Clint O'Brien

Here is the real impact that value selling is having for revenue teams: Tom Pisello David Yockelson 🔑48% improvement in winrate 🔑35% increase in deal size 🔑25% reduction in sales cycle time BUT...... ⛔️ only 19% of reps and 19% of pipeline is using value selling today. BIGGGG opportunity here...!

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Top 5 key metrics I recommend CROs use for inside sales professionals: 1. Speed of response 2. Efficiency of progression through the process 3. Number of calls per day 4. Number of positive outcomes 5. Demo sets As a CRO leader, these are five metrics that I live by. 

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Tired of losing hard-earned deals? Solve for Revenue Leak. In Clari’s 2024 Revenue Leak Report, RevOps leaders said leak happens at every stage of the funnel. - Creating: Poor and slow upsell pipeline tracking - Converting: Unsure where pipeline is dropping off - Closing: Slipped deals Don’t let Revenue Leak drag down another quarter – or another year. Download the Revenue Leak Report for more: https://lnkd.in/g9gnGrdz  

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If your sales team isn't adding value in conversations, emails, or meetings with prospective customers, they are not sellers. They are order-takers. The sooner your sales leaders realize this, the faster you can address the underlying issues and develop stronger business acumen and sales skills.

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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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I’ve helped 12+ AEs and SDRs transition into SE/SC roles. There’s no doubt that you can earn a lot as an AE. AEs can make $1,000,000+ in a good year - a very lucrative career path. But the reality is most AEs don’t get there. It takes an exceptional AE to earn consistently at high levels, year in and year out. (I personally would be a terrible AE 😅) A big reason why folks pivot to Sales Engineering is because the earning potential is solid and much more consistent. That’s what the data in the image shows: 36% avg quota attainment for AEs vs... 74% for SE from this same company, with similar OTE’s As an SE, you don’t always have the extreme upside* that your AE counterpart will, but your income is more stable. (*there are some companies that pay SEs similar to AEs, with SEs able to clear $1M+ in a great year, though this is more of the exception than the rule) As an SE, there’s also less pressure to hit quota, quarter after quarter. The roles are different, with different responsibilities and varying degrees of risk (and upside). Both paths can provide tremendous opportunities depending on your strengths and the type of work you enjoy. Hope this provides some perspective for those who are considering SE or AE career paths. #sales #presales #compensation (source: RepVue)

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One of the biggest disconnects preventing an AEs ability to provide a world class buying experience to prospects is this ⬇️ No visibility of marketings influence on the prospects journey prior to their first call with Sales 👀 By the time and AE speaks to a prospect they may have… - Opted out of a marketing list ✉️ - Had zero dwell time on a number of display ads 😢 - Skipped by video ads on social channels 👀 - Been to an event 3 years ago 😱 BUT 🥊 If you ask any AE do they have this information prior to their meetings 🙃 The answer is NO 🛑 That’s why connecting Marketing and Sales is more important than ever before 😀 Stellar advice to any AE in SaaS is to spend time with your Marketing team. It should be part of all companies onboarding programmes tbh 😎

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It’s tricky to effectively coach sellers. Whether you’re in Sales leadership, RevOps, or Sales Ops, you’re busy, and providing personalized coaching on the next-best steps for each deal is unrealistic. Check out this Forecasting Fridays webinar – a super quick (20-minute), actionable webinar all about how to effectively and efficiently coach sellers. You’ll walk away with tips on: http://spklr.io/6041tg3H

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Hey sales people, be careful with ‘Gong’ advice. Because you don’t work for Gong. Gong had 6 funding rounds. Each time millions of people heard about Gong. Branding Familiarity Your company probably doesn’t have that level of awareness. When Gong sales people engage most decision makers already know what they’re calling about. People with in the prospect have probably already had a discussion about Gong. Gong is a great company with great people. But the branding makes it a lot easier to sell so take the advice with a grain of salt. Have a great Friday! #sales #ifurnotgong

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Outbound Sequences can do more harm than good for SDRs. (I think when used appropriately, they can be a massive help, but most teams use & abuse them -- completely missing the point of them & wonder why they can't land in the primary inbox & get no responses) I think the days of the traditional 27 day sequence are over. We need change. Most tasks get long overdue anyway and end up not being completed. Here's the issue with them: Often, SDRs are reactive to their sequences/cadences... When in reality, you should be pro-active. Let me explain: Imagine you send your first initial email and it gets opened 5+ times. Or you send a LI connect request and they accept it + look at your profile. Most SDRs will move onto their next task and ignore the intent signal. Instead, use prospect engagement as a way to be more pro-active. IE: do not wait 3 days from the day you sent your first email if there's a ton of engagement. Try calling them same day, bumping your email the next day and throwing a connect request on LI. You should try and switch your messaging up based on prospect engagement, too. IE: your cold call opener should be different for someone who has accepted your LI request + looked at your profile / opened your email a bunch vs someone who hasn't engaged at all. Be the quarterback of your sequences.. Don't let them control you! Second issue: most sequences end up piling up overdue tasks.. This is because sequences have way too many steps. If you liked this, I share 1 free outbound prospecting tip that 4200+ SDRs and AEs read every week. https://lnkd.in/e2cJkJqr

