inspiring story and aha moment that Amy Slater had very early on that impacted the rest of her career in sales.
Follow along every Monday for more!
Host: Christina Brady, President of Sales Assembly
Guest: Amy Slater, Global Vice President, GTM, Internet Data and Security Services at Palo Alto Networks
Highlights:
- Amy Slater’s professional journey [0:45]
- Amy’s aha moment [2:30]
- The amazing training that impacted Amy’s career [3:10]
- When Amy was 23, she picked up the phone to cold call and the president of the company picked up [4:12]
- People do want to listen. You have to be relatable and human [5:30]
- Talk to business people about their business, not about yours [6:00]
