Brian Perks

WE DON’T WANT TO REPLACE SDRS Agent Frank was never meant to replace your sales team. Sure, it can help you reduce some costs - for example, instead of hiring 2 new reps, you can just hire one and onboard Agent Frank - https://lnkd.in/e69mGgBG But the goal was always for Agent Frank to work WITH your team and enable them to focus on the best part of being an SDR: Closing deals 🚀

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The average enterprise GTM tech stack has 23 core technologies. Woah… If you work in sales, you’re likely all too familiar with the challenges of managing an ever-growing tech stack. The issue is that adding more tools to your tech stack doesn’t automatically equate to getting more done. 66% of sales reps feel like they’re drowning in technology. How do we give our teams less and allow them to do more? The solution, as we see it, is a fairly simple one: Transfer as many different facets of a specific workflow, like prospecting, over to AI. GTM Partners just dropped a comprehensive ROI study, based on an analysis of G2 customer reviews and conversations with real Regie.ai customers. If you are looking for a deeper understanding of how to apply AI to solve business-critical challenges and expected results from doing it, this guide is your, well, guide.

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Salesforce Sales Cloud just released its 6th State of Sales report last week aggregating insights from 5500 sales professionals across 27 countries 🌎 Sales growth is back where 79% of sales leaders say revenue has increased over the last year 📈 Sikkkk! But the "how" looks different this time around... For example: Partner selling is contributing to growth in meaningful ways. Enablement is rightfully emerging as a top growth lever 🔑 Another surprising stat: 83% of teams that adopted AI saw an increase in revenue over the past year vs 66% of teams without AI. Causation or Correlation? 🤷‍♀️ Yet another stark reality is that 70% of a sellers time is spent on non selling tasks. 😫 Everything from researching accounts to manually entering things into the CRM to sitting in hours n hours of internal meetings... I dream of a world in the future where AI can help us with rethinking : 1️⃣ Smart list building 2️⃣ Automated pipeline management and 3️⃣ Real time enablement in the future!! Just imagine a world where you don't need to trainings or the same forecast call every week!! 🔥 Check out the report in the first comment for more sales insights!! #stateofsalesreport #salesforce #genai #salesorgs

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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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Make your prospecting dreams come true 😍 Here’s how top SaaS companies get ready-to-buy contacts from in-market accounts delivered daily—right where reps work. https://lnkd.in/eW_trCXj

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Can presales & PMM alignment be a secret weapon for GTM success? We think so. Join James Kaikis Kaikis Head of Go-To-Market and Meghan Spork, Product Marketing Lead as they take a deep dive into how to maximize the relationship between these critical stakeholders. They’ll cover:  Why alignment is crucial between presales and product marketing teams Some common misconceptions about these stakeholders and their functions How should presales & PMMs should work together tactically How to measure results that impact revenue and overall GTM success RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/gkvRFP-K

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Any thoughts on the AI compliance webinar for sales? The session will explore how Dialpad Ai meets compliance and regulations to the highest standards while boosting rep performance - in fact, we’ve seen a $9.7M boost in savings due to higher agent productivity. We’ll cover using the AI platform to keep agents on script, compliant with regulatory requirements, up-skilled, efficient with time and on brand. It’s on 8 May 2024. Would you like to join? Six & Flow

