Sat.Jul 09, 2022 - Fri.Jul 15, 2022

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The Qualities of a Sales Leader

Iannarino

Leading isn't easy, and leading sales is one of the more difficult roles in business. Unlike some other leadership roles, there seem to be more variables in sales. Some of them include the sales effectiveness of the sales force, the economic environment, the nature of competition, and the variability that comes from trying to help people change their business results.

Sales 291
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The 10x Rule: What Raising $1 of Venture Capital Really Means

SaaStr

I originally wrote this post way, way back in the first year of SaaStr and have updated it every 2 years or so, because it’s an important thing to think about as a founder. Especially now in 2022, when venture capital again is scarcer, and more expensive, and far harder to close than it was during the go-go times for SaaS of 2021 and late 2020.

Price 145
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What Happens When You Let Employees Name Your Company’s Values?

Membrain

Soon after Membrain was started, we sat down and wrote out the core values we believed were central to who we are. Recently, we decided to ask our people to tell us what THEY think Membrain’s core values actually are. The results were pretty interesting.

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10 Tips to Building Confidence in Sales

Anthony Cole Training

Selling is a “slight edge business.” By that, we mean that the line that separates high performers from mediocre performers is usually a very small difference. There is very little you can control in selling. You can’t make prospects take your call. You can’t make prospects agree to meet with you. You can’t make them move forward in your sales process and you certainly can’t make them buy from you.

Sales 272
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AI Strategies for Sales Managers: How to Cut Down on Tedious Admin Work

What if you could help your sellers stop wasting 72% of their day on non-selling activities and focus on bringing in revenue? Incorporating AI in your enablement workflows can help you cut down on busy work, get projects done faster, and let your team (and you!) focus on making a bigger impact. We put together this guide to show you how to use AI to cut time and costs for projects, including collateral creation, development of training videos, and automating tedious processes.

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10 Characteristics of Great Sales Managers

Iannarino

There are a lot of tough jobs in business, frontline sales manager is one of them. Those who succeed tend to have the right characteristics. While different sales managers may require different competencies, the following 10 are relatively universal in B2B sales.

Sales 300
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3 Easy Outside Sales Tips to Double Your Closing Ratio

Veloxy

What is your closing ratio? Your closing ratio (or close rate) measures your overall sales efficiency. It’s calculated by dividing the number of sales you’ve closed by the number of leads or opportunities in your pipeline (and multiplying that by 100 to generate a percent). Let’s say you had 10 opportunities last month and you closed 3 deals. Your closing ratio for June would have been 30%.

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Most Likely, It’s Not The Market. It’s You.

SaaStr

So Hunter Walk of Homebrew aptly summarized what I’ve been trying to say less eloquently for about 2-3 months. For 90% of startups, if you’re struggling right now … sure blame the market. But it’s not that, if your market is huge. It’s You. “Note: I don’t want to hear seed companies complain about ‘the market.’ You literally just showed me a deck that said your TAM was 10,000 customers” @hunterwalk [link]. — Jason 2022 SaaStr Annual Sep 13-15 Lemkin (@jasonl

Growth 140
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Going All In on Your Sales Approach

Iannarino

One of the more difficult initiatives a sales leader can attempt is changing their sales approach. Every so often, the external environment changes enough so that what once worked no longer generates reliable results. When this happens, the sales force's approach causes them to struggle. Results that were once easy to obtain slip out of reach. Making a decision to change your sales approach isn't easy, and executing it is even more difficult.

Sales 269
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Big Company Strategies That SMB Sales Teams Can Emulate

Understanding the Sales Force

On a recent Saturday I was running errands which took me through 3 local towns and a nearby city. Even though I have traveled this route more than 5,000 times, it was the first time I noticed the difference in the various business signs along the road. All of the national brands, chains, franchises, and well known businesses had professionally designed and recognizable logos.

Sales 138
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Prime Day contributed to significant e-commerce growth this year

Martech

Amazon Prime Day, a two-day event held this year on July 12 and 13, outperformed last year’s event by 8.5%, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index. Total U.S. online sales came in at $6 billion the first day, and $5.9 billion the second day. This comes against the background of a three-month slowdown in online inflation, also reported by Adobe.

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Prepare Now: 2025s Must-Know Trends For Product And Data Leaders

Speaker: Jay Allardyce, Deepak Vittal, Terrence Sheflin, and Mahyar Ghasemali

As we look ahead to 2025, business intelligence and data analytics are set to play pivotal roles in shaping success. Organizations are already starting to face a host of transformative trends as the year comes to a close, including the integration of AI in data analytics, an increased emphasis on real-time data insights, and the growing importance of user experience in BI solutions.

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Every Year You Should Double Your “TTAM”. Your True TAM.

SaaStr

Every year, you should double your TTAM. Your True TAM. (Not the TAM in the deck you made for the VCs). Otherwise, growth stalls. — Jason BeKind Lemkin #???????????? (@jasonlk) July 10, 2022. So generally, as an investor, you don’t want to worry too much about TAM — Total Addressable Market. At least, not after a certain point. If a SaaS company can double or even triple at $1m ARR, it’s on to something good.

