Sales & Marketing Strategies & Technologies

Top sales performers manage sales conversations differently. Best-in-class / top 20% sellers "𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀" - Korn Ferry 2024 Sales Maturity Survey Article below covers the video summary in detail... Actionable insights & playbook to optimise sales conversations https://lnkd.in/dpEQ2k8h P.S. Want to enable your sales team to effortlessly have 1) Live conversations on-demand in 4.5 mins With only named prospects on your target list (whether you have their direct dial or not) 2) Get smarter with every call I can get you set up for free... 1) To have more conversations in a day than you've likely had in the last month 2) Identify areas of opportunity you couldn't learn any other way Book in a time to discuss here: https://lnkd.in/dPTGV9qm

Sales channel diversification often delivers inferior results to focussing on best performing channel Multichanneling creates complexity / additional busy work - "Overwhelmed sellers are 43% less likely to attain quota" (Gartner July 2024) BUT ALSO By minimising high performing channels (ironically) diversification also dooms itself. STOP this self-sabotaging madness... Based on flawed, but often unchallenged, assumptions

Self-Defeating Lies Sellers Tell Themselves 1) Personalisation is necessary 2) Quality > Quantity 1) FACT: Relevance > Personalisation Show me you know my business pains & how to solve them ALWAYS > Show me that you know me personally Pointless personalisation (=) creepy con / scam Makes me think you're desperate and don't offer any real value 2) FACT: Quality AND Quantity. Both are 100% necessary for high performance... not mutually exclusive either / or ALL AGREE QUALITY IS IMPORTANT BUT many still misallocate limited active selling time to low quality, low trust sales channels e.g. email sequence spam cannons with lazy AI enrichment... burning NOT building bridges Quality is often used as an excuse for lack of activity QUANTITY IS VITAL a) Market coverage 2-3% of your market is buying now, 7-8% of your market in next 6-12 months Ensure that you speak with your entire market to identify who is who & earn these easy near term opportunities. Note: actual conversations with decision makers at target accounts is high quality communication / north star of sales effectiveness b) You need to benchmark where you are at - If you only practice X a handful of times, do you think you'll identify all the permutations of incorrectness in your doing, even if you are self-aware / analyse every recorded put? - Not a chance… just wishful think and another lazy lie we tell ourselves - By doing X a lot AND quality control of continual feedback you accurately model what you do, and so reveal areas of opportunity for improvement / catch lapses back into bad habits - You need to know where you are so you can know how to get where you want to be c) Muscle memory is built from repetition - Nobody got good at anything by not practicing - BUT repetition does not automatically make you better. It only makes you better if you adjust/fine-tune as you go, otherwise you'll be reinforcing bad habits so constant feedback & adjustments are needed to refine approach CONCLUSION Practice doesn't make perfect. Volume of practice with constant feedback + growth mindset makes perfect (& a good coach - all top performers have them) Purposeful practice with marginal improvements (earn or learn mentality) compounded by repetition = sure path to mastery BUT if I had to only choose quality OR quantity... I’d choose quantity, because quality is a function of quantity AND in sales you make your own luck with market coverage P.S. The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves No more hiding behind flawed thinking / BS excuses of “I need to research / personalise”. Prioritise conversations that matter with decision makers your market: the real work of being in sales - You’ll learn things you never could from research by actually speaking to them: unique unfiltered 1st party from the horse's mouth (=) real competitive advantage - What is more personalised than a real-time 1-2-1 conversation? What are your thoughts?

Sales channel diversification often delivers inferior results to focussing on best performing channel Multichanneling creates complexity / additional busy work - "Overwhelmed sellers are 43% less likely to attain quota" (Gartner July 2024) BUT ALSO By minimising high performing channels (ironically) diversification also dooms itself. STOP this self-sabotaging madness... Based on flawed, but often unchallenged, assumptions

1) Speed of sales cycle & 2) Volume of gualified leads generated are the Top #SalesLeadership Challenges today ("The State of Sales" research I've been involved with) Is this true in your business? P.S. I'm seeing differences of priorities depending on size / maturity of sales org. #vpsales #saleseffectiveness #sales #salesperformance

