Alex Wilson

Do not read this post if your quota attainment per seller is >70%, Average Deal Sizes have grown >2x in the last year and if you don't need more Sales Pipeline. For those of you that do, I'm proud to announce a revolutionary way for your GTM teams to drive productivity with DatabookGPT. But, don't listen to me, listen to our customers: “As we pilot the new DatabookGPT, we find it’s driving down the creation of our initial account plans from seven weeks to seven minutes,” said Chris Smith, Chief Strategy Officer at Grant Thornton. “It's a game changer." "Every AE at Databricks lives by our value of 'customer obsessed.' Understanding the value the Data Intelligence Platform delivers for every customer is essential. DatabookGPT was built on Databricks and supports our sellers by giving them that account intelligence," said Ron Gabrisko, Chief Revenue Officer at Databricks. "Through our teams' use of Databook, we saw our average deal size increase by 54.8% in FY24", said Kirsty Mundy, WW Field Enablement Microsoft, Industry Solutions Delivery Learn more at www.databook.com. It's Generally Available now for companies looking to grow their deal sizes, shorten their sales cycles, and grow pipeline. #accountintelligence #enterprisesales #strategicrelationshipmanagement

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SDR Dashboards - what do you want to see? Gimme your top 3 stats/charts/reports you like to see on YOUR dashboard for pipeline gen. There's the obvious activity levels and SQL/SAL volumes but what else do you like to see.....

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Statement 1 is obvious Jason Bay tech tools when chosen to suit/solve the needs launch their sales… but invest for real and give them the tools they need. Is this really what you are observing? Initially, each solution is created to solve a specific need... even in the same category: sales enablements. They evolve vertically or horizontally.  I say: "Pick to solve not to standardize". Even a CRM can be a luxury… it comes back to: what are you trying to solve? again... pick to solve not to standardize! AI can be the solution or... not. Spot on for your 4th statement: Human nature is not changing just by implementing a CRM or a new sales pipeline strategy! Use tech to promote and support the desired behaviour. This should be one of the criteria of your tech selection process. 

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I was asked what is the fasted way to win new business for sales - get warm introductions in your target accounts. Here are 7 steps that I think will help you get radically more pipeline fast:🔥📈 Inboxes are overflowing, cold outreach is losing its punch. Warm introductions are the key to breaking through the noise and accelerating your sales pipeline. 1. Define Target Accounts 🎯 Zero in on accounts that align with your ideal customer profile. Know their challenges, and understand how your solution uniquely solves them. Focus on a subset you’re confident about – don’t let analysis paralysis slow you down. Key: Don’t get stuck on the first step; just go for it! 2. Identify Connectors in Your Network 🕸️ Expand your network (or automate this with platforms like https://lnkd.in/e-XsFVmR) to match up with contacts who have trusted relationships with key players in your target accounts. Look for people with deep industry and solution experience- they’ll help boost your credibility.  3. Engage with Value First 💬 When requesting an intro, lead with value. Show why the intro matters to their connection and how it benefits them. Remember, your Trusted Advisor isn’t your sales rep – they’re a facilitator of value for their network. Offer insights, unique perspectives, and collaborate in a knowledge exchange. This will set you apart as more than “just another sales rep.” 4. Personalize Your Outreach to the New Contact 🧑‍💼 After a warm into, skip the canned pitch. Reference your mutual connection, then tailor your message to your target accounts needs. Tap into your advisor’s inside knowledge on what truly matters, from active projects to key priorities. This approach makes you relevant, aware, and genuinely interesting. 5. Nurture the Relationship, Not Just the Opportunity 🤝 Warm intros open doors, but it’s the relationships that close deals. Focus on building trust, actively listening, and providing value. Even if there’s no immediate sale. 6. Don’t Forget Your Sales Process 🚀 Whether it’s Solution Selling, MEDDICC, or MEDDPICC, stick to your process to stay on track. Use your advisor’s insights to set you apart, but also to qualify out quickly – if it’s not a fit, pivot to protect your credibility and the trust of your connection. 7. Reward Your Trusted Advisor 🏆 Recognize your advisor’s role in your success! A thoughtful gesture, creative reward, or a few percentage points on the deal can make a significant impact. It shows appreciation, strengthens the partnership, and sets the stage for future collaboration. Warm introductions are your ticket to stronger connections, faster cycles, and higher close rates. Are you tapping into them? 🔑 And if you want to make this easy, check out https://lnkd.in/e-XsFVmR – the first platform designed to automate and scale your ability to find and leverage warm introductions into all of your target accounts. 🔗 #SalesTips #Sales #SDR #SalesPipeline #WarmIntroductions #ForceEquals

