Chris Bache

GTM tooling is one of the fastest growing verticals in B2B right now. Ton of fluff out there, but there are handful of tools that are * genuinely * exciting. Shortlist of companies we're (actively) test driving: 1. Attention Live sales call recaps, tactical action items, and seamless integrations. Anis Bennaceur + co are building something special. S/o to Dan Jaeck for the flag. 2. Default All-in-one lead routing, scheduling, and automated pipeline workflows. Big ups to Nico F. and Stan Rymkiewicz - building a behemoth of a platform. 3. Unify Warm outbound done right based on live intent signals. IMO the next major untapped B2B growth channel. Watch this space cc Austin Hughes 🤝. 4. 11x.ai AI SDR agents on autopilot. Haven't personally tried it yet but love the concept + impressed with early growth. Excited to test drive it soon - big opp here. 5. Pipeline LinkedIn will increasingly become the go-to GTM and BD channel in the next 12 months. Sudarshan Sridharan and his team are shipping at an insane pace. 6. Seam From a people lens, retaining top performers in a GTM motion is critical. Big fan of what Jacob Honig + Sean Taylor are building. Very happy customer here. 7. Cabal We swear by Cabal for monthly GTM updates and investor emails. Great UI, easy to segment and build referral lists. Brian M. and co are getting a lot right.

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What will work for future SDRs? The same thing past SDR greats focused on. Deep account research Deep contact research Unique + bespoke value props Building real relationships The fundamentals exist for a reason. Focus on those and you'll go very far. Obsess over silver bullets, shortcuts, and "scaling" everything... and you'll be stuck on the treadmill. #gtmai #sdr #sales

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SDRs, stop talking about what you sell on LinkedIn. Start talking about HOW you sell. That's how you build a brand.

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You can hire 1 new SDR at $100k+ all-in (benefits, OTE, etc.) or invest less than half of that in a new tool for AEs that can deliver 5x the results (verified with no risk) what this 1 SDR can deliver in new, top-of-funnel opportunities. Which choice do you make and why? What evidence do you need to invest in the new tool vs. another person? What risks does opting for the tool present that hiring an FTE does not?

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One of the most important B2B content workflows is your CSM <> Marketing Team communication to generate case studies from your happy customers. To ship social proof content (at scale) this workflow needs to be dialed in. Here's how to set it up: 1. Start by making it clear to your CSMs (or account managers) that content is a priority. This upfront communication is an * incredibly * important step. 2. Once that’s clear, identify your customer's first “aha” moment when they reach time to value or an immediate quantitative result from your product. 3. For some B2B companies, this is within 5 days. For others it can be 2 to 3 months. So critical to identify your "aha" moment from the get-go. 4. After a customer hits this milestone of saving time, making money, etc of using your product, have your CSM team ask for a case study asap. 5. Make sure the ask is super light - just a 30 minute call and they have final cut and approval. Feel free to offer a small incentive to get it over the line. 6. Once they say yes, have your CSMs make the intro to your content team to set up a case study interview session (use Zoom or Riverside). 7. From there, your content team can run their case study playbook and own the workflow - including guest signoff and logistics for final cut approval. From a B2B marketing lens, this is a critical workflow (with clear owners and next steps) to build a consistent engine behind social proof content 🔥

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Special feature post in The GTM Newsletter today: Kyle Poyar broke down 10 “PLG plays” that every company should implement - even if they’re *NOT PLG*. Kyle consistently shares exceptional content around PLG, growth and pricing. It was a ton of fun collaborating and seeing his breakdown. The first point is an interactive demo on the website. The fourth point is to leverage product data to drive customer outcomes. This fourth point I found particularly interesting. The CRM is the "source of truth" for go-to-market teams, but often lacks product analytics to provide customer behavior understanding from in-product activities without human or sales rep involvement. But in reality, even non-PLG companies can use this data to assess customer health and tailor sales conversations. I'll drop the link to the details on these 10, including examples and screenshots 👇 -- The GTM Newsletter is a weekly newsletter by GTMfund's media brand, GTMnow, that goes out to over 50k revenue leaders who are scaling their companies and careers. If you aren't already subscribed, you can do so through the Substack post in the comments.

