Tony Wiedenski

The #SAAS revolution of ever growth of sales & market cap is not working for most users The impact of unspent licenses and unused tools are becoming an eye sore The use it or lose it philosophy with users are being used for many IT tools by business focussed IT departments I see decommissioning of SAAS tools becoming a trend as many companies see taking out systems that are just protecting old ways of doing work a value driver Those providers that try to arm twist customers into staying may succeed in the very short term, but are well served to remember that SAAS was sold on " pay per drink", rip and replace and their ilk #Salesforce #Microsoft

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In a poll, Michael Hanson shares his insight that outbound isn't dead. It's just that most companies go about it in an unproductive way … using recent college grads with no industry experience to do it. The result is that the prospect rarely finds the calls informative. Instead, Michael concludes: "The first thing a new SDR should do is spend time speaking to your customers, and industry experts." Back in the day at IBM, all salespeople and systems engineers had to spend the occasional day manning the support desk – what better or more realistic way to learn what's on your customers' mind? Link to Michael Hanson's poll and post in the comments. #b2bsales #salestraining #support #positioning

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I averaged 476% quota attainment as a BDR at Salesforce The 5x8 framework is what got me there Data I used to help create it 👇 1. It takes ~8 cold calls to get someone live 2. Email reply rates don't fall off a cliff until the 9th attempt 3. Response rates are 160% higher if you're contacting multiple people How to execute 👇 1. Pick 5 key contacts within an account 2. Pick 2-3 outreach channels (ie- phone, email, LinkedIn) 3. Make 8 attempts over the next 8 weeks to reach each contact This is a simplification of a traditional "cadence", which are often overcomplicated and inconsistent I developed this framework as a BDR at Salesforce, used it as an SMB and Enterprise AE, and have trained hundreds of sales reps how to use it to turbocharge their prospecting If you stick to this process religiously, it works It's digestible, simple, and repeatable Don't overthink it If you want a full breakdown 👉 https://lnkd.in/eN_KghCD Helpful? Let me know in the comments

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SANDLER RULE 52 Sales amateurs dread cold prospecting. Professionals work smart by leveraging their referral tree. A steady stream of referrals means less cold calls and more opportunities to seal a new deal without cold calls. Get smart with all 52 Sandler Rules from "How to Sell to the Modern Buyer." Download your free chapter here: https://hubs.la/Q02gg_lV0 #ImpassionedSalesSolutions #SandlerHouston #ModernBuyer

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SANDLER RULE 52 Sales amateurs dread cold prospecting. Professionals work smart by leveraging their referral tree. A steady stream of referrals means less cold calls and more opportunities to seal a new deal without cold calls. Get smart with all 52 Sandler Rules from "How to Sell to the Modern Buyer." Download your free chapter here: https://hubs.la/Q02gh1-Q0 #NeubergerCo #SandlerMDAZGA #ModernBuyer

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SANDLER RULE 52 Sales amateurs dread cold prospecting. Professionals work smart by leveraging their referral tree. A steady stream of referrals means less cold calls and more opportunities to seal a new deal without cold calls. Get smart with all 52 Sandler Rules from "How to Sell to the Modern Buyer." Download your free chapter here: https://hubs.li/Q02ghH9c0 #TrustPointTX #SandlerTX #ModernBuyer

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People don’t realize what “closing skills” are in sales, and they’re not “is persuasive.” Reps with closing skills CONSISTENTLY know, can choreograph and advise on how the deal gets signed and returned. And their forecast accuracy reflects those skills.

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Have you ever heard of an Enterprise prospecting strategy that takes one hour to complete and actual sales reps say helps them gain access to their decision makers 79% of the time? Years of customer feedback from Emissary's customers identify one: talking to a former company exec from the target account who is willing to coach your strategy. Enterprise prospecting can feel like using a dial up modem. Just so you know — we've got broadband over here. #enterprise

