Data Privacy Has Impacted CoSelling and Prevented Open Dialogue-Until Now — CoSell.io

CoSelling is when two or more sales teams at different companies sell together to drive more business. It’s when two companies identify prospect and customer overlap, to drive warm introductions.

The old way of CoSelling was risky and time-consuming. Introductions and data were managed on spreadsheets. Open dialogue was impossible. Everyone was concerned about confidentiality. Deals got stuck from start to finish. Issues of communication, deal status, data privacy, and mismatched introductions often devolved into a murky mess.

However, the new way to CoSell is simple. It is easier, faster, and secure. Data privacy does not impact partnership selling when you use the right tools.

First, Connect your Salesforce account.

Second, Invite partners to co-sell.

Third, Get warm introductions.

And…what you matters most: sell more!

It sounds great. But there is one big problem: habits.

Old Habits Die Hard

Sales reps are creatures of habit. A lot of reps are still focused on traditional Go-to-market activities: email, phone, and LinkedIn. When it comes to prospecting, these tried-and-true methods seem to dominate activities.

The truth is: old habits die hard.

We do what we’ve always done. Not because it’s the best way. Not because it is proven to protect data privacy with a fortification like Fort Knox. Not because we can guarantee it works. We just keep doing what we’ve always done because it’s habitual.

But there’s hope.

When sales reps discover that data privacy can be managed and controlled, the light switch goes on. Suddenly, they see the wins. They see the value of CoSelling.

Sales reps are focused on opportunity. They want to win sales. They will switch to a system that offers a better way to sell more.

This happens naturally when they see the numbers, understand the benefits, and reap the rewards. A big win turns heads and there’s nothing like sales to ignite participation. Show the numbers and watch sales reps get into CoSelling.

Current Data Privacy Mindsets Miss the Mark

If the old echoes of data privacy concerns are still haunting your sales team, there is hope. If your team is hanging on for dear life to old ways of doing things, don’t despair.

Get your team on board with CoSelling, use these 4 tips to turn the tide.

Start having regular meetings with sales leaders on how they are winning with CoSelling. Ideally, do this in a format such as a monthly meeting with AEs. Highlight ways that sales leaders have managed the issues of data privacy.

One of my clients, Jack,* just told me he’s started doing monthly meetings to share how to protect data with partner sales organizations. In addition to scheduled meetings, he is also doing ‘boosts’ when there is a big win related to a sales leader.

Involving the sales leader is a critical factor for success. Simply, when the leader such as a CRO if worldwide, or VP of the Region shares a win, others follow. He or she must be involved, supportive, and highly engaged in communicating their practices. If you get this kind of alignment, as Jack is doing, you will help AEs in adopting CoSelling.

Use a single point such as an internal partner portal to share assets. Keep this source of information alive, current, and responsive. Gather all the sales enablement assets that highlight data privacy concerns. Spell out answers for all the frequently asked questions.

Using a single point of contact helps sales managers stay actively involved in providing sales reps with the materials they need. If new concerns emerge, these can be addressed quickly and proactively.

Also, make sure that material is available from anywhere. AEs may be working from their car, a plane, or a remote location. Different people learn through different mediums. Therefore, provide multiple versions of the same information. One AE may rely on a ‘cheat-sheet.’ Another may want to watch a webinar or listen to a podcast. By offering a single source of truth, with multiple variations, you’ll build a robust collection of sales enablement tools.

Driving results and managing data impeccably go hand-in-hand. Sales leaders agree on best practices for getting results. When working with your partners, follow these steps.

* Interview partners to determine their concerns about data privacy. They may have a bad experience in the past. You want to clear the air in advance. Address their concerns so you can start with a clean slate.

* Agree on 3–5 key accounts. Ideally, these should be critical accounts that you can agree on upfront. With this, you can move forward with an aligned vision. Without it, you may find yourself running in circles and not moving forward.

* Tie your efforts to Salesforce. AEs are focused on opportunity. With specific accounts, it’s easier to evaluate overlap and target joint accounts.

* Stay focused on data privacy concerns. Keep the conversation alive, and address concerns before they become obstacles.

* Share a post-mortem with your partners. Identify any areas that posed a problem or threat. By sustaining the conversation, you’ll pinpoint trouble spots that can be handled with this client. You’ll also be alert to any problem areas to address in the future.

Involve your sales leaders with partner’s executives or heads of sales. As titles vary across firms, look for the connections that make sense. By involving sales leaders in an active dialogue, you are driving relationships that benefit both companies. These connections build an understanding of each others’ processes and goals.

Just like an internal conversation, sales leaders want to participate in the process. They have experience and expertise to bring to bear. They have already survived some challenges and built responses for solid data privacy. By involving them in mapping opportunities, they can identify new ways to promote trust and drive results.

As a natural outcome, they start generating ideas, making introductions, and pulling each other into deals.

Using a platform like CoSell.io guarantees data privacy. Having a full pipeline, safeguarding data, streamlining deals, and closing deals spell one thing: more sales. There’s nothing like more sales to get your sales team on board.

CoSell is a robust platform that makes it easy to automate and scale co-selling across sales teams.

If you’d like to explore how this can help you and your team boost sales, safeguard data, and win major clients fast-please reach out to us. To learn more, check us out.

Originally published at https://www.blog.cosell.io on June 4, 2020.