Caleb Smith

🤯 “Ramping up SDRs, AEs and CS people  takes us no less than 6 months.” 💣 🙈 This is what I heard on a recent demo from  a CRO of a rapidly scaling tech business. 📈 Time to efficiency is a struggle Heads of Sales Enablement and Customer Success are going through across their commercially-driven teams… 📖 At the moment, they expect internal  sales and CS decks, call recordings,  business pitches, etc. should do the job. 🙄 But it doesn’t! 🗓️ They're wasting too much time for people to start performing, closing deals, effectively onboarding customers, reducing churn & upselling… ❌ Sometimes, they still don’t perform... And then guess what? Off leaders go through to recruiting mode again starting from ground 0. 🎯 Hence the need for action-based learning.  Not just passively reading through PDFs  and listening to call recordings. 👨‍💻 Below are some use cases we see our customers here at UJJI AI ✨ leveraging our tech for: 🔸 Business-specific lead gen and outbound 🔸 Pitching quick and easy over the phone 🔸 Delivering demos and answering queries 🔸 Effectively onboarding new customers 🔸 Efficiently implementing product features 🔸 Practising great customer support 🔸 Guiding customers to upselling 🚀 Ultimately, growing tech businesses comes down to predictable new business development, high customer retention and low churn. 💬 So, DM me if you want to see examples  of AI-powered. easy to build and consume knowledge equipping experiences. 👇 Anything to add to this, Sales and CS leaders? Gautam Rishi Rohan Dickinson George Heron Russell Mitchell Callum Hartley Jon Teale James Dixon Seán Colfer Caroline L. Guy Rubin Jake Carter David Muscat Arun Raveendran Steve Eveleigh Ayo Kukoyi,

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SALES, SALES, SALES - Let's meet & work together for the rest of your sales career - Account Executive Opening$ 💘 Revenue Tool - SaaS Series B $125- $150k base $1m- $1.2m quota $7k- $500k deal size selling into #saas #sales #gtm teams actual inbound $$ growing their sales team from 5-12 SDR support (one on one for now) for #startup rep$ only 💘 Direct to Healthcare Tool - SaaS Series B $900k quota Some SDR support ideal candidate has worked with #insurance and has #saas background 💘 Manufacturing ERP Account Executive & Implementation Consulting org $95-$110k base. $200k++ OTE $200k+ deal size Must MUST MUST have sold #erp to manufacturing companies this is NOT a platform, or a RESELLER, this is a CONSULTING ORG that sources, refines fit and works with the customer throughout a very long up to 2 year implementation process - you will be the #csm #am NO COLD CALLING OR SALES EMAILS you will work DIRECT with JUST the founder open to seeing #sdrs who have sold #erp to manufacturers who want to get out of software, and into consulting - SDR Opening$$ 💘 Direct to Healthcare Tool - SaaS Series B 10+ qualified attended meeting a month selling into #hr mostly within #nonprofits and #homehealthcare $55-$65k base, up to $200+ per qualified, attended meeting do not contact me if you aren't going to take my coaching seriously :) cold call me 10x in a row text me send me a blind invite do what you got to do <3 #sales #salesrecruiter #gtmsales #founderledsales #saleshiring #salesjobs

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Send your SDR’s to events. This past week Brittany Moore and I got to attend a healthcare event in Dallas. We got to have a ton of in depth conversations with our ICP all day long and learned ALOT. SDR’s kick ass at events because: 1. They will talk to anyone, not just their specific accounts. Brittany doesn’t care if it’s not her account she just wants to generate leads. 2. They are proactive at initiating conversations, especially if you are not a household name..some people may not just stop by so you need to engage them. 3. They know enough to have in depth conversations but also keep it high level where it makes sense to set up follow up calls. 4. They are organized at capturing notes from these conversations. 5. They are great at following up with these leads. If you’re not sending at least 1 SDR to each in person event your missing out.