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Discovery Don’t #7 Do Five Minutes of Discovery and Then Deliver Your Standard Overview Demo Disturbingly, hundreds of vendors still plod unproductively down this pathway. It appears to be driven by vendors’ urge to show and tell rather than ask and listen. The results are as one might expect: prolonged sales cycles, frustrated prospects, multiple demos, unnecessary POCs and POVs, poor solution “fit,” and losses to No Decision and to competitors who do a better job in discovery. Remember: The vendor who is perceived by the prospect as doing a superior job in discovery is in a competitively advantageous position. Hospital Analogy: Imagine arriving at a hospital after suffering a bicycling accident: You’re bleeding, in pain, and concerned about broken bones. A doctor asks, “Where does it hurt?” After your brief response (“Everywhere…!”) they take you on a tour of the hospital, pointing out the wonderful equipment, staff, supplies, systems, and services available… Solution? Put your offerings and your company “behind your back” in a virtual sense and engage in a fruitful, mutually beneficial discovery conversation. Then you’ll able to present a crisp, focused Technical Proof Demo that may eliminate the need for any further proof! This is #7 from The Dirty Dozen of Discovery Don’ts – you can find all twelve here! https://lnkd.in/evUnp8YV You can find the full set of DO’s and DON’Ts in Doing Discovery: https://lnkd.in/g28PXx55

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Thinking about how to build an AI-powered sales tech stack? Look no further than this comprehensive guide by eWeek, which recommends an AI-powered enablement platform like Seismic. "[Seismic] automatically recommends the most effective content to sales reps based on specific deals, ensuring that they are always equipped with the most relevant and impactful sales materials." Learn more in eWeek:

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CPQ is hard and it's about to get SO much harder. A ton of companies will need to re-architect GTM infrastructure. Rev Ops is about to get hit with an AI tsunami 👇 TLDR: We're moving into a world where the default is usage-based pricing. The CPQ piece of your Go-to-Market Stack is highly unique. You can’t just treat CPQ as an extension of the CRM. It’s an entire Product discipline. Making CPQ work requires involvement from EVERY team: • Sales • Revenue Operations • Finance • GTM Systems • CS & Renewal Strategy But here’s the kicker. CPQ is about to get SO much harder 🔥 The main driver is the seismic shift we’re about to see in pricing. A move from seat-based to usage-based models is all but certain. • Customers would already prefer to pay for outcomes, not seats. • Emerging AI tools deliver capabilities DIRECTLY tied to outcomes. • And those outcomes (i.e. the VALUE) will be aligned with cost. It’s a fundamental shift in how we price, sell, bill and, recognize revenue. And CPQ is the glue that sits between Front Office & Back Office applications. It will require a large scale overhaul on both ends of the infrastructure. For Sales team, it will need to be able to handle things like: • Predictive usage forecasting for segmentation • In-app notifications for usage thresholds and upsell opportunities • Real-time ROI calculators based on actual customer usage For Finance & Rev Ops teams, it will need to handle: • Real-time revenue forecasting based on usage trends • Dynamic pricing based on consumption • Flexible dunning processes for usage-based overages • Integration of usage data into lead scoring models There are tools that handle portions of these capabilities. But there will be countless gaps to fill in. This is the last segment of Internal Tooling where you want a sprawl of vendors. THE GOOD NEWS This pricing transformation is coming. Adapting to it will take a huge cross-disciplinary effort. • Rev Ops & Finance to re-imagine the underlying processes and strategy. • GTM Systems to identify the right tools and design, implement properly. But most CPQ issues are actually more of a process problem. The fact that implementing it on top of immature processes spells disaster. Well, you're about to be gifted with a hard reset. Companies will NEED to re-think pricing strategy from the ground up. They will need to implement large scale change to the GTM infrastructure. And this time, you can build on a far stronger foundation. My Prediction: 1. This will be an area where making the investment is not an option 2. A stronger overlap between pricing and product will form 3. As a result, visibility into the role and value of Rev Ops will increase 4. Investment will flow to these teams with less budgeting headache 5. We will see a hiring surge across all teams involved in Quote to Cash __ #SaaS #Pricing #AI

