Andrew Sherwood

Our latest survey offers a comprehensive look at the current state of selling, featuring insights from 800 front-line sellers. A standout finding: 3 out of 4 respondents believe they could save at least an hour by eliminating the task of creating personalized emails for prospects. While personalization is essential for connecting with prospects, it’s also incredibly time-consuming. Sellers understand its importance, but those hours quickly add up. We know time is money, and we’re dedicated to providing today’s sellers with the tools they need to personalize efficiently and effectively. Additionally, we asked sellers, “What specific tasks in your role do you think would benefit most from AI and automation?” The top three responses were: 1. Follow-up and engagement tracking 2. Reporting and performance analytics 3. Data entry and CRM updating Our survey uncovers valuable insights into the future of sales. Discover how AI can revolutionize your sales process: https://lnkd.in/gMr_3UNA

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Every AE ever - "I cannot find the information I need, and I need it now!" Sales Leaders, is it a common complaint from your teams that they cannot find the answers? They cannot find competitor information, that latest deck, or that marketing snippet. Do they lose time searching Salesforce, Sharepoint or name your company's resource of choice to find the information? We have the Answer! #Qlik Answers is a stand-alone GenAI (RAG) solution sitting over your unstructured data, every PowerPoint, PDF, email, and text field in your CRM, and so on. Allowing your team to ask a question and get the answer immediately. Demand your teams get the one tool they need!

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It should not be so hard to empower your sales teams. But, in 2023: 📉 53% of CROs struggled to increase sales velocity and rep productivity 📉 72% of salespeople spent time not selling 📉 28% of sales reps expected to attain quota This year, learn how to leverage the power of sales enablement 🚀 https://lnkd.in/eHDKVJ_J #salesenablement #change #saas

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Tired of losing hard-earned deals? Solve for Revenue Leak. In Clari’s 2024 Revenue Leak Report, RevOps leaders said leak happens at every stage of the funnel. - Creating: Poor and slow upsell pipeline tracking - Converting: Unsure where pipeline is dropping off - Closing: Slipped deals Don’t let Revenue Leak drag down another quarter – or another year. Download the Revenue Leak Report for more: https://lnkd.in/eeVWViQz  

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What is the number 1 thing the top sales rep at Gong focuses on in demos? 🛑 Its not building rapport 🛑 Its not showing off the coolest features ✅ Its Aligning to a strategic priority. People don't make budgets for new priorities. But there is always budget for existing ones. Especially ones that are driven from the top down. My last quarter at Chili Piper I jumped back into sales and carried a quota. I knew I had to knock off some rust quick and my first stop for quality sales content was none other than the 30MPC podcast. Listening to Brian LaManna's episode I was able to grab 4 key takeaways from this 4x President's Club winner: 1 - Come with a point of view on what their top priorities might be. It might sound something like "Hey Nick, I was doing some research and noticed you were rolling out MEDDIC methodology to the sales team. Is that the #1 priority for you all or does anything else trump that?" 2 - Never ask "any questions?" Instead => reframe it to "what has stood out the most so far?" Put someone on the spot to think of a question creates a ton of friction. Asking them to share their experience so far lets them speak to what they are feeling and opens up the conversation. 3 - For any secondary calls start with a "What I've learned Slide" Bullet out points that share where they are at today And begin to map out the desired future state that you uncovered in the first call It creates a great baseline to pick up the conversation and see if anything has changed in terms of priorities. 4 - End call with “On a scale of 1-10, how compelling is what you saw today?” Understand where they sit after your demo. And follow up by asking "what would make it a 10 in terms of priority?" This episode was littered with sales nuggets that I was able to implement right away (and helped me hit 280% of my quarterly number) It's also a full circle moment now that we have become partners with 30MPC and helps our mission of levelling up the b2b sales community! #sales #b2bsales #30MPCxAligned