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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

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Dear SDRs/BDRs...Make it stop! Getting messages like this in my inbox..... "Hey {First Name} , just popping in to see if you had a chance to take a look at my last message? No worries if not, send me a thumbs up if you'd like me to share more information :) " WHO is paying people to sit and send out messages like this?? This is beyond annoying. LinkedIn Spam is ruining good business outreach and wasting alot of our time. BDRs need to be held to higher standards. Is management out to lunch?! I wish the LinkedIn Messages UX was a bit better. Sales Nav is ok but the separation kills me. Anyone have any hacks/figured out how to make your LinkedIN message Inbox tolerable? I know theres good people in my inbox, but I just cant stomach the monotony of reading through these god awful messages from the WORST SDRs. HELP!!!! MAKE IT STOP #LinkedinHacks #bizdev #SDRtraining

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SDRs can be taught to be AEs SDRs can be taught to be CSMs [shoutout to Eric Partaker for the post inspo] Also... SDRs can be taught to be Managers SDRs can be taught to be Marketeers SDRs can be taught to do almost any role Fact: It's better to hire someone who is 60% ready with the right behaviours. Than 100% ready with the wrong ones. SDRs deserve a chance. Do you agree? PS. Share ♻️ with others in your network. And follow Chris Ritson for more sales content like this.

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My favorite tip for new AEs and SDRs right now ⬇ Don't take notes. ONLY if you're using a call recording software. Give the buyer your full attention and then review the call afterwards. You'll retain more, build better rapport, and be able to actually listen. Ultimately, you'll set better meetings and build better partnerships. Might not be your style to put down the notebook, but give it a try. PS - when you go back to review the call, this is when you can write down notes, enter stuff into the CRM etc. Leave the admin for later. Face to face time with the buyer >>> admin work. Inspired by Brian LaManna

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Most Sales Leaders I speak with each week, tell me that poor discovery is the biggest reason their team aren’t closing enough deals. Here’s four things you can coach your reps to do, to make them more effective at discovery: 1. Start calls by asking your prospect “What was it about [insert problem you fix] that made you intrigued to talk with me today?” If the prospect struggles to give a reason, then create the demand… “In recent weeks, I’ve heard a lot from other Sales Leaders that they are struggling to hit their numbers, and they point to weak discovery as a key reason as to why they aren’t being more successful. Others share that they simply are lacking the bandwidth to improve selling skills in their team. Which of those resonates in your world?” Get into problems quickly. 2. Get your sellers to practice summarising back to the prospect. It’s a great way of getting them to process what they’ve heard, and to invite a prospect to share more: “So just to clarify what I’ve heard there. You mentioned your big goal this year is to achieve 20% growth in revenue, and that ultimately this is key to unlocking Series B. You did mention though that your team’s win rate has dropped since the start of the year and this is starting to become a bit of a concern in achieving that big goal. You also mentioned you had invested in some external sales training for MEDDICC last year but it hasn’t had the desired effect. What did I miss there and is there anything else that would be useful for me to know?” Summarising makes prospects feel heard. This tactic also almost ALWAYS ends up with them sharing more. 3. Get your sellers to go beyond the surface level pain, by using seven magic words ‘typically when I hear that it means…’ “You mentioned that you’ve observed on sales calls, that your team aren’t asking relevant questions to prospects. Typically when I hear that it means they end up with stuck deals that don’t progress or losing deals they should be winning. Whats happening in your world?” This is a great way to get prospects to take you to big business problems, and away from surface level issues. 4. Get your sales team to share the alternative way of solving the prospect’s problem and why it MIGHT be a better solution in some situations, rather than spending money with you. “One way you could solve this problem is by doing the coaching through your Sales Enablement function. This might be a good solution if they can dedicate at least 2/3 of their time to coaching 1:1, that they are highly skilled at coaching, and that they can separate skills development from things like product training. Is this a feasible option for you?” Get your prospect to validate whether another solution is an option, whilst altenratively getting them to see that it’s likely not going to cut the mustard. Bottom line is - finding the time to do all of the above regularly is tough as a Sales Leader. That’s why MySalesCoach exists.

