How to Succeed with Sales 3.0

In his keynote, Gerhard Gschwandtner – the founder and CEO of Selling Power magazine and the author of 16 books on selling, psychology, and sales management – will discuss the two major change drivers that are transforming our world and how we conduct business: technology and psychology. He will review what we've gained, what we've lost, and how digital transformation will continue to impact how B2B sales organizations compete and win.

Speaker: Gerhard Gschwandtner, Founder and CEO, Selling Power | @gerhard20

How Coaching Impacts Win Rates – What AI Learned from the Top 50 Fastest-Growing Companies in 2019

Your entire sales cycle depends on conversations. What reps say on cold calls or in meetings determines conversion rates from MQLs to SALs to Opportunities to "Closed Won" deals and renewals. In this world, are sales teams doing and saying the right things that help move deals forward?

Six Chorus data scientists (each a PhD) took apart billions of data sets from more than 4 million sales conversations – from cold calls to discovery meetings, product demos, and late-stage calls – to identify what makes some sales teams more successful than others.

In this session, Roy Raanani, CEO and co-founder of Chorus.ai, will walk you through a data-driven story of what the team discovered. He will walk you through some of the best practices in sales conversations adopted by companies that have high conversion and win rates throughout the sales cycle.

Speaker: Roy Raanani, CEO and Co-founder, Chorus.ai | @chorus_ai

Sales Imperatives for Today's Digital World

In today's ever-increasingly digital world, sales leaders need to rethink how they engage with customers and partners – and enable customers to leverage the latest innovations to create value for their sales organizations. In this session, join Helen Fanucci, Global Digital Transformation Sales Leader, Microsoft Corporation, to learn about

• How digital transformation is changing the way we sell
• Driving organizational change and redefining roles to better serve customers
• The changing relationship between customers and partners
• The role of sales to provide strategic insights and influence product and corporate strategies for competitive advantage

Speaker: Helen Fanucci, Global Digital Transformation Sales Leader, Microsoft Corporation

How to Achieve Frictionless Sales Enablement

While technology has improved the sales enablement function, it has also created road bumps that can impede your ability to ramp up sales reps quickly and effectively. It is time to rethink sales training and sales enablement. In this fireside chat, Selling Power CEO Gerhard Gschwandtner and SPARXiQ CEO David Bauders will discuss those challenges and solutions that will help you create the right mix of human elements and technology for optimal performance and results.

Speakers: Gerhard Gschwandtner, Founder and CEO, Selling Power | @gerhard20
David Bauders, CEO, SPARXiQ

Sales Innovation Paradox

The sales industry has invested billions of dollars in training and sales technology over the past few years. Most industries that make such investments experience an increase in performance and likely a corresponding cost reduction – a payoff for their technology investment. Yet, in sales, we are seeing less productivity, on average! Why this paradox? Dr. Dover will share preliminary findings of his research into this paradox and show how winners are multiplying their results – and how losers are creating dustbowls in the buyer ecosystem.

Speaker: Howard Dover, Director, Center for Professional Sales, Clinical Professor, Marketing and Sales Coach, University of Texas at Dallas

Breakout A
It's About Time — and Therefore Money!

Get your sales team to master time, and they can master sales. But making the most of their precious selling time is impossible if you and they don't know the time cost and information impact of the core Inside Sales activities that compete for their time: phone, email, social outreach, and online research.

In this session, Inside Sales managers will get a timely breakdown of:

• Whose time matters most? The sales reps' or their prospects'?
• Time illusions and how they trick your reps into spinning their wheels when they could be making deals.
• How to get your team to organize and sequence their selling day to break free of their time traps and make the most of their most powerful asset — selling time.

Speaker: Chris Beall, CEO and Co-Founder, ConnectAndSell | @chris8649

Breakout B
Remove Sales Friction and Grow the Bottom Line

Sales is the engine that drives the organization to profitable outcomes and happy shareholders. When you drop the right engine into the right chassis – and that engine is maintained and tuned up to meet the needs of the journey – it gets you where you want and need to be quickly and safely. However, if you fail to maintain that engine or, let's say, you run out of oil while running the engine faster and longer hours than ever before, what do you think happens? Friction – and friction is crippling sales teams. Last year, less than 57 percent of sales teams achieved quota.