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Lot of talk about Pipeline....heres how essentially every seller at 6sense approaches Pipeline Tuesday at 6sense. Pipe Gen: Have we engaged ATL buyers at our Tier 1's in the last 15 days? Have we reviewed the AE/BDR dashboard and have a plan with our BDR to drive mutual accountability? Have we reviewed LinkedIn to find new buyers at all prospects? People that come from our customers? Have we connected with our partners installed at our Tier 1's to understand the lay of the land and get introduced? Customer Base: Are there customers with no active upsell opps? Do we have a relationship with the CRO? CMO? Ops Leader? Have we used our model metrics / value metrics to discussion missed opportunity at the executive level? Have we run a report on the # of 6QA's that have been unworked in the last 30 days at X account? Are there additional people we should educate about our other offerings? Pipe Progression: Looking 1 quarter, 2 quarters out, do we have meetings booked with every opp? Looking 1 quarter, 2 quarters out, do we have active conversations with sales, marketing and ops? Looking 1 quarter, 2 quarters out, have we brought the CMO and CRO up to speed on our conversations and educated on where we see the opportunity to support their 2nd half efforts? Consolidation? Efficiency? Partners: Have we connected with our partners? How can we help them be more successful & sticky?

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Every AE should use "the menu of pain" on their discovery calls. Huge shoutout to 👩🏻‍🏫 Krysten Conner for the best sales strategy and name of all time. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀: Simply give your prospect options based on your experience helping other customers. Here are some examples: 𝗧𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹: Hey Jill - typically when Sales Directors join these calls they're facing a couple of issues: - Issue 1 - Issue 2 But I don’t know how much any of that sounds like your world and what did I miss that you’re focused on? 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀: Hey Jill - Thank you for sharing. I work with other Sales Directors in a similar situation and they were each facing a couple of issues: - Issue 1 - Issue 2 But I don’t know how much any of that sounds like your world and what did I miss that you’re focused on? 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴'𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿: 1. You establish credibility and build trust because you know the issues and they don’t have to educate you. 2. You take control. Open ended questions like “what brought you to ABC Company” are ok but it’s a lot of work for the prospect and nobody likes essay questions. 3. Customer experience: It gives prospects room to correct you and people love correcting people. So there's no real downside. You game for trying The Menu of Pain in your discovery calls? - Mike G 👉 For this week only get The Best Sales Course at 35% off with coupon code 𝗖𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗘: https://lnkd.in/gP_-mVXR

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How 99% of AEs operate: - They wait for their SDRs to book meetings - They complain they don't have enough leads - They reject SDR opportunities without "BANT" - They attach to a few deals with commission breath - They keep themselves busy with forecasting & Co. How the best 1% operate: - They prospect every day like their life depends on it - They consider any SDR-sourced pipeline a bonus - They jump on every SDR opportunity with joy - They disqualify prospects who are not a fit - They spend 80% of their time on selling The best AEs remember: ↳ they have been SDRs earlier in their career. The best AEs know: ↳ the SDR skillset is the fundamental skillset. You cannot close if you cannot open. This is not a chicken & egg problem. Repost ♻ this to remind some AEs to be SDRs again. What else would you add?👇 PS: Free prospecting course → https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

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CSM's are the Jan Brady of the organization I have uttered that line more than a few times over the past few months, and it always gets a laugh, and it also gets many nods of agreement. If I was to break down classic functional roles for a SaaS B2B startup and map to the Brady Bunch, it might look something like this: Mom- CEO Dad - HR Greg - Cool sales guy Marsha - Marketing Cindy - Product Peter - Dev Bobby - Support Why do CSM's constantly feel like middle children? "Overshadowed" by the more popular older child (sales and marketing), and getting bypassed for care and concern that younger siblings (Product) get. Heck, I even put a picture of Marsha instead of Jan for this article! - Some real-life examples that quickly come to mind: - Sales doesn't bring them in until the last minute of a deal when they need them. - Marketing never reaches out until they need a case study or quote. - Finance only contacts them when they want money (from the customer) - Product doesn't want to listen to the CSM even though they are probably right -CSM's chase down Support and dev when things get hairy Did I get it right?

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Another good report from Vendr on SaaS buying trends. (see in comments below) The metric that jumped out at me was ACV for Renewals. Remaining flat. In Q1 2024 Ryan Neu 's take is that as vendors have come across tougher times they are increasing prices to counter customer's renewing with down-sized contracts (presumably less seats) since most vendors charge per license. As a buyer, I have definitely seen this in 2024. Taken together with ARR, this really does imply that Net Revenue Retention in 2024 is plummeting. We are definitely seeing churn, so gross retention is down. And we are Net Retention (ie after upsell and/or downsell) is significantly down. In 2023, the investment guru's were saying that Net Retention of 130% plus was the mark of the very best SaaS companies. And valuations were being heavily influenced by Net Retention. I remember back in 2015 when Mimecast went public, we had net retention of around 110% and it was considered unbelievably good by the investment community. I have a sneaking suspicion that Net Retention of 110-120% in 2024 will again be considered very good to exceptional. Love to hear from folks like Ray Rike and Nick Mehta and Megan Bowen (and others) as to what they think about 2024 Net Retention benchmarks? #ACV #nrr #benchmarks

