Benson Manwaring

I’ve helped 12+ AEs and SDRs transition into SE/SC roles. There’s no doubt that you can earn a lot as an AE. AEs can make $1,000,000+ in a good year - a very lucrative career path. But the reality is most AEs don’t get there. It takes an exceptional AE to earn consistently at high levels, year in and year out. (I personally would be a terrible AE 😅) A big reason why folks pivot to Sales Engineering is because the earning potential is solid and much more consistent. That’s what the data in the image shows: 36% avg quota attainment for AEs vs... 74% for SE from this same company, with similar OTE’s As an SE, you don’t always have the extreme upside* that your AE counterpart will, but your income is more stable. (*there are some companies that pay SEs similar to AEs, with SEs able to clear $1M+ in a great year, though this is more of the exception than the rule) As an SE, there’s also less pressure to hit quota, quarter after quarter. The roles are different, with different responsibilities and varying degrees of risk (and upside). Both paths can provide tremendous opportunities depending on your strengths and the type of work you enjoy. Hope this provides some perspective for those who are considering SE or AE career paths. #sales #presales #compensation (source: RepVue)

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When I first started as an AE I ingested nearly any sales-related content I could -- mostly books & webinars. Of course, over the years I've learned a lot. At the same time, like anything, I've picked up not-so-good habits because it's easy to sit back and get comfortable. Recently, I've been joining the Sell Better "The Daily Sales Show" (& it's free!) on anything and everything from the initial cold call/email to working strategic deals. The repetition of learning, applying, & adjusting over & over again is so important to me in my career & I learn best by doing. Every time I join a webinar or read something I feel I already know, I always learn something new (or at least reinforce/strengthen that knowledge). Sellers! I challenge you to engage in sales-related content tomorrow or next week - I guarantee you will learn something new, get a new perspective about something you already know, & then (funny enough) you'll be able to apply your takeaway immediately in your work -- it always happens like that! The better professionals we become, the greater impact we can have on the organizations we work for & work with. Share any content you all like! I'd love to explore.

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6 Comments

Pipeline is alarmingly thin for many in 2024 🥶 I've heard many colleagues struggling to increase pipeline and many throw stones in others' roofs: "My BDR's don'r source enough pipe", "marketing's leads are bad", etc. Jason Bay's post the other day mentioned that he has had multiple conversations with sales organizations grappling with alarmingly thin pipelines for the second half of 2024. Many are struggling with less than 3x pipeline coverage, and there's considerable resistance from AEs. We are in the same boat here. 2024 is not looking like an easy fix. Jason says SDRs and marketing can't be expected to generate 80%+ of an AE's pipeline. We need to self-source it. And it this, in my opinion, should be a given in any sales org. Here is how Jason Bay recommends you build a stronger pipeline generating cuilture: ✅ 1) Rub Shoulders: Front-line managers should join their AEs weekly in making calls to tier-1 accounts and tough-to-reach prospects. ✅ 2) Weekly GSD Sessions: Implement 1-2 60-minute "Get Sh*t Done" sessions with your reps. Execute PG plays together. Bonus: Use tools like Orum for team phone sessions. ✅ 3) Right Tools: Ensure AEs have the same sales engagement tools as SDRs & BDRs. You can't measure outbound activity without the right tools. ✅ 4) Top-down Involvement: CRO and VP of Sales should actively participate in outbound efforts, give public shout-outs in Slack, and celebrate outbound successes. ✅ 5) Data: Equip your team with best-in-class email and phone data from sources like ZoomInfo. Solid contact information is essential for making dials. ✅ 6) Enable Front-line Leaders: Train front-line managers on outbound techniques so they can effectively coach their AEs. ✅ 7) Prioritize Low-hanging Fruit: Teach AEs to use LinkedIn Sales Navigator for staying on top of exec changes, job shifts, and previous clients in new roles. ✅ 8) Manage Up or Out: If reps resist outbound efforts and miss targets, be prepared to part ways. The team that got you to point A might not be the team to get you to point B. Are you doing anything similar? 👇🏼 And I recommend you to follow Jason Bay for interesting stuff like this

