How I built a forecasting dashboard & leverage MEDDPICC to Drive Revenue as coached by David Weiss
- Jackson Lieu
- May 23, 2023
- 9 min read
Updated: May 23, 2023
Are you an SDR/BDR who's looking to become either an Account Manager or Customer Success Manager?
If so, this blog is for you.
Being a farmer is different from being a hunter, but the same methodologies still apply and yes, it's still a sales role.
The only difference is knowing when to strike.
"Being a Farmer is different from being a Hunter, but the same fundamentals still applies. It just comes in different phases." -David Weiss
Before we get started, it's important to know the difference between the two.
Account Managers in SaaS are typically responsible for expanding revenue from your existing sold base, meaning all you do is work on opportunities for upsells and cross-sells.
Customer Success Managers are responsible for successful onboarding, sharing best practices to drive adoption, measuring health scores, making them become hard-raving fans aka advocacy, and of course retention (renewals).
These two roles are typically segmented but in my case working at a B2B Lead generation as a Service and SaaS product company, it was a combined role along with SDR Leadership with a 3 months rolling pipeline, meaning our deals are typically up for renewals every three months.
Without further ado, here's how I was able to build a data-score dashboard and drive over 450K in revenue by leveraging MEDDPICC coached and trained by the master himself, David Weiss.
Step 1.) Relationship Building aka "Rapport Building"
Before you can do any additional selling, you must first be able to sell yourself.
If they don't like you, chances of renewing and/or upselling are close to none despite achieving R.O.I.
Your job is to nurture and get to know the client both on a professional and personal level and it all starts with a successful onboarding.
Setting upfront expectations along with the next steps and leveraging the power of a Customer Success Sheet, also known as a measurable goal tracker and/or mutual action plan.
It's the "This is what we're going to do, here's how we're going to do it, and when we'll be doing it" approach.
From there, you track, measure, and reverse engineer every time you meet.
Next, you must figure out how your client thinks, the way they process ideas, and how receptive they are when it comes to trying something new.
To do this, you stay quiet and listen.
Let them speak, and throw out questions to get them to open up and take notes.
Think of this as a live cognitive assessment.
Seek their ability to think, reason, how they comprehend concepts and solve problems.
You must find common ground through a common language.
Not everyone will have the same domain knowledge you have when it comes to your product/service.
It's your job to break it into small pieces of chunks that'll help them understand and know everyone buys your product/service for a different reason
Hone in on their Why and remember, it's all about them.
Not you.
Next, you must be able to read to the room.
You may be on a call with a number of people and it's your job to identify the elephant in the room (if there is one) and address it immediately.
If it's something you said or done, own up to it and take full responsibility.
No one wants to work with someone who they don't want to work with.
Next comes collaboration and ideas.
True Account Managers are collaborative, not competitive.
For us, there were many projects who don't have a well define ICP.
To do this, we pull up the ICP builder and throw out what-if scenarios such as:
What if we focus on this segment with an employee size of X?
What if we focus on these industries only?
What if we focus these titles in terms of personas instead of X?
When you're in this phase, it's not about getting the meeting or generating pipeline.
It's about executing Market Research and finding out who their true ICP really is.
Step 2.) ROI & Delivery
The next steps are ROI and Delivery.
Remember, every client is different and they signed up for your product/service for a reason.
This reason is hardly the same or at least slightly different from others at the most.
Some choose to delegate pipeline generation and some are looking to build out their own Top of Funnel Go-to-Market (GTM) systems and have the need to mirror our process.
Does this work, will this work, and can it work is this question.
Upon achieving ROI, is the time you have the right to ask for the sale.
Step 3.) Earning the Right
Once you've earned the right through ROI and Delivery, you now have the ability to run MEDDPICC based on what you believe would help the company grow.
This is where renewals, upsells, cross-sell and expansion opportunities come into play.
Our meetings typically revolve around reviewing stats and progress before entering any additional "sales" conversations.