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Scaling an outbound team from 14 reps to 150 reps. My 12 lessons from Checkr's journey. Carrie Bosworth, SVP of Sales at Checkr, shared how they did it on the Science of Scaling podcast. Here are my 12 key takeaways from the episode: 1) Scaling with Inbound Leads Only • Rarely do companies hit massive revenue through inbound alone. • When Carrie joined Checkr, they were scaling fast but knew inbound would dry up. • They diversified by adding outbound selling to maintain growth. 2) Transition Challenges • Moving from inbound to outbound is hard. • Different profiles and skill sets are needed. • How you hire, create books, and approach the market changes. 3) Preparation Time • It took Checkr 6-9 months to get ready for outbound. 4) Executive Involvement • Executives should also engage in outbound. • Reps write notes for execs, who adjust them to sound authentic. • Execs don't run long sequences but help break into top accounts. 5) Deep Research for Enterprise AEs • AEs with public company accounts spend 2 months on research. • They buy the prospect's product, use the app, and create detailed reports. • This deep dive helps them secure meetings and close deals faster. 6) Inbound to Outbound Transition • Initial reps were order takers with no BDR experience. • Given a chance to switch, many opted out or moved to other teams. 7) Hiring and Expectations • AEs with outbound experience only. • Enterprise AEs need more experience. • BDRs require 1 year of previous BDR experience from top companies. • SDRs are often college athletes for their motivation and work ethic. 8) Territory Management • Started with 14 reps using Round Robin. • Grew to 150 reps with balanced territories based on company size and location. 9) ICP Definition • Focus on LTV, retention, and CAC. • Targeting accounts with high LTV and reasonable CAC. 10) Territory Alignment Post-Covid • Shifted focus from geography to best ICP. • Created extra territories to accommodate growth. 11) Outbound Playbook • Inbound is reactionary; outbound requires operational rigor. • Dedicated time for outbound activities is crucial. 12) Accountability Measures • Monthly scorecards with more weight on outbound activities. • Comp plans, daily dashboards, and pipeline meetings ensure focus. Outbound sales require strategy, preparation, and the right team. --- P.S. What's the biggest challenge when transitioning from inbound to outbound?

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Sequence is absolutely *crushing* its GTM content engine. Worth checking out their most recent report "Sequence Principles" detailing tactical revenue lessons from 100+ B2B companies. Some highlights: 1. Clear ICP messaging (B2B sales leadership) 2. Easy scrolling/skimming ability across sections 3. Real-time founder testimonials (like Sasha Orloff) 4. Highly tactical advice (i.e. packaging, bundling, metrics) 5. Simple design without overwhelming folks w/ dense content Highly recommend taking a look - big s/o to the Sequence team ⚡

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SDRs/AEs and Founders, Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to Create Auto-Pilot Trigger-Based Lead Lists Prospecting on LinkedIn isn't what it used to be. Gone are the days when you could send connection requests and cold messages to anyone. LinkedIn has tightened up, and random outreach will get you nowhere. But here's the thing: There's a gold rush happening on LinkedIn that most sellers are missing out on. What gold rush am I talking about? Trigger-based lead lists. These are hyper-targeted, automatically generated lists of prospects that match your ideal customer profile (ICP). For example, you can create a list of people who: - Viewed your LinkedIn profile - Viewed your company page - Clicked your posts - Shared or commented on your content This level of targeting creates red hot, sales-ready leads. But very few sellers utilize this LinkedIn capability. And that's where the opportunity lies. Here are 3 steps to tap into these lead lists on autopilot: 1️⃣ Define your ICP Get crystal clear on your ideal customer. Industry, size, titles, etc. This ensures your lists only include legitimate prospects. 2️⃣ Set up lead list triggers Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to create automated lists based on prospect actions. For example, new profile viewers in the past week. 3️⃣ Engage triggered leads immediately Don't let these leads go cold. Engage them right away with relevant, personalized outreach. Imagine having a constant flow of qualified, sales-ready prospects thanks to these lead list triggers. It takes a bit of work to set up initially, but then it runs on autopilot. This is the golden opportunity on LinkedIn today. PS - DM me if you need a detailed consultation.

