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Explore more posts
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Michael Jay Gruenstein MBA
Enterprise Salespeople - just a friendly push (from someone who isn't impacted by your results but wants you to kick ass) May & June - time to fine-tune 😎 If, on average, you have a 6 + month sales cycle - hopefully you rested up this long weekend.... It's GO time! Any Discovery Calls booked inside what's left of May & the month of June have a shot to close by Calendar Year End. Factor in some down time in July & August & December. This is when you want to: 🚀 review and own the heck out of next steps with ops inside your CRM 🚀work with marketing to provide timely and intelligent collateral for each stage gate of your ops 🚀ensure that decision makers are identified and introduced 🚀hammer away with your sales leader/founder the key accounts and get support 🚀build plans with your champions to get these deals to their natural close 🚀understand how market forces/head winds/corporate budgets etc might create a sense of urgency for prospects Good Luck & Go CRUSH Your Quotas - like only you can!!! AND make sure you have some personal activities for growth inside your daily calendar!!! That part is always non-negotiable!! If I can help - happy too! startupsalesgrowth.ca #sales #saas #saassales #founders #startups #startupsales #proptech #realestate #enterprisesales #ae #bdr #salesteams #salesculture #salesprocess #salescycle #salesstrategies #salestips #quotas #salesquotas #revenue #salesleadership #salespeople #worklifebalance #marketing #salesandmarketing #mentalhealth #salesprospecting #crm #nextsteps #coaching #b2b
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Ashye Marcus
What I found interesting this week. *️⃣ Shopify is a 20-yr-old business that continues to innovate. Management’s long-term mindset and “growth on top, growth on bottom, and invest for the future” operating framework is key. ◾️They had a top & bottom line Q1 beat, but moderated growth expectations in Q2 (growth is still pitched in high teens). Q1 was $2B in revenue, $60B in GMV (+23% vs. LY), and $200M+ in FCF ◾️Stock was punished. I am bullish on their growth pillars (enterprise, international, and more) and noticed the addition of “less discretionary” brands (Staples, FIGS). 👜Coach parent Tapestry had a better than expected Q3, but reset guidance for the year. Revenue was $1.5B (flat in constant currency and -2% vs. LY). Op margin increased to 16% vs. 15%. ◾️Their customer engagement is stood out, acquiring ~1.2M new customers in North America (half were Gen Z and Millennials). I’m noticing more Coach on Gen Z (for those not wearing a lululemon crossbody). 🖥️ Reddit, Inc. delivered strong revenue growth (+48%) and improved profitability. They are tiny in the social space, but growing their ad business and making content licensing deals with AI-focused companies (i.e. $60M deal w/Google). 🛒Whole Foods has been reducing prices on its 365 Brand & increasing promotions. I noticed most the fruit I selected had savings (great for the consumer)! 👞Ferragamo’s Q1 sales were -17%. Trend is consistent with what we’re seeing in luxury (excl. the ultra wealthy). 👓 Warby Parker had a better than expected Q1 ($200M in revenue), EBITDA improvement ($22M vs. $18M LY), and raised guidance. Avg rev per customer was up +10%. ◾️They have 245 locations and will be opening 40 stores in 2024. Smart Moves: ⭐️ Dynamic duo, Christine Hunsicker and Brendan Hoffman formed P180, a financing and operating company. They will invest in or acquire brands & retailers that stand to benefit from CaaStle’s business-to-business rental technology. ◾️ Elyse Walker is the first investment. As a rental enthusiast, I’m ecstatic. It’s a beautiful luxury rental assortment! ♥️ https://lnkd.in/gMpYkiEj ⭐️ Reebok is letting users upload their favorite photo for a real-time chat w/an AI bot that will craft a custom shoe inspired by the picture submission’s color scheme & style, with the original photo. The virtual footwear can be edited, shared, and purchased as files that are interoperable w/Fortnite and Roblox. ⭐️ Glossier, Inc. is expanding European distribution via Space NK stores in UK & Ireland. I expect more announcements here. 🔶 Macro: Consumer sentiment declined in May. Travel & hospitality data indicates the U.S. consumer is still spending on experiences. High prices are squeezing consumers with lower incomes, and putting pressure on everyday purchases. Earnings next week: big players (Walmart, The Home Depot, Alibaba Group) & brands (Under Armour, Amer Sports, On Holdings). #futureofretail #retail #ecommerce #brands #tech #innovation #businessnews
