Disrupting the Sales Approach for Tech Professionals With Remy Piazza

Disruption Interruption podcast host and veteran communications disruptor KJ Helms talks about game-changing tech sales strategies for high-growth companies with Remy Piazza.

In the hypercompetitive world of startups and technology, companies are often early adopters of new, disruptive tactics. With high valuations, lofty missions, and VCs and private equity investors pushing for explosive growth, revenue leaders such as Remy Piazza come in to challenge the status quo and hit nearly impossible revenue growth goals.(1) For tech sales reps, 65% of buyers reach out once they’ve already made a purchasing decision, and 57% want to forgo talking to a sales rep at all. It’s clear the modern tech buyer demands a more thoughtful approach.

Karla Jo Helms, the host of the Disruption/Interruption podcast, interviews Remy Piazza on the secret ingredients of high-performing sales teams, competitive market penetration, and scalable revenue operations. For tech professionals, buyers have completely flipped the traditional sales script on its head, leaving some companies in the dust and offering a huge upside to the businesses that pivot quickly.

“What is the challenge for sales teams today when you have such an educated consumer? How do you disrupt the traditional selling process for the sales professional to really become the expert?” asks Helms.

Piazza explains how he achieves such high-performance results in a disruptive sales process — meeting the new, educated buyers exactly where they are and forgoing old sales journeys.

Piazza says, “We see a lot of folks coming to us when they’ve done just a tremendous amount of research, they have a pretty good handle on their problem, and they understand who the players are in the industry and who they should be talking to. Call that…65–70% of the way through the buyer journey!”

Piazza elaborates:

• The main ingredient for disruption? Speed. Revenue leaders and board members care about fast results and explosive growth.
• The status quo of tech sales is the buyer-seller relationship. Historically, buyers had to contact multiple salespeople at multiple companies at the beginning of their buying journey, allowing the sales rep to guide their purchasing path. Now, 65% of them involve sales reps after they’ve made a decision.
• Indeed, today’s buyers contact sales reps toward the tail end of their buying journey — after they’ve completed their own research, are confident about the main players, and already know what problems they need to solve.
• Consultative selling is the new evolution of tech sales. Building relationships with buyers, showing off business acumen, and articulating a deep understanding of their problems is the new way to forge a collaborative tech purchase.

The new generation of consumers needs a modernized process. “The new tech buyer asks, ‘Why can’t this be like buying another iPhone for me? Why does it have to be so cumbersome, and why do we have to meet face-to-face 25 times before I can purchase?’” explains Piazza.

Research shows that 87% of consumers want to self-serve their buying journey, and disruptors such as Remy Piazza are making sure companies embrace this new sales cycle, stop clinging to outdated processes, and drive remarkable revenue results in the process.(2)

Disruption Interruption is the podcast where you’ll hear from today’s biggest Industry Disruptors. Learn what motivated them to bring about change and how they overcome opposition to adoption.

Quote of the show:

10:18 “In my experience, we see a lot of folks coming to us when they have done a tremendous amount of research, they have a pretty good handle on their problem and they do understand who the players are in the industry and who they should be talking to. That’s called about 65% -70% of the way, right! That’s the biggest change I’ve ever seen, whereas before, buyers would be like, we think we have a problem, were not sure who we need to speak to. It’s different, they are much more educated now than they ever have been.”

About Remy Piazza:

Remy Piazza is the Chief Revenue Officer at Cosaic, the leading workflow solutions provider. A global sales leader, Piazza has spent 20 years leading technology companies to triple-digit revenue growth, disrupting modern tech sales in the process. After graduating from McMaster University with a degree in labor relations, Piazza began his career in the telecommunications industry in the early ’90s. With multiple executive-level sales leadership positions, Piazza made a name for himself as a high-growth disruptor. This change-agent identity began at a young age in an entrepreneurial, hard-working family, and a young Piazza was constantly pushing the envelope with high energy and innovation. See https://www.linkedin.com/in/remypiazza/.

Sources:

1. Aussant, Philippe; “Top 35+ customer experience statistics to know in 2022”; 3 April 2022; Emplifi; emplifi.io/resources/blog/customer-experience-statistics
2. Resource; “B2B Buying Disconnect: Forecasting Radical Changes in Tech Buying Behavior”; 2021; Trust Radius; trustradius.com/wp-content/uploads/b2b-buying-disconnect-2021.pdf

And lastly, if you’re a disruptor…

I would like to chat with Karla Jo about maximizing my Disruptive Thought Leadership — contact KJ Helms.

I’d like to learn about the ROI of Anti-PR — download this ROI eBook.

I would like to apply to be a guest on Disruption Interruption.