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How most sales reps sound like in deal reviews: 🗣 "We had an amazing demo with the prospect XY. They are really interested. They love our product. They said they need to discuss it internally with the CRO, but do not see a problem with this - money should not be a problem. They were also looking into competitors but do not like them as much as they like our solution." 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 Excitement is important and should be conveyed But the deal reviews are not the place for that Slack channels and meetings with the whole team are I struggled with this for the first 3 years (and still do). As salespeople, we have to be short-term pessimists and constantly ask ourselves the following questions: 👉🏻 Do you have a quantifiable business case? (Why any solution) 👉🏻 What exactly do they need that only we can provide? (Why our solution) 👉🏻 What happens if they do not change anything? (Why now) 👉🏻 What are potential risks and how are you mitigating those? 👉🏻 What is the next step concretely? If it is a meeting, what do we try to achieve there? ✅ In deal reviews, sales reps should sound more like this: 🗣 "Prospect XY is currently evaluating an initiative to reduce the time the salespeople spend entering data into the CRM. The 50 salespeople are currently spending 20% of their time on these tasks, which can be reduced by 50%. The prospect confirmed that they believe our solution can do that for them. No other solution they looked into integrates with their CRM. They also said that they are willing to spend 30% of what they win on efficiency. If they do not act now, they won't reach their yearly target. Our champion will present the solution to the CRO on the 10th of January. Unfortunately, they could not invite us. We have the debriefing meeting with them the day after" Recognise the difference? If that is more like you do it, well done. You will be far ahead.

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🚨 Don't miss this webinar! Succeeding with Outbound in 2025 🚨 **Background...** The challenge of attracting prospect’s attention has never been tougher: Cold email positive response rates are <0.5% AI SDRs are burning the market reputation for outbound Gmail and Outlook are making deliverability tougher than ever LinkedIn is tightening up on outreach from their platform Phone connection rates remain as challenging as ever **The answer?** You have to find fresh new approaches to stand out and earn that engagement Coach and empower your outbound team to think and act creatively Innovate to find unique points of competitive advantage that will keep you ahead of the competitive Use AI responsibility, to generate valuable insights and support a unique Point of View Rethink what success metrics, team structures an incentives should look like for more sustainable success None of the channels and approaches mentioned above are ☠️ dead ☠️ But if you're using cookie-cutter approaches to them, they won't be effective. So join myself Nia Woodhouse and Mark Colgan on this expert webinar to share with you the fresh ideas and advanced playbooks that will help you to cut through the noise and build outbound pipeline next year! Link to join below... #b2b #saas #outbound #pipeline #sales

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I was fortunate to spend a year in Dan Fougere's sales org at Medallia and learned at a rate I've never experienced at any other point in my career. Some of my key takeaways, which he also shares in this conversation. ➡️ A repeatable sales process/playbook is the foundation for scaling an Enterprise business. ➡️ The best Enterprise reps hone and maintain maniacal discipline around PG. They never let it fall off their calendar. ➡️ The most effective frontline managers spend more time coaching and supporting their team early in the sales process (i.e. Discovery & Evaluation) than they do in the later stages (i.e. Negotiation/Closing). Without explicit guidance from 2nd and 3rd line leaders, most tend to get this balance wrong. ➡️ Sales leaders (at all levels) have to be 'in it' with their teams i.e., involved in outbound prospecting, regularly speaking with customers, playing an active role in deals, being audible ready etc.. ➡️ One of your core responsibilities as a sales leader is to create a high performance environment where people feel like they are challenged, constantly learning, and being supported to achieve things they didn't think were possible (securing C-Level meetings via outbound PG, winning 8 figure deals, earning international career opportunities etc). If you work in sales, this Podcast is well worth an hour of your time. #sales #salesenablement #coaching #salesleadership

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Here’s what to focus on when building global SDR teams ⬇️ With teams operating in different regions, there’s always a balancing act. You want your messaging and approaches to be aligned. But you need to lean into what works in different cultures. Here’s three key areas to consider. 🌍 Cultural nuances Your teams will want to work in different ways. Invest time to understand local etiquette, working styles etc. Understanding these and not going against them unnecessarily will immediately help things run a bit smoother. 🧪Global vs local playbook How fluid are the processes and playbooks you run. From a standard global model, are you allowing teams to adapt these, or are they rigid? A balance I like is roughly 70% global GTM function standardized with 30% leeway for regions. 🧠 Training and development Ensure that everyone across your global team has access to the same opportunities and a consistent skill level across your team. Layer this in with localized training to make it more relevant. If you want more advice on building successful global SDR teams. I spoke with Sean Hayes recently on how he’s done just that at Aircall Episode in comments.