How we prepare and train our salespeople today is broken.

In this discussion, Mark shares what has changed and what market-leading organizations are doing to win the race of sales.

Speaker: Mark Roberts, Vice President Sales and Marketing, SPARXiQ

Breakout A
Five Counterintuitive Sales Mistakes Preventing You from Closing Revenue

Are you guiding your sales team based on perception or reality?

Your sales conversations are the most impactful part of customer engagements. But you'd be surprised how many of our perceived "sure things" are actually killing your pipeline.

We analyzed more than 10 million sales calls and uncovered a massive gap between what sales professionals believe they're doing and what they're actually doing when it comes to their sales approach.

You'll learn

• Five sales best practices that are actually critical mistakes
• Why these misconceptions are detrimental to your success
• Tips and insights on how to course correct and drive revenue success

Speaker: Devin Reed, Content Strategy Manager, Gong.io

Breakout B
Enough Theory, Let's Talk Reality – Vortex Prospecting in the Real World

During this session, Chad Sanderson (Managing Partner, ValueSelling Associates, and host of "The B2B Revenue Executive Experience" podcast) will interview Laurie Schrager (VP, Revenue Operations, Enablement & Education, Tealium) and John Chinello (Director, Global Sales Enablement, Tealium) about their firsthand experience in successfully implementing and optimizing Vortex Prospecting within their global sales development teams, and their methods for overcoming the huge challenge organizations face – making a sales methodology stick.

This isn't death by PowerPoint® or a great deal of theory, but, rather, an opportunity to gain insight into the thought process of two enterprise leaders: their prospecting challenges, their approach to sales enablement, the results they have achieved, and the lessons learned.

Certain to be educational, anyone who has listened to "The B2B Revenue Executive Experience" podcast knows it will also be full of laughter and candid honesty.

Speakers: Chad Sanderson, Managing Partner, ValueSelling Associates | @sandersonc
Laurie Schrager, VP, Revenue Operations, Enablement & Education, Tealium
John Chinello, Director, Global Sales Enablement, Tealium

Breaking Barriers with an Integrated Software Suite

Software has changed the way people do business. Tedious processes – once done manually – are now automated. Software is about much more than automating the mundane; it's about revolutionizing the way people approach decision making, and unifying the organizational focus toward the same goal. During this session, we'll answer:

• How does integrated software benefit the entire organization?
• How does it build on the skills of younger employees?
• How do I turn my company into a collaborative, problem-solving, and talent-building machine?

Speaker: Raj Sabhlok, President, Zoho | @Rajsabhlok

Sales Leader Enablement

The frontline sales manager is the key to sales rep success and acceleration, yet a sales enablement plan focused solely on building and developing sales leaders often isn't in place. When it comes to sales new hires, no one is more important to help the new hire become successful than their frontline sales manager.

We've all heard that, when people leave, they don't leave companies – they leave managers. So what are you doing to ensure your frontline sales managers are executing according to plan?

In this keynote, Carol Sustala will highlight the importance of a frontline sales manager enablement plan to drive sales success, and the challenges and pitfalls when this important component of the overall plan is missing.

• Success Profile of the Frontline Sales Manager – What does the ideal sales manager look like? What are the characteristics and traits? What are the competencies?
• Field Management Process – What does a day, a week, a month, a quarter in the life of your sales manager look like? Is there a standard process for running the business?
• Coaching Methodology – What does coaching of sales reps look like and consist of? Does it consistently match the expectation of what the sales org needs?
• Onboarding and Training for Managers – Is it important to onboard a manager differently from the sales rep new hire plan you have in place? Should there be an FY enablement plan focused just on the manager role?
• Field Rep Hiring – How does your sales leader know what good looks like? How are they interviewing and hiring the field sales talent to up-level quality and ensure success?

Speaker: Carol Sustala, VP, Sales Enablement, PowerSchool | @txcarolina17

It's All in Your Head: MASTER the Art of Closing without the Stress

During this keynote John will show us how he uses his MASTER framework to help sales teams dramatically increase performance. The mindset your team brings into each opportunity has a major impact on the bottom line. When the right type of mindset shows up, everything improves:

• The actions they take will change
• The strategy they follow will make the most of their time
• Their environment will support their goals
• And resourcefulness will become a common trait on the team

Unstoppable progress means always setting new sales records, improving retention, and decreasing stress. No more excuses. No more blame game. Just a team constantly taking the bottom line to a whole new level.