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2 Comments -
Chirag Gulati ☁
By simplifying their Quotes, we saved over $300K for our first client at RevSolutions. If you’re a VP, you know that: Accurate quotes close deals. But getting them right is a major challenge. Sales teams often struggle with: → Inconsistent pricing, → Manual errors, and → Lengthy approval processes. These issues erode trust and can cost you business. That’s where the Q of the CPQ system comes in handy; Especially if you’ve complex pricing structures. CPQ tools make the quoting process efficient, ensuring consistency and accuracy across the board. → Automate complex pricing calculations → Standardize discounting practices → Speed up quote approval times With accurate quotes, you build trust with your clients. They know they can rely on your pricing, which makes them more likely to do business with you. Moreover, your sales team can respond faster, turning leads into customers with minimal friction. Accuracy in quoting means credibility and efficiency. How reliable are your quotes? #cpq #quote #pricing
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1 Comment -
Tyler McIntosh
Let's talk ICP. This week I have spoken with 3 clients about it, and it was a topic of conversation with a couple folks at a recent GTMfund dinner in Toronto. The common thread is that most Sales orgs are not getting deep enough with their understanding of the market that they sell into. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐈𝐂𝐏?" Typical response: n# of employees, X industries, Y titles. Great data points, and helpful context when building lists. But there is no context here, no 'why', no triggers/signals/insert other buzzword that allows to actually know when our prospects need a solution. At the end of the day, we as sellers are solving specific problems with our products, and we are looking for organizations and contacts that are currently experiencing that exact problem. Company size, roles, and industries rarely paint that whole picture. So where do we start? When building out your ICP approach it's important to start at the top of the funnel, and work your way down. (Told you - big funnel guy) 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐮𝐬? 𝐖𝐡𝐲? Answer this by talking to customers, combing through existing customer reports, learning from churned orgs., and looking at the companies that came inbound to you. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 ^ 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧? Raises, new hires, growth stages, public documents, social posts, changes in industry regulations are all examples of this. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞? If you cannot connect the dots here, you are likely coming across as far too generic in your messaging. The classic "why you, why you now" approach. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐲, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞? 𝐖𝐡𝐲? Go back to the data, follow deals, talk to customers. Go through these questions and your prospecting will become much more targeted, which will lead to increased email and call metrics, and will likely book you a bunch more deals. Think about how many "no's" or no responses are the result of you reaching out to people who simply don't care. You can eliminate so many of those by paying more attention to your true ICP. How does your prospecting look today? Is your current iteration of ICP helping or hurting it?
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8 Comments -
Jason (Jay) Webb
Catie Ivey, CRO of Walnut, recently joined me on The GOATS of Growth to discuss the differences between selling in today's environment versus selling just a few years ago. Of course, as a GTM recruiter, the thing that stuck out most to me was what she says in this clip below about the level of talent required on the go-to-market team when budgets are tight. There's a big difference between great sellers and CSMs and everyone else--and it's never been more apparent. We also talked about: -Creating buyer-centric experiences -Unit economics and KPIs she tracks -Her transition from VP to CRO -Traits she looks for when hiring -Much more Access to the full episode will be in the comments, or just search for The GOATS of Growth online or in your podcast app. Catie, thanks again for joining me! Please follow Catie for more great content.