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📣 This Unexpected Tactic Helps You Land SDR/BDR Roles at a Much Faster Rate ... In any industry, mentorship is vital, especially in sales. While many attend boot camps, few invest in post-training guidance. I'm determined not to fall into that trap. 🛤️ Too often, I see graduates struggle despite applying widely. Successful candidates often credit mentorship for their breakthroughs. 💼 Mentors provide essential guidance and support. Thanks to Allen Hughes III mentorship, many thrive standing out and landing roles much quicker than most. 👥 He embodies everything you could want in a mentor ... Patient, Empathy, Kind, Passion, Knowledgable ... and, He has the Heart of Teacher! With his support, success is within reach. ✅️ One mentee, after 500+ applications, sought Allen's guidance. She's now excelling in the tech industry, her second interview leading to an immediate job offer. Skipped the 3rd interview! 🚀 ✅️ Another, with over 20 years in education, made it to the final interview, on their first attempt. Also Skipped the 3rd Interview 👀 ✅️ A different individual, with no prior experience, aced their first interview with Salesforce. And now, waiting for a Potential Offer Letter 🤯 ✅️ Allen Hughes III even helped a young man in Nigeria land his first sales role, transforming his life. And he's helped even more people outsode the US land roles. 🌍 Get a mentor, fast-track your career ... I'm Next! You can be Next Too! #saas #techsales #mentorship #coaching #careerdevelopment #sdr #bdr # #salesdevelopmentrepresentative #businessdevelopmentrepresentative

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8 Comments

I used to view discovery meetings as pass/fail: Pass: Right person, right problem, continued conversation with that person. Fail: No next steps with that prospect. Now, I break successful discovery into two categories: 1) Opportunity progressing discovery 2) Account progressing discovery Opportunity progressing discovery means right person, big problem you can solve, and next steps agreed with that individual. This is the best outcome, but when it’s an early discovery meeting with an account, it’s unlikely. The next best outcome is an account-progressing discovery. This means you leave the conversation with more knowledge about problems the company is solving, how they are trying to solve them, and gaps in their process. You may not have next steps because the person you spoke with isn’t the right person, but you have a stronger point of view. And that point of view will get you in front of the right people where you’ll evolve from account progressing discovery to opportunity progressing discovery. If you view discovery as pass/fail, you’ll abandon great accounts too soon. If you view discovery as an ongoing process for each account, you’ll break into more of your best accounts.

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76 Comments

I had some folks reach out to me over the past couple of months as they are considering jumping ship from well established enterprises to leading sales for freshly emerged startups. Figured I'd share my thoughts here as well.. If you're interviewing for a Founding AE role at an early age startup for the first time, here's some advice I wish someone told me: - If the product is for an engineering persona, have a trusted technical bud kick the tires if you're unable to test it end to end. You will be told in the interview the product not only works, but also brings world peace, so you MUST do your due diligence here. - If the founders don't have domain area expertise for the problem they are solving for, steer clear. - If they have paying customers, see if they would be open to letting you speak to one of them as part of your decision making process. - What's the quota/where did they get that number from? - Have the founders closed deals themselves? How many? What were the terms? How does the TCV compare to list price and forecasted sales goals? - What's runway look like? What's the monthly burn? DO THE MATH. Does it match up to what they/the recruiter initially discussed with you? - If they have ARR, where is it coming from? Where are they at in repeatability? Would they be open to walking you through their closed/won and current pipeline?? - DO NOT forgo base salary in exchange for more equity. Equity in almost every case is worthless. Ask yourself, if a company has 22 months of runway and they are leaning on a four year vest to make you comfortable with an offer that is 30% less than what you're currently making.... what's the actual value of that to you? Can you make it work on the salary alone for a quarter or more if they don't really have a solid PMF? - Whenever in doubt, get guidance from leaders you trust and especially from people that have "been there, done that." - Just like with everything in sales, you've got to continually test/validate/qualify to a point where you have enough data to confidently understand WHY it's going to work out. Overall, being a founding AE is an incredible opportunity as well as a massive investment in time, energy, and serious effort. The stars have a solid shot at aligning when the founding team and product are indeed ready for it! 💰 😎

