Amanda Long 🦋 on LinkedIn: Today's my birthday & the biggest gift I could ask for is for more women… | 29 comments (2024)

"My goal is to make it impossible for you not to promote me" Yes - I said that 5 years ago to my boss at the time Yes - Jordan Wissel's face showed he wasn't expecting me to say that in our 1:1 Yes - I got the promotion from a Senior AE to a Sales Manager Yes - I earned it and advocated for myself to get thereSometimes you have to be bold to make movesBut don't just talk the talk - you have to walk the walk and back it up with performanceEarlier in my career I assumed that my performance spoke for itself - not to mention the revenue that I was driving for the orgI was a top performer and clearly on a growth trajectory - but the problem was that I expected others to advocate for meI expected others to see my performance and automatically promote me.. news flash - that doesn't work well (and takes a LONG time to get where you want to go)My best advice for people trying to grow in their career is ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELFMoney talks so speak that language with your boss - don't just talk about your performance or how many months you've consecutively hit quota..talk about what really matters - the revenue impactBe boldBe braveBe your own advocate and see what happensMassive shout out to Women in Sales and QuotaPath for fostering the conversation around negotiating for growth in your career - this is such an important skill 🙌🏻“The path to pay equity for women in sales is paved with knowledge, confidence, and strategic negotiation.“❤️

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I started a new job - and I LOVE it 😍 A few weeks ago I started a new adventure - as the Growth Enablement Manager at Vyne Dental® ✨ In the last ~4 weeks I've met some of the most incredible people and am so motivated by Vyne's mission and the work this team is doingI'm grateful to be trusted to build out the Enablement program to support the Growth organization here at VyneThank you Nicholas Rodich Kali Berry Terri Maske for an exceptional interview experienceVyne is a special place and I'm really happy to be here Don't mind me cheesin' big time over here 😆 🧀

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Lessons from an MLB All StarMy brother is a 2x MLB ALL STAR ⚾️⭐️He’s the hardest worker I’ve ever known and I’m wildly proud of him I’ve seen first-hand what it takes to do the impossibleI remember when we were little kids and he had this incredible dream of becoming an MLB playerWe used to talk about it all the time and his confidence in achieving his dreams never wavered despite the ups and downs that come with pursuing an athletic career I know LinkedIn isn’t the place for personal life updates but what I’ve learned from my brother is actually really important for the professional world as well1️⃣ Mindset mattersMental resilience is critical - if you believe it you can achieve itSame is true if you’ve got a negative mental outlook so surround yourself with positive & productive energyMeditation is great for this!2️⃣ Visualize your successMental reps are as critical as actual reps Warm your brain up with visualization so you can function at your bestIf you’re making cold calls or have important sales meetings to run - spend the first 15 minutes of your day visualizingSee yourself dialing 👀Hear the phone ringing ☎️.. and the prospect answering 🤳.. and hear yourself crushing the cold call talk track you’ve been practicing (or nailing the discovery call you’ve got that day) 💥Feel the excitement of setting that big meeting ✨Experience the excitement of your peers and recognition from your boss 👏🏼Mental rehearsals help you feel more confident and prepared 3️⃣ You’re in a rut? Change it up and seek coachingWhen an athlete’s in a rut they listen to the experts for coaching on tweaking their swing or timing (etc)Sellers in a rut can lean into sales leaders/coaches for advice on tweaking talk tracks or updating messaging to help boost performance You can’t course-correct if you don’t know how/where you’ve gotten off course to begin with4️⃣ Get your reps inPractice makes perfectThe more at-bats you get the sharper your skills become Ignore the noise & lock inSomething is only impossible if you believe it isDream big and never sway in your convictions…. and remember even the most iconic talent has bad at-bats so don’t be so hard on yourself 👏🏼

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I met my Beyoncé … but really Jen Allen-Knuth is THAT good 🤯If you get a chance to hear her speak in person it’s an absolute mustIt’s been a bucket list item for me for a whileI’ve always been passionate about amplifying the voice of women in sales It’s so inspiring to see Jen command a room with such easeEarly in my sales career I didnt see very many women leading the charge in salesand its something I’ve always been driven to change to inspire the next generation of badass women in sales to dream as big as possible My favorite part of LinkedIn is the community that you can build If you’ve not already joined the Women in Sales community - DO IT! It’s so important to surround yourself with people who inspire you to grow and be your best 👏🏼🔥

