Everyone knows enterprise sales is where the big money is. I mean, who doesn't want those massive deals? Most people don't realize what it actually takes to win complex deals.
That's exactly why my conversation with Camilla Carson opened my mind. I hadn't heard complex sales broken down like this before. She's made it her life's mission to completely change how we think about complex sales.
"Complex sales require a different kind of DNA," she told me within minutes of meeting. "It's not enough to have good selling skills. You need people who can think strategically, understand complex business problems, and build deep relationships across multiple levels of an organization."
If you're looking to level up your complex sales game, you'll want to take notes.
Because what she shared next changed everything I thought I knew.
Flipping the training playbook
Most sales leaders start with the basics – product training, discovery calls, all the standard stuff we all know about.
But Camilla? She does something totally different.
"We're not just training salespeople," she explained, "we're developing business consultants who happen to sell our solution."
Now, I know what you're thinking – everyone says sellers should be consultants. But here's what makes Camilla different: she actually breaks it down into practical steps you can use.
Before anyone touches a phone or logs into a CRM, they go through what she calls "360-degree onboarding." New reps spend their first week shadowing customer success calls and sitting in on product roadmap sessions.
The goal is to become so immersed in the product that you become the consultant instead of another sales rep. When you're selling complex solutions, it's not just about asking the right questions – it's about being the technical expert your customers need.
Watch the full conversation with Camilla
The knowledge play that changes everything
This is where it gets really good.
Instead of starting sales meetings with the usual pipeline reviews, Camilla's teams kick off by analyzing industry trends and market challenges.
I hadn't heard of this approach before, but it makes perfect sense to me once you take a step back and reflect on it. The more you learn, the more you earn.
"When you're selling solutions that can transform how businesses operate," she insists, "you need to understand their industry as well as they do."
Want proof it works? She showed me how one rep turned a basic software pitch into a $2M consulting engagement simply because they knew enough about the client's industry to spot bigger opportunities.
My pro tip for all of you is to block out 30-60 minutes each day just to study your industry. Trust me, it pays off.
The unconventional collaboration model
Now, this next part might sound wild, but stick with me.
Camilla regularly rotates her sales team through different departments. I've actually been hearing this from several smart leaders lately who either do role swaps or rotate their teams through departments. Clearly, they're onto something.
So, this is something you can implement for your team as well. Her sales reps work alongside product developers. Solution architects join sales calls. Customer success teams participate in deal strategy sessions.
In these sessions, they ask each other questions to get an understanding of how each role works so that they can win together.
"When a salesperson understands the challenges and constraints faced by other departments," she explains, "they can set better expectations with clients and create more successful partnerships."
The results that matter
Now, let's talk about what happened when they put all this into practice.
It's not just about closing more deals (though that happened, too). The real game-changer was the quality of the conversations.
Camilla played me recordings of before and after their new approach. The difference? Night and day. Buyers weren't just buying more – they were actually complimenting the team's approach.
Customer satisfaction hit all-time highs because reps showed up as consultants, not just another salesperson reading from a pitch deck.
A different kind of future
This isn't just a new sales training approach. We're seeing the future of what sales excellence looks like.
In today's world, where every deal is complex, and every relationship matters, success isn't just about selling skills. It's about building organizations that can understand, engage with, and solve sophisticated business challenges.
Or, as Camilla put it (and this really stuck with me): "We're not building a sales team. We're building a problem-solving engine that happens to generate revenue."
This is exactly what you can do as a leader. Take that first step – get your team working with other departments, invest in deep industry knowledge, and build true consultants instead of just salespeople.
Ready to revolutionize how you think about complex sales? Catch my full conversation with Camilla on the Revenue Rebels: On the Record sales podcast.
