Charles Addai-Appiah

I helped launch Salesloft , Gong , 6sense and many others in the UK via Sales Confidence I’ll be honest I’ve not been as excited about a new GTM technology as much as I am about Clay (And for once I’m not being paid - yet ;) ) The flexibility, possibilities and opportunity to impact your pipeline is incredible. This has the feel of the Salesforce , HubSpot ecosystem effect. I’m seeing consultants, agencies, experts popping up in my feed particularly in the US rapidly over the last 6 months. I’m not surprised they have just raised $62 M at a $500 M valuation! Varun Anand and Kareem Amin are doing amazing things! I don’t really see it as a SDR or sales person end user tool…tell me if you feel differently? However, it’s application to drive productivity and efficiency accross your sales team is epic! Are you using or thinking about Clay in your tech stack? What love to hear about your use cases. What’s working and what isn’t? Who in the UK or Europe should I be following?

8

1 Comment

One of the biggest lies Sales Leaders are telling to themselves, is that Sales Enablement is responsible for driving the sales coaching strategy. “We’ve got a Sales Enablement team who look after coaching” The reality? (A real company I spoke with recently) - A sales organisation of 50 odd reps - One Enablement person (to coach 50 reps?!?!) - Sales Enablement offering some ‘ad-hoc’ coaching to the odd enthusiastic rep AT BEST. - Sales Enablement actually spending 90% of their time onboarding new reps and rolling out training, in amongst creating collateral and sitting in cross department meetings. - Sales Enablement telling Sales Leaders to coach more…but being ignored. - Less than 5% of sales reps actually wanting to be coached by their Enablement team (State of Sales Coaching 2025 report) - High performing sales reps contacting external companies like MySalesCoach for help. I get it. I know there are a tiny number of Sales Enablement professionals out there who have coaching central to their role. But for the large part, they become an excuse for Sales Leaders who should be prioritising it…but aren’t. Sales Enablement - the dumping ground for all things ‘improving our sellers’. Surely we can be doing SO much better than just saying ‘It’s their job I think’.

40

22 Comments

💶 There are loads of posts around BANT, MEDDICC, methodologies and so on. But in the end, sales always comes down to ‘need’ but I don’t think many really get what that actually means. I’ve seen Enterprise AEs torn apart at QBRs by CROs as they haven’t been able to truly identify ‘need’ and what the compelling event is. My simple advice: The ‘so what?’ method. Kind of like the 5 whys, whenever you get an answer to your sales questions, ask yourself internally, ‘So what?’ ”I need to make sure this is signed before Dec 31st.” So what? “If we don’t we’ll be in trouble with the regulators.” So what? ”Worst case scenario we can be fined 10% of our annual turnover…” Spoiler alert: 95% of the time it comes down to 🤑 💰 💶

5

The top decile enterprise sales leaders I’ve met enable their reps with one thing in particular, that the bottom 90% neglect. Across the several hundred revenue, sales, and value leaders I’ve spoken to as we’ve built Minoa, there’s a recognition that proving value and ROI is tough. Now, hand that responsibility over to a rep too busy dealing with admin, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for miscommunication and lack of customer buy-in. We get this question all the time - “how do I get reps to adopt our value selling initiative”? This frames it as an issue related to rep discipline, when the problem has nothing to do with this. It’s not that reps don’t see the point - they just don’t know how to navigate communicating the quantitative impact of your product’s value. The very best sales leaders empower their reps with clear frameworks of how quantitative impact (be it for revenue, cost, time etc.) maps to value drivers and use cases. Proving value can be hard, but having the power to communicate and match product value to measurable business outcomes in a long and complex sales cycle cuts through the noise. At Minoa, we help set up the value frameworks, calculations, and guardrails that give every single rep the ability, and more importantly the confidence, to use data and quantitative impact to sell on value.

