Hey there 👋
Quick reminder for all the sales teams out there:
Quality > quantity is the name of the game right now.
Especially if you’re trying to reach CXOs & VPs, your emails better be:
🎯 Super specific to their lived problem & how you solve
👋 Hyper-personalized (to the person or company - ideally both)
✅ Simple, valuable, and actionable
Otherwise, it’s getting deleted... maybe skimmed if you’re lucky.
I get 50+ cold emails a day, and I’m sure others see many more.
The secret to getting through? Invest the spend on the quality of your outreach, and less time worried about the quantity.
If you do this well, you WILL stand out and start seeing replies – leaders appreciate sellers who are actually thoughtful about taking up space in their inbox.
- Ross
In this newsletter:
✍️ Product positioning tips for GTM teams
📊 Up-leveling your executive summaries
🤩 Why your flaws > perfection
✍️ 3 Tips for Iterating on Product Positioning
Positioning is EVERYTHING. It’s like the UI / UX for your Sales & Marketing teams.
If you’re not dedicating enough time to your messaging – on an ongoing, iterative basis, not just as a quarterly / occasional exercise – no doubt you’re missing out.
You can help change the type of people / companies who use your product and the value they perceive (& receive) from it… just by how you talk about it.
We’ve spent a lot of time honing and testing Accord’s core message recently, and it’s made a huge difference in the level & quality of conversations we’re having with revenue leaders.
Still iterating, but wanted to share a few key lessons we’ve picked up so far:
1) It’s obvious but must be said – TALK TO YOUR CUSTOMERS / ICP 👂
The only 100% guaranteed way to know that you’re speaking their language and talking about the problems / goals that actually resonate with them.
2) Leverage frameworks to help you craft your message 🧰
April Dunford’s “Obviously Awesome” book & framework was invaluable for helping us build out Accord’s positioning. A 10/10 read I’d recommend to any startup or GTM leader.
3) Test small before going big 🧪
What I mean by this: start testing pieces of your message in low-effort channels (like your LinkedIn, newsletter, conversations, etc) to see what resonates.
As you get feedback and refine, you can start widening the scope: updating across your website, ads, sales collateral, etc. Just remember that you’re never done iterating! 😅
📊 Up-Level Your Executive Summaries
An executive summary is one of the most important resources to share during the sales process – helping sellers align with buyers on challenges and goals, how their solution will help, quantified ROI, and any other info you've discussed that will keep both parties moving in the same direction.
A strong summary also makes it MUCH easier for your champion to sell internally and loop executive stakeholders into the process.
That's why we're thrilled to launch Accord’s new Summary page, focused on making it easier to build & share winning business cases with executives!
The Executive Summary has always been a key part of the platform, enabling sales teams to build & share business cases with their prospects.
But given its importance & impact, we’ve re-prioritized it and given it a BIG upgrade by:
1) Adding new features, section types, and easier customization
2) Moving it to the homepage of each Accord ✨
Now, the Executive Summary is the first thing reps & their prospects / customers will see when they open their Accords – making it easier to create, collaborate, and share your winning business cases with champions & execs.
You can learn more about Summary 2.0 here!
🤩 Inspo
Really loved this LinkedIn post from Josh Braun on why you should flaunt your flaws.
From your sales calls to your website / ad copy, being transparent and open about who your product ISN’T for or what it CAN’T do will give you better results (and more qualified conversations) in the long run.
It’s similar to why people trust a 4.5 star rating more than 5 stars – they’re skeptical of perfect. Imperfect is relatable and real.
Thanks for reading From Vendorship → Partnership 👋
Feedback? Questions? Just hit reply :)
Ross Rich (CEO and Co-founder)
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