1928 – Transform Your Sales Performance with Leenna Jayachaandran

Josh (00:00:05) - Hey there, thoughtful listener. Are you looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers and clients? Well, I've had private conversations with over 2000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video you can watch with no opt in required, where I'll share the exact steps necessary to be 100% inbound in your industry over the next 6 to 8 months, with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for over 15 years, and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to up my influence. Com and watch my free class on how to create endless high ticket sales appointments. Also, don't forget the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for great guests. Go to up my influence. Com and click on podcast. I'd love to have you. With us. Right now it's Leenna Jayachaandran. Leenna, You are the CEO and founder of TransDefy. You are on the web at Transdefy.com. Leenna , thank you so much for joining us.

*Leenna * (00:01:20) - My pleasure. Wonderful. Joining you as well, Josh. I love the energy you bring in.

Josh (00:01:25) - Well. Thank you. Tell me what TransDefy is.

*Leenna * (00:01:29) - Brilliant. And I think that's the reason I kept the name. So that the question comes in because it's not a very common name. so trans is transition and defy is challenging your transition. And that's why the S is lightning is because one of the most, you know, difficult part for anybody is to challenge yourself when you're transitioning. One one. I mean, one most important thing is change is such a difficult part. And when you're transitioning from one stage to the other and there's no option, right? We have to keep moving ahead and you've got to keep challenging yourself to get better. So that's how I, coined this name because, I'm a sales performance. I'm, you know, I'm a sales coach, sales consultant. I'm in the field of sales. Such an evolving, and a dynamic, environment. And, you have to challenge yourself to get better because the world around you is changing so that that's that's the background of it.

Josh (00:02:23) - Well, you do a lot of work in with sales teams. Can you tell me a bit about that work, what that looks like?

*Leenna * (00:02:30) - Yeah, I'm predominantly focused on the B2B complex sales and myself have been in sales for almost 30 years as sales practitioner are very much focused on the signs of selling, which means that what I help sales professionals across all, all verticals and all hierarchies is to look at selling, in, in a more logical sense, you know, the signs of selling more than the art of selling the art is more towards the tactics, the engagement, the relationship and communication skills. And how do you navigate, you know, through a conversation. But the signs of selling is how well are you prepared before you go in to connect with your customers? How much do you know your customers? So I work towards the I mean, I my focus is more on the signs of selling, really helping them think I mean have a mindset change into understanding the dynamics of your customers and how, you know, how complicated it has become for your buyers or your clients to make decisions today.

*Leenna * (00:03:31) - And how what can I do to really help them navigate through that process rather than. You know, completely focused inwards, as, you know, my product, my services, my features, my benefits, you know, really changing that mindset. So that's where I play a role and that's where I'm extremely passionate about. yeah.

Josh (00:03:51) - Yeah. What are thinking about the activity of and it seems like you do a lot of work in B2B as well, which I absolutely love. what do you see working in B2B and what do you see that's outdated? Or you wish that the world would stop doing because it's just no longer effective?

*Leenna * (00:04:10) - Absolutely. So what is not working is your old methods of showing up and sharing information that's not working at all, because that's exactly what you buyers also saying, you know, they're saying, I know more information then you're going to come and give me because the data explosion is so much on the digital platform that there is, you know, information overload, in fact. So the buyers, the customers are saying that help me understand, how do I untangle from that information? You know, there's so much information, what is good for me.

*Leenna * (00:04:43) - And and if your old methods of going back there and saying how great your products and services are, how, how, how much are you, a differentiator is really not working with your clients. They they're just kind of not wanting to engage with the salespeople. right. So what is what is typically happening is the entire journey of identifying the requirement towards coming to, I mean, to really, forming up the solution is already done by your customers, by your clients, and then they're reaching out to you, to the salespeople. So that's changing from a buyer's perspective. Wow. so, yeah, so that that's the shift which we are seeing. Hence, it's even more tougher for salespeople to, really bridge that gap because selling is not catching up as much as buying is moving forward. Yeah.

Josh (00:05:34) - So what should we be focused on then? Yeah.

*Leenna * (00:05:38) - So, purely to really understand your customer's environment, when I say customer's environment, what's happening at your customer's customer side, how are they industry changing? What are the trends they are adapting? what are the strategies which are changing? I mean, literally understanding the change your customers are going through or your clients are going through, and that that takes a lot of effort to do research, right.

*Leenna * (00:06:02) - You really need to go out there and be so closely aligned with the with with your, you know, customer environment that you are able to drive perspective in your conversation. So rather than saying how good your product to services are, helping them see, really what could work for them, how differently can they think? How different are their competitors reacting rather than be focusing on our competitors, you know, really have a driving perspective in the conversation. Is is it's is is a game changer because then your customers are listening to you.