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Poor territory management sinks even the best sales reps. Here are my three rules to help you get territory management right: 1) Ongoing, not static Reps should have smaller territories so they can focus attention. Then, when AEs uncover details that make an assigned account a poor fit, replace it with another high-potential account. If a territory is too big, AEs will be pulled thin. If it's too static, AEs will spin their wheels in poor-fit accounts. I've found focused but evolving territories most effective for all but strategic account segments. 2) Accounts belong to the company, not the rep High-potential accounts with unengaged reps are a massive waste of territory. If a rep doesn't give an account the attention it deserves, leaders should move it to a rep who will. I've seen "stagnant" accounts turn into six-figure wins by moving an account to a rep willing to do the work. 3) Balance propensity and TAM A territory full of potential whales is a slog - reps may work for quarters without closing a deal and getting paid. A territory full of small transactions is a drain—reps will be on a hamster wheel, unable to focus on significant revenue opportunities. Great territory build requires understanding what drives TAM for your product (hint: it's not just revenue and the number of employees) and using tools like Common Room to uncover propensity to buy via mentions, signals, multi-threading, etc., across different sources. Accurate TAM projections + understanding buying propensity = balanced and scalable territory management. Any other territory management rules you have seen drive success?

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AMs and CSMs - invest time, energy, and effort in upskilling yourself from a sales perspective. The best way to mitigate churn (some of which is inevitable) is to create and close expansion pipeline. Too many post sales reps focus solely on putting out fires to protect renewals, and ignore developing sales ability. #sales #salescoaching #startups

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As a sales leader, the single most impactful activity you can spend your time on is EFFECTIVE coaching and development. Telling people, "Never take no for an answer, make more calls, send more emails, and work harder," is not coaching. So what does effective coaching look like? It's narrow but deep. Pick one or two areas that will make a huge impact on the results they see. Get agreement from your teammate on those areas of development. Coach, set benchmarks, expectations, and quality standards around areas until they see measured improvement there. This has now become a behavior tied to positive outcomes. This is the combination necessary to see long-term behavioral changes. Move on to the next. If you are incapable of doing this today, get someone on your team who can. Whether it's an enablement specialist or your own personal coach to help you improve here. But if this is a struggle for you, you are going to have a hard time keeping and retaining talent. It's hard to hire seasoned experienced reps with massive pre-existing books, and frankly, it's debatable whether that is even the best hire today. I'm of the school of thought that the organizations that invest heavily into development with newer, highly coachable, high motor, enthusiastic, and hardworking people will win the day long-term. The golden age of tech sales where all you had to do was book a meeting and voila, Presidents Club, is over. AI is only making sales roles more obsolete for the unevolved rep and leader. The new age sales leader coaches and develops as their primary activity, and they are constantly upskilling their reps to leverage new technology, embrace new methodologies, and evolve them as quickly as the market does. "Death of a Salesman" isn't just an old play. It's what people will experience if they get left behind by standing still. Coach your people. If you need help here, hit me up. If you're already prioritizing this, also hit me up! I'm going to be starting a sales leadership cohort of coach-first leaders that meet monthly virtually, and quarterly in person as a sort of think-tank around this topic specifically. For most sales leaders, being a bad coach isn't their fault. They were often thrust into the role. Staying a bad coach is, however, 100% on you. Sorry if this offends anyone, but it's the truth. Your people deserve better, and so do you. Happy Coaching! #Salesleadership #coachfirst #measure #repeat

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Gong's GTM teams love DealHub! We're geeking out over how Gong, the Revenue Intelligence leaders, are using DealHub.io to, well, rock their sales world! Their Deal Desk, RevOps, and Sales teams are all raving about the platform. Here's why DealHub is a hit at Gong: * Less Busywork, More High Fives: DealHub slashed manual work by 50%, freeing up time for what matters – closing those deals. * Crystal Clear Visibility: Say goodbye to pipeline mysteries! Everyone at Gong has a bird's eye view of the sales process. * Faster Sales Cycles: DealHub helped Gong accelerate their deal cycles, meaning quicker wins and happier customers. * Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Collaboration is key! DealHub fosters seamless communication between all of Gong's awesome teams. Curious how DealHub can boost your RevOps magic? Check out the full story! https://okt.to/WeHlgw #RevOpsLife #SalesTeamWins #DealHubLove #CustomerSpotlight