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If you are an SDR manager, you can help your team get meetings by responding to the outbound you're receiving from other vendors. Ask the SDR who is emailing you if they use anything for revenue intelligence [obviously insert your category] and go from there. Find out the information, and then give it to the lowest performing rep on your team for an easy win. Here's the email you can draft for your SDR: "Hey VP of Sales, I spoke with my manager who mentioned you were using XYZ already, she talked to John (one of your SDRs) who gave us the tip. Would you be willing to have someone on your team evaluate us as an alternative?" ^^ It sets. Try it! #sdrlife #sales

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"Is outbound dead?" is the wrong debate if you sell $1M+ deals. You need what's fastest and most cost-efficient. And for getting exec-level meetings and discovery, that's Emissary — absolutely no contest. If you sell $1M deals and your org hasn't gotten you access yet, take advantage of budget season and go ask for it as part of next year's territory plan. Our website has dozens of testimonials you can use to support the case.

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Want to win more of your pipeline? 💰 Multi-thread It’s one of the most important things you can do to help drive urgency in your sales cycle Most mid-market deals include an average of 6-10 DMs Enterprise deals can include upwards of 20+ DMs The trap that a lot of sellers can fall into is over-relying on your champion Champions are great - don’t get me wrong It pays dividends to have a champion but it’s 10x when you have 3-4 champions advocating on your behalf Unfortunately most buyers don’t know how to buy so our job as sellers is to educate our buyers on how to effectively buy a solution to solve their problems & it’s actually pretty simple to do Take a look at your closed-won deals - especially your high value deals Who all was involved? Who is currently involved? What was the buying process like? What unexpected obstacles did you have to overcome? Use this as a roadmap to educate your prospects on how to buy I love multi-threading at the end of discovery in driving next steps (and farther along the sales process as well) Here’s a quick talk track you can easily apply when driving next steps with prospects: “Next steps typically involve looping in ABC partners (this could be higher level DMs in their function or other cross-functional leaders who are involved in the buying process for your service/offering) to discuss XYZ priorities (this should be the key initiatives your prospect is looking to solve/improve/attain in implementing your solution). We want to make sure that we’re all in alignment and moving in the right direction together. We usually see that looping in cross-functional partners early helps us to uncover potential roadblocks that we’d need to account for and improves our collaborative efficiency. What does your buying process look like and who is usually involved? Would it make sense for us to go ahead and loop then in on our next call?” Why it works? 1️⃣ You’re educating the buyer on who’s typically involved with the buying/implementation process at other similar organizations 2️⃣ You’re collaboratively driving next steps and confirming the prospects buying process 3️⃣ You’re using multi-threading as a way to add value (helping reduce unforeseen roadblocks and improve efficiency) 4️⃣ You’re reducing the internal selling effort required for your champion (again - adding value) Expand your reach by broadening your decision-making unit through multi-tasking and watch your sales cycle shrink What other tips do you have for multi-threading within your pipeline? Happy selling, friends!

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Revenue blindness is a condition that a 2/3 people in sales suffer from. When undiagnosed it can lead to... - Constant Peaks and Valleys - Scaling Suck - a 'Just do more' mindset - Hives - Dispair and Misery What is revenue blindess? When all that is looked at in terms of success is the revenue number. If you hit = Things must be good. If you miss = The team/individual/leader suck It's actually far more dangerous on the 'hit' side, and I see it all the time. A rep is hitting their number, but tearing down the culture, but it's allowed because of... Revenue blindess A team of 10 hits the number, but off the back of the manager or or 1 top rep, so the decision is made to scale to 30 even tho they have nothing proven in place... Revenue blindess It works the other way too. A team is hitting their marks, hitting the activity, working the deals, using strong messaging, and yet miss the number, because the number was unhittable. The number doesn't get changed, the people do. Revenue blindess. A rep IS crushing their number, but because of that they don't get the recognition, attention and support they want/need because well.. they are hitting the number Revenue blindess I talk about this with my leaders all the time, we can't fall into revenue blindness. We have to stay below the number to drive results. Behaviors. Issue Diagnosis/Inspection. Process. Skills. You - This is where BIPSY comes in. We have seen some amazing results over the last 6 months. We're talking some 2-3x type results. BUT We stay obsessed over what's causing them, not just the end result. This is the key. Revenue blindness is curable. If you know someone that suffers from revenue blindness ... Send them to the Sales Leadership Accelerator - it will take time.. but we can save them. https://lnkd.in/ejPDhZw4

