Laura Kendall

Aligning sales and marketing is crucial for business growth, but it's not always easy. I've always worked diligently to foster a positive and respectful relationship with sales teams. This article provides some helpful key steps marketing leaders can take to build a positive relationship between them and sales. Check it out to learn how to foster better sales-marketing alignment in your organization. https://lnkd.in/gugjVKPn

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You don't want to miss one of our most touted experts, John Hall, CPA - Keynote Speaker, Consultant, as he shares his expertise on how to use critical thinking skills to keep skepticism and bias in check during audits. Due to so many requests for more time with John, this webinar is 2 hours (and 2 CPE credits) in length.

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If you’re doing outbound sales, start at the top. If you catch the attention of the C-Suite, and they forward your email because they don’t have time… the recipient (likely the actual decision maker) will feel more obligated to get a demo. Think about it: How many times have you demoed software because YOU replied to a sales email? -versus- How many times have you demoed software because your boss or your boss’s boss forwarded you an email and said “can you look into this software?” - You feel obligated to get at least look into it and probably get a demo. #B2BSales #B2BMarketing

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Tomorrow at 10AM Pacific I'm hosting a live webinar about how to build high-converting lead lists. In my experience, 80% of your success in sales comes down to who you're targeting in the first place, but this topic doesn't get much love in the popular discourse. So, tomorrow we'll dive into how to build highly segmented, targeted lists that will set you up to have meaningful conversations with your prospects. Dropping the registration form as a comment — hope to see you there!

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I'm doing yet another product hunt launch: https://lnkd.in/esHrd4hX CalendarHunter helps you discover hidden meeting scheduling links like Calendly. CalendarHunter can help you find leads on Linkedin, Twitter, and Reddit. The tool is still early stage so any feedback is welcome. #ProductHunt #GrowthHacking

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CS teams NEED to start "managing up" with execs and the board by talking about REVENUE. Yes, you can keep talking about sentiment and feelings, but start with the $. Don't lead with churn- Bottom-line-focused execs don't like that headline, so you need to tell the story better. An informal poll had CS teams owning over 50% of the revenue of many SaaS companies. Lead with this and have it be your first talking point. From there you will be able to get more things done with other departments, as your requests will be revenue-focused Need to get a Customer Success Platform as you scale? Point to revenue and the potential to lose revenue without efficiencies Need to hire more to prevent burnout? Point to Revenue potential with renewals and upsells Talk in the language your execs and board want to hear.

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If you're hiring for revops, here are top traits to look for. It's not pure analytics or tool knowledge. 😀 IC Focused/Exec Aligned RevOps is about helping the front line. The reps. Its not about decks, execs or the CRM. I was at my best when I had this. And my worst when I didn't. The company hits their number when the reps do. Look for servant leaders. They become reps best friends and execs right hand. 🤝 They can rally the wagons RevOps must drive impact through multiple stages of the customer journey. The RevOps pro has to work WITH those teams and not around. 👍 Good Communicator Being able to communicate key findings and implement changes is critical. The right answer stuck on tab 9 doesnt do anyone any good if revops can action it. 📗 High FIFO Factor Figure it the f*ck out. People go to revops to solve problems. New tool? Learn it. Don't know the answer? Find it. Leads broken? Fix it. ⬆ Student of the Game: This person is always learning. Podcasts, books, new tools they learned, etc. RevOps isn't for the static. The game changes too fast. Combine those with a good grasp of data analytics, tools, systems, and process. And you're likely to make a good revops hire.

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If you want to drive impact and influence with your buyers, you want to surround them with the voices they already trust. That’s the simple explanation for the power of nearbound marketing. Including your partners in your GTM motion is a huge unlock for all parties involved. The power of ecosystem at work. At Vena Solutions, we’re focused on growth through this model and the future is bright. Orchestration for greater impact and scale through a combination of partner specialization and account based engagement, will leave you better prepared to withstand whatever comes in the future. Companies and GTM leaders leveraging these ecosystems at scale are driving: 1️⃣ More revenue 2️⃣ More customer delight 3️⃣ Happier sellers 4️⃣ More productive partners 5️⃣ Stronger bonds, both internally and in the market If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it basically is 😉 If you’re interested in getting into the details, the team at Reveal just released an awesome resource. It’s a blueprint that can help you overlay your account-based segmentation and partner marketing strategy across all GTM teams AND the entire customer journey. Talk about a game changer… You can get a copy (for free!) at the link in the comments. #Nearbound #NearboundMarketing #Partnerships Isaac Morehouse Jessica Fewless Shawnie Hamer

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Great dinner and discussion on the cutting edge of outbound automation and signals. Two nuggets from the discussion: 1) Email deliverability is especially critical for GTM motions with large scale outbound automation (usually selling to SMBs and wide TAM). There doesn’t seem to be a silver bullet, and banking on one deliverability vendor / approach is risky. 2) Bulllish on signals and automation for up-market GTM motions, but needs to be done thoughtfully. Likely keeping reps in the driver’s seat and less end-to-end automation.

