Human centered sales approach
“Human centered sales approach”
Founder resource
How Human Touch Helped Disclo Close Their First 6 Figure Deal
Disclo's human-centred sales approach: talk to real people, tailor demos to the buyer, and mobilise champions to close a six-figure deal
Hannah Olson · Disclo
Published September 6, 2023About this resource
- Format
- Bootstrapped Stage at SaaStr Annual 2023
- Inside
- 4 key moments
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What you’ll learn
The deck frames a human-centered sales process around understanding a buyer’s personal context, tailoring demos, and building relationships that continue through champions and transformation.
Read the source passagesKey moments
Find the ideas you need and go straight to the source.
Contrasting user personas
“Beyond Traditional User Personas”
Tailor Your Demos
“Tell me about a time when you asked for an accommodation at work”
Nurturing Relationships
“Nurturing Relationships”
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Hannah Saastr Slide deck
Hannah Olson is a passionate disability advocate and the CEO of Disclo, a software company that helps employees securely disclose and request accommodations at work. Disclo is backed by Y Combinator, General Catalyst, and Bain Capital Ventures, among other prominent investors. Hannah's own journey with Lyme disease inspired her and her co-founder to launch their first business, Chronically Capable, a digital platform that connects chronically ill professionals to flexible employers. Chronically Capable is now one of the leading disability recruiting platforms in the country, with features in Forbes, Inc Magazine, Fast Company, and more. Hannah holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Hospitality Management from Boston University, where she was the commencement speaker in May 2023.
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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
18 passages
Introduction
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How Human Touch Helped Disclo Close Their First Six Figure Deal Hannah Olson Co-Founder and CEO, Disclo
Human centered sales approach
A human-centered sales roadmap
The talk organizes its approach into identifying a buyer’s why, authentic outreach, and relationship building. The agenda connects problem discovery and buyer understanding with demos, objections, champions, and a shift from transaction to transformation.
Slide text
Human centered sales approach Problem identification Non-traditional user personas Human touch in the world of AI Break through the noise Tailor your demos to the buyer Overcoming objections Mobilizing champions Be on the same team Transaction to transformation 🎯 🦄 👉 🔪 💬 ❓ 📣 👫 🔄 Identifying The ‘Why’ Authentic Outreach Nurturing Relationships
Start by identifying the why
This section focuses on understanding the reason behind a buyer’s need before moving into outreach and relationship building.
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Identifying The ‘Why’
Build from a real problem
A founder’s personal experience can reveal a specific problem worth solving. The example pairs that idea with a photo from a medical setting, showing how a lived experience can lead to a targeted solution.
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Identify a Real Problem How personal experience leads to a unique, targeted solution
Validate the problem with people
Talk with potential users before assuming a problem exists. The slide points to discrimination lawsuits, inconsistent documentation, and reports that 62% of employers see increasing ADA requests as a top challenge.
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Talk to Real People Disability is the #1 cause of discrimination lawsuits for companies Inconsistent and non-compliant documentation practices 62% of employers report an increasing # of ADA requests as a top challenge Don’t assume a problem exists without talking to potential users 📈 ❌ 🆘
Contrasting user personas
Look beyond standard personas
Demographic profiles alone miss the emotional and situational context that can shape a purchase. The comparison contrasts a process-focused HR manager with an empathetic people leader whose personal experience influences how they approach disability inclusion.
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Vs. Beyond Traditional User Personas Traditional user personas fail to capture the emotional & situational nuances of users.
Generic outreach misses context
An outreach email can feel like a pitch when it uses a recipient’s response to a talk mainly as an opening for a sales conversation. The example’s broad invitation does not make a clear connection between the recipient’s interest and the sender’s offer.
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Human Touch in the World of AI Why this email didn’t land… 😬
Move into authentic outreach
This section turns from identifying a buyer’s why to writing outreach that earns attention through relevance and a genuine connection.
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Authentic Outreach
Make outreach personally relevant
A message grounded in a recipient’s lived experience can prompt a more meaningful response. The example links an introduction about the sender’s work to the recipient’s family experience, who replies with interest in connecting.
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Break Through the Noise
Tailor Your Demos
Tailor the demo to the buyer
Use questions that reflect the buyer’s actual work and challenges. The example pairs two accommodation-focused prompts with a product walkthrough of an employee request, including a place to explain how a condition affects work.
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Tailor Your Demos Tell me about a time when you asked for an accommodation at work Tell me about a hard accommodations case you had to manage
Overcoming Objections What everyone does
Understand what objections mean
Objections can signal either a search for reasons not to buy or an effort to strengthen the case for buying. The diagram groups common concerns, such as cost or turnover, under these two possible intentions and asks whether buyer and seller are aligned.
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Intentions Behind Objections “I want to come up with reasons why I don’t want to buy your product” “I want to strengthen my reasons of why I want to buy” Are you aligned? 👍 👎
Nurturing Relationships
Build and nurture relationships
This section focuses on maintaining a relationship through the sales process and after a deal, including the role of a customer champion.
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Nurturing Relationships
Guide a champion through the deal
Mobilizing a champion spans the beginning, middle, close, and post-sale stages. The messages illustrate how early interest can develop into budget priority, a signed agreement, and later advocacy for the product.
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Beginning Middle Close Post Mobilizing Your Champion
Work as part of the customer team
A strong customer relationship comes from making customer success a priority, becoming useful to the team, and involving customers in product development. The three actions frame the vendor as a partner in the customer’s work.
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Be On The Same Team Make customer success your #1 job Become invaluable to their team Involve them in product development 💌 🙏 🔄
Shift from transaction to transformation
The graphic signals a move from a single exchange toward an ongoing relationship: two separate points lead into a connected circle. It introduces the idea of a broader, continuing customer partnership.
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Transaction to Transformation
Human connection anchors the process
The closing recap says buyers and sellers both benefit from connecting with one another. It groups the talk’s ideas into identifying buyer needs, authentic outreach, and nurturing relationships through champions, teamwork, and transformation.
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Human touch will always matter Connect with your buyers and you’ll both win Problem identification Non-traditional user personas Human touch in the world of AI Break through noise Tailor your demos to the buyer Overcoming objections Mobilizing champions Be on the same team Transaction to transformation Identifying The ‘Why’ Authentic Outreach Nurturing Relationships
Thank the audience
The speaker closes by thanking the audience and identifying herself as Disclo’s co-founder and CEO.
Slide text
Hannah Olson Co-Founder and CEO, Disclo