✨Craig Morris

Looking for my "best practices" when prospecting with cookies... First and foremost, I can't believe you stopped scrolling - what an honor. Reminder - I sell a $25 product, and you most likely sell a 5 to 6-figure product on a recurring revenue model (I got into the wrong business lolol) But... We are both dealing with humans. And last time I checked, 95% of Americans eat a cookie per month, so there is that part that makes us the same. Second - I like humor, I like to surprise, and then I like to wow. So you are chatting in the DMs or email, and the prospect has just booked a meeting with you. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: ask, "Are you allergic to cookies?!" This throws most people off, and it's semi-funny. They'll typically respond, "No, I'm not allergic to cookies!!" 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: Drop your magic gift link in the chat This is where you say: "I look forward to chatting with you, but in the meantime, here are some of my favorite cookies for you to enjoy: [insert gift link]!" They'll be surprised and immediately taken back by your generosity and kindness... Also, improving your chances of follow-through on the meeting booked. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: wait patiently for the feedback. Like with any quality gift, it takes time to prepare. And delicious cookies are no different! The team at Grove Cookie Company HQ gets to work preparing your prospect's cookie order, and in two to three days, you will most likely receive this message after the cookies are delivered to the prospect: "WOW!! These cookies are so good!" They might even take a picture of the cookies with your custom gift message, which has your logo, and post it on LinkedIn. Hello, free marketing, and hello to a growing relationship. And that's how I do it. Happy prospects, happy life! Cookies as a Service™️ #prospecting #gifting #relationships ___________________________ Find us on our website or your favorite gifting platform: Sendoso - Postal - Reachdesk - Alyce - Zest - SnackMagic... and a few more platforms are coming online soon!

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PE investors / operators: have "hire additional sales capacity" on your VCP or annual plan? HIRING new reps is only half the battle. For the ROI math to math, gotta then make 'em productive. As quickly as possible. But when it comes to making reps productive quickly, B2B companies face two big challenges: →The average tenure of a B2B sales rep is less than two years, YET... → Reps hit their peak performance two to three years in. Translation: Most reps leave before they’ve reached max productivity. Eek. In many cases, weak sales onboarding is to blame. But taking a more intentional approach to sales onboarding has a bevy of obvious benefits: • Reducing sales turnover • Shortening time-to-revenue • Higher odds of achieving your rev targets Hit on this in the book in Winning Move #32, but check out the vid below for a deeper dive on the P's and Q's of sales onboarding ▶️ * * * * * Found this helpful? Plenty more where that came from. Check out the Winning Moves Platform: the ambitious PE leader's toolkit for accelerating value creation. ↳ A digital arsenal of resources, how-to's, and tools to help private equity leaders make value-generating Winning Moves with confidence. Link in the comments below. ⤵️

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Why Baseball is like Recruiting & building a sales team Ever thought about how baseball and sales recruiting are alike? Of course you have. You probably wonder the answer to this question hourly. Well here you go…. Scouting Talent: In both baseball and recruiting, success starts with scouting. You need to identify raw talent and potential, whether it’s a young player in the minor leagues or a promising candidate in the job market. Building a Team: Just like a baseball team needs a mix of skills – pitchers, hitters, fielders – a company needs diverse talents. Finding the right balance is crucial. Training and Development: In baseball, continuous training turns potential into performance. The same goes for new hires. Ongoing development and support are key to unlocking their full potential. Adaptability: A great baseball player adapts to different pitchers and game situations. Similarly, top recruits need to be flexible and adapt to various challenges in their roles. Performance Metrics: Baseball relies heavily on stats to measure success. In recruiting, tracking metrics like time-to-hire, quality of hire, and retention rates is vital. Of course the same goes with new hires, knowing their stats is a huge key to tracking success. Just like in baseball, recruiting salespeople is about finding the right talent, building a cohesive team, and continuously developing skills for peak performance. Now, let's play ball! #hiring #recruiterlife #recruiting #saassales #gsd #agsd #sales #startup #founder #ceo