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5 Comments -
Anthony Natoli
Outbound Sequences can do more harm than good for SDRs. (I think when used appropriately, they can be a massive help, but most teams use & abuse them -- completely missing the point of them & wonder why they can't land in the primary inbox & get no responses) I think the days of the traditional 27 day sequence are over. We need change. Most tasks get long overdue anyway and end up not being completed. Here's the issue with them: Often, SDRs are reactive to their sequences/cadences... When in reality, you should be pro-active. Let me explain: Imagine you send your first initial email and it gets opened 5+ times. Or you send a LI connect request and they accept it + look at your profile. Most SDRs will move onto their next task and ignore the intent signal. Instead, use prospect engagement as a way to be more pro-active. IE: do not wait 3 days from the day you sent your first email if there's a ton of engagement. Try calling them same day, bumping your email the next day and throwing a connect request on LI. You should try and switch your messaging up based on prospect engagement, too. IE: your cold call opener should be different for someone who has accepted your LI request + looked at your profile / opened your email a bunch vs someone who hasn't engaged at all. Be the quarterback of your sequences.. Don't let them control you! Second issue: most sequences end up piling up overdue tasks.. This is because sequences have way too many steps. If you liked this, I share 1 free outbound prospecting tip that 4200+ SDRs and AEs read every week. https://lnkd.in/e2cJkJqr
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38 Comments -
Matthew John
An AE's job is to sell (positive) change. To disrupt status quo for the buyer. And one of the biggest challenges they would face is the status quo bias in a buyer - a preference for maintaining one's current situation and opposing actions that may change the state of affairs. Here are three ways this bias often manifests: 1/ Contentment with the Current State: Customers express a genuine preference for how they currently operate, whether it's satisfaction with an existing provider or an in-house solution. 2/ Doubts About Alternatives: Some customers find the proposed solution lacks a compelling difference from their current setup or see the switch as not worth the effort. 3/ Change Aversion: Even when the new option is clearly better, fears about the transition process, including staffing and resource concerns, can anchor customers to their current state. As Jen Allen-Knuth puts it, the fear of f**king up comes into play here. Loving these lessons from "The Jolt Effect" book (by Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna 🙏 ) that talks about customer indecision. #AccountExecutive #SaaS #Sales #JoltBook
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2 Comments -
Kareem Mansour
It took me losing a team of 3 sales reps to learn to avoid these mistakes: Losing team members is never easy, but sometimes it’s the wake-up call you need to reevaluate and refine your sales strategies. Here are four critical mistakes that led to the departure of three skilled sales reps from my team—and the lessons I learned to prevent this from happening again: 1. Not Taking Notes in the CRM: Your CRM isn't just a tool; it's the lifeline of your sales process. It’s your business’s heart - pumping opportunities everyday. Initially, we underestimated the power of detailed note-taking in our CRM. This oversight meant missing crucial client details and preferences, leading to less personalized follow-ups and ultimately, lost sales opportunities. Now, our team rigorously records every interaction, making sure that no critical information slips through the cracks. 2. Not Calling a Lead Within 5 Minutes of Opting In: The speed of your response can make or break a deal. We learned the hard way that waiting even an hour to reach out to a new lead significantly reduces the likelihood of conversion. Implementing a strict policy to contact leads within five minutes of their opt-in has dramatically increased our engagement rates and conversions. 3. Neglecting Pre-Qualifying Steps or Sending Assets: Skipping the pre-qualification process was a direct path to inefficiency. By not filtering out unqualified leads or failing to provide them with preliminary assets, we burdened our sales reps with low-probability prospects. We've since developed a robust pre-qualifying funnel that includes sending informative assets upfront, setting the stage for more quality discussions and higher conversion rates. 4. Assuming Non-Payers Will Never Convert: One of our most limiting beliefs was that if a prospect didn’t buy immediately, they were a lost cause. This mindset led to missed opportunities with clients who simply weren’t ready to commit in the initial stages but could have been nurtured into valuable customers. We now focus on long-term engagement strategies, recognizing that today’s 'no' could be tomorrow’s 'yes.' These lessons reshaped our approach to sales, turning painful losses into powerful learning opportunities. By addressing these mistakes, we not only improved our processes but also built a stronger, more resilient sales team.
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Matthew Volm
hey RevOps - if you're a high-velocity SMB shop selling a large number of small deals, how should you grant quota credit to AEs? 🤔 Signature date? Payment date? Contract effective date? Like most things in RevOps, simple questions like this do not have simple answers. This question was posted in the RevOps Co-op Slack group recently and the community provided some 🔥 feedback like: 📍 Signature date seems to be the most popular choice, but always with a big caveat 📍 That caveat relates to the amount of churn or turnover when it comes to signed deals that don't pay - if the AEs are closing crumby customers that don't pay, then you want to use payment date instead 📍 If you have deals that get signed far in advance of the contract effective date / subscription start date, this adds additional risk to revenue - so may want to consider using the contract effective date instead 📍 Some folks do a mix; for example, 50% at signature, and 50% at payment (or some other metric, like 6 months after deal signature) 📍 In all cases, you want to make sure the structure is set up to drive the behavior you want to encourage without a huge delay between the work done and incentive provided Anything else you'd add to this list? #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #salesoperations #compensation #incentivemanagement
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Anna Nadeina
If you're thinking about selling your SaaS company, this is THE episode to listen to. Huge thanks to Francois Lanthier Nadeau for telling his story from start to finish with 0 holdbacks 🙌 This episode is about your power as a seller, necessary buyer due diligence steps, questions to ask your acquirer to determine cultural fit, things to do before signing the LOI, figuring out what "dream exit" means for all the stakeholders, and much more. Live in 2 weeks.