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It’s the start of a new quarter! For many SDRs, you may be approaching the role like any other day or week… but here’s what I’d do to ensure you get a 🔥start to the quarter: 1.) 🗺️ Map out your plan to quota (look at your email/call/LinkedIn execution rates and set your daily/weekly activity goals to hit your number) — knowing these like the back of your hand allows you to know where to focus 2.) 🔎 Identify your “lowest hanging fruit” accounts and target those early and often (look at accounts you’ve spoke to recently, your pipeline plays who asked to follow up, then work with your AE if you’re paired and prioritize the best accounts) — BONUS if you can identify some accounts with critical events like mutual connections to your ELT for a warm intro, job changers, hiring, funding, etc) 3.) 🏃‍♀️🏃SPRINT — as an SDR I used to start every quarter out with what I’d call a “Sprint week.” This is where I’d do double the activity I was expected as a means to really fill my pipeline and get as many conversations started as possible. Now the whole double activity double your output isn’t always advised but if you can put the extra time in early to double your prospects and push yourself for more, you can see some major return. 4.) 📈 Create consistency — I always coached my team that if you can come into the following month with 33% of your quota already set to run, it affords you the flexibility, freedom, and lack of pressure to get really creative and smart with your outreach. If you’re not there for July just yet, start building for a big July and hot start to August. Hope this is helpful to at least one SDR!

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2 Comments

There’s something special about not just getting our Sales Dev team together but the whole GTM org in person once a quarter at Lattice. A pipeline opportunity created or a closed won hits different when you actually get to smash the gong (pun intended 😉) So why am I even more stoked on the future at Lattice after this week? ✨Sarah Franklin shared her vision for our product and how to bring it to market. When I see features that I KNOW will make my life easier as a people leader, I can only imagine how amp’d our buyers will be! ✨PMM laid out some stunning new positioning and I am giddy about writing new talk tracks for our calls (thank you Ross Gordon and others for the fuel!!) ✨We got a preview of our quarterly product release that’s dropping next week. 20+ new features!! It’s so much fun to sell for a company that is innovating. Thank you Kerry Wheeler and Amaury Sablon for kicking off the fun. ✨Gabrielle “GB” Blackwell ran her first BDR training for our team. The best advice I’ve gotten is hire leaders that are better than you #ironsharpensiron. Her outbound sales skills are out of this 🌎 and I can’t wait to see where she will take the entire sales team with her insights #gtmstrategy #salesdevelopment #hrtech

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It's been a little over two months into the new Mid-Market role at Dialpad & here is my biggest observation/learning/takeaway Treat every client like your only client. In SMB there is a lot of volume, in MM there isn't as much. I've had more time to create thoughtful slide presentations (who have I talked to, what did they share with me -- in quotes --, what was most important, why was that important, what else have I learned thus far, what more do I have questions on, what are we going to cover, why we are going to cover that). Don't get me wrong, marketing slide decks are great but something homemade & personalized hits different. Taking the heavy lifting off the evaluation team in keeping conversations documented, summarized, and in one place helps me to keep my ducks in a row and continue to drive high-value conversations. Another thing I noticed is super helpful for my clients (and me!) is a note repository document. In tandem with the slides that are constantly updated/added to, I think a notes page that is shared externally is huge. It allows me to be radically transparent with my clients about what I'm thinking, what I've observed from conversations, how that's related to other clients I've worked with, and the next steps I think that need to happen to make the buying process simple is big time. Generally, I'd like to think that I'm fine at building rapport just because who I am and how I communicate but I think the preparation, showing how much I care, truly listening, and proactively trying to think of potential concerns adds a whole other layer in becoming a trusted seller of software. So far so good, but, of course, I'm still figuring a lot of this out and trying what I think will work best -- because really, there is no perfect secret sauce. Any MM/commercial sellers out there that have any good tips & advice for a young buck starting off?