Speaker: John Guydon, Speaker, Coach, and Consultant, Master Your Progress | @IamJohnGuydon

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Re-imagining Sales Onboarding — and Building a Service That Works

Do you think you have onboarding all figured out? Or is it the one thing that seems to consistently need to be changed? Chances are, your process and approach could use improvement. At all too many companies, the best way to describe their sales onboarding is "ineffective." In this presentation, Juliana Stancampiano, CEO of Oxygen, will talk about what's wrong with current approaches to onboarding as we know it, and how it needs to be re-invented, including:

• The biggest mistakes organizations make when bringing on new sales hires
• The three things you need to know to build an onboarding service that will get your people up to speed on what they really need to know to drive the onboarding outcome
• How to use the lessons you learn about onboarding to modernize all your sales enablement efforts

Speaker: Juliana Stancampiano, CEO, Oxygen

Rewriting the Sales Transformation Playbook for an Agile World

According to a KPMG/Forbes Insight survey, 82 percent of CEOs worry that their company's current products or services will be irrelevant to customers in less than three years. Rapid innovation, shrinking product life cycles, and increased globalization are increasing the number of competitive alternatives and threats.

To keep pace with this accelerating pace of change, businesses have turned to more agile approaches to strategy, business models, and organizational development. As a result, sales is being forced to adapt more frequently and rapidly. However, sales agility remains a daunting challenge for most companies. Sales organizations need a new transformation approach that fits the rapid pace of business – and enhances the odds of success.

In this session, Tim Sullivan, Director of Business Development of Sales Performance International, will explore a fresh perspective on rewriting the playbook for sales transformation to align with a world of accelerating change, and present a model for an adaptive, agile sales force.

Speaker: Tim Sullivan, Director of Business Development, Sales Performance International

From Strategy to Execution: An Inside Look at Successful Sales Operations and Sales Enablement

In this fireside chat with Gerhard Gschwandtner, Russ Walker – SVP Sales Operations and Enablement at Merrill Corporation – will share his insight on how sales operations and enablement can best support the success of your sales team. He will also discuss best practices on:

• How to assemble the right talent to drive results
• Keys to organizational alignment
• How to ensure you are delivering successful sales outcomes every day

Speakers: Gerhard Gschwandtner, Founder and CEO, Selling Power | @gerhard20
Russ Walker, SVP Sales Operations and Enablement, Merrill Corporation | @rjwalker023

A Fresh Perspective on Transforming Your Salespeople into Courageous Partners

Today's buying environment is more challenging than ever. The digital transformation has changed the way buyers prepare and what they expect from the salespeople who call on them. Procurement has achieved real power and decision making responsibility in many organizations. Key decisions are rarely, if ever, made by a single individual, so identifying and engaging multiple stakeholders is critical to success. To compound the issue, buyers are tremendously preoccupied by other priorities, distracted by too many emails and meetings, and deluged with too much information coming at them – often 24/7.

Join us in a "Fireside Chat" to learn what it takes to create a courageous sales team that has the skills and confidence to engage customers in thought-provoking discussions; transform their perceptions of the salesperson and his or her company and opportunities for success; and co-create the optimal solution that maximizes revenue and margins, and strengthens customer relationships in the process.

Moderator: Gerhard Gschwandtner, Founder and CEO, Selling Power | @gerhard20
Speakers: Ron D'Andrea, COO & Managing Partner, Global Performance Group
Harry Kendlbacher, CEO & Managing Partner, Global Performance Group

Corporate Strategy and Cold Call Scripts: Strange Bedfellows or Essential Partners?

With the rising power of private equity, executing corporate strategy has become more challenging. For many B2B companies, the obvious best path forward is tightly focused organic growth - growth designed to enter and dominate markets, not merely grow market share. It turns out that the trust-centric nature of buying B2B solutions brings a new strategic player onto the scene. This keynote lays out the surprising consequences of this strange coupling, along with a step-by-step approach to using it to your advantage.