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SDRs: what the #$@&%*! are you doing only confirming your meetings were held at the end of the month? Who owns your meetings? YOU DO! Who needs to make sure they are listed 100% accurately in your CRM every day? YOU DO! Who needs to keep an eye on the resulting opportunities to understand which are progressing to pipeline and later opportunity stages? YOU DO! Since 2022 I've personally seen more than 30 sales development organizations either be completely eliminated or partially RIFed. Why? Sometimes the team wasn't generating enough meetings. Sometimes the team was generating enough meetings, but they weren't moving forward through the sales stages. The executive leadership team (ELT) cares about one thing: do the SDRs pay for themselves? If the answer is no, you're going to have a RIF. It's not rocket science. This is why I lose my mind when I see SDRs that work really hard to get good meetings, but then they don't keep accurate records in the CRM. They don't check with the sales people to see if the meetings were held. They don't follow up to see the status of their meetings progressing through the opportunity stages. They aren't aware of the opps from their meetings that are closed/won or closed/lost. Not only are you missing out on the business case for your own position, you are also missing you out on a huge learning opportunity to understand the characteristics of prospects that buy versus the ones that don't. This will help you get better meetings for the sales team that actually close. And the biggest irony of all is that most of those companies that got rid of their sales development teams later hired new SDRs. The reason is because several months after the RIF someone did a win / loss analysis and realized that many of the deals originated from an SDR meeting. However because these meetings were never connected to the opportunity records in the first place, sales operations / marketing was unable to see the business impact of the SDRs until it was too late. SDRs / BDRs: OWN YOUR MEETINGS AND THEIR IMPACT TO THE BUSINESS! #salesdevelopment #ownyourmeetings #salespipeline #revenue #SDRs #BDRs #sales

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𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 & 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 separate Strategic CROs and RevOps Leaders from glorified sales managers and systems admins. Getting accurate metrics isn’t easy though. Getting real Insights from those metrics is even harder. You need to: 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 Start by identifying the metrics that matter for your unique GTM motion. To help, our 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 will have a 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 outlining the most common metrics in B2B SaaS and how to calculate them. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 P𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 F𝗲𝗲𝗱 M𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 Metrics are only as accurate as the process being executed. If our salespeople don’t know how to qualify deals, for example, our Close Rate will tell us nothing. We have to clearly define processes, train the team, and drive them to adopt and execute in order to be a data-driven organization. 𝗨𝗻𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 It’s not enough to see our Lead Conversion Rate, or Close Rate, across our entire business. These numbers are blended together across different types of leads and lead sources, different segments (SMB, MM, ENT), geos, products, etc. To see what’s really happening, we have to unblend the funnel. More on this in our 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 People only execute processes when held accountable. To get accurate data, we need to inspect the data regularly to be sure it’s accurate. To get real insights into our business, we need to analyze that data regularly to spot trends and take action. This requires the right person/people with the right skills and uninterrupted time to do “deep work.” CROs usually don’t have time to do this well and RevOps can’t if they’re constantly harassed with system admin requests. 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 As we get to this part of the year, finalizing our annual plan, it’s a bit too late. We have dirty data and have to make some BIG assumptions. If we’re in this boat, we need fix this for next year. Additionally, Annual Plans aren’t set in stone. We need to track them and iterate as we hit or miss goals and milestones. More on this in our 𝗚𝗧𝗠 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 Subscribe to our Newsletter to get it tomorrow: https://bit.ly/49RCm0h If you want a high-res image, subscribe and get it tomorrow, or comment "High Res" below (and send me a connection request if we're not already connected) and I'll DM it to you. ✌️

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