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CS teams NEED to start "managing up" with execs and the board by talking about REVENUE. Yes, you can keep talking about sentiment and feelings, but start with the $. Don't lead with churn- Bottom-line-focused execs don't like that headline, so you need to tell the story better. An informal poll had CS teams owning over 50% of the revenue of many SaaS companies. Lead with this and have it be your first talking point. From there you will be able to get more things done with other departments, as your requests will be revenue-focused Need to get a Customer Success Platform as you scale? Point to revenue and the potential to lose revenue without efficiencies Need to hire more to prevent burnout? Point to Revenue potential with renewals and upsells Talk in the language your execs and board want to hear.

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Either your AEs are filling in the fields in the CRM or coverage for important Account Attributes doesn’t exist. I’m not a proponent of manual labor for AEs filling in fields in CRM so someone else can run a report. I mean I’d prefer it if it was fast and easy, but that’s not the hill I’m going to die on as a sales manager. But then when I want to understand the attributes of my customers so I can prioritize my prospects the CRM data is basically useless. What % of companies’ CRM data is useless? Over 50%? So the only option is to enrich the data with an outside provider. Clay isn’t really designed for this, but you can do it and it will cost you.  ZoomInfo is designed for this and costs a small fortune. Wouldn’t it be nice if the CRMs offered this? Or cheaper options that leverage AI to do all the work? Companies like Keyplay seem to be headed in the right direction. Makes sense that this data has traditionally been only available to the big players, but now every company needs to deeply understand their current clients to determine where they want to prioritize their future GTM efforts. 

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If something in your sales process isn't working, you need to look 1-2 stages back for root cause. If we aren't converting initial meetings into next steps> are we targeting right personas and is our messaging aligned with our buyers priorities and problems? If we are getting stuck in proposal > did we do the right discovery? If we are getting slammed for discounts at the end > did we build a compelling value discussion before we got into commercials? If something isn't working, the answer is almost always 1-2 stages back.

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Renewals are the lifeblood of every SaaS company. However, we don’t talk enough about what makes a great AM/CSM who handles renewals. Since there are so many lists on what makes a great AE, I thought I’d take a stab at what makes a great AM/CSM who handles renewals: 1/ They prioritize the renewals that move the needle Renewal rate comes down to simple math. What renewals are going to move the needle for them? Great AMs/CSMs spend their time where they’ll get the most bang for their buck. 2/ They prepare 6 months in advance Average AMs/CSMs prep 3 months in advance. Great ones plan 6 months in advance. This includes asking hard questions well ahead of time during a mid-year QBR, so they know where to spend their time. 3/ They can re-sell the product Stakeholders change. Priorities change. Competitors try to break in. Great AMs/CSMs can sell the product as well as their AEs and know how to position their value props and handle objections. 4/ They know how to negotiate I don’t know any procurement person in the post-ZIRP era who doesn’t try to negotiate their contracts. A great AM/CSM knows how to turn negotiations into win-wins. 5/ They know the difference between procurement and decision-makers Similar to point four, they know how to negotiate and with whom. Negotiating with procurement is much different than negotiating with a key stakeholder. Each party wants something different, and it’s important to recognize what that is. 6/ They know how to rope in their AEs or extended teams Just like the best AEs know how to “quarterback” deals, a great AM/CSM knows how to rally resources to help with renewals. AEs, Execs, SEs, and Professional Services can all be brought in to help show the customer extra love. 7/ They develop a renewal champion We always talk about champions in the presales process, but not enough about champions during renewals. A great AM/CSM knows how to develop champions to help push renewals through. An AM/CSM who knows how to do these things is worth their weight in gold. Keep them happy as long as you can!

