Shaun Jansen

A question for Sales Leaders re: quotas - A friend in Medical sales just got their quota...halfway through May (almost halfway through the year). As a territory manager they hustled in 2023 and achieved 111% to quota. They were #4 in Canada and #1 in Ontario. Great, right? Wrong... As a reward, they were gifted with a 12% increase in quota not from previous year's quota, but from previous year's achievement, and to me this just doesn't make sense. 👉 This type of quota calculation rewards those who achieved 90% (or even lower ) 👉 Demotivates those high achievers - They used their relationships to get orders in before quarter/year end and those doctors won't be needing those products perhaps for 18 months 👉 Promotes #quietquitting - doing the minimum requirements of one's job and putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary 👉 Promotes mediocrity - the more I sell the more will be expected of me next year My friend is understandably demotivated. They are the first ones to help with any events, often being away from home on a weekly basis to help other colleagues with their events/sales. They no longer want to put in any extra work and are questioning the company and whether it may be time to leave. I would love to hear from Sales Leaders out there as to how you calculate quotas, what systems/products you use, and how you deal with employees who have questions.

11

2 Comments

11 things world-class sales development teams DO—and what the worst teams DON’T Insights from... → Outbound Squad's experience working with world-class teams at Gong, Shopify, Rippling, and more → Orum's 2024 State of Sales Development report Commentary on how the best sales development teams... ✅ Use AI responsibly ✅ Retain top talent SDRs ✅ Align with AEs ✅ Deal with low-pick up rates ✅ And plenty more 👇 P.S. Watch this video for our full commentary: https://lnkd.in/eBFYfnU3

65

26 Comments

Attention SDRs and Sales Reps🎙️ If you are not getting enough coaching, use Chat GPT to supplement the lack of support - P.S sorry you aren’t getting support 😥 Paste a transcript of your recorded call or role-play you did with a co-worker into ChatGPT (check with legal if you can do this) Ask ChatGPT to: • Analyze your call based on your call framework or script • Identify areas for improvement by asking Chat GPT (or whatever tool you may use) questions • Suggest alternative phrases to communicate value better Prompts you could use: "What did I do well on this call?” - Start off feeling good "What did I not do well?” "How could I have dug into the pain more? Please provide questions I could have asked?” “Can you give me 3 ways I could have handled the objections?” "Suggest alternative ways I could have gone for the close?” “Did I miss anything in the call that could have helped me go for the close?” A.I. will not replace you; the Reps who learn how to use it to help them improve will. If you are a sales or enablement leader and want to learn more about how you could leverage A.I. to help improve your team. Come to the Allego Sales Success Summit, where Sam Richter CSP, CPAE, will discuss how to use AI to help improve your sales team. https://lnkd.in/eKg3w7w2

10

2 Comments

The Power of Team Building: More Than Just Fun and Games In the fast-paced world of sales, where targets dominate, it's easy to overlook a mission-critical component of success: team building. At Vendasta, we live by "work hard, play hard." Our sales team balances relentless dedication with a vibrant culture that fosters camaraderie and innovation. Can you guess the theme in this picture? These fun days are vital for: - Enhanced Communication: Breaking down barriers for effective communication. - Increased Motivation: Building loyalty and motivation to achieve goals. - Creativity and Innovation: Encouraging fresh ideas and approaches. - Trust and Collaboration: Fostering a supportive, collaborative environment. So, what's the theme of this picture? Drop your guesses below! 👇 #TeamBuilding #SalesTeam #WorkHardPlayHard #CompanyCulture #TeamSpirit #SalesSuccess #Vendasta