Josh (00:06:37) - Yeah. I think, didn't you even mention, the, the concept or the book, the challenger sale, is that what you mentioned or. Yeah. So that's kind of sounds like what you're talking right, where we just really want to explain and and help the industry or help our customers certainly come to understandings about listen, this is just the way that it is. And that becomes the thing that we become a little emphatic on. And then where we present that in a way where our solution just seems kind of like an inevitability, as opposed to us having to sell on features and benefits.

*Leenna * (00:07:14) - Absolutely, absolutely. So there are multiple tools and frameworks out there, just like for example, challenger sales is a brilliant one. Then there are human concepts, and there are different concepts that really help you understand that. You know, all of them speak typically almost a similar language by saying that the mindset shift on really having insights about your customer environment and expertise about your own business and environment, these two are important, you know, the the shift towards thinking that whenever I'm having a conversation with my customer, what am I actually adding value? Or I would say going beyond adding value is creating value in their business, you know, so adding value everybody is doing how are you creating value into their business? How are you helping them see an opportunity they probably would not have even thought about? How are you helping them solve a problem? Probably they wouldn't have thought about, you know, how are you really helping them identify a, you know, certain market challenges which they probably would not have looked into.

*Leenna * (00:08:18) - So. So this is what your customers are expecting that help me understand what I don't know. Don't tell me what I know. You know, typically this is the language which you're which the customers are, which which the customers are actually coming back because there's a lot of statistics, a lot of research, which some of these great organizations. To write like the CSO insights and the sales mastery and the challenges sales. They do this research, and this is dominantly what's coming, out of those research from the buyers. And one very important thing which is coming up is. Your customers are saying, listen to me. You know, before you tell me. Yes. You know, so listening has become even more important because, imagine in a day how many salespeople or how many vendors or how many suppliers your buyers are meeting, and if everybody is talking to them, they're like, they're not interested to have a conversation. So yeah. So this is the shift. And we're seeing actually in the selling and the buying world.

Josh (00:09:17) - Well, and I think that this leads over to, attraction. Right. Or client attraction or lead generation, you know, that that sort of activity is again, just being of service. But how do we do that in a way where we don't get lost in a sea of information and and content out there? What would you recommend? I mean, you know, again, if we're thinking about very, very, very top of the funnel or very, you know, awareness, that sort of thing.

*Leenna * (00:09:47) - So I would say meet your customers where they are. Because in B2B, for example, if you look at B2B, platforms like LinkedIn, are your go to. Right, because that's where most of your customers would be there. In fact, after the Covid, scenario, we are seeing functions. I mean, those those, personas also coming on the platform, like LinkedIn, like the procurement, the operations, the, you know, the different functions which typically wouldn't be there on those platform earlier.

*Leenna * (00:10:18) - So they are also coming up on those platforms. So meeting your customers where they are, meeting your personas, where they are, when it is coming, when it is to do with B2B could be LinkedIn and such platforms. but also when it comes to B to C, probably Instagram, Facebook, you know, those platforms where you're typically your customers would be and I would say that, you know, when you have to fill up the top of the funnel, it's so much to do with personalization. It's so much to do with you know, really connecting with those, you know, those personas on the KPIs. They are actually, you know, supposed to be fulfilling, for example, if it's a finance, person and if it's a CFO, then you actually writing those messages in a way that connects to their KPI, to their challenges, to their, you know, fulfillment of requirement within the organization. But when it comes to operations, it could be something else. So really personalizing that information and connecting to what they would like to take away from that would be your top of the funnel approach.

*Leenna * (00:11:18) - One of the approaches, I'm very laser focused. and I would say invest in technology. Now use AI to your benefit, take away those mundane jobs of really manually working on stuff and really automate because there are so many tools out there which can help you predict your customer's behavior. You know, all of those invest in technology because that really is a game changer.

Josh (00:11:42) - Yeah. Leenna , one thing I know that you talk about in particular is perspective. Can you tell me a little bit about why that's so important for us? As you know, for consultants, coaches, if we're managing a sales team, if we're involved in the sales for our organization. why is it critical that that we focus on perspective.

*Leenna * (00:12:04) - The prospect of the definition of prospective. I could look at it from a sales or a buying organization perspective. You know, from their side is to do with insights. It's a mindset, right? It's about insights about your customer and environment and expertise of your own business. So when I have a conversation with my, with my client, and when I say client, I'm talking about different individuals in that organization.