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Every single person says they don't want transactional relationships, but that's a lie I have a VERY strict limit on having Sales People and Service Providers in Orion3. I pick the people who I think are the best in their industries AND who I think are the most authentic and genuine. ☝️Is easy to explain, but what about the C Suite executives who are the decision makers at companies? To put it simply, I don't give a damn what your title is or what top ten lists you paid to get on. If I don't think you're authentic, if I don't like you after talking to you, I don't have any reason to be around you. Sales people get blamed for being purely transactional (and there are A LOT who are), but a lot of people in the c suite are just as transactional when it comes to relationships unless they need something. If I get that egotistical, transactional, vibe from someone who thinks because they have a "C" in their title, I won't even add them to my Orion3 Community email list. That's why I have SO MUCH love and respect for both the people who are Members of Orion3 and the non members I've gotten to know, who are in the Orion3 Community. In the past, even if I didn't like someone, if it made business sense, I would have to figure out a way to work with them if it made business sense (clients and internal teams). BUT now it's different. In order for everything to work for Orion3, I absolutely have to like AND respect every single person. Just a reminder that before you judge someone else because you think you're a big shot, take a look at the mirror. Your superiority complex is the reason for that void and emptiness that you feel. The way you treat others will come back at some point in life, for better or worse. Just some Sunday morning thoughts after listening to a friend last night telling me about how they were treated by their CHRO 🤔 #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity

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To counter a post by a prominent Utah LinkedIn voice... Just because you don't have certain experiences doesn't mean you can't understand on a deep level. Not everyone is put in the same positions to succeed or face the same challenges. Not everyone wants to go through all the stress it takes to keep growing and growing and be super successful. Some people want a normal quiet life. Not everyone wants kids. That doesn't mean they don't understand love. Not everyone wants to get married. Not everyone wants to build and build their portfolios. That doesn't mean they're any less of a person. Some people have disabilities or other challenges that make it harder for them to do many of these things. Would you tell a couple struggling to have kids that they don't understand unconditional love? Speaking from experience, it's the opposite. Would you tell a single parent you feel bad for them for not hustling to climb the ladders of success? I'm honestly pretty disappointed about this post AND those who liked it. You don't know what the person next to you is going through, and if you did? You would do everything in your power to help them. You would not take pity or feel bad for them. Let's all do better. Unconditional charity

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Why "demand forecasting" fails in specialty retail (and what to do instead): Traditional demand forecasting often falls short in specialty retail because we're dealing with products without historical trends. They're new. They're trendy. They're seasonal. They're anything but predictable. The better alternative? Identify trends. Instead of relying on forecasting models, focus on identifying and capitalizing on emerging trends — even when they're small and growing. This is how you can position your business for success in ways that demand forecasting simply can't match. What strategies do you use to spot emerging trends? Robling helps retailers make more money from data they already own; see how with this 5-minute micro demo: https://lnkd.in/gQUiB-9E

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0 to 1 growth is about sales, marketing, getting feedback on your product, iterating, & being scrappy 1 to 10 is about systems, getting results through others, refining your product & creating leverage (while also still being pretty scrappy) Founders who favor 1 to 10 stuff when they’re in 0 to 1 don’t make much money Those who are 1 to 10 but still acting like they are 0 to 1 often end up burnt out & bottlenecked in their growth Make sure you’re clear on which one you are & act accordingly 

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If I was in a full time enablement role right now my #1 focus would be working to become my CRO’s go-to person when they want to see rep’s in-call behavior change. Every sales leader I’ve ever worked with has been unsettled by the behaviors they see when they watch reps calls and frustrated by how nothing seems to change no matter how much training they do with the team. If you can become their go-to person when they need to get reps to change how they sell, and if you can establish a track record of successfully doing so, you'll probably be the last person on the enablement team to get cut. To accomplish this though you’ll need to adopt a different approach to training than what’s been done in the past; one more focused on helping reps rewire their brains with new skills, reflexes, and abilities rather than just learning the material. On July 23rd I’ll be hosting a Hackathon along with The Enablement Squad in Denver where you can spend the afternoon learning how to build behavior change programs modeled after how Olympic athletes and professional musicians train. In this session you will learn about a new approach to sales training, and you'll spend time collaborating with your peers figuring out how to apply what you're learning to each create a practice-based behavior change program tailored to the specific needs of your own sales team. ⌚Date & Time: July 23rd from 1-4pm MST 🗺️Location: Oracle Office, 7700 Technology Way, Denver CO 80237 🖊️Register: https://lnkd.in/esfDYcrS Happy hour to follow for more networking - details to come. 👀 #SalesEnablement #Practice #TheEnablementSquad