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Paul Howard
YOUR OUTLOOK MATTERS 🤍 Building out one of the best business playbooks going… yet, in life there is nothing more important than your tone, curiosity and outlook …positivity is a conscious choice made daily ❤️ #SalesHackOttawa #SalesHack #SalesHackUSA #SalesHackCanada #MakeEveryDayCount #PositiveOutlook #Hiring
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Milka Randjelović
A question for Sales Leaders re: quotas - A friend in Medical sales just got their quota...halfway through May (almost halfway through the year). As a territory manager they hustled in 2023 and achieved 111% to quota. They were #4 in Canada and #1 in Ontario. Great, right? Wrong... As a reward, they were gifted with a 12% increase in quota not from previous year's quota, but from previous year's achievement, and to me this just doesn't make sense. 👉 This type of quota calculation rewards those who achieved 90% (or even lower ) 👉 Demotivates those high achievers - They used their relationships to get orders in before quarter/year end and those doctors won't be needing those products perhaps for 18 months 👉 Promotes #quietquitting - doing the minimum requirements of one's job and putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary 👉 Promotes mediocrity - the more I sell the more will be expected of me next year My friend is understandably demotivated. They are the first ones to help with any events, often being away from home on a weekly basis to help other colleagues with their events/sales. They no longer want to put in any extra work and are questioning the company and whether it may be time to leave. I would love to hear from Sales Leaders out there as to how you calculate quotas, what systems/products you use, and how you deal with employees who have questions.
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2 Comments -
Tito 🚀 Bohrt - Sales Mad Scientist
Very funny how the market has evolved. Despite SalesDev being harder, I see 2 types of SDR Leaders right now. 1. Cushy job, cruising in the role, perhaps overpaid. Exceeding "quota" - SDRs sourcing meetings - Systems and processes 'good enough' - Meetings to Revenue is VP of Sales problem 2. Hustling! Testing new tools, trying to get Pipeline, not meetings. Stressed. - SDRs Meetings not converting is "MY PROBLEM" - Trying intent data, Clay, Signal-based, call Closed-Lost, Champify / UserGem it! - Switching SEPs, cutting costs, 'revenue efficiency' If you're in bucket one, have fun, ride it. Short term you're doing well, long term you're in trouble. Your company's SDR team won't survive for 18 more months... If you're in bucket two, you're going to HAVE to sell your team on learning how to sell Outbound. This is the hardest job. Executive alignment is needed in order to get to the point where SDR efforts pay off. You need your CRO, CMO, CEO, all aligned that SDRs aren't "entry level, easy efforts", they now are "THE MOST IMPORTANT TEAM" We will come out of this with 2 ends of the spectrum: - Companies that destroy SDR teams, decide 5-15% YoY growth is it at a "profitable" company (truly breakeven, but call it profitable to your friends). Your valuation gets crushed to 0.5-3x revenue perhaps (80-90% down from 2022). Your stock is worthless but hey $200K+ as an SDR Director, you'll take it. - Companies that figure it out. Keep growing 80%+ YoY with SDRs, and attract ALL the funding from VCs and PEs. Valuation back to 20X revenue. You work your tail off, and of top of the SDR Director comp your equity is worth $500K+. Also, you have the resume to be a CRO in the future. Nothing wrong with #1.... just don't stay there for too long, you'll be stagnant, your skills will rotten, you've stopped growing. Hard times make strong men. Strong men create easy times. Easy times make weak men. Weak men suffer in hard times. Ride the wave if you're in it, breathe deeply, enjoy it. But know when you have to jump ship and get back to doing real work. Sales Development will INEVITABLY be the most important department for SaaS now that Money is Tight.... it'll be transformational. Will you rise to the occasion, or will you be relaxing by the pool while your Titanic is sinking. #SDRsMatter PS. If you think you're highly skilled, and this resonated, call me. I have a few portfolio companies that need great SDR leaders in house. I'm also happy to mentor you. Check my profile for all my investments.