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i’ve run marathons that were less exhausting than some of the demos i’ve sat thru lately. here’s 6 sure fire ways to lose your prospect in 30 minutes or less: 1. do ZERO research know nothing about your prospect, their product or their business BONUS if you had an SDR qualify them first AND you completely disregard those notes #winning 2. make sure the deck is loooong i mean, make that bad boy 20+ slides, all text, 10pt font (pro tip, use a ridiculous font like papyrus to really keep them engaged) 3. call them by the wrong name people love it when you have no idea who you’re talking to or why you’re there or why they’re there or what the hell we are doing in the first place it’s the best 4. feature dump only no benefits, just show me the bells and whistles. i want zero context for how it solves my problem- tell me WHAT only, and never explain WHY now we are getting somewhere ;) 5. talk for 29/30 mins i don’t have anything to add. there is nothing for you to learn from me. you don’t require context or need to know what i’m thinking so far. keep going! never stop. i promise i am retaining 100% of everything you’re saying 6. don’t disclose pricing ESPECIALLY if i ask about it keep it vague. i dont need to budget. just suprise me at the end of the sales cycle. i LOVE a good jump scare. 👻 in all seriousness, so many of these things are honest mistakes or even trained behaviors. (lordt knows i did half of these when i was a rep 🫠) my seller friends, this is not a dig on you, just a silly reminder of some of the silly mistakes we all make in sales. it’s an opportunity to learn. but if you can avoid these pitfalls i can almost guarantee you’re halfway to a good demo, my friends shout out to Kyle Coleman & Annie Ng for giving two of the BEST demos i’ve seen in the past few months (fun fact, they’re marketers yall). crazy what happens when you’re not shoving people thru a sales cycle 🤷🏻‍♀️ (actual footage of my last braincell dying during my 4th demo of Q2 for a tool that, yet again, doesn’t do the one thing i need it to do even though i was assured it does prior to showing up to the meeting) buying is hard.

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Sales folks especially SDRs and AEs I will tell you a hack about how to achieve more in less time ↓ "Start blocking your calendar thoughtfully and strategically every single day" Working out of whims & fancies and adhocism will not get you the desired result you aspire to achieve. You need to have a plan for your day even before starting the day. Every time you block your calendar make sure you block it for a single activity and you define what output you want to achieve out of this activity. Have a time block for at least Prospecting, Identifying new accounts, and Follow-ups on a daily basis, the rest you can block based on your roles and KRAs. Remember: "You cannot control time but you can surely control how you want to spend the time"

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SDR Leaders: “I statements” are killing your reps! Are your SDRs inadvertently making conversations about themselves? It's time to shift the focus. 🚫 "I think it would be a good idea for you to speak with one of my AEs..." 🚫 "I would love to show you our platform..." These "I" statements put your company and SDR first. They scream, "This is how I get paid!" Let's flip the script. The Golden Rule of SDR Conversations: -It's never about the SDR. -It's never about your company. -It's always about the prospect and their pain points. Action Steps for SDR Leaders: -Stomp out "I" statements during role-plays -Train SDRs to disconnect from the outcome (h/t Josh Braun ) -Emphasize: Not every prospect is a fit, and that's OK Remember, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Coach your SDRs to focus on understanding the prospect's needs first. If there's no fit, move on gracefully. By making this shift, your SDRs will build better relationships, have more meaningful conversations, and ultimately, drive better results. But I could be wrong 😑