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You've reached the wrong department...let me transfer you to a place called Nowhere. From dealing with government agencies, and dining out at a restaurant to the quality of products and pricing, we've all had a share of gripes around poor customer experience. While consultants can come up with a litany of important sounding words and phrases, what it really comes down to this question: As a customer, are you treated well and do you feel like you got your money's worth? The harsh consensus is generally not. And while we can blame ongoing pre-pandemic staffing shortages, which no doubt contribute to these shortcomings, the problems actually run deep. Kind of a big deal...it begins (and often ends) with customer service. Whether you're at a store or calling a specific department, wait times and staff attention matter. Retailers know this. Government agencies know this. Businesses know this. Unfortunately, this area is often the first that gets scaled back. At a time when plenty of items and services has essentially commoditized and well, homogenized, in the view of consumers, the one big differentiator that companies continue to underappreciate and ignore is top-notch customer service. Get the odor eaters and put yourself in the customers' shoes. Customers remember when they've been treated well, and conversely, they don't forget when they haven't. Rather than increase customer service resources, there's been an increasing shift towards customer-service AI chatbots with varying results. Chatbots, unfortunately, are today's equivalent of voicemail trees, sending customers through an endless odyssey of "Jeopardy" where the categories eventually sound the same. Ironically, many customers will simply request to speak with a human being, who is likely one of the few remaining who are overworked. That tells you all you need to know about what customers think about chatbots. Rome wasn't built in a day, but...given the ruins formerly known as customer service, you knew customer experience would certainly suffer. That comes into full view whether you're conducting business online or venturing out to the physical world. Visit a retail store these days (yes, people do that), and the first thing you'll notice is the lack of clerks, cashiers and floor people. Aside from self-checkout, you're lucky if you find that one cashier who's been ostracized to the Mars outpost in the store. Restaurants have their own set of problems with limited, yet expensive menu items and insufficient staff to manage orders and tables. Is this intended to be a vent fest? Of course not. But it does reflect a larger issue: customers often feel like companies don't prioritize value. About the only thing that's consistent are the reports that show a decline in customer service and experience year after year https://lnkd.in/gwgDcUxf #customerservice #business #customerexperience #artificialintelligence #generativeai #chatbots #value

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This is 1000% correct. People don’t buy products, they buy solutions. If you’re buying a solution, you need trust. Great relationships = trusted solutions. As I embark on my CiviSocial journey selling a product I am deeply passionate about and believe in, this was a great reminder to focus on establishing a relationship founded in trust… then sell my plan!

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Change time! I’m psyched to soon be joining DataSnipper to help them further accelerate their Demand Generation efforts! After securing a $100M funding round only 2 months ago, DS is gearing up for the next part of their growth journey. This inevitably means I’m also leaving Gainsight. Gainsight has been a pretty wild ride. From building out inSided’s success in B2B SaaS and Customer Success and a potential Series B, to eventually being acquired by Gainsight and delving into the demand side of all of their products, buying other companies—I would say I have been pretty fortunate and my journey has been one of many highs and successes. For this I’m grateful. I’m also grateful for the astonishingly good & fun people I’ve met along the way. Robin van Lieshout for putting up with me through times of crazy growth, an acquisition and many future dinners to come. Nick Mehta and Monika Saha for giving me the chance to uplevel my skills, and hopefully also some of the organization. Jordan Sher, Lauren Olerich, Silvina El Baba, Matthew Wasley, Robin Merritt, Kellie Capote, Rea Stambuk, Silvia Atanasova, Trisha Mistry, and many others for making every day that bit more fun and a learning moment. I’ll continue to follow GS closely. This will also be the first time in 7 years that I don’t work directly with some of my (now) best friends like Udit Lakhotia, Pascal Debets, Bas Klomp, Joris Dieben, Becky May, Anne Willems and many more. This will be weird, but there’s eternal love here! ❤️ Finally, this will also be the first time in 7 years that I don’t work directly ‘in’ Customer Success. Now, I love this industry and won’t forget it. I’ll look for ways to keep contributing to the community as I have in the past (more on that later) as I’m bad at letting go and invested so much already ;-) I’ve met so many amazing people that are a part of this community, that it has become a pretty intricate part of my professional career and network. That’s something to nurture for sure and I know it. As for Datasnipper. Founded by this company has seen CRAZY growth, has incredible PMF, and a Marketing team that’s ready to take all that to the next level. Plus, being in Marketing means I’ve been close friends with Finance & financials for years :D It only makes sense! lol. I’ve been blown away by the results, culture, and mission—making it a no-brainer to sign up. Thank you Vidya Peters, Bas Willems, Sam Brown and many others in the leadership team for the opportunity. LFG, I can’t wait.

