Marc Sierra joins Revenueify to coach, assess, and train integrators and technology providers so they can maximize their sales-enablement investments.
Marc Sierra has sat through lots of sales training in 25+ years. But none of the trainers he learned from ever had experience in his world: technology and systems integration. And most taught lessons that didn’t stick long-term.
After watching Revenueify discuss outcome-based selling at an NSCA event, Marc felt like he was finally discovering sales training that applied to the work of tech companies. He reached out to share how much he enjoyed the presentation and training content. Fast-forward nine months, and he’s now part of the Revenueify team!
The first years of Marc’s career were spent in project management—first for a provider of commercial interior design solutions before joining Communications Engineering Company (CEC), an Iowa-based integrator.
In 2018, he relocated to Phoenix and joined CTI, another integrator. “I acted as somewhat of a sales engineer, creating relationships and putting together system designs for customers in the enterprise space (think Fortune 500 companies).” He then moved into a branch director role for CTI’s Phoenix office, taking on responsibility for revenue, profit, and staff.
Today, as our director of sales enablement, he coaches, assesses, and trains integrators and technology providers to help them maximize their sales-enablement investments.
To help you get to know Marc better, we asked him a few questions.
Q: As the director of sales enablement, how will you spend your days?
I get to facilitate the training we provide to our customers, whether that’s our REVUP Achiever training, which focuses on outcome-based selling; REVUP Recur training, which focuses on managed services sales; or another form of sales training. Some training will be in person, and some will be online.
I’m here to help whoever needs it. If an integrator or technology company wants to chat about something related to sales, managed services, revenue challenges, or hiring and retaining salespeople, they can come talk to me.
I understand the challenges that customers have with creating opportunities, and I also know what it takes to execute opportunities—which is another big challenge for sales organizations.
Q: What are you most excited about accomplishing?
So many things!
Helping leaders understand the value of real training
I want to help salespeople have the success that I’ve had in my career. And I want to help leaders believe and buy into the value of effective sales training and the difference it can make in all areas of your business. The training we provide will work.
Helping salespeople improve their performance
I bring an experiential element to training because I’ve been in sales. I’ve lived in the salesperson’s shoes. I’ve experienced the challenges they struggle with, and I’ve found ways to solve them.
As I talk to more salespeople and sales leaders, I’m realizing that many are behind the curve when it comes to sales strategies and results, and I want to help them change that.
What most people don’t realize is that they don’t have to be completely awesome all the time to be better than everybody else. There’s a very big gap between base-level salespeople and highly successful salespeople. Not everyone must fall into the group of “highly successful.” But just imagine if all the salespeople in your company could increase margins by just 5% over the span of a year. It would have a major financial impact—and we’ve seen it happen through our training.
Q: How is Revenueify different from other sales training options?
The industry desperately needed sales training designed specifically for tech companies, manufacturers, and integrators in this industry—and the needs of their customers. That’s exactly what we do.
Tailored to technology sales professionals
The people doing the training have been in the shoes of the people being trained.
Before joining Revenueify, I sat through lots of sales training. But none of those trainers ever had experience in my world. They didn’t come from a technology or integration background.
Behavior change, not solely skills enhancement
Our training is also based on behavior change that drives consistent performance, repeatable results, and better outcomes. It’s more than a one-day seminar that leaves you feeling good—but leads to a quick fizzle to the bottom again.
We build in repeated touchpoints to reinforce the training and hold participants accountable. This is the only way to help your salespeople become more successful. It puts more money in their pocket and creates greater margin and profit for the organization.
Data-driven action plans
Revenueify also uses data as a backdrop to help lead tech companies in the right direction with their sales. Lots of companies have data, but it’s noise. It’s too complicated. If you don’t know what data to look at, or what to do with the data you have, then it’s useless. The key is having the right data to accomplish your goals. That’s one of the things we do: help companies gather the data that reveals exactly what’s missing within their organization to drive sales.
Then, we create action plans to address those issues. These plans include very specific steps based on where you need to improve—from adjusting quoting and project-handoff processes to changing messaging.
Because of our knowledge and backgrounds, we’re able to combine data with instinct based on experience to inform decisions.
Q: What will you help tech salespeople do better?
It all comes down to starting off on the right foot and being prepared for whatever comes your way.
Ask better questions
I’ll help them learn to ask questions that are different from what everybody else is asking. I’ll help them lead better discovery and, in turn, create a better value-based proposition that actually solves the customer’s real problem. (Hint: Customer problems don’t have anything to do with products.) Then, I’ll show them how to move things through the sales pipeline faster.
Position themselves as advisors
I’ll help them be better prepared when they show up to a customer site or have that first customer call. Today, salespeople should understand the challenges their customers have before they ever get to the site. That way, you can tell them, “I know what keeps you up at night. Here’s how we solve that problem right now.”
Know when to cut losses
The last one—and it’s a big one—is to help salespeople know when to walk away: to have the ability to differentiate between a good opportunity and a not-so-good opportunity.
Want to talk to Marc? You can reach him here.