How to Close 2.5x More Deals Through Connected Selling with Kris Hartvigsen

When it comes to closing deals, collaboration is gold. Gathering an army of individuals with different areas of expertise creates a more thorough and effective sales process.

Joining Diego Pineda, Dooly’s Community and Content Marketing Manager, is Dooly’s CEO & Co-Founder, Kris Hartvigsen. Kris discusses the key benefits of connected selling and outlines how it could close you 2.5x more deals. Kris also explains why ego-driven sales are often ineffective and dissects the mindset needed to be a great sales leader in 2022.

Keep reading for top takeaways or press ‘play’ below for the full episode:

Or watch the video here:

Why is connected selling important?

Connected selling combines the attributes of different people within the company with various areas of expertise to enhance the selling experience. This, in turn, helps you close more deals, faster.

When Kris started collaborating with colleagues for the sales process, it:

• Upgraded the quality of his conversations
• Improved the accuracy of his information
• Increased the size and quantity of deals closed

Marketers, sales managers, and solutions engineers, just to name a few, can all help to accelerate the sales process by supporting your efforts and adding new angles of attack.

But how?

In the connected world we live in, Kris believes it’s crucial to make the most of the collaboration opportunities you have to create an improved sales experience and boost results.

Connected selling provides your prospect with more evidence that they should buy. It helps build a comprehensive story for them and makes them understand they’re not just buying from a single sales rep – the whole company has their back and can support them through the buying decision and beyond.

Does connected selling really give you 2.5x chance of closing deals?

Kris has seen this in action at Dooly. He says that the more relevant people involved in the deal, the more likely the sale is to close.

This figure comes from Gong.io and Kris says it certainly sounds accurate from what he’s seen at Dooly.

What are the risks of going solo?

Going solo or what Kris refers to as ‘ego-driven selling,’ is a method you want to avoid. As an individual, resources, information, and knowledge are relatively limited.

It’s pretty easy to get lazy while ‘ego-driven selling’. You can save old case studies and dated content to your desktop to pull out later, but that stuff just won’t resonate with your buyer.

Although you may think your knowledge and resources are up-to-date, other people within your team may be more clued up than you are. Data ages and a fresh pair of eyes gives you an advantage and a different perspective.

Kris describes the solo sales process as like being a tennis player at a match, but none of your coaches are in the stands. It’s important to have knowledgeable people to support you.

What mindset should sales leaders adopt when practicing connected selling?

The tennis analogy is a good one to think about when it comes to mindset. Kris believes that when solo, the sales leader is trying to play all positions on the sports field. Spinning so many plates can often confuse matters and lead to unsatisfactory results.

Kris believes that adopting a coach’s mindset is the way to go.

This time, he uses a helpful baseball analogy…

If the coach just predicts the outcome of the game, that alone isn’t very useful. But if they steer the ship and guide the sales process from start to finish, all with the support of experts from other areas, the process becomes solid, and results should improve.

Results aren’t just predicted. The team is actively striving after them. 

The best ways to involve your team

Kris suggests collaborating with your team regularly because if you get to know each other well, pitching new ideas will seem a lot easier.

Kris says you want the collaborative sales pitch to feel like an acapella band harmonizing. That initial awkwardness will eventually fade, and the process will be much more comfortable for all involved.

It’s also vital to speak to your team and make sure roles are delegated properly, so everybody is clear on the part they play.

Are there any tools that can help?

Kris suggests apps that promote collaboration, such as Microsoft Teams and Slack, as well as revenue intelligence platforms such as Gong.io. He also points to sales enablement platform Lessonly by Seismic.

How Dooly embraced connected selling

Kris says that Dooly’s aim is to be able to let the sales team take the ball and run with it. He says that creating “a system of relay” will make sure everybody knows what they are doing.

This streamlines the sales process for the benefit of both the sellers and the buyers.

What are Kris’ final tips?

Kris says: “If you’re not selling in a connected way, you either have a very transactional model or you’re probably leaving money on the table.”

He claims that the goal of any salesperson should be to optimize their paycheck, and the best way to do so is to stop working alone and “bring an army to the fight.”

Simplifying the sales process with connected selling is a great way to ease the burden on sales teams, provide a backed pitch and allow for a better buying experience.

Start trying Kris’ approach today. Follow him on LinkedIn for more great advice.

Do you want to get more people involved in your deals? With Dooly for Slack – you can win more deals, together.

Dooly for Slack makes it easy to get key stakeholders involved in your deals, get answers to questions when you need it most, and keep people informed of deals as they go. Curious? Find out more here.