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24 Comments -
Liam Fitzgerald
If you continue with you’re hiring methods, how do you expect your sales team to hit their targets? 🤔🤔 This has been a question that’s hit home to a few leaders this year. Some are absolutely smashing their recruiting ✅✅ They don’t need KinFitz & Co. Some need help, to elevate the average 🫡🫡 That’s what I needed when VP of Sales in a hypergrowth tech salesfloor. Thats why we started over 4 years ago. To help founders and leaders feel confident that their milestones will be achieved and targets smashed. Which companies are doing sales hiring right in the Middle East? #sales #saleshiring #salesrecruitment
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John Thackston
At the Gainsight conference last week, I had several folks ask me some version of "everyone used to talk about adoption....now everyone says that it's just about outcomes and ROI. What's your take?" It is and has always been about both. Can you get ROI without adoption? No. Is adoption by itself sufficient to guarantee value realization? Also no. You have to have adoption of the right capabilities that tie to customer business priorities with attached measurable outcomes. That is and has always been the formula. This is easy to say, really hard to implement and manage at scale. Which is why very few companies do it.
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5 Comments -
Denis Cohen 🇺🇸
If you're wondering what Dropcontact has to do with business growth, Joey Noble from DemandCurveMarketing got the answer. It's not just about email: it's about maximizing your Cold Outreach effectively, rapidly and safely. Dropcontact's integration with PhantomBuster can help you do that, (almost) without your lifting a finger (okay, you might have to click here and there, but you get the idea). By now, you know that team work makes the dream work 👏 And we're not just talking about the teams that animate your company, we're also talking about growing alongside other businesses and creating powerful integrations. Don't be afraid to reach out (to prospects and businesses), contact is the key 😉 Read more: https://lnkd.in/gfiXqgEB
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1 Comment -
Andrey "Andy" Kastelmacher
OUTBOUND IS DEAD - They shouted and fired the OB team. Then the reality check - How was your OB process setup? You used a tool to round-robin call 1000's of prospects, if they pick up the phone - SDR is on the call. Seems quite efficient - you manage to get the person on a call! No personalisation, no focus, no context. You may as well be selling mortgages or insurance slips or Dead Sea products the same way. Now you got you title (what's the actual role??) on the call. What do you say? They will automatically start with "not interested" and if you can't pinpoint the exact value and pain in the first breath of the call - it's all done and lost. So who killed outbound? You just did, by spamming your buyer on their personal phone without any context. Context is still king:) #isdead #sdr #abm #outbound #marketing #gtm
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Gal Aga
In 10 months, Aligned’s SDR Director Saad Khan increased our qualified pipeline by 454% (while only hiring 1 SDR). Here’s the 5-step Signal-Led Outbound playbook he implemented: 1. Sales & Marketing Hyper Alignment We stopped caring whether a lead is Inbound or Outbound. We only care about how our ICP buys and what holistic journey will work best for creating and capturing demand. We kill OR double-down on marketing programs based on SDR feedback, and plan SDR activities based on campaigns. 2. Talked to 100s of Users to Build Outbound Messaging As a PLG company, we have 10Ks of free users. Instead of burning through them with bad emails, Saad started with calls. At the same time, he used calls to run the Sales Assist motion where he’s helping end-users unlock product value, and gains access to managers. 3. Learned How to Crawl Before we Ran Saad spent his first 4 months experimenting (of course, while also driving results from his network, social selling, and early messaging success). We used a free tool to target people from accounts visiting our website. That allowed us to get results before scaling this ‘signal approach’ and hiring our first SDR, Debdutta Saha 🧘♂️. 4. Double Down on the Signal-Led Outbound Engine After having proven messaging/frameworks that worked with website visitor data, and a 2-person SDR team, it was time to optimize. Saad’s hypothesis was that a ‘Trigger’ (E.g. Website visitor) is not 'Signal’. So the first place we started optimizing is combining multiple triggers. Social Content Engagement + Product Usage Data + Website Data. 5. Improved Sales Cycle Efficiency Led to Increased Investment Saad and Deb ran Sales Assist calls with the AEs who were using our product. They helped them win deals like crazy using Aligned, so the AEs championed us to their leaders. Our sales processes started with proof and strong advocates, so deals closed 32% faster and higher win rate (42% vs 33%). That was the business case to invest in more tech to further automate, and optimize. 6. Continued with Internal Tech (Build) before External (Buy) Our talented Analyst Yarden Blumenstein 🎗️became a key player in building this engine. We wanted to double down on product data and build what we call ‘Playbooks’. Each Playbook is a dashboard and alerts for our SDR teams. Examples: Virality Playbook (An account with a lot of internal growth), or Paywall Playbook (Account hitting many usage limits and locked feature clicks). TAKEAWAY You CANNOT copy-paste playbooks from company A to B. Sales leaders who think sales is sales. That sales didn’t change these last few years. Are either not delivering or will hit a wall soon. Saad is the perfect example. - Listen - Innovate - Experiment - Turn to Network - Collaborate Internally That’s what it takes to crack outbound as a new leader. If you want our exact Signal-Led Outbound playbook (and video walk-thrus on how to implement it), like this post and comment PLAYBOOK below.
