True Sales Results

What is the most under valued job in SaaS sales? You could make the argument that it is the SDR/BDR role and I would not disagree. But I'd submit to you that it is the CRO version 1.0 of the SaaS startup sales team. Let's review some real world stats, shall we? Only 4% of all SaaS startups achieve $1M in ARR and it takes on average 2.5 years to do that. And only .4% of all SaaS startups ever achieve $10M in ARR. Expressed differently, 96% of all SaaS startups fail to achieve $1M in ARR and 99.6% of all SaaS startups fail to achieve $10M in ARR. Back to the CRO v1.0 role being under valued and appreciated. As a CRO v1, you are taking a job with ridiculously high failure rates based on grossly unrealistic revenue and growth goals set by VCs. You are tasked with selling a v1.0 product that typically is missing core functionality that customers need to make a purchase decision. And you don't have any production reference customers that you can use in your sales pursuits. You have to build a GTM sales strategy, figure out your ICP, recruit and build an early stage sales team, create comp plans and territories, build sales tools and sales pipelines from scratch. Decide on the sales and marketing tools that you will use based on limited budgets. You have to roll up your sleeves and sell yourself. You have to prepare for and conduct Board meetings. You have to create a forecasting process and pipeline review call. Figure out new sales rep onboarding and training processes. Deal with sales performance and personnel issues. All the while knowing that the clock is ticking on your tenure and that there is a loaded gin, cocked and pointed at your temple waiting to be fired as the sacrificial lamb. You fight, scratch and claw your way to some early customer wins and then you have to put on your customer service hat when the software does not perform "as advertised". All of this presents a level of stress and pressure that most people will never experience in their careers. You get fired and your successor comes in as the white knight. The CRO v2.0 gets the luxury of resetting revenue and growth expectations to be more realistic. They inherit all of the good things that you built from scratch and call them their own. They blame you for anything that goes wrong for the next year. And if they don't hit the numbers, then it's on to CRO v3.0 and the merry go round continues. #CRO #saas #sales

Summer College Internships. When should students start applying and looking? Asking for a friend. #collegeinternships #internships #summerinternships

This is the Alpha Geek. They are often involved in Enterprise Technology evaluations and decisions. They don't have budgetary authority. They don't have people reporting to them. They don't tend to talk a lot or ask a lot of questions in meetings with sales teams. But to overlook and ignore them as a sales team... well you do so at your own peril. They often have incredible influence in the decision process. While they can't say the final yes. They definitely can say a final no. They can be sneaky and soft spoken as they ask a seemingly innocuous question to the sales team. Yet that single benign question and your answer as a sales team can ultimately win or lose you the deal. Beware of the Alpha Geek!

Anyone in my Boston, MA LI network looking to hire a summer intern? Please PM me for an introduction. See below... Here is an awesome candidate: I am a currently a Junior at The University of Alabama working towards a bachelor’s degree in marketing with a minor in sales. With a strong academic background and experience in customer service, I am seeking a summer internship in the field of technology sales where I can develop my skills in a professional environment.   My ideal internship position would: - Be hybrid (ideally in the Boston, MA area) - Be paid - Have a welcoming company culture - Involve projects to better learn the industry - Allow room to build a network of like-minded professionals - Provide the opportunity to be challenged #internship #salesintern #hiringinterns

Anyone in my LI network looking to hire a Director of Business Development? I know a strong candidate who is an expert at crafting compelling value propositions and messaging into pipeline producing demand generation campaigns and programs. Please PM me if interested in an introduction. #saleshiring #demandgen #bizdev

Looking to hire an awesome Account Exec based in SoCal? I may have the perfect candidate. She is a highly motivated business professional with a proven track record of sales excellence, consistently outperforming goals and delivering high customer satisfaction. With 6 years as a Sales Manager, managing the entire sales cycle from qualifying leads to closing high-value deals and consistently exceeding quota, she is looking to leverage her skillset as an Account Executive in the software industry. Please PM me if you are interested in an introduction. She won't be on the market for long. #saashiring #saleshiring #aehiring #sales #saassales

What is the Buyer's Journey? Fundamentally, it is the single most important thing to understand in detail for successful selling pursuits. It is based on decades of well vetted scientific and cognitive behavioral research. It is all about the process that we as humans go through when we make a decision. Sales teams that align their sales & marketing processes to their buyer's journey have a much higher success ratio than those that don't. This is based on tons of empirical data from Complex B2B Sales research studies. There is a Science to Sales if you really understand your customer. #saas #complexb2bsales #b2bsales #cybersecurity #salesenablement

My Podcast generated through Google NotebookLM https://lnkd.in/evX-DGBy #sales #saassales #b2bsales #complexb2bsales #enterprisesales #googlenotebooklm #google #notebooklm

#salesbestpractices #saassales #salesenablement #b2bsales #complexb2bsales

There is a Science to Sales. People buy from people. People make decisions based on emotion, not logic. People justify their decisions based on rational thought and logic. The more people involved in a Complex B2B Sale, the more challenging it is to drive to a decision. The customer really wants you (Sales) to understand what their needs are and why. The customer really cares that you (Sales) are listening and understanding. They will test you (Sales) with questions that they already know the answers to. If you (Sales) fail, you will be disqualified from further consideration and undermined your own credibility. Customer Trust is sacrosanct. Earning and keeping that Trust is the principal job of Sales. This was written by a human. Not AI. #saas #saassales #complexb2bsales #b2bsales