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How B2B Salespeople Help Clients Change

Iannarino

When a client has done something in a certain way over a long time, the fact that it has always worked can cause them to believe it will—or should—still work. While years pass, things change and nature takes her toll. What once was the best practice slowly starts to decay. Because the change is incremental and difficult to perceive, it becomes increasingly difficult to produce outcomes that were once easily obtained.

Clients 248
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You Can't Lose Customers or Salespeople - 2 Secrets to Their Retention

Membrain

As we wade deeper into recession, you will certainly agree that there are two things you must not lose: 1) Customers/Clients 2) Good/Great Salespeople.

Customers 126
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What is account-based marketing today and how has the space evolved?

Martech

B2B marketers have employed account-based marketing (ABM) for well over a decade, of course, but the space has evolved rapidly over the past two to three years. Factors driving changes in ABM include shifts in buyer preferences and pre-purchase behavior, as well as the development of more sophisticated technology and data products that enable marketers to analyze behavior, identify in-market audiences, and craft experiences for a buying group or its individual members.

B2B 131
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Don't Let AI Pass You By: The New Era of Personalized Sales Coaching & Development

Speaker: Brendan Sweeney, VP of Sales & Devyn Blume, Sr. Account Executive

Are you curious about how artificial intelligence is reshaping sales coaching, learning, and development? Join Brendan Sweeney and Devyn Blume of Allego for an engaging new webinar exploring AI's transformative role in sales coaching and performance improvement! Brendan and Devyn will share actionable insights and strategies for integrating AI into coaching and development - ensuring personalized, effective, and scalable training!

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SaaStr is Turning 10! How a Blog Turned into A Global SaaS Community for 250,000+

SaaStr

SaaStr is turning 10! What started as a simple WordPress blog in 2012 has now become the world’s largest community of SaaS executives, founders, and entrepreneurs. Our goal is (and remains) to help everyone get from $0 to $100m+ ARR with less stress and more success. We do that with a combination of industry-leading content and community connections.

Meeting 124
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A Heretical View of Your Ideal Customer Profile

Iannarino

One of the best ways to be productive is to avoid wasting time. The more time you waste, the less time you have for what is important. To ensure you have time for what's important, you must prioritize the tasks and projects that produce the results you want or need.

Customers 239
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Sales Mindset: Focus on What’s in Your Control

Engage Selling

What’s your sales mindset during these are uncertain times? Prices are up, markets are haywire, and things we used to take for granted—such as hassle-free business travel—now often feel out … Read More. The post Sales Mindset: Focus on What’s in Your Control first appeared on Colleen Francis - The Sales Leader.

Price 124
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How to tailor ABM to your specific needs

Martech

Marketers tend to think of account-based marketing (ABM) as though it is one technique or approach. It isn’t. It changes depending on the type of product you’re selling and the market you are pursuing. Gil Canare, VP of Global Digital Marketing at Genpact, offers a guide to how you can analyze your ABM needs and build a cohesive plan to meet them. ABM allows you to create and manage campaigns that specifically target a set of accounts.

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How to Optimize Call Monitoring: Automate QA and Elevate Customer Experience

Speaker: Laura Noonan, Chief Revenue Officer at CallFinder + Angie Kronlage, Director of Program Success at Working Solutions + April Wiita, Vice President of Program Success at Working Solutions

Are you still manually reviewing calls? 🤔 It's time for a change! The traditional method of manual call monitoring is no longer cutting it in today's fast-paced call center environment. Industry experts Angie Kronlage and April Wiita from Working Solutions are here to explore the power of innovative automation to revolutionize outdated call review processes!

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Dear SaaStr: What Separates a Good Startup Founder From a Great One?

SaaStr

Q: Dear SaaStr: What Separates a Good Startup Founder From a Great One? Two factors IMHO / experience: (1) recruiting, and (2) the ability to push on. Being great at Recruiting. Recruiting is incredibly hard. Most of us eventually sort of give up, and settle on key hires, or just keep doing a specific role ourselves. And there is always a hotter, better funded start-up than yours.

Start-ups 124
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How to Make Your Sales Force Your Strategic Advantage

Iannarino

Let's look directly at an inconvenient truth most are unwilling to recognize or acknowledge: Your company, as good as it is, has competitors who are equally as good (and some may be better). Your company isn't going to be perceived as different when you and your competitors both try to convince a prospective client that your company is the best choice for the better results they need.

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Convert Consistently with Customs and Connections: Final Tribal Types Tips

SalesProInsider

If you’re selling to others the way that you want to buy – stop it! The way you want to buy doesn’t matter. It’s about how THEY want and need to buy. Strong statement for sure. But that should be the key message that you’ve taken away from this series, Convert Consistently with Customs and Connections. Our ability to adapt to the way a prospective client wants to be sold to, how they need information, and when they need it, is crucial to make it easy for them to make a confident decision t

Customers 117
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MarTech Replacement Survey: Who are the champions?

