E168 - GTM Learnings From a Football Official? Yes! Featuring Scott Wood

Published: May 27, 2024, 8 a.m.

In this episode of Tech Sales Insights, Randy Seidl is joined by Scott Wood, VP and GM of Compute for North America at HPE. Scott shares unique go-to-market strategies inspired by his experiences as a football official. From structured pregame preparations to rigorous post-game reviews, Scott draws fascinating parallels between sports officiating and high-performance sales teams.\n\nKEY TAKEAWAYS\n\nStructured Preparation: Learn the importance of detailed pre-meeting preparations, akin to pregame routines in football officiating.\n\nPost-Game Review: Understand the value of reviewing sales calls using technology to identify areas for improvement, similar to how officials review game footage.\n\nOngoing Certification and Practice: Emphasize the need for continuous learning and practice in sales, paralleling the rigorous certification processes in sports officiating.\n\nEffective Communication: Explore strategies for maintaining clear and effective communication within sales teams and how it relates to the teamwork required among football officials.\n\nHandling High-Pressure Situations: Gain insights into managing high-pressure scenarios with clients, drawing from Scott's experience handling intense moments with football coaches.\n\nQUOTES\n\n"If they do that at a high school level for football, why are we not doing the same disciplined preparations for multi-million dollar deals?"\n\n"You need a culture of practice, not just one-off training sessions. Practice builds confidence, and confidence attracts customers."\n\n"The technology we have now for reviewing sales calls is a game-changer. If you're not rigorously using them, you're missing opportunities to have a world-class sales team."\n\nFind out more about Scott Wood through the links below:\nhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-wood-9828986/\n \nThis episode is sponsored by AuctusIQ, the Sales Performance Assessment sponsor of the Sales Community. AuctusIQ is a sales data and science software company, with the mission of providing the right data to solve your three biggest challenges: selecting and retaining exceptional talent, coaching to ensure readiness to meet or beat quota, and winning more deals.