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Alignment. That's priority number 1 in SDR Management: - Align with SDRs = happier team - Align with Marketing = better leads - Align with AEs = better relationships - Align with Rev Ops = better processes - Align with Enablement = better training BONUS... - Align with C-suite = better budget It's okay to disagree. It's not okay to be misaligned. Disagree and Align. P.S. SDR Leaders - Grab your free mini course https://lnkd.in/eeu4SKRP

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🚨 "𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗜 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝟭𝟯 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦 𝗖𝗠𝗢𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 $𝟭𝟱𝗠 𝗔𝗥𝗥 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁..." You won’t believe what they all had to say! Okay, we'll tell ya! Turns out, they all agreed that hooks like the one at the top are trash. 😲 This is Liam Moroney's experience who sums it up well: "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗸𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 '𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆' 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲." Absolutely, Liam. Our experiences align, showing that patterns—whether in business or personal life—quickly become recognized and associated with manipulation when overused. Think about it. When children don't get their way, they cry. The first couple of times, we're fooled and give into their demands. But once it starts to become a pattern, it becomes less effective. We're no longer fooled. Well, it's the same with selling. We're training people to know our next move. Hence, when we repeatedly use the same hook, template or opener, people start to see it as a ploy to sell rather than genuine engagement. 📉 While once effective, these tactics eventually wear out. The key is remaining fresh, creative. Avoid becoming too comfortable with what currently works, as it can quickly become stale. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻? Then don't abuse or create a new one. P.S. For more insightful content, give Liam Moroney a follow! 👏

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Good SDR leaders help their SDRs understand how many calls they need to hit quota. Great SDR leaders enable their SDRs to hit quota with the least amount of calls possible.

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Sorry, Gong. Interest based CTAs are no longer the best CTA for a cold email. Top 3? 1) Reaffirming the value prop 2) Asking for a referral 3) Asking for the meeting If we can help with {problem} would that help? Would Brian be better to discuss this with? Open to meet later this week? All better than "worth a chit chat?" Or "Want to learn more?" PS. Want more data- backed tips? Join the webinar today w/ Jed Mahrle and Jason Bay

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The value of an SDR team is not just booking meetings. 🤩 It’s creating positive brand impressions with buyers. 🤝 It’s providing critical connective tissue between sales & marketing. 💪 It’s cultivating an internal talent bench. This is what the best-in-class teams do. This is what great leaders strive to create. This is not replicable with AI SDRs. ——— I’m (obviously) a proponent of leveraging AI – the right way. I believe in AI-powered SDRs who incorporate AI into their day-to-day to increase their span of control and pipeline productivity. I believe human buyers want to interact with human sellers. As long as those human sellers truly understand them and have something valuable to offer. Sadly, this approach seems to be getting rarer and rarer. Our goal with Copy.ai is to reverse this trend and pull people and companies toward a different future. Let me know if you want to chat about creating this future for your org. #gtmai #sales #sdr

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I’ve seen 200 + SDR teams. One of the most common reasons why SDR teams fail? They’re spending time doing the wrong things.   1) Companies are hindering their team with non pipeline generating activities. 2) Complicated or lack of process... CRMs that are like a maze and have 15+ fields to fill in just to change a lead status. 3) Activities that aren’t linked to quota. What have I missed? 💡

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Public SaaS sales efficiency metrics continued to UNINSPIRE in Q1 Our focal point as always: How much Sales & Marketing dollars are spent to acquire $1 of Net New ARR This figure has exploded from ~$1.50 two years ago… to ~$2.30 last year. As for Q1?  More of the same!  Barely moved.. (The chart also shows the same metric removing Stock-Based Compensation from S&M – a better benchmark for privates, since SBC is ~0 for them.) Stay tuned for more Q1 benchmarks and a tally of winners and losers. #SaaS #Metrics #Benchmarks #GTM

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The way most SaaS companies structure sales leadership compensation creates inter-team competition in a *NEGATIVE WAY* that costs millions of $’s in revenue and 100’s of hours of headaches a year. Here’s why (and a simple change you can make to fix it): Typically sales managers are compensated on the performance of their direct reports. For example, if their 8 Account Executives crush their targets, the manager's compensation reflects this. This sounds reasonable, right? But what about the rest of the sellers? What about the other 25 Account Executives who need to succeed for your company to hit its growth goals? Sales Managers have different strengths and need to be incentivized to help the ENTIRE sales organization, not just THEIR team. That’s why every time I started a new sales leader role here’s what I did…. I switched the manager comp plan so 20% of their variable earnings were based on the total sales orgs performance, not just their direct reports. I often got pushback, but this simple change always led to stronger collaboration, teamwork, and unity. And helped us avoid account controversy, resentment and entitlement. Sales leaders aren't coin-operated, but they are human and humans respond to incentives. Make sure you're incentivizing the right behavior. And create one team.

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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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