They Weren't Hired to Sell

Mark McGraw sat down with Steve Popp. Steve was the very first guest on this podcast. He was a client then. Today he’s part of the Sales Engine team.

The topic: a transformation Steve, Mark, Rich Isaac, and Kelly Ross are all seeing in account after account.

Revenue responsibility is moving. Away from the traditional selling role. Over to customer success, customer service, account management, and even engineering.

The people who were hired to support the customer are now being asked to renew, expand, and sell.

Steve put it plainly: “Everybody who is listening is either touched by this or will be touched by it in the next six to 12 months.”

Why This Is Happening

Two reasons, according to Steve.

First, pressure. Every organization is under pressure to find and grow revenue, and it’s all hands on deck. Anyone who is client facing is now considered part of the go-to-market strategy.

Second, math. The CS side of the house is often two or three times the size of the sales team. Leaders looked at that group and saw what Steve called “an untapped resource. It’s also an expensive resource, so we should probably generate some revenue off of it.”

Mark added a third: trust.

“They know the people well. They know the names of their families.”

That kind of trust makes conversations about expansion, referrals, and new opportunities easier. Not harder.

Why CS Is Uniquely Qualified

Here’s the part leaders get right.

CS teams have more touchpoints than any seller. They understand the client’s business challenges on a daily basis. They’ve built rapport by solving problems, quarter after quarter.

Steve: “You can’t buy that kind of trust and respect as a salesperson.”

Most sellers only see part of the relationship. They get brought in when there’s a problem, not when things are going well. The CS person is in the trenches every day.

Mark hears it constantly from leaders: “Well, they’re already talking to the customer.”

It’s a built-in sales call.

The Problem: They Weren’t Hired for This

Here’s the part leaders get wrong.

These people didn’t raise their hand and ask to be commercially focused. Many of them took the role because it wasn’t sales. Some, as Steve said, were running from it.

Mark calls it head trash. Some CS people break out in a rash the moment the word “sales” lands in the same sentence as their name.

Now they’re being asked to own renewals, expansion, and in some cases a quota.

Steve reached for an old reference and it still fits: “We moved the cheese on you.”

If you haven’t read Who Moved My Cheese?, Mark’s review: the simplest book ever written, a profound message about change, and it takes about eight seconds to get through.

Four Challenges Every Leader Faces

Steve has boiled the transformation down to four buckets. They come up in every conversation he has with a CRO, CEO, or COO working through this.

1. Strategy. Where does the revenue sit? Where does the responsibility and role sit?
2. Operations. Comp plans. Comp structures. Handoffs. Systems that were designed for different jobs and never talked to each other.
3. Talent. Do the people in the seats have the skill set, experience, and mindset to do this?
4. Enablement. Do they have the right tools and resources to succeed?

All four are changing at the same time. Steve’s picture: “You’re literally flying the plane and there’s maintenance happening at every part of the plane.”

Control the Controllables

So where does a CRO or VP of Sales start?

Steve’s first answer: control the controllables.

You can’t fix comp, systems, and org structure in a week. What is in your spectrum of control is the talent sitting in front of you and the skills you can give them.

“If you put a lot of energy into things you can’t control, you’re certainly not going to get the outcomes you’re looking for.”

Will First, Not Skill

This is the center of the episode.

Steve starts every one of these engagements in the same place: mindset.

“It is about will first, not skill. If you don’t have the mindset to want to do this, it doesn’t matter if you learn how to do it.”

That means pulling the elephants into the room. Having the honest conversation about the fact that the job changed and nobody asked them.

It also means accepting an uncomfortable outcome. Some people will say, “I don’t want to do this.”

Steve’s view: you have to be comfortable with that. You may lose talent to another part of the organization. You may lose talent out of the organization. “We chose to move the cheese on them, and they have the right to make a decision on it.”

Mark’s version: always work on the right end of the problem. You can teach technique all day. If the non-supportive beliefs are still there, they won’t use it.

What Happened in the Room

Steve shared a story from 48 hours before recording.

An engineering team. Eight people. Newly asked to follow up on inbound leads and have commercial conversations.

The same fears showed up that show up on every team Steve has worked with:

How do I do this? I can’t believe salespeople go through this.

I wouldn’t want a random phone call, so I don’t want to place one.

What do I say? What happens if they ask a question I don’t know?

Steve spent a full hour on mindset before touching anything else. He asked for a thumbs up from every person in the room before moving forward. He didn’t move until he got it.

Then he gave them the reframe:

“These folks need to prove to you that they’re worth your time. It’s not the opposite way.”

Every question you ask is you deciding whether they’re a fit for you, as much as them deciding whether you’re a fit for them. If they’re not interested, that’s fine. Call them back in a quarter or two.

Steve said the pressure left the room “like air came out of a balloon.” After that, it was lean in, lean in, lean in.

The Service Mindset

Mark shared a parallel situation: a CS manager tasked with reviving dormant accounts that hadn’t bought in years.

Same reframe. Your job isn’t to call and sell. Your job is to call and qualify.

Mark’s mindset for these calls: “I’m calling to see if they have problems that I have medicine for. If they don’t, I’m not going to force the medicine on them.”

There are people inside your existing accounts with pain your products can fix. Another department. Another issue.

Mark: “It’s a disservice not to reach out to them.”

When you frame it as service instead of sales, CS people cross the threshold.

The Action You Should Take This Week

If you lead a team going through this, or one that’s about to:

Have the mindset conversation first. Before the training, before the comp plan, before the new CRM fields.

Name what changed. Acknowledge nobody asked them. Ask for the thumbs up.

Then give them the reframe. The customer has to qualify to them, too.

Episode 69 Takeaway

Steve’s final word: “This is tough. This is two, three year initiatives to try and get these things right. It takes time, it takes energy, and it takes a village.”

And if you’re stuck: “Focus on mindset first. Will first, then focus on skills.”

Every client Steve talks to is at a different stage of this. There is no one-size-fits-all.

What’s Next?

If your CS, account management, or technical team is being asked to generate revenue and you’re not sure where to start, message me. Our team has worked across all four buckets: strategy, operations, talent, and enablement. Even if it’s a brainstorm, don’t go at it alone.

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