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Tired of flying blind when it comes to company spending? I’ve got great news!  Airbase has launched spend analytics to give you high-definition on-demand visibility into company spend. You’ll see spend by vendor, department, subsidiary, project, and more to surface savings opportunities and areas for process improvement. Make smarter decisions faster with better analytics. See more in the link below 👇

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✨IMO AI is best used to help sales managers get out of reports and and surface key coaching moments so they can do the coaching, encouraging, and inspiring... not for AI to do the encouraging and inspiring so that managers look at more reporting ✨ If I ever got a "congrats/good job" email from a leader that is written by AI and not from my leader, I'd be so mad. There is a place for HUMAN INTELLIGENCE alongside ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

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What do you need in order to improve pipeline health, forecast accuracy, and revenue predictability? >> Effective deal reviews << Join Salesloft + Seismic for a webinar where industry experts will chat through their proven strategies and best practices for holding productive and insightful deal reviews. For sales and RevOps leaders, learn how to establish a repeatable process for deal reviews that is consistent, in-depth, and delivers results. For sellers, learn how to show up prepared and get the actionable feedback you need to win more deals. Join us: https://lnkd.in/eKzr99PN

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The silver lining about #SaaS #GTM being so challenging right now is that we all get to build a new playbook. I've been thinking deeply about that for my own org, and there are two related streams of insights forming: 1. Rethinking GTM teams within unified pipeline architecture frameworks. What does the new go-to-market team look like? How do we identify talent and build high-performing organizations? 2. Stratified frameworks for adopting & leveraging AI tools at scale in go-to-market work. I'd like to write both of these up so we can explore them together. Where should I start? Let me know in the comments which is most top of mind for you. 👇

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Solving the No Call No Show (NCNS), where a nurse signs for a shift but does not show up, is a critical need for healthcare, especially for ERs and other acute care facilities. Here's a guide to the best practices for managing NCNSs from top healthcare marketplaces and providers. 👇 #healthcare #acutecare #staffing #gigeconomy

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The Omnichannel Imperative Today's customers aren't channel-bound. They might switch from a support ticket to live chat to a phone call – all within a single issue. As Customer Success leaders, we must ensure they receive consistent, high-quality support regardless of how they engage. Here's where inconsistencies hurt: Repeating themselves: Customers hate having to re-explain their issue every time they switch channels. It's frustrating and wastes time. Conflicting information: Support reps across channels must agree on product updates, policies, and solutions. Lost trust: Inconsistent service erodes customer confidence, making them question whether your company has their best interests at heart. How to achieve omnichannel excellence: The first step is acknowledging that each communication channel has its nuances. Email requires clarity and thoroughness, while social media demands quick, more engaging responses. Live chat is all about rapid resolution, and phone support provides a personal touch, often needed for more complex issues. Like a conductor, you must know how each instrument plays to make the entire orchestra work in unison. Centralized knowledge base: Invest in a robust platform where all customer interactions, case notes, solutions, and product info are stored. An often overlooked aspect is the fluidity between channels. Customers might start a conversation on one channel and continue on another. Providing a seamless transition without loss of context or quality is essential. We achieve this through meticulously maintained customer logs and data synchronization. Cross-channel collaboration: Facilitate regular information sharing and case handoff procedures between teams who manage different support channels. Customers shouldn't have to work harder because your internal processes are siloed. A consistent, seamless support experience across all touchpoints builds loyalty and demonstrates a genuine customer-centric approach. What are your biggest challenges in ensuring consistent customer service across email, chat, phone, and other channels? #CustomerSuccess

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