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Want to land a Solutions Consultant / Sales Engineer role? I get asked daily how to do it. I’ve been fortunate enough to have helped 100's of people from a range of backgrounds transition into SE/SC roles. Including teachers, real estate agents, nurses, loan officers, SDRs, AEs, and many more. Here’s a quick guide: 𝟭. 𝗨𝗽𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 You already have transferrable skills and experience. Determine where your biggest gaps are and start closing them. For most people, the most significant gap is technical skills. The good news is that there are a TON of free/cheap technical skills courses available. You don’t need to become an expert technologist to land a job. You just need to show hiring managers that you have enough technical skills and are committed to building your skillset. If you're brand new to the SE role. Read a book about being an SE to help you get familiar with the role, the daily activities, and the terminology. One solid option is: The Six Habits of Highly Effective Sales Engineers by Chris White 𝟮. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 + 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀/𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 Now that you’ve bolstered your skillset and know the SE lingo... It’s time to reframe your experience on your resume and LinkedIn in terms of an SE/SC. Highlight specific examples where you’ve used technology to solve business problems. Include how you’ve supported customers and collaborated with others. 𝟯. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯 (𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹) Learn a common software solution like Salesforce, Hubspot, etc (can be accessed for free and have a ton of free resources to learn). Create a demo presentation using a standard demo structure (Tell-Show-Tell) Practice it, then record a video to share with potential employers. (This is one example. There are other ways to showcase your skills.) 𝟰. 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸! Connecting with people who are where you want to go is essential in your career. You need to build relationships with SEs and SE leaders. You’ll learn from them and eventually get connected to job opportunities. There's a friendly community called PreSales Collective - a great place to get started. 𝟱. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 95% of SE interview processes will include a presentation step (but if you’ve done #3  above, you're nearly ready!) Get support from your new SE mentors to learn how to nail your interviews. ____ This is a simplified summary. There’s certainly much more to pivoting into an SE role than fits in a single post, but I hope this gives you some direction. It won’t happen overnight, and it takes serious work. But it’s absolutely worth it once you get there. It’s one of the best roles out there if you love technology, solving problems, and teamwork. The high earning potential is nice too 😉 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 🦸 - what else would you suggest to someone pursuing an SE/SC role?

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Looking to join a new org as a sales rep? The pitch is always the same, we have a great team, great pay, great product, and you're going to crush it...Don't get caught up in the glitz and the glam of the pitch and the dream of an OTE until you ask these questions! (Not an exhaustive list by any means) 𝟭. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆'𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘁? F/U - What about last year? F/U - Attainment by rep?(What percentage of reps are hitting their number?) Be on the look out for any ambiguity or lack of understanding about where they are. Any hiring manager should be able to give you precise numbers on the performance of the team and own a confident but honest talk track here. 𝟮. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆? 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆/𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲? If they don't have this answer to average tenure...red flag. Challenge why reps stay/leave answers to get specifics, be on the lookout for scapegoating reps who leave because they couldn't hack it. 𝟯. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿/𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿? This answer should be very insightful to the type of leader you would be working for. You want to find someone who will own missing the number and not place blame on others. 𝟰. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺? 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘀? Probe here as much as you can. If this is the person you will be working for you need to understand how are they going to help you develop. Can they deliver feedback, how do they deliver it, and how do they ensure it sticks and you are able to measure it? 𝟱. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘁? The absolute best leaders will give you a structure to the time. I spend X amount of time with each rep in recurring meetings, I spend X amount on calls with them, and I spend X amount with the entire team. Average/Below average will tell you a random % and reference 1/1s. If they don't track coaching one, how do they determine gaps? You can't improve what you can't measure and track. Sitting in one call a week, or randomly listening to a GONG call or two doesn't cut it today! 𝗧𝗟;𝗗𝗥 - 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺? #Sales #SaaSHiring #SalesTips

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Top 5 key metrics I recommend CROs use for inside sales professionals: 1. Speed of response 2. Efficiency of progression through the process 3. Number of calls per day 4. Number of positive outcomes 5. Demo sets As a CRO leader, these are five metrics that I live by. 

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