16

2 Comments

Tired of losing hard-earned deals? Solve for Revenue Leak. In Clari’s 2024 Revenue Leak Report, RevOps leaders said leak happens at every stage of the funnel. - Creating: Poor and slow upsell pipeline tracking - Converting: Unsure where pipeline is dropping off - Closing: Slipped deals Don’t let Revenue Leak drag down another quarter – or another year. Download the Revenue Leak Report for more: https://lnkd.in/eeVWViQz  

42

It’s never been more difficult to be in sales. To be successful, you need high-value outbound messaging that distinguishes you as the right solution for your prospect. But let's face it — not all reps have the time or access to real-time data to truly understand each prospect's needs...  It's time to meet SAM, the AI-powered sales assistant from Similarweb. Only with SAM do you get: 💡Prospect-tailored insights based on buyer intent, sales signals, and your prospects’ use case 📬Hyper-personalized, ready-to-use outbound messaging that spotlights your company as the right solution 🗓️Instantly generated insights accessible through Gmail and Google Calendar, making sales reps ready for any meeting  You can learn more about SAM’s capabilities here → https://bit.ly/3QOi5BB

36

1 Comment

𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦 In the latest in our Sales Training Series, we look at a fabulous tool for managing the complexities of BIG deals at BIG Customers. A political Map is a very useful tool for deeply understanding all of the players that are involved at your Customer, what their influence might be, how they face off to one-another, what are their personal / professional motivations, and what concerns they may have with your Company or Solution. • 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: List the individuals or groups within the customer organization who have a vested interest in the SaaS solution. This may include executives, department heads, IT personnel, end-users, procurement officers, and influencers. • 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀: Evaluate the influence and decision-making authority of each stakeholder. Some stakeholders may have direct decision-making power, while others may serve as influencers or gatekeepers. • 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀: Analyze the relationships and connections between stakeholders. Identify allies, champions, and potential detractors within the organization. Understand how decisions are typically made and who holds sway over whom. • 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀: Gain insight into the motivations, priorities, and objectives of each stakeholder. Understand what they hope to achieve by adopting the SaaS solution and how it aligns with their departmental or personal goals. • 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Identify potential objections or concerns that stakeholders may raise during the sales process. Anticipate questions about ROI, security, integration, compliance, and other relevant topics. • 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆: Based on the political map, develop a targeted engagement strategy for each stakeholder. Tailor messaging and value propositions to address their specific interests and concerns. Cultivate relationships with key decision-makers and influencers. • 𝗠𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀: Proactively address potential obstacles or objections raised by stakeholders. Provide evidence, testimonials, case studies, and references to demonstrate the value and credibility of the SaaS solution. Offer solutions to address specific concerns and mitigate risks. Happy Selling

6

One of my favourite questions when discussing timelines with a prospect: "Does it feel reasonable that we could have you on board by the 30th of June?" Why it's powerful: → Simple yet direct → Ensures we're on the same page → Identifies any potential roadblocks early on → We can build a success plan working backwards from that date By aligning our timelines from the outset, it maintains momentum and drives the project forward efficiently. What's your fav timeline question? #sales #ae #pipeline

27

5 Comments

Learn about driving value selling across the sales team

1

3 Comments

How do you detect atrophy in your team? Many of the conversations I’m having with revenue leaders centre around how they can become more proactive vs reactive. A big part of this is detecting atrophy - those reps who may be blindly slipping into decline or heading for a bad quarter. To be proactive requires ruthless focus on LEADING indicators. Rather than obsession over LAGGING metrics. Leading indicators typically include KPIs such as: - pipeline value ($ opps created) - pipeline volume (# opps created) - stage to stage conversion (%) - activity volume Another great leading indicator is competency scores - ie what level of competence are reps demonstrating vs key competencies you expect them to display. Close monitoring of leading indicators helps you as a leader make proactive interventions so your team can course correct before it’s too late. It might just save your quarter. #leadership #data #growth #metrics #objectivedata

10

1 Comment

Sales leaders - What’s the general consensus on buying prospect (B2B) data lists these days (UK)? Yay or nay? Apart from the obvious scoping of the data around my ICP, what should I be looking for? And finally, who’s gonna recommend someone to provide this for me based on you having a great experience with that data company? Data will be managed via Hubspot, if that helps.

2

7 Comments

Londoners, whats your plans tomorrow after work? Come join me and; Alex Wood | Sales Leader at Aircall Galit Weinberg | Director of Sales at GoCardless Rosi Y. | Head of Enablement Stenn along with the Wiser elite team. We'll all be in a room full of other sales leaders to discuss the results from the ‘The State of Sales Coaching 2025’ – the largest sales coaching-specific survey ever conducted. Who’s the event for? Sales leaders who know the impact and importance of coaching and looking to improve their coaching strategy in 2025 using the learnings from a critical piece of research. When: Tomorrow (13th November) 6.30-9pm Where: Wiser HQ - 10 Bakers Yard, London, EC1R 3DD How: Grab your free ticket here: https://lnkd.in/eZhKd4hC Expect networking with other sales leaders, food, drink, and great insights from the panel. — See you there if you like? #salescoaching | #salesperformance PS I look worse in real life, this is me calling it out now ha. It's a half decent picture. 😅

