Did you know this week is Anti-Poverty Week?
Let’s do our part by closing deals and inching closer to riches this quarter.
One rep took this mission very seriously – he went on to close one of the largest deals in Salesforce history (State Farm).
Here’s the crazy part. He literally became a licensed insurance agent to win that deal.
CEO Marc Benioff was so impressed, he personally handed him a $4M check on stage.
His story is packed with lessons worth stealing.
Let's get into it.
FEATURE
When Alpesh Patel inherited his new territory at Salesforce, State Farm was by far his biggest account.
But there was one small problem.
They’d just completed a $500K Salesforce pilot and decided not to move forward.
The previous rep saw the writing on the wall and bounced.
Alpesh was starting deep in the negative.
But from his time at IBM, he knew deals with State Farm could get massive.
Like, $1B+ massive.
So instead of avoiding the account, he decided to double down on it.
Lesson 1:
Selling begins when you hear “no.” If prospects never said no, companies would hire order takers, not salespeople.
Alpesh knew nothing about the insurance business. So he did something most reps would never think of.
He became a licensed State Farm agent.
Working as an agent, he realized the real issue wasn’t agent productivity (which the failed pilot focused on).
The real pain was information flow.
Customers interacted with State Farm across multiple channels – call centers, website, support lines.
And agents were losing visibility.
This was the critical problem Salesforce could solve.
Lesson 2:
Not all problems are created equal. Find the one that moves the needle for both the customer and your quota.
Now came the hard part: reigniting interest after a failed pilot.
State Farm had already decided Salesforce wasn't worth it.
So instead of selling, Alpesh went all-in on adding value.
“Trust was the number one reason we won that deal”
He started educating key stakeholders on the challenges their agents were facing.
He shared case studies from similar Salesforce customers.
Drove to their office to hand over reports just to get 5 minutes of face time.
After weeks of effort without asking for anything in return, he became a trusted advisor.
And one exec became his internal champion, pushing the deal forward.
Lesson 3:
Provide so much value upfront that refusing feels unreasonable.
Like most opportunities this size, this deal was messy.
Alpesh had to align business leaders, IT, security, legal, and procurement.
All after a failed pilot.
It was hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel.
So he broke the complex deal into small steps and chipped away every day.
Week after week. Month after month. He stayed consistent.
Eventually it all added up.
He closed the deal on the “last day of the year.”
Lesson 4:
Impatient with action. Patient with results.
REDDIT QUESTION OF THE WEEK
How do you know sales is for you?
The only real way to know is to try it. You’ll see successful salespeople with vastly different personalities. But a few traits show up often among top reps:
Competitive drive: They love to win. Even when the odds are stacked against them.
High agency: They take ownership and bet on themselves.
Persistence: They handle rejection without losing enthusiasm.
Genuine curiosity: They love learning and solving people’s problems.
MEME OF THE DAY