Martech

Based on the 2022 MarTech Replacement Survey , we’ve seen that marketing organizations replaced marketing automation and CRM more often than other solutions , with SEO in third place. We also know that replacements, whether of homegrown or commercial applications, were driven by a need for better features, especially integration capabilities, data management and ability to show ROI.

CRM 128
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How to Prove Marketing Value: Demonstrate Content ROI and Contribution to Sales

Every marketer knows how important it is to prove their efforts drive sales opportunities, but that’s easier said than done. When problems like sales and marketing misalignment, lack of data, and wasted efforts persist, marketers can’t measure, prove, or increase their impact on revenue at a time when demonstrating marketing value is critical. Using analyst and expert data, this guide to marketing impact and content attribution explains: How B2B buyers use content The most common types of conten

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5 Interesting Learnings from Model N at $200,000,000 in ARR

SaaStr

So more of our 5 Interesting Learnings series has been on the iconic SaaS companies we all know. From how Asana got to its first $250m in ARR , to how Slack got to $1B ARR , to how Zoom got to $3.5B ARR , and more. But there are a bunch of quieter SaaS and B2B public companies under the radar. Some are under the radar because they are niche. Others are under the radar because they are just slower growing and smaller.

Niche 124
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A Poor Diagnosis in the Sales Discovery Process

Iannarino

There is a general consensus that you win or lose a deal in the discovery phase of the sales conversation, even if it takes a while for the client to let you know. It's impossible to overstate the importance of discovery, as it allows you to assess your client's situation and provide a diagnosis.

Process 234
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Trending now: 3 social media trends I’m excited about

Heinz Marketing

By Rachel Degginger , Marketing Consultant at Heinz Marketing. Just as social media is becoming more prominent in our day-to-day life, it too is more and more an integral part of an integrated marketing plan. It seems like a new trend emerges every day. How are you supposed to wade your way through with SO many features available? Well, to start, here are 3 trends I’m excited to start using more frequently. 1.

Consult 110
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Using AI to improve customer experience and customer journey orchestration

Martech

Customer-centric messaging and experiences require smart responses managed by AI. If customers aren’t receiving relevant emails or other communications, they’ll simply opt out. “Right now, marketing is failing more than it works,” said Matthew Camuso, product marketing manager for CRM software company Pegasystems, at The MarTech Conference. “And if you think about why this fails, it’s because most of what we push, and when we push it, has no real relevance to the consumers.”.

Customers 128
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Business Intelligence 101: How To Make The Best Solution Decision For Your Organization

Speaker: Evelyn Chou

Choosing the right business intelligence (BI) platform can feel like navigating a maze of features, promises, and technical jargon. With so many options available, how can you ensure you’re making the right decision for your organization’s unique needs? 🤔 This webinar brings together expert insights to break down the complexities of BI solution vetting.

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Dear SaaStr: What’s The #1 Biggest Fear For Most Founders?

SaaStr

Dear SaaStr: What’s The #1 Biggest Fear For Most Founders? In the earliest days, your #1 fear is business failure, going under. Not building something anyone will buy. Running out of money. This fear, though, is highly actionable. You scramble, you hustle, you find a way … or you don’t, and blink out of existence. Another start-up that came and went.

Growth 121
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Break Into Your Dream Account: The Golden Retriever Mindset

Sales Hacker

There’s those few aspirational companies that we deeply want to work with. Their logo on our site would show everyone that we’re #1 at what we do. Their signature on our paper would be a talking point for the rest of our sales career. The commission from the deal wouldn’t hurt either. So what do we do when they say they’re not interested in speaking with us?

Quota 109
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5 Mistakes Salespeople Make When Discussing Price

Spiro Technologies

Conversations between salespeople and their prospects range from the mundane to the dramatic, as the complexity of human interaction is usually on full display. Exceptional salespeople don’t fear these conversations and are happy to follow them wherever they lead, while remaining focused on their end goal: getting a prospect to sign. The one conversation that makes most salespeople nervous, however, is the one about price.

Price 105
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Most marketing fails before it starts — here’s how to fix it

Martech

Most marketing fails, and often before it even starts. Marketing is pivotal to the success of every business. If your marketing fails, the business will follow suit. Ensuring the success of your marketing must be the absolute highest priority of any business. Far too often, however, it’s disregarded and completely overlooked. When marketing fails. Given that marketing organizations have notoriously limited resources, both restrictive budgets and small teams, there is no room for failure.

Campaign 124
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Beyond the Basics: How to Develop and Retain a Top-Performing Sales Team

Speaker: Brendan Sweeney, VP of Sales at Allego

Maximizing sales rep performance is no easy task. 📈 Traditional sales training methods focus heavily on the first few weeks in the sales role. Companies dedicate time, resources, and budget to onboarding new hires, only for them to forget what was learned in those first few weeks, lose motivation, and struggle to come to grips with their role.