You Need to 1) Close the gap in your sales maturity 2) Generate revenue > efficiently & effectively. THE SOLUTION: Run a Confidential & Complimentary Sales Audit https://lnkd.in/dPTGV9qm • Benchmark your function • Spot performance gaps and highlight areas of opportunity where 1 of your team excels that others can follow • Build an action plan that prioritises the highest impact activities to improve your function’s effectiveness THE PROBLEM IS HUGE Pipeline has always been sales forecast insurance / lifeline BUT required pipeline multiple has increased dramatically recently 1) B2B Sales Benchmarks from Ebsta / Pavilion, in 2024 YoY Win rates down 18% ACVs down 21% Sales cycles 16% longer Size of decision making unit expanded Number of touches for impactful engagement have increased 📉 69% of reps are missing quota 👨🔧 There’s an 8.9x delta between top performers and the rest of their peers 2) Objective Management Group's Sales Pipeline Benchmarking Data Reveal: Shortfall in pipeline quantity puts revenue targets at risk and hampers growth potential. Only 49% of salespersons self-reported four closeable opportunities in their pipelines, with a significant portion having even fewer. (=) > 59% of salespeople are not meeting the minimum threshold for pipeline quantity. Less than one of the three "closeable opportunities" reported by the average salesperson were deemed "truly closeable". Alarmingly, nearly 75% of opportunities were categorised as 'suspect' or 'prospect,' indicating a lack of essential qualifiers such as engagement with decision-makers or confirmed budgets. So only 3% of all salespersons had four "truly closeable" opportunities in their pipeline. AHHH. TOP TIPS 1) Go Outbound "There’s only one cure for elongated sales cycles and pipeline deficits... Go outbound" Andreessen Horowitz "Imperative that companies become obsessed at knowing, identifying, and targeting their ICP ... this means outbound" Pavilion Over reliance on partners & inbounds was blamed by > 90% of 6k+ EMEA B2B sales leaders polled for them missing their target Sales & Marketing Strategies & Technologies 2) Focus on & Optimise Live Conversations with Decision Makers Best-in-class / top 20% sellers "𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀” "Teams labeled as trusted partners achieved 48% higher quota attainment and 25% higher win rates than those who were approved vendors" Korn Ferry 2024 Sales Maturity Survey "Increase interaction quality by helping sellers: Focus activity on high-quality outreach efforts, not just batch and blast volume" Gartner Pick up the phone - Channel-Market-Fit is Moneyball today: https://lnkd.in/dt7PZMhG Top Sellers Make 82% more calls and send 24% less email McKinsey & Company #salesstrategy #salesleadership #sales #salesperformance

CFO is often ultimate buyer / key to sales effectiveness today. Most overlooked / miss-sold to stakeholder #csuiteselling I'm a qualified accountant & sales director. Here's my 2p 1) Talk to YOUR CFO / people you know in this role about their strategic priorities How do they assess options / buying criteria, frustrations with buying process... see the world through that lense & note the phrases they use A friend who is a enterprise CFO shared: - Overcoming the CRuD a) Cost of change b) Risk of a poor outcome c) Disruption to the organisation - Four Whys a) Why do anything? - current situational pain b) Why do it now? - urgency / the cost of doing nothing c) Why this particular solution? - the differentiated solution with customer references d) Why take the risk? - the value of going through the CRuD. Not only about cost cutting; as we emerge from recession: optimising budget for growth is key. For each X he cut, he reallocated 22X; beware “the paradox of thrift” 2) SPEAK to Prospect CFO early - Focus on Board Level Priorities Have conversations up front / be consultative NOT email (doesn't count) Ensure your value proposition aligns to top priority / strategic initiative / pain e.g. CEO statement CFOs don't waste time on "nice to haves": extra purchasing oversight / scrutiny = > time poor than ever Lose / Disqualify Fast: Get Feedback; iterate ICP / VP 3) Ensure your champion has an effective narrative to sell you internally to the CFO - coach them up Speak to Sellers at Target Account: your peers can give you guidance - they have to sell to their CFO themselves 4) Reduce Risk of Change / Make doing nothing Risky 0-cost, easy to deploy POC trial so have proof of value / truly relevant data > 3rd party case study, references / testimonials 5) Multi-thread Each member of the buying committee / decision making unit will have different needs - personalise to each persona CFO often has best perspective on how your solution systemically impacts their organisation across functions, so can get company-wide benefit insight and perhaps reallocate budget from wider business 6) Cost of Inaction > ROI (=) FOMU > FOMO To be credible: must be built with #cfo to accurately model, earn trust, be championable: THEIR calculation not the vendors. Recheck calculations/assumptions No happy ears / rose-tinted 🤓 Give the CFO confidence in modelling & make it easy to show value at a #boardmeeting as most deals lost to no decision CFOs allocate limited resource to maximise strategic goals: so know the sales maths for competing budget allocations 7) Understand their buying process NOT your #salesprocess MAP = forecast accuracy What is purchase conditional on 8) CFO Negotiations Don't concede anything until all of the ‘asks’ are on the table & always ask why they’re asking for X If lose deal: do post mortem: what went wrong/why? If win deal: how could have made buying easier What would you add? #enterprisesales #consultativeselling

