Hey there,
t-4 business days to wrap up the month, or quarter, or half for those on the “saas fiscal”.
Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about ‘the craft of sales’ based on conversations with CROs + VP Sales that seem to be more and more focused on getting back to the core of rigorous, value-based selling.
Apparently, it wasn’t just me… last week John Barrows shared his frustrations about reps not being prepared for calls. Not living up to the standards we should all have around sales.
Out of 20 calls, 70% of reps could not tell John a single thing about him or his business. As John puts it: “it's not an option to be average anymore” but it's still staggering the number of reps and teams that are still doing the absolute bare minimum and thinking it will make them successful in 2024.
I’ve said it before - teams that win, give a sh*t. They’re enforcing excellence when it comes to deal execution, and at the end of the day, true sales-led-sales is back (gone are of these acronyms trying to replace the art of B2B sales).
Yes, there will always be blue birds, and customers ready to buy due to the feature set. But to consistently get high value deals done in this market, reps need to be running a well thought out strategy that hinges on real impact, not just product. Leaders need the ability + tools to drive exec engagement, strong business cases, multi-thread, and help their team elevate.
It’s an especially interesting time in the revenue world because AI use is high, but the expectation for a rigorous enterprise-level sales process is even higher.
While there is a time and a place for AI (eg copy.ai and Gong doing great things - and sellers who are using it well can be very impactful!) but it can also make it feel like you’re doing the right things because of what the GPT spits out vs doing the basics.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be visiting Accord’s customers in Toronto, NYC, Denver, San Francisco, Chicago and would love to hear your take on the current state of the market over a coffee or lunch!
- Ross
In this newsletter:
- 10/10 GTM Podcast - Latest Episodes with Jacco Van Der Kooij, Kyle Coleman, Emma Galler, and Chris Calkin
- Upcoming Masterclass - Value Selling: Building a Culture of Impact
- Featured Customer - Freshworks
10/10 GTM Podcast - Latest Episodes with Jacco Van Der Kooij, Kyle Coleman, Emma Galler, and Chris Calkin
Awesome conversations with top revenue leaders from Winning by Design, Copy.ai, Formstack, and Census. In our most recent episodes we chat about:
- Establishing effective go-to-market processes
- Creating a winning culture
- Why pipeline solves all problems
- Value proposition alignment with strategic initiatives
- The importance of inputs and outputs in order to be successful at sales
And much more.
Check out the full episodes below and subscribe to get alerted when new ones drop!
Growth, Discipline & Effective GTM with Jacco Van der Kooij, Founder, Winning by Design
In this episode, Jacco and I discuss why understanding growth, establishing effective go-to-market (GTM) processes, and maintaining discipline in execution are all key to successfully scaling your organization.
Why Pipeline Solves All Problems with Emma Galler, VP of Sales at Formstack
In this episode, Emma and I discuss why driving execution excellence hinges on creating a winning culture, building a cadence around operational excellence, and understanding why having a strong pipeline solves all problems.
Why Your Value Proposition Isn't Sticking with Kyle Coleman, CMO at Copy.ai
In this episode, Kyle and I discuss the importance of account POVs, contact POVs, and value proposition alignment with strategic initiatives. Kyle explains how these elements are crucial for driving execution excellence across sales teams.
The Importance of Inputs, Outputs, and Outcomes with Chris Calkin, VP of Revenue at Census
In this episode, Chris and I discuss the importance of every team member providing both inputs and outputs, the necessity of confirming the desired outcome before each call, and the critical role of setting a go-live date while holding everyone accountable.
Upcoming Masterclass - Value Selling: Building a Culture of Impact
Traditional product-centric sales tactics don’t work in 2024. The bottom line matters more than ever, and if your offering doesn’t hit on a top strategic initiative, it’s getting deprioritized. Rather than focusing on features, value selling highlights your tangible impact and up-levels your approach to partnering with clients.
More teams are investing in value selling methodologies like MEDDPICC, Force Management, and Challenger. But are these investments truly paying off?
On August 20th we will be hosting a masterclass where top value selling companies will share actionable frameworks to build, implement, and measure your value selling approach.
Keep an eye out for upcoming registration, or respond to this email with “Value Selling” and we will reach out to you when registration is live!
Featured Customer - Freshwork
Freshworks Inc. is a cloud-based software-as-a-service provider catering to mid-market and enterprise firms. The company specializes in service management and customer experience software, serving various Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 clients and helping them transform their businesses through these technologies.
A typical transaction for Freshworks ranges from $80,000 to $200,000 in revenue, with an average sales cycle of 4 to 6 weeks. Over the past nine years, the company has focused on going up-market and penetrating the enterprise space.
As Freshworks focused on going up-market, the company faced some resistance. The primary challenge the sales team faced was the lack of executive connections with direct ties to the economic buyer.
Freshworks was looking to address 3 core issues when they were evaluating Accord:
- Slipping timelines
- Insufficient executive-level connections
- Lack of multithreading
And in less than 6 months the team has seen amazing results, and incredible product adoption.
“We’ve seen tremendous results with Accord. After running the pilot late last year, we fully deployed it this year. In just three months, we’ve had nearly 200 Accords deployed. Last quarter alone, my team closed almost $600,000 worth of deals with Accords attached. It helps our sellers take a transaction from the top of the funnel to the bottom and secure the deal.
- Shawn Hensley, Regional VP of Enterprise Sales
Learn more about how Freshworks is enforcing execution excellence here.