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#AE #hiring post - please stop reading when this no longer describes you (yes, this is a test 😉): If you're this far, perhaps you'd consider yourself a standout sales professional. Awesome, now let's see how well you match what we're looking for. Is this you?: 🚀 You could connect me directly with 3 enterprise payer and/or health system logos you've personally landed (ideally in the last 36 months!) - - > I'm not a big fan of Rolodexes (or whatever the kids are calling it these days 📠). My point is, this shows me not only that you can sell, more importantly that you're doing it right, building a true relationship that you could reach out to when needed 🚀 You can demo the product you sell *better than* your sales engineer 😮 (if you have one 😉) - - > Gotta live these products if you're gonna sell 'em 🚀 You don't wait for others to create pipe for you - you can show me on your calendar and in your inbox *right now* that you're constantly generating new conversations with net new high value contacts and prospects - - > As a point of reference, I have 7 discos scheduled this week (so far!) + 3 mid-stage deal convos. Get competitive, show me up! Still reading? Beautiful, DM me and we'll chat. JD linked in the comments

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2 Comments

For the last decade, I’ve been closely analyzing #sales leaders in high level sales roles. Here are 🖐🏼 things that the best of the best DO NOT do: 1️⃣ Create fake urgency 2️⃣ Use fear tactics 3️⃣ Chase every lead 4️⃣ Feature dump 5️⃣ Say, “just checking in 👋 “ Beings that we are all taught or trained to do at least one of these things at some point, I’m curious.. Which one has been the hardest to kick for you? 🤔 #seniorliving #assistedliving #consultativeselling #healthcare #medicalsales

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IT Consulting Account Executive $80k base/ $120k OTE - REMOTE our established and growing #privateequity owned #franchise #msp client is looking for their second sales hire under their new #coo who has a deep #Itconsulting and #sales background you will report to the COO and Founder #remote ideal candidate lives near #south #scottsdale -national territory -sell into ANY industry - #manufacturers #majordistributors #financial #construction #hvac #education #localgovernment #transportation #healthsystems being key industries for them -TOOLS: they use monday.com, auto test (ticketing) foot works (quoting) and are open to hearing your thoughts on what tool to use (idr recommends Apollo.io) - they meet Monday morning, and Thursday afternoons via zoom, ideal candidate can work #westcoast hours - founder and coo both live in #arizona - hires in 2 interviews - COO will ask - what is your experience selling technology, how do you do your prospecting - will ask for a short presentation so they can see "how you would present and close" hires in less than 90 min of interviewing (me, founder, coo) - deal size range from $5k MRR (company with NO IT company, that this company is essentially replacing with their INTERNAL consultants) $20k MRR for companies that have internal IT but are looking for augmentation, monitoring, have multiple locations etc. OR up to $60k MRR for example one of their #healthcare clients looking to go from perm equipment to cloud - the company has been attending some local networking events, to build connections with buyers, the coo is VERY open to someone who can attend events on their behalf, or build online relationships/ network online (coo has been working remote for most of his career but sees the value in some of this networking) - this is a FULL cycle position, where you may own/manage this relationship for life, or in some rare cases work with the coo (his established relationships) they have one AM now, who worked with the coo for years. and does account management, customer care and procurement - this coo has lists in Excel (will eventually get a crm) and you will have the ability to call and email - they do not do any sequencing but VERY open to someone who has the ability to bring value, land meeting and close via sequenced emails. They are open to hearing YOUR ideas on what KPIS work (IDR told them 25-50 new, 50-75 dials minimum + other KPIS but are open to letting you do whatever works) - sells a variety of services, via channel relationships like #internet #databackup and wanting to get into more #cybersecurity #solutions - we have a relationship with this new account, via our advisor, who has worked with the COO for over 10 years and says he is a "great guy" :) we agree based on our time with him - commissions are UNCAPPED and OTE is an estimate, since they are #profitmargin heavy and #averagedealsize is inconsistent this is an estimate call me beep me