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✨ Today marks the end of an era - it's officially my last day at Wonolo It's been 5 amazing years and what a ride it's been 💛 It's bittersweetto leave a place that has played such a huge role in my life for such a long timeI'm not the same person that I was when I first startedI'm more confident in my abilities and the impact that I can make within an organizationI'm comfortable advocating for myself and expressing my POV - challenging the norm for the sake of growthI've pushed myself WAY past my comfort zone time and time again and it's taught me that growth exists outside of your "safe zone" My career has expanded in ways I never anticipatedI started as a top-performing AEwas promoted to Sales Management leading a team of incredible AEshelped build out our Product Marketing functionand ultimately built out and owned the Sales Enablement function Wonolo helped me find my deepest passion for sales enablement, sales training, and sales coachingWonolo has seen me through huge life changes like buying our first home and welcoming our first perfect baby boy 💙 To my fellow Whammies - thank you for everything! I couldn't be more grateful for all of the experiences I've gained, the people I've met, and the memories I'll cherish foreverI'm SO excited about what the future has in store for me and I can't wait to tell y'all all about itMore to come shortly, so stay tuned!

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Have you noticed your prospects struggling to make a decision or dragging their feet? 🤷♀️ Are they delaying next steps or signing the agreement after they’ve already agreed they need to make a change?There are hundreds of solutions and options available todaywhich can overwhelm buyers and increase the difficulty of making a clear decisionBuyers are typically risk-averseIt’s not as much about the cost of missing out (or the cost of inaction/overcoming status quo)It’s more about the perceived cost of making the WRONG decisionThey want to make sure that their buying decision doesn’t bite them in the a**Buyers fear of making the wrong decision drives indecision and ultimately delays the buying decision entirelyTop performers know how to push buyers past indecision One of the easiest ways to do this is to tell the buyer what to doProspects are often looking for advice on what to do so they don’t have to make the decision entirely on their ownSo help them make the decisions they need to make!Be proactive in offering guidance tailored to what you’ve diagnosed in Discovery“I know you’re struggling with [xyz] and looking for a solution that can do [abc]. My personal recommendation is to move forward with [this option] because it directly solves your primary challenges and offers improved efficiency. I always recommend this option to customers who are struggling with similar challenges and they love it because of [abc]” Bonus points for including specific social proof to build additional credibilityConfidently point out the right option and address how it solves the customer's challengesDoing this creates a “scapegoat” for the prospect to “blame you” if the buying decision doesn’t go well(But that won’t happen if you genuinely offer the right solution to solve their problems)Making powerful and personal recommendations lowers the burden of choice for the customerTell your buyer that they’re making the right choice to help build confidence in your solutionWhat’s your go-to approach to pushing buyers past indecision?

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Want to win more of your pipeline? 💰 Multi-thread It’s one of the most important things you can do to help drive urgency in your sales cycle Most mid-market deals include an average of 6-10 DMsEnterprise deals can include upwards of 20+ DMsThe trap that a lot of sellers can fall into is over-relying on your champion Champions are great - don’t get me wrongIt pays dividends to have a championbut it’s 10x when you have 3-4 champions advocating on your behalf Unfortunately most buyers don’t know how to buyso our job as sellers is to educate our buyers on how to effectively buy a solution to solve their problems& it’s actually pretty simple to doTake a look at your closed-won deals - especially your high value dealsWho all was involved? Who is currently involved? What was the buying process like? What unexpected obstacles did you have to overcome? Use this as a roadmap to educate your prospects on how to buyI love multi-threading at the end of discovery in driving next steps (and farther along the sales process as well)Here’s a quick talk track you can easily apply when driving next steps with prospects:“Next steps typically involve looping in ABC partners (this could be higher level DMs in their function or other cross-functional leaders who are involved in the buying process for your service/offering) to discuss XYZ priorities (this should be the key initiatives your prospect is looking to solve/improve/attain in implementing your solution). We want to make sure that we’re all in alignment and moving in the right direction together. We usually see that looping in cross-functional partners early helps us to uncover potential roadblocks that we’d need to account for and improves our collaborative efficiency. What does your buying process look like and who is usually involved? Would it make sense for us to go ahead and loop then in on our next call?” Why it works?1️⃣ You’re educating the buyer on who’s typically involved with the buying/implementation process at other similar organizations2️⃣ You’re collaboratively driving next steps and confirming the prospects buying process3️⃣ You’re using multi-threading as a way to add value (helping reduce unforeseen roadblocks and improve efficiency)4️⃣ You’re reducing the internal selling effort required for your champion (again - adding value)Expand your reach by broadening your decision-making unit through multi-tasking and watch your sales cycle shrink What other tips do you have for multi-threading within your pipeline? Happy selling, friends!

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