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Know your numbers 🎯💰 If you want to win 🏆 you gotta have the data 📉 What doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get mastered 1% better each day 366/25/8 #sdr #bdr #saas The SDR Team Dashboard Meetings booked (Today) Meetings booked (This week) Quota (This month) Completed meetings (Today) Completed meetings (This Week) Meeting booked by rep (This month) Calls made (Today) Calls made (This week) Future meetings by SDR (Next 30 days) Phone connects (Today) Phone connects (This week) Dial to connect % per rep (Last 60 days) Emails sent (Today) Emails sent (This week) Connect to booking % per rep (Last 60 days) Leads without activity in last 30 days (All time) Accounts added (This week) Show rate (Last 60 days) The SDR Leadership Dashboard Meetings booked (This week) Future meetings by SDR (Next 30 days) Quota (This month) Completed meetings (This Week) No-Shows (This Week) Dial to connect % per rep (Last 60 days) Calls made (This week) Accounts added (This week) Connect to booking % per rep (Last 60 days) Phone connects (This week) Emails sent (This week) Show rate (Last 60 days)

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The same page… AEs, SDRs, CSMs & renewal managers How are you tracking to your goal achievements 🎯? Some mid-year reminders for the team. - Re-align to find out what has changed in your shared account(s) - Stay connected on a regular cadence - Build report and trust - you want to rely on each other - Meet in person if possible - see previous bullet - Enable tough feedback sessions - so important - Share current customer status and revisit top priorities - Strive for a unified front & strategy - Known when to engage leadership - target this as a step - Share your success metrics, KPIs, and percent to goal Success is a #team sport Have a great day!

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5 habits that are secret weapons as a sales rep. I was recently asked about the habits of top-performing sales reps and it's true: Some consistent actions lead to consistent success. Here are 5 key habits of highly effective sales reps: 1. Being Proactive ↳ Being proactive in sales allows reps to anticipate needs, identify opportunities, and control the sales process rather than reacting to situations. 2. Thinking Win-Win ↳ Thinking win-win in sales fosters long-term relationships and mutually beneficial outcomes by prioritizing the needs of both the seller and the buyer. 3. Resilience and Persistence ↳ Effective sales reps possess resilience and persistence to overcome challenges and maintain a positive attitude, viewing objections as opportunities to address concerns and move the sales process forward. 4. Active Listening and Questioning ↳ Top sales reps actively listen and ask questions to understand their prospects' needs and challenges, allowing them to tailor solutions and build rapport. 5. Time Management ↳ Efficient sales reps master time management and organization to prioritize tasks, set goals and streamline their workflow, enabling them to focus on high-value activities. By cultivating these habits, sales representatives can improve their performance, build stronger customer relationships and achieve their sales goals. ♻ Share if you find this post useful 🔔 Follow me Claudio Meidler for more like this.

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CSMs, here’s a little Monday reminder: If the only time you are reaching out to customers is 30 days before their renewal you are doing it wrong. Customer relationships and renewals start on day one. If you learn that your customers are planning on canceling, it’s too late to turn the tide. Because you can’t fix 11 months of failure in the last 30 days. But while you might have a success rate of 1% you are likely not allowed to let these customers go without a fight. High pressure and low odds of success - a recipe for burning out if it happens repeatedly. Start your customer engagements with a kick-off meeting where you - ask open questions - let your customers talk 80% of the time - show genuine interest in their success - lead with proactive transparency - (re-)set customer expectations  - share the next steps and set the tone for the entire collaboration. Your customers will appreciate it and you will win their trust. With trust comes transparency. Transparency puts you in control of the customer success journey. PS: Join 7.2k+ CS professionals and sign up for my weekly newsletter for deeper dives on customer-centric CSM → https://lnkd.in/dtC7MEjP

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What’s the impact of the SDR training? Hows 200% quota in the first month? Those who’d put in the effort, will see benefits like no one other. Question to ask is- what’s the impact of no sdr training? No Training SDR makes the mistakes You Don’t fix the mistakes No Pipepline No Revenue Attrition Stress Rehiring No Training Cycle continues Break the cycle. School of SDR is starting our 18th cohort next Tuesday. We have 3 slots left. #sales #sdr

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