Show notes
How To Partner With Resellers To Experienced Repeatable Sales Growth Sales is not just about growing your customer base but also about partnerships with a variety of people. If you want repeatable sales growth, these partnerships include businesses, other salespeople, and resellers. Todd Rychecky is the VP of Sales Americas in Latin America and has been with the company for the past 12 and a half years. Todd got into sales in 1991, when he was studying was pre-med in college but didn’t get in. As a result, he joined the sales force when he was 23 years old and made a huge move from Nebraska to Dallas where he worked for Whitmire Distribution, a drug wholesale company. Later on, the company was acquired by Cardinal Health and Todd continued to work for them, traveling by car, calling on hospital pharmacies, home infusion, retails stores, and retail chains. Todd never imagined he’d be in sales but his college roommate was very passionate about becoming a salesman and Todd was intrigued by someone who knew they wanted to be in sales. When Todd started his career, he had the chance to work for a sales manager who he still says is one of the best salesmen he’s ever seen. They traveled from hospital to hospital and Todd clearly remembers his sales manager’s sense of urgency. In addition to that, he was also knowledgeable and credible and always conducted business with a big smile on his face. With this complete package, Todd saw it was hard for anyone to say no. Starting the sales journey Once Todd was on his own, he made his first road trip in a new company car, a car phone that cost 75 cents a minute, and an AT&T calling card. Back then, you could cold call the pharmaceutical companies without setting up an appointment, especially true in rural areas. Fast forward to today and Todd is running the Sales for the Americas. What has contributed to his success is that working for OpenGear, a startup in Australia. They originally had five employees so initially, Todd had to do everything himself, handling inbound calls and the online chat. He knew that the company needed to win new customers so he was able to practice a variety of styles and approaches in every task and through each customer. People would often be impressed when they found out they were speaking to the VP of Sales. What they didn’t know was it was just Todd. Todd’s focus is now on the sales team, the partner channels, executing the sales playbook, their selling strategies, and scaling new talents and resources. Create your playbook The first thing you need in order to win is a playbook that you know how to execute. Todd loves to use basketball as an illustration. When you have the ball and there are four guys standing under the basket with their hands open wide, you need to pass the ball. Teammates are important to win the game and it’s also important to stay in your lane. If your job is calling end-users then you call on the end-users. If your job is channel management, then manage the channel. If everyone on the team can execute a playbook then you and the team will win regardless of what you’re selling. Accountability is critical as well because if team members are not accountable, then nothing gets accomplished. Without accountability, it's difficult to count on one another. Building the right culture Everyone on the team should understand the culture and help to support it. Sales leaders must take the lead in building a good culture within the sales team. Other members will eventually see the benefits of having a good culture and follow from the sales leader setting an example. The goal of a sales leader is to create an environment that makes the team want to follow. Communication is critical to building a good culture within a team. Todd and his team are using phone calls, email,...