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Fridays are either the best day of the week or the worst day of the week for your sales team. But the sales leader can make Fridays special for the team. I want to share one of my favorite Friday rituals from running large sales team. It’s been a long week. Everyone is looking for the door, ready for the weekend. Another week has passed and each salesperson has pushed closer to hitting quota. For the reps that closed deals this week, they are riding high. For the reps that struggled this week, the weekend is going to be filled with anxiety. So how do you get everyone feeling good and focused heading into the weekend? Here’s the one thing you can do to make Friday a bright spot for your team: It’s called Defining Success. Every Friday at 4:30pm, the team gets together. In person is great, but remote works too. Log out of salesforce, slack, etc. prospects aren’t answering sales calls at 4:30p on a Friday. Go grab a refreshment, whatever your preference. Then go around the room and each person must share: 1. The best thing about this past week. No bad vibes. It can be personal or professional. 2. What they are drinking. This ritual works because it forces people to look for the positive rather than focusing on the negative. It also signals the end of the working week and gives people the signal to sign off for the weekend. Finally it gets reps sharing things about themselves that they normally wouldn’t share. You are just giving them the venue. This was my favorite “meeting” of the week because it created so many emotional moments for the team. People really lean into the opportunity to bond with their team mates. It didn’t start out this way, but over time the conversations became more personal and more fun. Remember that your team is made up of humans, and humans long for connection with other people who have similar experiences to their own. Find ways to encourage the connection between the humans on your team and you will drive better performance from a happier team. Celebrate each other’s bright spots and you will manufacture more bright spots.

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From Pitching Products to Partnering for Success Early on in sales, I treated every "no" as a lost opportunity. It wasn't until I focused on understanding the "why" behind the response that things clicked. Here's what I learned: people (especially in B2B) aren't just buying products; they're buying solutions. They want to know how your offering can help them achieve their goals, not just yours. Shifting my focus from selling to understanding their needs was a game-changer. It became less about features and more about building partnerships. Imagine you're selling premium yoga pants to a premium clientele. Instead of pushing its features, you delve deeper: What type of hurdles are they facing with the current product? How can your yoga pants help them reach more customers and boost sales? By aligning your pitch with their desired outcome (more sales!), you become a valuable asset, not just another salesperson. Remember, they're in sales too, selling their products or services. Understanding their challenges allows you to tailor your approach and demonstrate how your solution becomes a win-win. So, next time you face a "no," don't just hear the rejection. Dig deeper, understand their perspective, and show them how you can be their partner in success. #SalesTips #B2BSales #Partnerships

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🎉 The Winter Olympics are coming back to Utah in 2034! 🎉 And guess what? I just happen to live in Utah! 🏔️ Coincidence? I think not! 😉 Here's the fun part: The Winter Olympics need a RevOps superstar, and I just happen to be open to work. Sounds like a match made in snowy heaven, right? ❄️ Imagine this: It's a 10-year runway to land the coolest job ever (pun intended). Helping the Olympics run smoothly, from the slopes to the spreadsheets. Living the dream right in my backyard! So, if you’re reading this and happen to know someone who knows someone (you get the idea) involved with the 2034 Winter Olympics, let’s connect! ⛷️ Who wouldn’t want a RevOps guru who’s as passionate about efficiency as they are about hot cocoa and ski lifts? ☕🚡 P.S. Do you have any tips on how to make my LinkedIn post go viral? Asking for a friend. 😜 P.P.S. Repost this if you believe in dream jobs and serendipity. ♻️ Thank you! #WinterOlympics #Utah2034 #RevOps #OpenToWork #DreamJob #JobSearch #CareerGoals #Networking #Olympics2024 #SnowyHeaven #EfficiencyExpert #HotCocoa #SkiLifts #LinkedInTips #GoingViral #Serendipity

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Hot take: You don't need to show the platform on a demo call (AT ALL) for the demo to be successful and to get a contract signed. If prospects have a problem, and you understand how that impacts the rest of their business, and can articulate how your product/service solves this issue AND improves their business, often times thats it. Showing the product is the cherry on top, and confirms what you've been talking about.