50

6 Comments

Hard truth: the value of traditional enablement looks like this. In fact, my guess is it hits diminishing/negative returns pretty quickly. Why? Enablement delivers some essential inputs that see immediate increasing returns: - documentation around sales process and methodology - curating support and customer-facing content - attempting to store content in one place - giving structure to new hire onboarding - a standardized channel for comms But then, an inflection point… Diminishing returns seeps in. We can only curate so much content, train so much in onboarding, send so many newsletters before the value slows down. In an attempt to ramp up the value, traditional enablement picks up events and programs: - recurring programs - webinars - courseware - sessions - certifications The thought is more is better. But more of this approach just leads to more complexity for reps…which leads us to negative returns. Not only does traditional enablement look for things to be ADDING, it does so with a shot in the arm, information dump approach that doesn’t match the real tasks reps need to do on the job. The way out? Stop looking for content and “events” to add. Start looking for obstacles to remove. That is, as long as you’ve first done the work to define the outcomes they must achieve, outputs they must produce, and factors that enable that performance. Factors like: - expectations and feedback - process and tools - accountability and reinforcement - prompts and reminders - contextual info and support - incentives and consequences - capacity and opportunity - knowledge and skills The inverse of these are the obstacles. Define the outcomes Derive the outputs Delete the obstacles Do this on repeat and you’ll always avoid diminishing/negative returns. Away with traditional enablement. Onward with modern performance improvement. #salesenablement #revops

42

5 Comments

Multi-threading... A skill that's fast becoming the most critical in a sales reps arsenal. Why? 🤔 The market is tough at the moment. 🤔 Buyers are more budget conscious. 🤔 CFOs are asking teams to reduce spend and cut back on investment. 🤔 Prospects that once had buying power and sign off capability now have to get approval from C-Suite. It sounds like an uphill battle 🏃‍♂️‍➡️⛰️ but the truth is, multi-threading is not as daunting as you might think. ⭐️ Here's some tips that have worked well for me in the last 6 months ⭐️ 🗺 Map out your accounts. Org charts are critical for multi-threading. You need to understand who your prospects are, who they report to, and who holds decision making power. Tip - LinkedIn SalesNav let's you build drag and drop org charts! 🗣️ Check with your your champion. Confirm your org chart is correct. Ask them what the process is for bringing on a new vendor. If they don't know, 🆘 they are not a true champion. 📧 Share content early. Begin introducing yourself to key stakeholders quickly. Tip - Connect on LinkedIn with a short and sweet connection request, something like "Wanted to put a face to a name following some great conversations I've been having with (champion name) re (challenge). I'll send over some content via email shortly. I look forward to hearing your thoughts." 🎺 Make sure your content is personalised, engaging, and stands out. TOP TIP - Using a tool like trumpet 🎺 (digital sales room) is a sure fire way to encourage stakeholder engagement. Upload clear and concise value props, how you can solve their businesses challenges, client case studies and more. Ask these contacts to bookmark the page as you will regular update it with content as the deal progresses. And, track their engagement, so you can meet them in the moment. So far, my prospects have been LOVING it! 📞 Pick up the phone. Once you've connected on LinkedIn and sent content, call prospects to ensure that they have seen it. Ask what questions they have and tell them about next steps. By doing the above, when it comes to negotiation these stakeholders will be informed and aware of the entire process to date, and you and your product will be top of mind 🧠 Tenured AE's in my network (I know there are a lot of you), what do you do to successfully multi-thread? P.S. You can guess what I'll be doing in the office today :😉 #multithreading #sales #digitalsalesrooms #dsr #aestrategies

61

10 Comments

Sales managers, good chance you’re making this silent killer mistake: Asking your reps “what happened” in their meeting. When you ask a rep what happened, it tends to be the beginning of a 10-20 minute exchange recapping what the rep thinks is important. Your follow-ups include questions like: - What are the objections? - Did you identify the economic buyer? - What is their decision criteria? Three big problems with this. 1. Even great reps get the answers wrong, because human memory is a buggy system. Plus, plenty of reps under-communicate the bad news because they don’t even want to admit it to themselves, let alone their scary manager. 2. It’s a massive time suck. 20-minute “what happened” conversations snowball into 10s of hours per week. 3. The real killer: Given that the information is incomplete, and or wrong, it usually leads to flawed and rushed deal strategy advice (you have to get to your next meeting!). What do you do instead? In 2024, you have, or should have, access to generativeAI to answer these questions before talking to the rep. Before I ask a rep what happened, I use Revenue.io's trained generativeAI assistant to interrogate the deal in question, or the conversation in question, every question I can think of. Then, I talk to the rep. Don’t start with “what happened.” Start with: “Sounds like the buyer is concerned about timelines, because they need to make a change, but IT resources are sucked into a competing project. I saw that your followup suggested a meeting with our Implementation lead - what else are you thinking we do next?” Then, you spend the 10-20 minutes only on strategy. Use the generativeAI tools around you, or obsess over bringing them to your team. PS - no AI was used in drafting of this post 🤣