Speaker: Chris Beall, CEO, ConnectAndSell

Breakout A
Building a Problem-solving Sales Stack

Companies don't look for sales technologies just for the heck of it. They look for technologies in order to solve problems – whether that's needing to sell more, sell faster, improve sales skills, or any other business imperative.

In this session, we'll take you through a framework for building a problem-solving sales stack. You'll learn

• How to identify the biggest opportunities for a pay-back
• Factors that should go into prioritizing those opportunities
• How to create an action plan

Speakers: Nancy Nardin, Co-founder, Vendor Neutral, LLC | @vendor_neutral
Dan Cilley, Co-founder, Vendor Neutral, LLC | @TelemaximumTech

Breakout B
How to Ignite Sales Rep Engagement and Skyrocket Your ROI

Did you know that companies that cultivate their human capital outperform the S&P by almost 40 percent? In this highly interactive session you will explore the game-changing tools and strategies that will enhance your culture, increase sales rep engagement, and reinforce the behaviors that drive your business.

Jacque Busby is a human capital expert and entrepreneur who will offer the solutions to elevate your workforce experience and measurably grow your ROI every day. You will get a preview of a new technology proven to fully engage your sales reps and employees so they are an aligned team of stakeholders, innovators, and collaborators. Jacque will show you how to incorporate your company values and goals while helping enhance productivity and improve work/life balance. Everyone wins!

Speaker: Jacque Busby, Vice President, Marketing Innovators | @luxe_ROI

Breakout A
Beat the Bots: How B2B Sellers Can Differentiate and Future-proof Their Careers

Over the past few years in the sales training and enablement industry, we've been spooked by industry analyst reports heralding the "death" of the B2B salesperson, or predicting 20 percent of sales professionals will be jobless by 2020. There's fear about "the rise of the robot," or that artificial intelligence (AI) will replace B2B sellers entirely. It's a scary time for B2B sales professionals.

The truth is, B2B sales professionals are not only alive and kicking, but the best ones are seeing even greater success by choosing to learn and evolve. They know it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate in transactional sales, but that the opportunity to differentiate in complex sales has grown. Top sales professionals are already preparing to beat the bots and stay ahead of AI. So where is the greatest opportunity to differentiate? How do sales professionals future-proof their careers? Join this breakout session to find out.

Speaker: Anita Nielsen, President, LDK Advisory Services

Breakout B
Your Prospects Have the Right to Object

How many classes does it take to master overcoming objections? Selling while securing a much better deal for you and your company is not just a matter of overcoming objections and hoping for the best. It's about understanding the best-kept secret of the most successful buyers and sellers: negotiation.

Negotiation is a skill that pays for itself over and over (and over and over) again. If you're negotiating against skilled negotiators, chances are you feel like you're doing the best you can; but, chances are, you can do better – in some cases, much better. Don't level the playing field; tip the scale to your advantage, and increase commissions and profits every time.

Speaker: Gregory Smith, Executive Vice President, SPARXiQ

How Do the Best Salespeople Negotiate?

The best salespeople are systematic and precise with their preparation, ask thoughtful open-ended questions, listen intently, understand the other side's perspective, think strategically, and consummate sales that develop relationships. In this highly interactive session, Jeff will provide a brief overview of these success factors and then give the audience specific tools their teams could use, such as how to: make successful proposals, not negotiate against yourself, sell on value versus price, and not give products or services away without getting something valuable in return.

Speaker: Jeff Cochran, Partner, SNI

Gender and Selling: How to Make Your Sales Team Inclusive and Competitive

According to the National Association of Women Sales Professionals, 78 percent of Fortune 500 companies have initiatives to attract more women to sales. Some recent data has also emerged showing that women tend to close deals at higher rates than men. With that in mind, is your sales organization an inviting place for women sellers to work and succeed? What's it really like for a woman sales executive in a male-dominated field? This panel discussion will reveal insights about gender and selling, and outline practical steps sales leaders can take to make their teams inclusive.

Moderator: Lisa Gschwandtner, Editorial Director, Selling Power
Panelists: Ryan Bott, North America SVP of Sales, Sodexo
Lori Richardson, Founder, ScoreMoreSales and Women Sales Pros

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