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As the VP of Sales for a Seattle-based SaaS company told me 👇 "I could make a salesperson out of anyone if they just follow the sales process. We know it works. When my team don’t follow the sales process, what’s the point of giving them leads?..." Your sales process has been designed to take the guesswork out of the system....So when you’ve got reps who jump stages and take shortcuts, that puts the guesswork back into the system. Good luck forecasting that .. #SalesProcess #SalesExcellence #SaaSCompany #salescoaching #salesenablement #CRO

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From a recent office hours session... ME: How many outbound sales activities do you do every day? "ZERO" Why zero? "We pay people to do that for us." How many outbound sales activities do THEY do every day? "Not sure." You see the problem here?!?! You're the boss and on the hook for results no matter who does the actual work, so you better be able to track data and hold employees/vendors accountable or else you're just wasting money and spinning your wheels.

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Buyer's thoughts on pricing strategy for 2024: Don't make it free, because free software must not have enough value for anyone to really care about implementing it. But also don't charge for it, because it's really tough to get through procurement right now. I want seat based pricing because it's predictable. But I don't want to pay per seat because it gets way too expensive. I want you to charge me based on usage. But I don't want the price to be unpredictable so don't make it usage based. Bundled. Unbundled. Discounted. POC. Monthly. Annual. Multi-Year. IDK. I think my pricing page will just have this meme on it from now on.

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Sales is something we should do WITH people, not TO people. That's the fundamental animating principle of Carole Mahoney's "Buyer First Selling." Buyers are opting out. Figuratively and literally. Various data tells an alarming story: - 30-60% of reps consistently missing quota - 40% of deals ending in no decision And anecdotes reinforce the concerns: - too few meetings - lower success rates in prospecting - diminished digital marketing lead generation Carole offers some powerful insights into how to improve your sales outcomes and how to have more fun doing it. Check out our full conversation here - https://lnkd.in/e_CvSP6E #WomenInSales #B2BSales #Prospecting #OutboundSales #BuyerFirstSelling #SalesProcess

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Best recruiting hack I know - Hire moms. Need more consultative skill sets in your sellers? Hire moms. Need compassionate problem solvers in your success org? Hire moms. Need to create a more cohesive culture? Hire moms. 50% of our headcount are moms and it's the best working culture with the most productive, dedicated, and hard working teams I've encountered. It's not a coincidence. Hire moms.

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Buyers and Sellers both spend too much time on what a product does and not enough time on what the product will do for the Buyer. This is the reason I have always insisted on creating a Solution Recommendation with a 5 Year ROI and TCO, using the Buyers data. If the value isn't there, neither party should proceed. #sales #bdr #cfo #cio

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I’ve helped 12+ AEs and SDRs transition into SE/SC roles. There’s no doubt that you can earn a lot as an AE. AEs can make $1,000,000+ in a good year - a very lucrative career path. But the reality is most AEs don’t get there. It takes an exceptional AE to earn consistently at high levels, year in and year out. (I personally would be a terrible AE 😅) A big reason why folks pivot to Sales Engineering is because the earning potential is solid and much more consistent. That’s what the data in the image shows: 36% avg quota attainment for AEs vs... 74% for SE from this same company, with similar OTE’s As an SE, you don’t always have the extreme upside* that your AE counterpart will, but your income is more stable. (*there are some companies that pay SEs similar to AEs, with SEs able to clear $1M+ in a great year, though this is more of the exception than the rule) As an SE, there’s also less pressure to hit quota, quarter after quarter. The roles are different, with different responsibilities and varying degrees of risk (and upside). Both paths can provide tremendous opportunities depending on your strengths and the type of work you enjoy. Hope this provides some perspective for those who are considering SE or AE career paths. #sales #presales #compensation (source: RepVue)

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