18

2 Comments

To all SDRs or anyone entering B2B sales, read this post to avoid falling into common traps. 1. The most successful AEs I have met were the best SDRs. 2. SDRs who didn’t excel in the role and are now AEs are still struggling to generate their own pipeline. 3. AEs who skipped the SDR role, often due to an MBA or strong interview skills, fear switching jobs and roles without inbound leads. They’ve never faced the grind of building a pipeline from scratch, filled with rejections. 4. AEs who have never been an SDR majorly rely on their SDRs or Inbound leads from marketing to help them build pipeline and if any Quarter they don't get inbound or enough meetings from SDRs they sh** in their pants. 5. When these AEs become managers, they often question their team—"Where are the numbers?" or "Why isn’t there a pipeline?"—instead of guiding them on building it. Lacking experience in pipeline generation, they fail to lead by example and eventually lose the respect of their team. Learn the art and science of being an SDR and excel at this job at any cost, you will never have to look back or depend on anyone for pipeline EVER. Prospecting and Generating Pipelines is fundamental to Sales whether you are an SDR, AE, Sr Manager, or VP if you don't know how to do OUTBOUND you will continuously live a sales life of fear and anxiety. So SDRs ask yourselves do you want to be such AE and Managers in the future who depend on others to determine their performance and faith or would you like to own your job? #sales #prospecting #outbound #pipeline #sdr #ae #b2b #saas

102

12 Comments

🚀 Ready to supercharge your sales strategy? Dive into "Why Your Sales Enablement Strategy is Failing (and How to Fix It)" and discover the secrets to turning setbacks into comebacks! 🌟 🔍 Uncover the common pitfalls that are tripping you up and learn: - The sneaky reason your team might be underperforming 🤔 - Effective solutions you can implement TODAY 🔧 - Key insights to keep your B2B biz booming 📈 Wave goodbye to those sales slumps and say hello to skyrocketing success! 🌈✨ Curious? Click the link to unveil the secrets: https://nuel.ink/DWT9UX 🌟 💬 We'd love to hear your thoughts! 💡 Have your strategies ever failed? How did you overcome them? Share below and join the conversation! 🎤👇 #SalesStrategy #B2BSuccess #SaaSStartup #GrowthHackers #EnablementEdge

2

It should not be so hard to empower your sales teams. But, in 2023: 📉 53% of CROs struggled to increase sales velocity and rep productivity 📉 72% of salespeople spent time not selling 📉 28% of sales reps expected to attain quota This year, learn how to leverage the power of sales enablement 🚀 https://lnkd.in/eHDKVJ_J #salesenablement #change #saas

7

Calling All SALES People – YOU HURT YOURSELF WHEN YOU DO THIS!! A huge piece of advice to all of you included in SALES process for your business including CEO’s, MD’S, SALES Directors, Client Directors, Head of Sales, EVP’s, VP’s, SVP’S…I think you get the drift. If your business is taking part in an official RFP process and the RFP states the lines of communication to be used (which it will) i.e. people you should contact (probably a #Procurement person or maybe a Stakeholder)…then abide by it! Now sometimes during the RFP process you may learn of other more senior people who may have an impact on the RFP outcome. This may be via demos or chemistry sessions, or your senior people already know and have a relationship with senior people in the business… BUT please, no matter how desperate or brilliant you think you are…. DO NOT CONTACT THOSE SENIOR PEOPLE DIRECTLY (unless requested to by the contact in the RFP!) It may in your mind seem like a smart thing to do, as you can influence the outcome and get advantage…and I get that is the SALES person in you, and you’ve seen it pay off sometimes… But here’s what actually happens: If the Procurement team are valued and are in charge of doing the official RFP - then take it as given!! All that will happen by your actions is that the senior person will reach out to the Procurement team and tell them…. and guess what that does to your proposal…? Don’t think for one second, your proposal goes to the top of the pile. IMHO, IT’S A HUGE BLACK MARK! What your actions have actually managed to achieve are: 1.     You will have annoyed the Procurement person managing the RFP 2.     You will have annoyed the CPO or Head of Procurement 3.     You will have annoyed the Senior stakeholder who is sponsoring the RFP 4.     You will probably annoy the Senior person you contacted… after all there’s a Procurement function to deal with this stuff! So, SALESPEOPLE…no matter the temptation, do yourself a favour and abide by the RFP rules of communication. You have been warned! _________________________ 😃 Hi I'm Steve Walton. I help companies to fully realize the value procurement brings in terms of cost savings, risk mitigation, supplier innovation and sustainability. DM me if you’re ready to move procurement beyond a tactical purchasing function, and need consultancy and training. 💸📉📊