Upon doing so, it's important to set up additional meetings as needed outside of stats review specifically to talk about the offering yes you bet you better come with an agenda.
Be intentional.
For this example in particular, I will be sharing with you a Tier-A account in the Digital Banking space and how I was able to close a 3rd team, a 25K expansion opportunity.
Metrics - These are measurable results on your product/service, you need to have a strategic analysis of what's happening and why it's happening the way it is to build a business case.
In this case, my client had a new Marketing hire and is aiming to hit a new segment with a new offering
I was able to build a business case on how the team was currently performing, from generating pipeline and gathering responses in terms of Market Findings and how our service would align with their KPIs
From there, I was able to cast a futuristic outcome in terms of Predictable Revenue and deliver an ROI presentation
Economic Buyer - This, of course, is the person who creates the budget and has the power to spend the investment.
As an AM/CSM, the people you meet are known as your main Point-of-Contact
It's important to note just because they're the POC, does not mean they can create the budget
All I did was asked was who's the person that creates the budget for this kind of offering
Decision Criteria - This is the "Why" behind the buy also known as the evaluation
As an AM/CSM, it's important to have a strong disco prior to proposing
Upon so, just say "Based on what you told me, here's what I suggest"
What are your thoughts?
What else is needed to evaluate?
What else would you like to see happen?
The end goal here is to align how your product/service will help them reach success
Decision Process - Think of this as a series of steps that are needed to make a decision
How are these kinds of decisions typically made when it comes to purchasing X?
What are the steps?
Who else needs to be involved?
Paper Process - Think of this as a journey of the paper to be signed from landing on one's desk to another
If I sent you the quote today, what happens next?
Does legal need to be involved?
Who's the one that will ultimately sign it?
Identifying Pain - Since they have a new hire, we hone in on what failure might look like
What happens if you're new marketing hire doesn't exceed expectations?
What are they measured on?
What's their GTM strategy when it comes to brand awareness?
Competition - this is your competitors that they're potentially looking at
Upon disco, I simply asked them "We have a great partnership going on, and don't mean to ask a crazy question but I'm curious if there's any other vendor you're currently speaking to."
Be empathic and ask as if you truly care, because well, you do.
Remember, the end goal here is to see if there is any additional competition even if they're currently using your product/service.
If they are, this can also be a leading indicator in terms of retention risk.
Champion - This is your internal "Fox" who wants you to win
My fox happened to be one of their BDRs.
Since I knew they were building out this program early on, I've been nurturing my fox by sharing best practices, articles, podcast episodes and etc. on how to prospect behind the scenes
Because of this, we were able to build a strong rapport and they were able to let me know who the new hire was along with updates in real-time via Slack
By leveraging MEDDPICC, not only was I able to forecast upcoming deals but I was able to spot patterns and trends.
This pattern and trend led me to out a data-scored dashboard that consists of three criteria on how likely a client will renew, upsell and/or cross-purchase our other SaaS products and service offerings.
These three criteria also act as a guide, it points me in the right direction on which accounts I should be focusing more on, when, where, and why.
The three categories are as followed:
Client Relationship
How's your relationship with your client?
This swear is the #1 winning factor when it comes to renewals.
If they don't like you, they won't work with you.
Your professional relationship with the client should be at the minimum 3/5.
3 meaning "this person is okay to work with"
4 meaning "this person is good, I like them"
5 meaning "this person is great, I love working with them"
Do they trust you and are you constantly teaching them something new?
You can teach your client something by casting ideas
Sharing thoughts, Market Trends and etc.
This is also known as the Challenger sale concept.
Do they believe in your line of work and ability to deliver?
As an AM/CSM, you must act as a third party to the team
Meaning no matter what happens, you're there to support them and everything you said you're going to do, you do it
If there's a concern, you address it. Immediately. Even if you have to raise the flag internally.
Team Performance
Is the team delivering on their promises?
