Data is only as useful as the insights that are gleaned from it — and that is especially true for sales.
Casey Diehl, account director at 3Play Media, said that generating those insights is a critical part of his skill set.
“Synthesis of large tracts of information into actionable bite-sized insights tends to be my superpower, as I believe it is for many of the best enterprise sellers,” Diehl said. “Knowledge is power and builds a ton of trust — a non-negotiable in all sales.”
Diehl’s role requires him to not only produce valuable insights from the data around him, but also to use it to paint the big picture for clients.
“As an enterprise rep at 3Play Media, I connect the dots daily for huge global media and entertainment companies,” Diehl said. “This requires a deep understanding of the market overall, the specific companies I’m responsible for, and tying it all back to 3Play’s ever-evolving value prop we deliver through our products.”
Built In spoke with Diehl about the role that data and knowledge plays in successful sales cycles.
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Which skills do you leverage most often in your day-to-day work?
As an enterprise rep at 3Play Media, I connect the dots daily for huge global media and entertainment companies. This requires a deep understanding of the market overall, the specific companies I’m responsible for and tying it all back to 3Play’s ever-evolving value prop we deliver through our products.
Synthesis of large tracts of information into actionable bite-sized insights tends to be my superpower, as I believe it is for many of the best enterprise sellers. Knowledge is power and builds a ton of trust — a non-negotiable in all sales.
I frequently connect internally with most functional areas of 3Play’s business, including dev, product, marketing and operations. Being able to coordinate these resources quickly and effectively on complex multi-stakeholder deals helps keep and accelerate momentum.
Ruthless prioritization of time ends up being another very key skill. We can’t do everything, so I have to constantly assess what is providing me the best personal ROI and go from there in stack ranking my days.
How have these skills enabled you to heighten your impact on the company or grow your career?
These skills allow me to build trust with prospective clients and deepen it with existing ones. Gaining extensive knowledge in your industry or vertical, as well as your own products, brings both external and internal credibility benefits. Being close with all departments within the company provides outsized returns from my experience, as people are more likely to jump in and help when you need something. By focusing my time on the right things, I have been able to develop a fairly solid success rate within large enterprise deals. I wouldn’t say I’ve figured it all out by any means, but these areas have been particularly impactful on a successful career to date.
What are some resources or sources of inspiration you’d recommend for reps eager to refine their sales skills? Are there resources your company has provided to support this growth?
I may be an outlier here, as I am not a subscriber to any specific selling frameworks, books, etc. What I do recommend is following any key individuals within your industry or vertical on LinkedIn to track closely what people are focused on and talking about. Sales is about credibility and value creation at every turn, so if I can know as much about a client or prospect’s world as possible before I speak with them, my chances of success amplify substantially.
As a final source of inspiration and opportunity, I’m now leaning much harder into generative AI to help me parse huge amounts of information, develop specific points of view and communicate these in outreach. One percent better every day.