4

IT Consulting Account Executive $80k base/ $120k OTE - REMOTE our established and growing #privateequity owned #franchise #msp client is looking for their second sales hire under their new #coo who has a deep #Itconsulting and #sales background you will report to the COO and Founder #remote ideal candidate lives near #south #scottsdale -national territory -sell into ANY industry - #manufacturers #majordistributors #financial #construction #hvac #education #localgovernment #transportation #healthsystems being key industries for them -TOOLS: they use monday.com, auto test (ticketing) foot works (quoting) and are open to hearing your thoughts on what tool to use (idr recommends Apollo.io) - they meet Monday morning, and Thursday afternoons via zoom, ideal candidate can work #westcoast hours - founder and coo both live in #arizona - hires in 2 interviews - COO will ask - what is your experience selling technology, how do you do your prospecting - will ask for a short presentation so they can see "how you would present and close" hires in less than 90 min of interviewing (me, founder, coo) - deal size range from $5k MRR (company with NO IT company, that this company is essentially replacing with their INTERNAL consultants) $20k MRR for companies that have internal IT but are looking for augmentation, monitoring, have multiple locations etc. OR up to $60k MRR for example one of their #healthcare clients looking to go from perm equipment to cloud - the company has been attending some local networking events, to build connections with buyers, the coo is VERY open to someone who can attend events on their behalf, or build online relationships/ network online (coo has been working remote for most of his career but sees the value in some of this networking) - this is a FULL cycle position, where you may own/manage this relationship for life, or in some rare cases work with the coo (his established relationships) they have one AM now, who worked with the coo for years. and does account management, customer care and procurement - this coo has lists in Excel (will eventually get a crm) and you will have the ability to call and email - they do not do any sequencing but VERY open to someone who has the ability to bring value, land meeting and close via sequenced emails. They are open to hearing YOUR ideas on what KPIS work (IDR told them 25-50 new, 50-75 dials minimum + other KPIS but are open to letting you do whatever works) - sells a variety of services, via channel relationships like #internet #databackup and wanting to get into more #cybersecurity #solutions - we have a relationship with this new account, via our advisor, who has worked with the COO for over 10 years and says he is a "great guy" :) we agree based on our time with him - commissions are UNCAPPED and OTE is an estimate, since they are #profitmargin heavy and #averagedealsize is inconsistent this is an estimate call me beep me

2

IT Consulting Account Executive $80k base/ $120k OTE - REMOTE our established and growing #privateequity owned #franchise #msp client is looking for their second sales hire under their new #coo who has a deep #Itconsulting and #sales background you will report to the COO and Founder #remote ideal candidate lives near #south #scottsdale -national territory -sell into ANY industry - #manufacturers #majordistributors #financial #construction #hvac #education #localgovernment #transportation #healthsystems being key industries for them -TOOLS: they use monday.com, auto test (ticketing) foot works (quoting) and are open to hearing your thoughts on what tool to use (idr recommends Apollo.io) - they meet Monday morning, and Thursday afternoons via zoom, ideal candidate can work #westcoast hours - founder and coo both live in #arizona - hires in 2 interviews - COO will ask - what is your experience selling technology, how do you do your prospecting - will ask for a short presentation so they can see "how you would present and close" hires in less than 90 min of interviewing (me, founder, coo) - deal size range from $5k MRR (company with NO IT company, that this company is essentially replacing with their INTERNAL consultants) $20k MRR for companies that have internal IT but are looking for augmentation, monitoring, have multiple locations etc. OR up to $60k MRR for example one of their #healthcare clients looking to go from perm equipment to cloud - the company has been attending some local networking events, to build connections with buyers, the coo is VERY open to someone who can attend events on their behalf, or build online relationships/ network online (coo has been working remote for most of his career but sees the value in some of this networking) - this is a FULL cycle position, where you may own/manage this relationship for life, or in some rare cases work with the coo (his established relationships) they have one AM now, who worked with the coo for years. and does account management, customer care and procurement - this coo has lists in Excel (will eventually get a crm) and you will have the ability to call and email - they do not do any sequencing but VERY open to someone who has the ability to bring value, land meeting and close via sequenced emails. They are open to hearing YOUR ideas on what KPIS work (IDR told them 25-50 new, 50-75 dials minimum + other KPIS but are open to letting you do whatever works) - sells a variety of services, via channel relationships like #internet #databackup and wanting to get into more #cybersecurity #solutions - we have a relationship with this new account, via our advisor, who has worked with the COO for over 10 years and says he is a "great guy" :) we agree based on our time with him - commissions are UNCAPPED and OTE is an estimate, since they are #profitmargin heavy and #averagedealsize is inconsistent this is an estimate call me beep me

