SalesTechStar Interview with Patrick Guidi, Sales Director UK, US & Northern Europe at Mapp Digital

With fast moving sales and marketing trends and technologies, it is crucial for marketing and sales leaders to stay on top of new innovations and processes to ensure they are always a step ahead, Patrick Guidi, Sales Director UK, US & Northern Europe at Mapp Digital has a few tips:

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Hi Patrick, we’d love to hear about your journey through the years…tell us more about your role at Mapp Digital and how it evolved during the global pandemic through 2020-2021?

I’ve been very lucky to work for Mapp for the last 14 years, in fact it feels like a lifetime ago that I first joined as so much has changed since then, including various buyouts and investments. We now have a fantastic enterprise level technology platform, which has been because of all of the input we’ve had from these various stakeholders throughout the journey.

I’ve also been lucky to be able to work with and learn from a lot of different sales directors over the years. It’s given me a huge amount of insights into what works, as well as what doesn’t. So over time I’ve taken the best bits from all those relationships and experiences and used them to mould my own approach as well as my leadership style with the rest of the team.

Like everyone, Mapp had to move really fast at the start of the pandemic, to make changes to our sales and marketing efforts and to ensure that they were still relevant for our audiences. As a Sales Team, we also had to evolve quite quickly as we have a relatively young team who were used to the day-to-day contact of being in an office and sharing ideas in person. It’s actually been a really positive change for us as now we have digitally transformed to a truly omnichannel team, and at a quicker rate than we ever thought possible.

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What are some core sales strategies and processes that you have always relied on to drive sales ROI?

The most basic principle I apply to my role is to act fast.  First to the post has a better chance of winning the race so always react quickly to any sales requests or questions you may be asked.

Also, always keep one ear to the ground. It’s important to be on top of what’s going on in the market, with competitors and industry trends. It’s constantly changing and evolving so we need to be super agile to stay ahead of the curve.

One strategy which may seem a bit controversial is to act as trusted advisor. Even in an ideal world we can’t win every single pitch, so when we know that Mapp are not the best option, be prepared to recommend alternatives. This is happening less and less these days as the space that Mapp is in allows us to be a great partner for so many businesses that want to scale quickly with enterprise level technology but still get lots of support.

Finally, always be available. This applies both internally and externally. For my sales team, I want to make sure we are all there for each other, to bounce ideas around, ask questions (no question is silly), and to create a positive culture. Externally, it’s important to always be available for prospects as well as customers to make sure that they feel comfortable asking questions and get the support they need. Plus, it always pays to stay close to the opportunities even after they’ve onboarded.

Can you share a few highlights from leading regional sales at Mapp digital and what it takes for sales leaders today to keep sales reps and sales teams on the same page?

To me, it’s crucial to not only lead by example but to also be prepared to get your hands dirty. Never ask your team to do something that you’re not prepared to do yourself.

It’s also really important to be a sounding board.  As I said before, I try to make myself always available to the team to bat ideas around and to make conversations a safe place, so they are not afraid to ask questions. This means that team members don’t feel isolated and helps to keep internal as well as industry knowledge at the top of our game. No man or woman should be left behind.

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Can you share about the top sales tech that you’ve often relied on (and why) in recent times?

We’re a big advocate of videos and have recently started creating more of these. Creating personalised videos with a platform like Vidyard allows us to bridge the gap while we’re still unable to meet prospects and clients in person. We also use some of the features on LinkedIn like the voice memos to communicate with people in an alternative way. As Mapp is an omnichannel platform, we like to be omnichannel with our sales efforts!

We also use Salesloft to create personalised one-to-one communications. It allows us to scale quickly, share things internally, get a feeling for what’s working, as well as what’s not and provides trackability across everything. Insights are at the heart of everything we do at Mapp.

A few thoughts on what you feel today’s sales and marketing leaders need to do differently?

Believe in what you’re selling, and if you don’t believe in it then don’t be afraid to get involved with your product teams and make improvements. The Sales Team is the one that’s on the ground listening to feedback from prospects, so they often have a better grasp of what product features might be missing or could be enhanced to make it a better product for current and future customers.

As well as being able to move very fast, we also need to be aware of additional time boundaries now that most people are working from home. The traditional working hours are now a thing of the past so I find it really helps to be available at what might be seen as unconventional times and adapt to these new working patterns.

Finally, don’t be afraid to be omnichannel with your communications. I have many prospects and customers who I use Whatsapp messages as our main communication method with. I’ve found that it not only breaks down the boundaries but also speeds up the process. It’s vital to work out what channel is best for each of your customers and communicate to them in a way that suits them.

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