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🚀 GTM Lessons from the Trenches: Reflection 🚀 As founders and sales leaders, we’re all navigating rough times. Over the past year, our team has learned deeper lessons in go-to-market strategy that have fundamentally shifted our approach: 1️⃣ Sales Enablement Tools Must Be a Suite, Not Point Solutions The days of single-function (aka. best of the breed) tools are behind us. Sales teams need integrated platforms that streamline processes and provide end-to-end solutions. The more cohesive, the better. Sales leaders don't want to run shadow IT. 2️⃣ Top-Down Approach Is Essential While bottom-up adoption has worked for a while, it didn’t move the needle for us. Sales tools need to be embraced from the top down, with leadership buy-in driving usage and value, while the value should translate bottom-up. 3️⃣ Self-Service Isn’t Enough Anymore The promise of 100% self-service (PLG) sounded great, but it’s falling short in this economic climate. Teams need guided onboarding and ongoing support to get the most out of sales enablement tools. This is to say, just because a specific GTM worked for someone don't just adopt it. There is a new normal for every company. #SalesLeadership #GTMStrategy #SalesEnablement #MidMarket #B2BSales #salestable

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AI dialler gets you coverage, at best, on 8-12% of your market. Human-assisted dialling gets you 40-55%. PipelineHeroes use Human assisted...

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GTM "best practices" have evolved significantly over the past 20 years The pace of evolution has never been faster. See below for a breakdown: 1. **2005 - Golf and Steak Dinners:**   - Reps from Oracle, IBM, etc. have a rolodex of enterprise CIOs.   - Success relied heavily on managing those relationships i.e. "schmoozing" 2. **2015 - Volume Cold Outreach:**   - With the rise of smaller, more agile tech companies, traditional giants faced increased competition from innovative upstarts.   - High-volume cold outreach became the dominant strategy, leveraging cheap, inexperienced reps and technology to reach target users.   - This method proved effective in driving top-of-funnel activity quickly and cost-effectively. 3. **2022 - PLG and Partner-first:**   - Market saturation and skepticism towards cold outreach necessitated new approaches.   - Product-Led Growth (PLG) and partnerships gained prominence.   - PLG allowed users to experience product value firsthand before committing, while partner intros helped reps get to executives and close deals, faster. 4. **2025 - Building the Founder Brand:**   - Recognizing the limitations of indirect sales motions like PLG and partnerships, companies are turning to building founder brands as THE inbound marketing motion.   - Executives engage in thought leadership on social media, establishing authentic connections with target buyers.   - This approach shifts the focus from sales reps creating demand to company leaders driving top-of-funnel activity, enabling reps to focus on solutioning and closing deals. The narrative underscores the need for adaptability in GTM strategies, as what works today may not be effective tomorrow. By anticipating shifts in market dynamics and embracing innovative approaches, companies can maintain a competitive edge and drive sustainable growth. *see full article link in the comments below*

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Choosing the right quoting process can make or break your sales cycle. Here are three primary options to consider: ➡ Manual Quoting: ⇢ Pro: Low initial cost and easy to implement ⇢ Con: High risk of human error, unclear quotes, & LOTS of manual work ➡ Building a Homegrown CPQ: ⇢ Pro: Uses existing internal resources ⇢ Con: Diverts your key team members, challenges in scaling, knowledge retention, and managing new sales channels ➡ Buying a CPQ or Quoting Tool: ⇢ Pro: Offers control over operations, quick quote generation, automated CRM updates, and accurate forecasting ⇢ Con: Can be time-consuming to implement and maintain #SaaS #CPQ #B2BSaaS #QuotingSolutions #MonetizeNow

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The path from $1m - $50m ARR is a graveyard for sales leaders. The average tenure for CRO / VP of Sales is under 18 months. You almost never hear of the same sales leader leading a company from $1m to $50m+. Why is it so rare for sales leaders to level up as the company scales? The "$0 - $1m" sales leader struggles to get to $10m. The "$1m - $10m" sales leader struggles to get to $50m. And so on. You see so many examples of this across the B2B SaaS industry. Working in an early stage company is kinda like playing jazz. Everyone member of a jazz band has their speciality, but the music comes from how they improvise and push each other to play. As you scale, the company looks more like an orchestra than a jazz band. Each section of an orchestra is highly specialized. The music is structured to blend each section together to make a sound - a symphony. Sure, a jazz player can learn to play in an orchestra. But it is rare. In the same way, the $0-1m sales leader can learn to be the $10m or $50m leader. But this kind of personal growth is uncommon. It requires a level of self-awareness and a commitment to learning that most people don't have. I've heard this trait called "dynamic range" - the ability for a leader to improve their skills to match the stage of the company. When you have a leader on your team who shows dynamic range, invest in them. Give them the opportunity to learn how to play in an orchestra.

