Ep. 56: Part II - $5 Million Digital Banking Deal with Chas Puleo

Chas Puleo, Senior Sales Executive at Alkami, returns to in this follow-up episode to last week's conversation (Ep. 55) to discuss the closing of a 2-year, $5 million digital banking. He highlights the importance of aligning with the client’s business needs and the role of executive involvement in moving large deals forward. Background: Chas has been a Senior Sales Executive at Alkami for five an years selling digital banking solutions to U.S. financial institutions. The $5 million deal took over two years to close, involved multiple C-suite executives, and was for digital banking solutions. Challenges: The primary contact in the deal was promoted mid-process, requiring Chas to rebuild the relationship with a new champion from scratch. Timing conflicts at a key conference led to difficulties in securing critical face-to-face meetings with the client. Key learnings: Building strong relationships based on trust and transparency is crucial for closing major deals. ​Involving the C-suite early and maintaining their engagement throughout the process can greatly improve your chances of success. Timestamps: (01:12) Keys to success in the deal. (03:40) Positioning yourself as a partner vs. vendor. (06:53) Relationship building with trust and transparency. (08:52) Importance of executive leadership involvement. (14:45) Internal deal briefings and executive communication strategy. (20:15) Challenges of partner vs. vendor positioning. (26:21) Significance of texting in building client relationships. Resources ​Find Chas on LinkedIn Checkout Run the Hills where Chas releases his newsletter Find Chas's art online Thank you to Fluint for Sponsoring this episode They help sellers build a business case that cvan sell for them even when they aren’t in the room.  Questions, comments, ideas - reach out to Andrew Kappel on LinkedIn