It's 𝗕𝗗𝗥 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 🫡 I salute all the pipeline heroes out there. FREE 🎁 for you below - Tag your team. How are you celebrating BDR contribution? Must publicly thank my own team (every week is BDR appreciation week with this crew!) 🙏 𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛 𝗕𝗗𝗥 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲) 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 💪 - 2.8 hours / day (=) 112 hours aggregated - 802 CXO conversations (=) 6.53 conversations / hour. - Wait time to speaking to ONLY a named target on their list ⏩ 3 mins 42s despite only having 16% DDIs & mobile numbers - 67.46 meetings booked directly (=) 0.6 meetings booked / hour 🚀 from cold calling alone 😂 Too busy building £millions in 2024 revenue & future pipeline to read the "cold calling is dead 💀 memo" I suppose? 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗗𝗥𝘀 / 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺? 🧠 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 SDRs / BDRs 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙭𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚... - Contact me https://lnkd.in/efp6zCiy 🎁 Happy to set you up for FREE to test out our conversations on-demand weapon - you deserve it! - Guarantee you'll will speak with more decision-makers on your wishlist than you have in weeks. #BDRAppreciationWeek #prospecting #SalesDevelopment #SDR ConnectAndSell, Inc RevGenius Pavilion Modern Sales Pros GTMfund CRO Connected SalesHookup SDRs of London SDRs of Germany Sales Confidence 6sense

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀? 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗛𝘆𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝟭) 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 Major shift: Out with large, green teams. In with lean tech-empowered pros 2) 𝗢𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘀: Best performers are NOT 1st or 2nd jobbers. Not an entry role! Stop being ageist! Experienced people with important soft & hard skills outperform in sales dev across 100's of sales orgs I have audited. 𝗮) 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗗𝗥 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 Move on in 12 months; Professionalism > Progression 𝗯) 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 & 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Won't get phased by getting hung up on (would you hang up on your parents or grandparents?) & no micro management required 𝗰) 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 & 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 Turn-up & get it done mindset; won't forget their laptop of the tube after a bender; won't be focussed on side gigs 𝗱) 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗢𝘄𝗻 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 / 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 - not needy, seeking approval or scared of how others see them, crippled by feedback 𝗲) 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 > 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻, 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 Function of > life experience; likely had big boy conversations & closer to mentality of the decision making unit you are trying to access. Experience sells. Youthful ambition tells. 3) 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀... 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮) 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗻𝘀 & 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮/𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 (> about their future than helping hit revenue targets now!) Mandate time is spent actively speaking to the market on the phone: the channel that works exponentially better (& ironically activates email/Linkedin). Rep doesn't decide GTM channel, that is a strategy decision, they should be 100% execution. 𝗯) 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 - 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆! Not their role to set strategy nor to source contact data. Have 1 specialist who does this for everyone faster/better: No need for expensive databroker licenses for everyone. 𝗰) 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵. The best don't do pre-call research, they execute a relevant message to a specific list & real-time research if X picks up. If you really believe pre-research is necessary (you're wrong): have a dedicated person who can leverage AI to streamline this 𝗱) 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Relevant, value-adding message > creepy 🤮(obviously AI done) personalisation Part 4) continued below... #salesdevelopment #saleseffectiveness #sdr #salesleadership #salesstrategy ConnectAndSell, Inc