SalesTechStar Interview With Krischel Crawley, Vice President of Sales At Nasuni

As a sales professional, it is important to be an expert in your craft and have a strong network opines Krischel Crawley in this SalesTechStar interview. Catch the complete story where she shares her thoughts on what sales technologies every sales team should use while talking about some of her best performing sales tactics.

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Can you tell us a little about yourself? How has your journey in technology sales been so far? What are some of the top challenges that you feel any Sales professional (like you!) can easily overcome with experience and with time in the industry?

I am truly fortunate to have stumbled upon a career in technology many years ago. I have a degree in speech pathology, however I figured out quickly that career was not the right fit for me. I entered sales in the 1990s in the telecommunications arena and moved to the Bay Area during the dot-com boom. The dynamics of IT are constantly changing. I love what I do – I believe we are truly changing the world we live in.

Like any career, there are challenges, but with the right focus and persistence, they can easily be overcome. As a sales professional, it is important to be an expert in your craft and have a strong network. Young professionals often overlook the importance of building relationships – understanding that helping others and building networks is instrumental to success. I have been able to help others advance and they have done the same for me, in both growing my business and personal development. I was blessed to have a strong mentor who not only took the time to coach me, but also advocated for me as well.

What according to you have been some of the biggest changes in how B2B/Technology Sales teams approach Sales today vs a few years ago when the martech/salestech influence wasn’t that strong?  

The biggest challenge is that today, thanks to the internet, etc., people can do a ton of research on their own versus relying on sales teams to help them understand how technologies and solutions align to their needs. Research sometimes causes people to make incorrect assumptions. It is up to the salespeople to demonstrate value, educate the customers, and provide business justification on their technology or solution.

It would be great if you can list/talk about some of your best-performing campaigns and share some of the top tips that helped make those campaigns a success.

My preference with campaigns is to focus on executive relationship building and networking. Typically incorporating a C-level host or thought leader, along with, strategic alliance and channel partners. We have hosted executive roundtables, but also, executive networking events including spouse/guest to something fun or unique such as an opportunity to meet Top Chefs!

What are some of the biggest skills you feel are missing in today’s technology sales person?

The most successful salespeople don’t take shortcuts. I am a bit old school. There are always little steps that you can and should do on behalf of your customer to demonstrate you and your company’s value.  At the end of the day, people still buy from people and your willingness to go the extra mile differentiates you from the rest of the pack.

How would you advise organizations to address the above?

Implementing processes to ensure that these steps are not missed. Inspection and coaching, constantly reinforcing the WHY and what’s in it for the customer.

Social selling is key for success today. Tools such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, and Reachable have redefined and simplified the selling process. I firmly believe leveraging your network is key to opening doors and accelerated sales success and these tools enable you to do this.

How do you eventually see salestech change how Tech teams sell to their prospects?

Social selling tools are changing the sales process. Social selling allows salespeople to target specific prospects and establish rapport with their networks – including their partner ecosystem.

Tag (mention/write about) the one person in the industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read!

As a thought leader in cloud and digital transformation roles, as well as the partner community at Microsoft, I’d love to hear more from Gavriella Schuster on this topic.

What is your favorite Sales/SalesTech quote?

My absolute favorite quote is the definition of “Swagger” – I believe the best sales reps have “Swagger”:  Swagger is a combination of motivation and self-belief, resulting in a state of mind where you truly believe you can achieve anything you put your mind to.  When you have swagger, you have an innate confidence to go after your goals – and you usually achieve them. You are energetic, focused and highly confident – and expect things to go your way. You feel like you’re on top of the world, and almost forget any time in your life when you’ve felt anything but amazing.

Tell us about some of the top sales/salestech/other events that you’ll be participating in virtually (as a speaker or guest!) in 2020.

Unfortunately, in the wake of Corona Virus, most of our events have been cancelled or postponed.  However, here are the events still on the calendar:

• AWS Global Summit
• Microsoft Ignite
• AWS Re:invent
• AEC Fall Conference

Which Sales Books would you advise every technology salesperson keeps on their bookshelf?

“Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss & Tahl Raz. Insightful and pragmatic tips on the art of negotiating. I gave these books to my team and received tremendous feedback from both sales reps and engineers on the immediate impact it made in their business.