*Leenna * (00:12:32) - if I'm able to therefore ways of driving perspective typically, you know, it could be to do with helping them see an opportunity which they have not seen. So having that conversation which helps them create a new opportunity, is a value addition to to their business, you know, value addition to the engagement. Now they want to listen to you. so perspective is a game changer because you're adding value and creating value along with your clients. You're co-creating something. And this helps you move from just a vendor or a transaction, partner who trusted co-creator or a trusted advisor so that that's extremely important to build your relationship, build your credibility. have customers stay along with you in the journey. Because B2B, B2B selling environment is a long sales cycle. It's extremely complex, right? So every time you're driving prospective in your conversation, it really helps you build that relationship with your customer. Because the fundamentals of sales have not changed over the last hundred years, right? People buy from people whom they trust, believe, and want to be a part of.

*Leenna * (00:13:38) - So, so perspective really helps you build that trust, you know, and, and drives you to think more customer centric, more customer focused. That's what your customer perceives to be when you drive perspective.

Josh (00:13:53) - Your website is trans defy. Com to a friend that's been listening. share just a bit about, what it looks like to work with you and how that typically starts.

*Leenna * (00:14:06) - So we are, clearly a sales performance improvement organization. And we have three verticals we divide that, into, we work on three, three verticals, very cool verticals, which is assessment, coaching and talent. So all three of them are so much correlated. So when we say assessment is like typically assessing your sales team's competencies, which is such an important factor, it's like a health check. You know, it's really understanding that. Does your salespeople have the competencies to meet your customer expectation and the ever evolving, you know, market scenario we have today. So the skills of yesterday will not really help you for the skills of today.

*Leenna * (00:14:48) - Right? So constantly checking your, sales team's competencies, that is one vertical. And that leads to a very targeted approach to coaching and enablement. So when I know what are the gaps or when I know what are the areas which they're really doing, well, I capitalize on that to assessment. And if I know those gaps, which because of which they are not able to do well, then I as a client would invest. When I say I am talking from a client's perspective, that's when, that's when coaching and, enablement comes in play. That's our second vertical. so we kind of really have that discussion with the client, with our clients understanding what are the gaps, and then have very targeted coaching approach. And then the third vertical is talent. Talent is more to do with talent hiring. So really understanding what kind of talent fits your organization. So all three of them actually ties in to become a robust organization for us. So we are we we talk about sales performance improvement, which means that if all of these three are critically working together, then your bottom line improvement, your customer retention, it impacts all of those factors.

*Leenna * (00:15:54) - So that's typically what runs DeFi. is and and purely like I said in the beginning, we focus on the signs of selling more than the art of selling. Of course, the art is important, but in today's world, science really supersedes or precedes the art part. So yeah, and balancing both of them actually.

Josh (00:16:13) - Yeah. Leenna , you've worked with Transdefv, has worked with the biggest of the big on the planet, IBM. Microsoft can in 3 a.m. or a 3 a.m. SAP, Citibank, KPMG, Philips, Bayer, GE, Siemens. so, who should be reaching out? and again, what would you recommend their next step be? particularly if they go to your website trans defy com.

*Leenna * (00:16:42) - So, the next steps could be that anybody who was looking to, you know, upskill. That's one. The point which I always drive to our clients is to not act when things are going wrong. You know, so it's like a health check, right? You don't go to a doctor only when you are or you do your health, or your health check when something is not right or something is not going well with you.

*Leenna * (00:17:07) - You do that yearly so that health check of your sales organization is important. So, I would say that any organization who really wants to reevaluate or really look into, developing, enabling their sales teams, is where they would come, you know, get in touch with me. you know, you assess currently where you are, where would you want to go? What are the what are the areas they need to. We need to work together to really reach that. you know, that goal is where they would, you know, connect with me. And I would love to have a conversation with them on that. So the next steps would be that, you know, look at your sales organization, see what are your challenges, what are the gaps you would like to address. Or if you do not know, what are the gaps I need to address? And I don't think there are any gaps, we could still do an assessment to see that. Are we on track? Are there things we need to do if if not, great.

*Leenna * (00:18:00) - Move on. You know, so there's no force fit. And everything is very much customized, right? So it's not like a one size fits all. we're not a training organization. We are purely a performance improvement organization. Which means that, you know, we only, we work on those gaps, which needs to be addressed. So. Yeah, if that makes sense,

Josh (00:18:23) - Yeah. Again, trans defi.com. giant or you pronounce it. Was it giant J giant. Yes, it was giant.

Speaker 3 (00:18:34) - Yeah, yeah.

Josh (00:18:36) - Leenna Jayachaandran and again CEO and founder of Trans Defy your website Trans defy.com. To a friend that's listening, just click around in your podcast app. We have a direct link Leenna , to your website. Leenna , thank you so much for joining us.

*Leenna * (00:18:50) - Thank you so much. Josh. Wonderful. Wonderful talking to you. Thank you.

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