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476 Comments -
Aleksandar Stojanović, MSc.
Stop ignoring your SaaS company's cash runway. It's time to extend it. Here's what you don't need: 1. Ignoring revenue optimization pointers 2. Neglecting opportunities to increase ARPU 3. Being passive about improving essential KPIs 4. Poor cost management and resource allocation Here's what you do need: → Efficient cost management and resource allocation skills → Effective tactics to improve KPIs and reduce churn rate → Understanding of revenue maximization methods → Strategies to boost your ARPU Stop hesitating to negotiate better vendor contracts. Stop delaying in optimizing your acquisition and retention strategies. Stop overlooking the potential of expanding into new markets. A healthy cash runway is the lifeline of your SaaS business. Are you ready to extend your company's cash runway? (Yes/No)
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7 Comments -
Hayes Davis
We’re approaching mid year. And your territory plan from Q1 is getting smacked in the face. Reps have come and gone, you’ve got new plays to run, you’ve got to handle an ICP tweak (or more)—the list goes on. The complaints about account quality and quantity are starting to bubble up. It's fine. No plan ever survives contact with reality. But it means it’s nearly time for everyone’s favorite mid-year ritual: The Account Refresh. (Refresh. Replace. Top-off. Swap. Whatever you want to call it.) Here’s how to go about it: 1. Stop Reps say they don’t have enough accounts. I say trust but verify. Look at which accounts reps engage. If you don’t know this, you won’t know what to adjust. This is the easiest way to call BS if you’ve got a “there’s nothing to work” complaint. 2. Drop Resist the urge to just add more accounts. Consider what you can take away, starting with unworked accounts. If a rep hasn’t truly engaged in 6 months, why is it in their name? However, *never* remove accounts where there’s meaningful engagement[1]. If a rep works it, they keep it. Unworked accounts are a different story, though. 3. Roll It’s time to give reps some new accounts. This depends on your model. 3a) Static Territories (geo or vertical) - The options aren’t great. Pick one: a) find new accounts, b) recarve c) relax the territory restrictions. Maybe you find a trove of new accounts, maybe not. Most people don’t want to do a disruptive recarve. That leaves relaxing the restrictions. It makes sense. Territories are never perfectly balanced. Some reps crush it and other reps starve. You can steal from an empty territory, tinker with inbound, split up a big territory or reassign a few accounts here or there. Not great, but it's what you've got. 3b) Named Accounts - You probably have some accounts in reserve you can assign out. Reassign accounts that haven’t been covered. 3c) Dynamic Books - There’s no mid-year refresh. Distributing accounts is just another day. One more thing… Why do we do this to ourselves in the first place? If a “refresh” is right mid-year to make sure reps have the right accounts to work, why wait? Some orgs go quarterly, but why stop there? Why not just follow drop the static territories do this continuously? That way reps always have a great book of accounts to work without the imbalances. They keep the ones they’re working and dispense with ones they can’t make progress on. They get great new accounts on an ongoing basis. This is why I believe so strongly in Dynamic Books. I’ll leave you with this. You can achieve most of the above with spreadsheets, repurposed automation tools and a bunch of work. Or, you can do it all with Gradient Works. Your call. [1] “Meaningful engagement” varies but it’s *not* tossing a couple of emails at one contact in an automated sequence. Just because you tried twice to get someone’s attention from across a noisy bar doesn’t mean you’re in a committed relationship.
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