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Halfway There: Revamp Your Sales Pipeline for 2024 and Beyond. June, and H1, may be in the rearview mirror, but for sales teams, the year is far from over. It's time to take stock of your first half performance and not just shift focus to the remaining months, but strategically build your pipeline for 2025, especially if your sales cycles are longer. Here's why: Analyze First Half Trends: Look at what worked and what didn't. Were there specific lead sources that yielded better results? Did certain product features resonate more with customers? Understanding these trends will inform your approach in the second half. Refine Your Pipeline: Evaluate the health of your current pipeline. Are there deals stuck that need a nudge? Are there promising leads that haven't been nurtured enough? Revamp your pipeline to prioritize high-potential opportunities. Start Building for 2025: For companies with lengthy sales cycles, a six-month window might not be enough.Identify potential long-term clients now and initiate conversations. Plant the seeds early to reap the benefits next year. Action Steps: Revisit Sales Goals: Are your initial targets still realistic? Adjust them based on first-half performance and market conditions. Double Down on What's Working: Replicate successful strategies and tactics from the first half. Invest in Long-Term Relationships: Start nurturing leads for future sales cycles, building trust and brand awareness. By taking a proactive approach, you can ensure a strong finish to 2024 and set the stage for a prosperous 2025.Remember, a well-stocked pipeline today is the foundation for a successful tomorrow.

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Absolutely agree! Unless you're in customer success, it's hard to grasp what CSMs handle daily. They must be consultants, sellers, product experts, industry gurus, relationship managers and incredibly patient - all to excel at their job. When I hear jokes about CS not doing much, it’s clear I’m dealing with someone who has no idea what it takes to run a successful business. To be a CSM, you need to be on your A game constantly, without rest. If you want the best in the industry protecting and advocating for your business, pay them accordingly. End of.

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The SDR-AE collaboration & relationship How should they work together? How do you define what good looks like...and what the hell DOES it look like? How do you document that, make a framework out of it, and scale it across the org? From there, how do you track & measure success? I hit on each point with Brian Dietmeyer on the CloseMode podcast 👀 Find it at all the usual spots: Spotify, YouTube, Apple, Amazon, etc. Link below in comments P.S. SDRs, AEs, Leaders - Would love to hear how you're doing this. Give it a listen & share your thoughts.

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I've been around intent data for the better part of a decade (developing and selling it at G2 and using it ever since). There are two factors I'm hearing from sales leaders that are currently driving intent discussions: 1) People are looking for more efficient ways to prospect because spray and pray doesn't work and conversion rates continue to drop 2) New players are popping up claiming they can do more / better (ZoomInfo, RB2B, etc.) Here's what we are currently experimenting with: > Social "Intent" < We track who likes/comments on our posts, who follows our company, and who is engaged with content that resonates with our value prop. The benefit to this method is that its personal. We can reach out and get generally good responses because they clearly know who we are and we can send customized executive outreach. The hard part about this is twofold: 1) its very manual - though we've used a combination of process, systems, and outsourcing to help 2) there's a reason why I put the word "Intent" in quotes. As with any signal, not everyone is a qualified prospect. > Website visitors < We've tried all the reveal products. They work (ish). It can mix up spouses who both work from home - one product showed my mom was on our website, when it was actually my dad. True story, 👋 mom. So the good news is you now can get person level data making the outreach more cut and dry. However, we've seen limited success in response rates. Our hypothesis is that many people on our site are simply reading a blog or poking around. They may not be an ICP fit or not ready to buy. The outreach cant hurt but it hasn't been as fruitful as first hoped. Couple that with the reminder that good reveal products show ~20% of your visitors, great ones maybe 30-40%. That means that a majority of your visitors aren't being shown, no matter what provider you are using. > 2nd and 3rd Party < Tools like G2 and 6Sense have shown success. But its important to make sure we are placing their value in the right place. These platforms are great for top of the funnel educational outreach. I'd use these tools in conjunction with ads, target account outreach, and social engagement to "strike while the iron is hot." The good news is intent is getting more dialed in. The bad news is there is no silver bullet. IMO the only way to actually see success is to marry these intent data inputs into a larger model that includes other 1st party data which scores the signals and then kickstarts campaigns (automated or not) towards high-intent accounts. Unfortunately, the signals, systems, and plays that need to be set up to make this work effectively are not trivial. So get a good Rev Ops pro, good intent data, and a good strategy and you should be all set :)

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Tip of the Day 🎥 Classic: Differentiating Value Through Education. There are many different sources of insights we can bring to the table and this will serve as a point of difference potentially vs the other sales reps vying for the business because let's face it: it comes down to you vs the other sellers. #differentiation #tipoftheday #b2bsales #valuebasedselling