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Dan Cone shared with me an outstanding paper he created helping CEOs (and all of us sales geeks) understand the critical nature of "social selling" (building optimal and productive relationships). He also offers insights into what not to do. It's a bit of a read, but well worth every minute invested. #socialselling #sales #salesexcellence

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LACK OF PRE-SALES TECHNOLOGY INVESTING OUTCOMES! +++ When start-ups, first-floor (under 100 employees or less than 10 million in annual revenue), or SMB company ownership do not invest sufficiently in presales prospecting technology, several negative outcomes will predictably happen. These adverse outcomes will impact the company's overall performance and future growth. Did you know? “In 2023, 91% of companies fail to achieve 80% or more of their quota targets.” https://www.quotapath.com Here are some of the negative outcomes: 1. Decreased Sales Pipeline Quality and Quantity: The sales team may struggle to identify and qualify leads efficiently without advanced prospecting tools. This can lead to a decrease in the quantity and quality of the sales pipeline, as the team may spend more time on leads less likely to convert. 2. Ineffective Targeting and Segmentation: Modern prospecting technology allows for sophisticated targeting and segmentation based on various criteria. SMBs risk focusing on less ideal customer segments without these tools, potentially missing out on more lucrative opportunities. 3. Lower Sales Efficiency and Productivity: Sales teams that rely on manual processes or outdated tools for prospecting are often less efficient. This can result in longer sales cycles, lower overall productivity, and, ultimately, diminished revenue growth. 4. Competitive Disadvantage: Competitors investing in the latest presales prospecting technologies will likely gain a competitive edge by leveraging data analytics, AI, and automation to streamline their sales processes and more effectively reach potential customers. 5. Reduced Customer Insights: Advanced prospecting tools can provide valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and trends. However, SMBs that underinvest in these technologies may lack the depth of customer insights necessary to tailor their sales strategies effectively, impacting conversion rates and long-term customer relationships. 6. Higher Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC): Efficiency in prospecting directly correlates with a lower CAC. Without effective prospecting tools, the cost of acquiring new customers can increase significantly, negatively impacting the company's profitability. 7. Difficulty in Scaling Sales Operations: Manually managed sales processes can become increasingly untenable as the business grows. Lack of investment in technology makes scaling sales operations difficult, limiting growth potential. 8. Increased Sales Staff Turnover: Sales professionals may feel frustrated if they lack the tools necessary to succeed, leading to higher turnover rates. This affects sales directly and incurs additional costs in recruiting and training new salespeople. +++ #SalesPipelineIssues, #TargetingChallenges, #SalesEfficiencyDrop, #CompetitiveDisadvantage, #ReducedCustomerInsights, #HighCAC, #SalesOpsScaling, #StaffTurnoverChallenge, #rubencoronacontent

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💡 22% - Sellers with strong leadership support achieve 22% higher quota attainment [6sense, BDR Benchmark Report] ⏩ 2X - Companies leveraging AI-driven account prioritisation experience up to twice the sales velocity: deals close faster and at significantly higher conversion rates. [6sense, Annual Report] 🚀 $66M - Implementing an AI-based revenue strategy helped clients like Marathon Health generate $66M in new pipeline, unlocking quality leads and faster revenue growth. [6sense, 2023 Case Study] Discover how improved data and AI can significantly boost efficiency and ROI: https://okt.to/RkejuP

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