16

1 Comment

Enablement teams and sellers often struggle to figure out what works well on their calls and what doesn't because: - They spend too much time preparing - They lack clear insights - They have trouble personalising their pitches - They don't have enough data to improve training and content. Seismic for Meetings offers valuable insights and tools to improve meeting performance and yield better results. #SalesEnablement #SeismicForMeetings #CI #AI

1

🚀 Salespeople reveal what they're thinking in 2024…👀🚀  We've just released our latest report, in which we asked hundreds of AEs and sales leaders for their views on everything from their sales process and tooling to their confidence in the year ahead. It’s really insightful with some surprising stats that might have you rethinking your entire sales strategy. 🔍 Only 9% of AEs believe their company’s buying process is very good. (Definitely some room for improvement!) 🤝 1 in 2 AEs lost a deal during the handover to Customer Success. But, when these teams collaborate effectively, customer churn plummets. 🧵 78% of AEs find it difficult to multithread beyond their champion—highlighting an opportunity to improve and learn how to strengthen relationships across the buying team. If you’re involved in driving sales success, whether on the front lines or in strategic roles, you’ll want to have a read of these insights! 👉 In the spirit of buyer enablement we’re not even harvesting your email address and flooding you with sales emails…simply download the full report, in peace, in the comments. #SalesInsights #trumpet #SalesStrategy #AccountExecutives

15

1 Comment

Sharing for people in the Onboarding and Implementation world. Stuart Barker is working on an interesting use case where Jointflows can dramatically improve the transfer of knowledge as the Customer Success team takes on ownership of a customer after the Sales team closes a deal. It's well worth talking with Stuart about this.

9

1 Comment

How do you get AEs to prospect more? Turns out, a simple driver might be...streaks? We added a small, almost accidental feature in AccountAim - a daily activity map, inspired by GitHub’s contribution tracker. It’s become a huge driver of AE prospecting output. 🔥 Reps don’t want to break their streaks 🏆 Visible competition motivates the whole team 📈 Activity leads to impact - reps can easily sense the correlation between activity and opps created when presented visually Combine this with prescriptive targeting, and many of our customers have more than 2x’d AE prospecting activity. It’s no wonder gamification has taken off in all of the consumer apps, it’s actually a game-changer. Credit to Brett, our CTO, for this one!

23

3 Comments

🧭 Today's exciting annoucement - LinkedIn Embedded Experiences: Bring the Power of Sales Navigator Directly Into Your CRM 🧭 Every sales leader is facing a ton of pressure to make their sales organization more efficient. One of the biggest productivity killers is their sellers' tool hopping to get the most accurate and up-to-date information on their customers. That’s why I was so excited to see that LinkedIn Sales Solutions has officially launched CRM Embedded Experiences. Our Advanced Plus users now have access to quality up-to-date data powered by LinkedIn’s 1 billion members and 67 million companies across 200 countries, right inside their CRM. What’s more exciting is as of today, the integration of Sales Navigator features directly into your CRM interface, including: Account IQ - Dive deep into target accounts with financials, business challenges, and strategic priorities. Find Key People -Quickly highlights key decision-makers and influencers within your accounts. Relationship Map -Helps you visualize the complex web of relationships within your accounts, helping you identify decision-makers more efficiently. The result? Your sellers have more reliable insights inside of their CRM to use when they engage with customers, without having to search through multiple sources to get it. Not only will they be able to see the information that they need to sell, but they can trust that it’s timely and accurate. And for you, this means more efficient use of both your CRM and Sales Navigator, ultimately maximizing seller workflows and time. All three CRM Embedded Experiences will be available in Salesforce starting today! HubSpot and Microsoft Dynamics will support Find Key People shortly. Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/EmbeddedExperiencesBlog 💼✨ #LinkedIn #SalesNavigator #EmbeddedExperiences #B2BSales #deepsales

10

1 Comment

It's safe to say the most excitable conversations Richard Heritage and I have had since we (Infer) launched our HubSpot integration have been with RevOps teams 🔥 ! The ability to predict churn, forecast accurately and understand why your KPIs are fluctuating seems to really resonate, which is awesome! Makes sense given RevOps teams typically care about data driven decision making, unifying the customer journey and break silos across organisations. Read more in the comments below and big thanks to James May for being our sounding board the last couple of months 💪 #revops #ai #hubspot #crm

20

7 Comments