14

4 Comments

Ashi from Gong is fast (😮‍💨10k) But not as fast as Gong Engage users when they use Lavender. Access to your Gong calls in our personalization assistant ✅ Access to our coach & "Ashi fast" personalization in Gong ✅ Better 🤝 Faster 3.0 (and so much more) coming soon

105

10 Comments

What is the number 1 thing the top sales rep at Gong focuses on in demos? 🛑 Its not building rapport 🛑 Its not showing off the coolest features ✅ Its Aligning to a strategic priority. People don't make budgets for new priorities. But there is always budget for existing ones. Especially ones that are driven from the top down. My last quarter at Chili Piper I jumped back into sales and carried a quota. I knew I had to knock off some rust quick and my first stop for quality sales content was none other than the 30MPC podcast. Listening to Brian LaManna's episode I was able to grab 4 key takeaways from this 4x President's Club winner: 1 - Come with a point of view on what their top priorities might be. It might sound something like "Hey Nick, I was doing some research and noticed you were rolling out MEDDIC methodology to the sales team. Is that the #1 priority for you all or does anything else trump that?" 2 - Never ask "any questions?" Instead => reframe it to "what has stood out the most so far?" Put someone on the spot to think of a question creates a ton of friction. Asking them to share their experience so far lets them speak to what they are feeling and opens up the conversation. 3 - For any secondary calls start with a "What I've learned Slide" Bullet out points that share where they are at today And begin to map out the desired future state that you uncovered in the first call It creates a great baseline to pick up the conversation and see if anything has changed in terms of priorities. 4 - End call with “On a scale of 1-10, how compelling is what you saw today?” Understand where they sit after your demo. And follow up by asking "what would make it a 10 in terms of priority?" This episode was littered with sales nuggets that I was able to implement right away (and helped me hit 280% of my quarterly number) It's also a full circle moment now that we have become partners with 30MPC and helps our mission of levelling up the b2b sales community! #sales #b2bsales #30MPCxAligned

35

11 Comments

Unlock the power of revenue intelligence with Chorus by ZoomInfo. 🔓 From identifying risk factors to tracking essential communications, Chorus helps you stay on top of every opportunity and prioritize your accounts. Watch as Solutions Consultant Anthony Cruz shows how to gain key insights into your deals and optimize your sales strategy with Chorus. ⬇️

20

𝐈𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐚𝐒 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬? 🧐 In today’s SaaS world, it’s not just about giving your reps product knowledge — it’s about making sure they’re fully equipped to navigate complex, multi-stakeholder deals. 😅 Fact: Teams that use sales enablement tools see 20% higher productivity. So, let’s break down how you can make sure your team is always ready to close! 💪 ⭐️ 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 - Provide your team with an on-demand library of battlecards, customer stories, and competitive comparisons. Use platforms like Guru or Showpad to keep everything organized and accessible. 🗂️ ⭐️ 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐀𝐈-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 - Tools like Gong can automatically analyze calls and offer insights on where reps need improvement. Instant feedback = faster growth. 📊 ⭐️ 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 - The market’s always changing! Make sure your team’s playbooks are up to date with new tactics, pricing, and customer objections. Use tools like Notion to keep things dynamic and collaborative. 📖 Are your reps prepared for complex deals? Let me know in the comments what sales enablement looks like for YOUR team! 💬👇 #SalesEnablement #SaaSSales #SalesTraining #B2BSales #SalesLeadership #SalesStrategy

1

1 Comment