A Commitment to Technology Innovation | Alex Lyhovez, Co-Founder & VP at SPS
James welcomed Alex Lyhovez, Co-Founder and VP at SPS, to a recent episode of Tech Salescraft. Unpacking his wealth of start-up expertise and keen ability to remain competitive, Alex offers us an honest appraisal of the current state of the sales world. Remaining practical and self-empowered, James and Alex unpack how those excelling during current turbulence are able to do so.
“My USP to the market, my unique sales pitch, is that I engage with the practical side of sales, not the theoretical. Because sales is a practical pursuit.”
Whilst there is a wealth of resources out there to guide us through the sales process, as Alex reminds us, they aren’t tailored to nor understanding of your individual business circumstances. You can build your foundational knowledge using these generic guides, but make sure you devise strategies that are able to look beyond this. For a start-up, the sales cycle will often be far less structured than is typically advised; this means the type of person you need to hire to manage this process if very different to what you’d find in a more established company. Don’t inflict standardised processes onto your firm; you are selling a unique product to a unique marketplace section- this isn’t theory, it’s a practical, personal pursuit.
“There are times in an interview where I will tell the person “you’re not a top performing salesperson”. And then I won’t say anything for ten seconds. I’ll allow for a loud silence. I want to see how they respond to rejection because sales is all about rejection.”
We’re reminded throughout various episodes of Tech Salescraft that improvisation and active responses to adversity are key in sales. Alex has implemented revealing questions into his interview process to expose such attributes, inviting one of two responses. When telling someone they don’t strike you as a top performer, Alex states that they will either not respond, almost accepting the claim; or they will deliver an improvised pitch, selling their strongest attributes and success. You want the latter on your team. You want the person that is able to articulate the why convincingly in the face of rejection. Whilst the question may appear provocative, for Alex it is key to building a world-class sales team.
Our key takeaways: think practically; expose high-performance traits; don’t inflict generic practices on your business. Alex takes a zealous approach to excellence, making this episode a masterclass in creating truly exceptional sales processes and teams.