Howie Rothstein’s Post

29 years 29 years since that sweet feeling of victory. I was 9, and was blessed to be in a parade that is never guaranteed to happen again. My son is 10 now and wishes he also had the same experience Seems silly to even write this, but the heartbreak is real. My boy cried and held his mom, and I looked down into my semi-warm beer and wondered why. My fellow SF Bay Area natives know how we’re feeling, feel free to comment below. So how do we get out of this funk? Easy… We succeed, we sell, we improve. This is where I introduce a solution... Don’t let past failures dictate your future success #memoryblue, we have the leads.... memoryBlue has over 350 academy trained and managed SDRs in 7 Offices across the U.S. We primarily hire recent college graduates that are eager to learn sales in the tech industry. Our SDRs average 80-120 calls a day, 30-50 emails, and 30-50 daily Linkedin connections/interactions which lead to high quality opportunities for our clients. 🐘 #memoryblue, we have the leads.... As always, reach out to me directly if your organization is looking to add to its sales funnel. #memoryblue 

Just finished the first section of my Tech Sales course, covering ideal customer profiles, buyer personas, sales terminology, the sales cycle and cadence, and the amazing book How to Win Friends and Influence People! Interested in starting a Tech Sales career too? Use my link below.

Just finished the first section of my Tech Sales course, covering ideal customer profiles, buyer personas, sales terminology, the sales cycle and cadence, and the amazing book How to Win Friends and Influence People! Interested in starting a Tech Sales career too? Use my link below.

Just finished the first section of my Tech Sales course, covering ideal customer profiles, buyer personas, sales terminology, the sales cycle and cadence, and the amazing book How to Win Friends and Influence People! Interested in starting a Tech Sales career too? Use my link below.

I lost a potential million dollar deal this week. I came out to San Francisco for the AI Engineer World’s Fair. Gabe and I sat down with a client for dinner. But we didn’t secure a deal as we’d hoped… He straight up rejected us. “Your value proposition is great. I just don’t think an enterprise like ours is your ICP.” He then pinpointed the mismatch: “We don’t move fast. So why would I find your urgency valuable when I can’t match it?” He didn’t leave us hanging though. He offered a solution: “You need to find companies that believe in what you’re doing and who match the same level of urgency?” Urgency in hiring. Urgency in need for quality. Urgency in flexibility. I can honestly say, what he gave us was way more valuable than a contract. His feedback was mind-blowing! Moving forward, we can use it exactly to: - refine our product development - realign our sales strategy - retarget the right customer profile Talking to him was worth every minute. His perspective potentially saved us from months, if not years of misdirected efforts. Sometimes the hard truth can really sting but it’s often an honest reality check, not a dead end. I have a ton of gratitude even in a loss like this. We can’t wait to put these insights into action 🙌

What is the most fundamental basic thing a sales team can do? 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁 A messaging matrix. Credit: Jason Bay "That messaging matrix is for the persona that I sell into: 1) what are their top level priorities? What are the patterns there?💎 2) What's the status quo so what's the current solution, people, tools, processes, how do they get the job done?⛏️ 3) What are the problems that creates for them and the impact of that?👀 4) And then a quick kind of aspiration question, what do they want to do over the next six to 12 months? Executives maybe multiple years out.📅 So I think really getting back to fundamental basics, that actionable thing that you can do is you want to run a messaging workshop with your top sellers. Get 15-20 people in a room or 5-10 if you got a smaller team, and you're gonna work through each persona, you're gonna spend 30 minutes on persona A and you're all going to come to a consensus on the common language around their priorities. This concept of "we have to meet our prospects in their world and aligned with what they care about first, before we talk about our thing" is the most fundamental basic thing that you can do." Get the Messaging Matrix framework and worksheets here Outbound Squad. Jason Bay even made a YT video where he dives deeeeep into this 😀 👋 Hey, I'm Béranger, I consider myself senior SDR at Cloud Gateway. To get where I am today, I was fortunate enough to find CourseCareers and meet with an exceptional instructor there. If, like me, you want to break into tech sales and have a rewarding career, you can join here: https://lnkd.in/eZPtSyr5 To your success,🚀

Pro tip: New sales engineers, whether starting fresh or transitioning to a new company, leverage your past experiences. Embrace the training but don't shy away from sharing the value you bring. Actively participate in meetings, ask questions, seek mentorship, and join calls. Cultivating these habits is key—they lay the foundation for a lasting impact when you're in the field or handling calls independently. #salesengineer #solutionsconsultant #tech

Everyone wants to get promoted, but for Solution Engineers, sometimes it's not clear what it takes to go to the next level. Here are 3 things I did that helped me get promoted within 18 months of starting as an SE. 𝘞𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 Every Friday I sent my manager a weekly highlight/preview message. It showcases my accomplishments from the week, lessons I've learned, and my top 3 priorities for the following week. It takes 5-8 minutes a week to write and serves as a concise summary of my week, keeping my manager informed outside of our 1-1 meetings. When I became a manager, I implemented this practice with my team. While one recommendation is to create a 'brag book', I essentially create one every week and every quarter. An added benefit is that I have received the 'SE of the Quarter' recognition more frequently than before. I firmly believe it's because I regularly communicate and highlight my accomplishments to my manager. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 It may seem simple, but have an open conversation with your manager about what it takes to get promoted to a Principal SE. A few years ago, I asked my manager about the next steps to advance my SE career, and he shared a slide deck that outlined the distinctions between Lead and Principal positions. Your organization might not have something as formal, but your manager should provide valuable insights on the areas you need to develop. It will also give you an understanding of the gap your supervisor perceives between your current performance and the next promotion. 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘴 Whenever you collaborate with other Principal Solution Engineers on deals, make sure to inform your manager. The biggest deal I was involved in was a significant 'art of the possible' project for an auto manufacturer. The licensing costs amounted to $6M, but it was projected to save the automaker $50-75M annually. We dedicated a 10-hour day to dry runs before the final presentation. What stood out to me was reporting back to my manager that I was the only non-Principal SE in the team, surrounded by the 'A-team' from every other department. I held my ground and performed just as well as Solution Engineers who had twice the experience. I was promoted to Principal in less than 6 months later. I'm not promising that if you do these 3 things you'll get promoted. But I guarantee that you'll have a clear roadmap of what it takes to get promoted.