3

Want to catch the WinsDay replay? Matt Calhoun and I chatted about... ➡ Pre-Sales Strategies ➡ Demand Gen: Avoiding Failure When Outsourcing ➡ First Go-to-Market: Pivoting Your Startup  ➡ SDR Success: Leaders' Role in Prospecting Some themes popped up.... ☑ being data driven ☑ getting your ICP right ☑ documenting your processes ☑ what does good like ☑ what clues does customer success tell us ☑ culture ☑ people first leadership ☑ know your worth (mindset) ☑ trust and candid conversations .....and so much more Check out the comments to catch the replay! #sales

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13 Comments

I didn't know it at the time, but Sales Introverts was born in my final interview for a team lead role. I'd had a great year as an AE (#1 of 200+ globally) and I was meeting with my SVP for the job. In that interview, he challenged me: “Obviously, you know how to sell. But, you sell in a unique way, developed for your skillset, and I don't think you can teach others." Despite his skepticism, he gave me a chance to lead a team. I quickly realized that his assumption was correct: I could sell, but I struggled to teach my reps. I immediately began documenting everything I did to find success. I built frameworks for every aspect of an AE's role and used those to teach my team. I wrote out how I: - Prioritized territory - Set meetings with the right prospects - Ran discovery that found real problems worth solving - Conducted demos that captured and retained buyer attention - Negotiated deals to maintain a premium price, even against low-cost competitors Then, I taught those Frameworks. After implementing these frameworks, our team finished #1 in our segment for consecutive years. The highlight was going so far over quota in the second year that we didn’t show up on the leaderboard because we broke the report. This success propelled growth: Our team became a region. Multiple AE's became Directors as I moved into a VP role. I spent months refining these frameworks to ensure applicability to any SAAS seller. Thousands of sellers benefited. Then, after 18 months at MongoDB, I completely revamped the Frameworks. I updated and improved them with everything I've learned leading an all-outbound org through a poor economy. Despite nearly doubling the size of the Frameworks (and incredible feedback!) I kept the price the same as the original. That changes tomorrow. Just one more day to join nearly 4,000 sellers before a significant increase at hitmyquota.com!

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53 Comments

I used to think B2B outbound sequences should be 20+ steps. That's no longer the case. Cognism analyzed 55k cold calls: - 75% of connections were on the 1st call - 95% of connects were within the first 3 calls Email will typically have similar diminishing returns. "But Tyler, it takes ~20 touches to generate a conversation..." In reality, this is what those 20 touches look like: (if a convo isn't generated in the first 3-5) Day 1 = no response Day 2 = no response Day 3 = no response Day 4 = no response ... ****nurture for 2-3 months then try again*** Day 1 = no response Day 2 = no response Day 3 = no response ... ***nurture again for 2-3 months*** Day 1 = no response  Day 2 = CONVERSATION! If you can't generate a convo after 3 tries on email, call etc. Set a follow-up and try again later.

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39 Comments

Cold calling is dead... outbound is dead... nuance is dead lol. At Klue, cold calling is very 👏 much 👏 not 👏 dead. It's a vital part of our prospecting motion (and any prospecting motion imo). My guess is some teams think it's dead because they might be doing it wrong??? There are so many nitty gritty techniques you can unpack on any given cold call, making it hard to coach on. I've found that once an SDR understands the framework of a good cold call, the most important thing to coach on is their mentality going into the call and how that impacts how their prospect feels. To do this, sometimes I'll tell SDRs to imagine they’re kicked back in a chair, feet up on their desk, just having a conversation with a friend. I've gone so far as to draw a stick figure (see below... it's not good) for an SDR as inspiration. If you need help cold calling, Apollo.io gathered insights from 300+ sales pros, GTM operators, and thought leaders (including yours truly) to create a playbook for mastering cold calling. Dropping a link to the book in the comments below. While you're there, what's the best tip you've received for cold calling? #ApolloOutbound #sdr #salesdevelopmentrepresentative #sales

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19 Comments

Agree with #1. Especially in SMB, there's potential to combine SDR and AE roles into one. #3 is better, but harder to scale than #2. When you have 20, 50, 100 AEs, it gets harder to filter noise from signal in the sales to marketing feedback loop. In all 3 models, who is doing the ICP targeting analysis and buying signal identification? In my experience, that's the key and that work is too often owned by multiple people in marketing, sales, strategy, product marketing, etc. Without a clear owner, that foundational piece can hold back sales effectiveness.

1