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A Pipeline Council can be one of the best ways to get alignment between sales and marketing and drive real pipeline growth and closed won revenue. But when Mallory, our SVP of RevOps Strategy, first introduced the concept to me, I didn’t understand how this was different from any normal sales and marketing meeting. Then she explained how to run one and how much deeper it goes. Here’s an outline: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗲𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗣𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗢𝗽𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮. It is shared the day before and attendees must review it before the meeting 𝟮. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽. The meeting has to be a priority. 𝟯. 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲) 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀. You might have to remind each other about that frequently. 𝟰. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀. People have to open up and admit where they need help. There’s no room for ego – it slows down progress. 𝟱. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱. Keep action items and review them at the start and end of each call. The group will be FUN when people are executing and seeing an impact. 𝟲. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰. Regularly revisit the agenda to incorporate fresh data/insights and tackle strategic topics to ensure the council stays relevant and impactful (and not boring). 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? Look for results! A thriving council will see pipeline gaps closing, deals progressing smoothly, and most importantly, revenue targets being achieved. Everyone involved will have a clear understanding of the data and feel invested in the collective success of the revenue engine. For anyone doing these today, anything you’d add? 🤔 More on this in yesterday’s 📰 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙊𝙥𝙨 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙡𝙮 📰 Get it here: https://bit.ly/4cxQn4V ✌️

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It’s never been more difficult to be in sales. To be successful, you need high-value outbound messaging that distinguishes you as the right solution for your prospect. But let's face it — not all reps have the time or access to real-time data to truly understand each prospect's needs...  It's time to meet SAM, the AI-powered sales assistant from Similarweb. Only with SAM do you get: 💡Prospect-tailored insights based on buyer intent, sales signals, and your prospects’ use case 📬Hyper-personalized, ready-to-use outbound messaging that spotlights your company as the right solution 🗓️Instantly generated insights accessible through Gmail and Google Calendar, making sales reps ready for any meeting  You can learn more about SAM’s capabilities here → https://bit.ly/3QOi5BB

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Hey sales leaders. I need your help. I have 4,000 accounts I need data enriched on by end of next week. Who are the best manual data enrichment partners. If you are selling these services, consider this your buying intent signal! 🙂

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The Rise of Social Selling Demands a New Breed of B2B Sales Professional 🌟 As social selling goes mainstream, a different type of B2B sales rep is emerging. The skills that defined sales success in the past - cold calling, canned pitches, hardball closing - need to be more relevant. Reps who thrive in the social selling era are masters of active listening, empathy, and enablement. They build personal brands around helping rather than pitching. These modern sellers are attuned to the buyer's journey and adept at creating value at every touchpoint. Part marketer, consultant, and influencer represent the future of B2B sales. This is a motivating vision for reps looking to level up their skills and mindset to stay ahead of the curve. The rise of social selling is upon us. Will you adapt and thrive - or fall behind? The choice is yours. But the sales landscape is evolving rapidly. Don't get left in the dust. #B2Bsales #socialselling #salesenablement #salesmastery #buyerjourney #thoughtleadership #personalbranding #empathy #modernmarketing #gotomarketstrategy #gotomarket → Join my community and subscribe to my GTM Edge newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gzNvJdmP (sources: https://lnkd.in/gMkgq9AZ, https://lnkd.in/gaurRdNH)

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Gong's GTM teams love DealHub! We're geeking out over how Gong, the Revenue Intelligence leaders, are using DealHub.io to, well, rock their sales world! Their Deal Desk, RevOps, and Sales teams are all raving about the platform. Here's why DealHub is a hit at Gong: * Less Busywork, More High Fives: DealHub slashed manual work by 50%, freeing up time for what matters – closing those deals. * Crystal Clear Visibility: Say goodbye to pipeline mysteries! Everyone at Gong has a bird's eye view of the sales process. * Faster Sales Cycles: DealHub helped Gong accelerate their deal cycles, meaning quicker wins and happier customers. * Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Collaboration is key! DealHub fosters seamless communication between all of Gong's awesome teams. Curious how DealHub can boost your RevOps magic? Check out the full story! https://okt.to/S0b1WB #RevOpsLife #SalesTeamWins #DealHubLove #CustomerSpotlight

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