Are we constantly finding learnings such as market research?
What kind of Call to Action (CTA's) work best?
What's our Dial to Connect Ratios?
What kind of "common" objections are we getting and from who?
ROI
Did our client achieve ROI?
If the answer is yes, your chances of renewals significantly increase
What are we doing well?
Document and share with the client what the team is doing well in
This can be calls, emails, targeting and etc.
What aren't we doing well?
Same for the list above, document and share what the team isn't doing well
Calls, emails, targeting and etc.
What can we do better?
This is where honest feedback comes in
For us, we've built our own data analytics dashboard that shows the client how their campaign is doing
I simply like to ask "Curious, how's your experience with us so far and what can we do better?"
Once you get the feedback, document it and share it with the team. For me, it typically revolves around the product (UI, UX, ease of use and etc.)
By doing this, I was able to underpromise and over-deliver.
When you help your clients become successful, it's where you become successful.
Remember, at the end of the day, it's all about them.
Not about you.
Till then, is when you will be rewarded.
rewarded
MEDDPICC Expansion Framework by David Weiss
M - Build a business case based on current results with you and how an expansion would improve those
E - Figure out the EB for the current solution and expansion and review current results and recommendations with them to drive better ROI
D - If replacing a solution map out their criteria to replace or criteria needed to expand
D - Process to buy
P - Normal paper process
I - current pain with the solutions you’d expand with and all the people that they impact
C - Building current users as champions and have them get you to people you can expand with
C - Status quo and current incumbents - beat them with a better business case and vendor consolidation play
Final Thoughts & Conclusion
A true AM/CSM understands that everyone buys your product/service for a different reason and for this reason, you must tailor your offerings to their end goal.
They must like you in order to need you and from there, stick to the winning formula.
It's all about them and not about you.
Winning Formula
Their Process
Their Priorities
Their Outcome
Ask yourself, how does your product/service align with these three?
You can do this by taking the What, Which, and Why method.
What are the 3 most important things regarding X?
Which one of those is most important?
Why is that?
Key Takeaways
Build a strategic analysis by providing a few “What If” scenarios and letting the decision makers evaluate the scenarios side by side and do their own comparison.
Ask yourself how can you create a white glove experience for your customers.
How can you go beyond your comfort zone and introduce something new so you can stand out from the crowd and not be just another “meeting” on the calendar?
Once you pass all the check marks, you're now one step closer to becoming a vendor of choice.
Dear David,
I wanted to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for the incredible impact you have had on my career as a sales professional.
Since our first meeting back in 2018, when I discovered you on The Sales Success Stories podcast, you have been an unwavering source of guidance and inspiration.
Your expertise in the field of sales, particularly your mastery of the MEDDPICC sales methodology, has been nothing short of transformative for me.
Through your coaching, I have gained a deeper understanding of the sales process, honed my skills, and achieved remarkable success.
I am thrilled to share that, thanks to your teachings, I closed an impressive $450,000+ in revenue.
Furthermore, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the mobile app, DealDoc.
The app's innovative features and functionalities have been instrumental in streamlining sales processes and maximizing efficiency on the go.
Thank you, David, for your unwavering support, guidance, and the knowledge you have imparted to me.
Your mentorship has been invaluable, and I am deeply grateful for the positive influence you have had on my career.
With heartfelt appreciation,
Jax
Looking to become a better seller?
Meet David Weiss, a Top Performing Sales Executive, leader of high-performing teams, and sales coach of people with big dreams and goals.
As of today, he serves as a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) of The Sales Collective.
He's a 3X Author, Speaker, Podcaster, and was named Top 25 Named Sales Executive to Learn From.
He is a MEDDPICC enthusiast, philosophy, and founder of DealDoc, a mobile app you can download on your Apple iPhone today.
Reach out to David Weiss today and download his mobile app DealDoc today!
Oh yeah, and don't forget to tell him I sent ya.
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