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35-50% of b2b buyers choose the vendor that is fastest to respond. But, most vendors are still forcing buyers to: Fill out a form Wait for a response  Talk to an SDR So, It can take buyers weeks to: See a product demo Learn about pricing Talk to subject matter experts If buyers choose the vendor that is fastest to respond… Why are we still forcing buyers to jump through so many hoops? *(Source: InsideSales.com)

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Your customer teams are accidentally creating viral content. Are you using it? Your sales calls are an untapped content goldmine. Gong, Chorus, and many prosumer tools already record these calls. But most companies, reps, and solopreneurs are missing the real opportunity. These conversations are packed with: → Customer pain points → Common objections → Lightbulb moments Smart companies are turning this into content gold: → One call becomes a blog post → Another fills the FAQ section → A third transforms into a case study The result? Content that resonates deeply with prospects. No full-time marketing team required. Just a smarter workflow. Here's the kicker: This works for solopreneurs and enterprises alike. Your sales & customer calls hold more than potential deals. They contain your next breakthrough content strategy. The tools are there. The content exists. But what doesn't exist are the workflows to make It happen. Rightfully so, call recording co's are focused on actionable sales intel. And most consumer AI recording tools use crappy models that would create slop. We're in the early stages of changing that at Flowsend (using other recordings), so I'm curious to hear who wants something like that. What's stopping you from tapping into this content reservoir?

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Sales leaders - looking to boost win rates in 2025? Here's the top skill to train your AEs on in 2025 ⬇️ Uncovering The 'Need Behind the Need.' Top salespeople just get to the "heart of the problem" FASTER. Speed to uncovering the 'real' business problem matters. Here's why: Avg salespeople don't uncover even the tip of the ice berg until late in the discovery process (if at all). So they never get beyond the surface. They run out of time. Great salespeople get to the heart of the matter (without jumping in "too" quick) fast. That gives them TIME. Time to explore negative impact. Time to shape the root cause. Here are four questions (in order) that get to 'the heart of the deal' fast: 1. Tell me about the biggest challenges in X-area you'd regret not solving six months from now? Easy enough. This question is a filter. Buyers talk about 'must solve' problems only. But you still have work to do. 2. What's going on in the business that's driving [what they shared] to be a priority? Ask this, and your customers will CHUCKLE half the time. Why? Because you are striking a CHORD when you ask that. You're getting to the 'need behind the need.' That's where big money lives. Getting closer. 3. What metric is suffering most as a result of that? Avg sellers struggle to quantify pain. You walk into a different world when you go from expressed pain to quantified pain. Your customer's urgency ramps up. And spending money to solve the problem begins to look REAL good. 4. What's driving you to solve all this now rather than later? Ask this too early? And the answers will be weak. BUT... If you ask this AFTER those first three questions... Your customer now has the FULL CONTEXT of the problem top-of-mind. And now... their answers to THIS question will be far, FAR richer. Give those 4 questions (in order) a try. P.S. Upskill your SaaS AE team on virtually any topic or skill gap with the top 1% of revenue experts as instructors here: https://www.pclub.io/

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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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Is your prospecting / data enrichment process preventing your sales team from hitting quota? Most companies have 1-2 data providers, netting them anywhere from 25-45% TAM coverage What does this mean? 1️⃣ Some of your prospects are ready to buy, but they don't know you exist + you cant get ahold of them 2️⃣ Your reps are probably spending hours finding good contacts and building lists on sales nav, just to come up short and get frustrated when only 30% come back with mobile numbers 3️⃣ Your TAM feels a lot smaller than it actually is 4️⃣ You start to think cold calling doesn't work (its a data problem) 5️⃣ Your reps develop reluctance and you start to notice they haven't added new prospects / call metrics are dropping PS: If this is relatable, here's a quick 60S video on how Nooks can solve your problem in 3 clicks, feel free to shoot me a dm if this is relevant https://lnkd.in/gD8Xzi3h

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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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SDRs & AEs - answer this question with honesty...When's the last time you reached out to your counterparts in marketing and asked them: -What recent campaigns were driving success for them? -How are they driving engagement with target accounts? -Are there opportunities to partner together on an ABM campaign? -What accounts of mine are engaging on your LinkedIn Ad Campaigns? -What do they think of these target accounts to potentially advertise to? -Is there an opportunity to create meaningful engagement via sales x marketing alignment? There's so much potential gold to be found in a strong sales and marketing alignment relationship. Want to do outbound effectively? It might worthwhile to start asking these questions.

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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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Frontline sales management is the toughest job in the company. The most successful frontline leaders have a disciplined approach and consistent operating cadence. In the latest Building Elite Sales Teams episode, Dana Smith,Sr. shares why consistency is critical as a sales leader: Dana also discusses the importance of hiring well, being a genuine leader who can admit when you're wrong, and not 'watering the weeds' by moving on quickly from reps who aren't working out. Check out the full episode for more of Dana's advice on developing as a leader and building high-performing sales teams.

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