July 3, 2015

From Million-Dollar Founder to Junior Sales Intern: A Journey of Sales Mastery

Here's an interview Steli did with Flavio Rump, who completed a hustle internship at Close a few weeks ago. Flavio is a very successful founder, sold a startup for millions, and helped a series of startups with growth and marketing. Why does such a guy step into the junior SDR (sales development rep) role, and what were some of his favorite moments?

A couple of months he joined us at a conference where Steli spoke and got excited about the idea of doing an internship at Close to learn how to do sales.

A couple of days later, he's with us in the office on his first official day as a Close team member. Steli gives him a quick training session, and Flavio starts doing sales qualifying calls.

A Bad Surprise

And he SUCKS. Flavio is just evil. We're all surprised. He's a friend, a hustler, has the right mindset, and has a lot more brains than you need for the job.

Yet, listening to his sales calls gives you a headache.

Steli had already committed to teaching him about sales for a month, and Flavio is still excited about it. So they keep at it.

From Really, Really Bad to Really, Really Good

Fast forward four days, and he's killing it on the phone. Even though he's only supposed to qualify for trial signups on the phone, he starts closing deals.

One day, the phone rings and someone has a bunch of questions. They haven't even signed up for a Close trial yet, but they want to know about our sales software, so they keep hammering with questions and schedule a demo for later in the day.

Flavio gives them the demo. They love it, but the questions just don't stop until Flavio finally tells them: "Look, there’s a reason why our software is called Close and not FuckAround.io—it’s about closing more deals, right?"

You can hear their laughter through Flavio's headset. They then wrapped up the conversation by agreeing to try the software.

A while later, the phone rings again. Flavio answers, and it's the same company. They're concerned about the best way to import their leads or something similar.

Concierge Onboarding at 9 P.M.

They talk a bit, and Flavio says, "Have you even started your trial yet? WHAT? Do you want to fuck around, or do you want to close deals? Let's get you started on this trial right now, let's do this together while we're on the phone, I'm there for you."

By that time, it was 9 p.m., but Flavio helped them export their leads from their previous CRM into a CSV and then imported that into Close.

Getting Them to Experience Their "Wow" Moment

Once all their leads are in the system, they can immediately see the whole interaction history with all of their leads show up in Close automatically, which excites them.

Flavio: "You think this is cool? Let me show you something even cooler."

He already knows their workflow and that they want to follow up with all the leads whom they haven't yet emailed within the past seven days. So, he shows them how to create a custom lead list based on those criteria in Close.

It takes 15 seconds to create that list.

Flavio asks the prospect: "Do you realize what this is?"

Prospect: "Yes. This lists all the people we need to follow up with."

They love it. It's so simple, and it does exactly what they want. But instead of wasting a lot of time (=fucking around) picking out the right leads, they get it with a couple of quick mouse clicks. They love it. They instantly realize how much value this creates for their business.

Key takeaways from Flavio Rump’s experience as a junior SDR at Close.
Main Event	Description
A Bad Surprise	Despite his successful background, Flavio struggled with sales at the start, performing poorly on qualifying calls.
From Bad to Good	Within four days, Flavio improved drastically, moving from qualifying leads to closing deals over the phone.
Concierge Onboarding at 9 PM	Flavio provided hands-on support, onboarding a customer at 9 PM, helping them import leads and use Close’s CRM effectively.
The Wow-Moment	Flavio demonstrated how to create custom lead lists in seconds, helping customers realize the value of Close’s software.
Asking for the Close	Rather than letting the customer "play around," Flavio asked them to close the deal on the spot, securing the sale.

How Sales Skills Can Transform Any Career

Do you know what most sales reps do in such a situation?

"Hey, I'm glad you like this, so I'll give you some more time to play around with our software and see all the amazing ways it can benefit you, and then you can make your choice when the trial is over."

Do you know what Flavio did? He asked them to put in their credit card right then and there!

Which is precisely what they did. He closed the deal; he made the sale, he didn't fuck around, and he didn't let the prospect fuck around.

They would have kept pondering this and that—not because they lack intelligence or business acumen, but simply because they've got a thousand things on their minds. It's your job to get them focused on the things that matter and move the conversation forward.

Suppose it weren't for Flavio's hustle. In that case, that company might still be wasting hours every week on a cumbersome sales process using inefficient tools and being distracted from what really matters for sales productivity: communicating with prospects and closing deals.

Instead, they're now managing their sales pipeline effectively with Close: fewer clicks, less effort, more deals.

Do you want to give props for sharing the story or contact Flavio? Here's how: email, X, LinkedIn.

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