Kim Hosseinpour

The transition from founder led sales -> a repeatable GTM motion is hard... Extremely hard. There are so many things to consider to mitigate risk and get as many repetitions on closed loop feedback as quickly as possible. -> what profile of a rep should I hire -> how to assess the right talent -> SDR or AE or growth hacker type or both -> what channels should we be testing -> what does good look like? What does great look like? -> how do I know if we’re making progress? And so much more… We’re discussing all this live next Tuesday at Kiln. If you’re in Utah, come check it out: https://lnkd.in/eQ9dyJK4

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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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Great tips! 🌟

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Tired of guessing on your vCISO prices? Then make these 4 pivotal changes for a profitable approach. If you’re shooting from the hip on numbers for your vCISO agreements, you're either leaving money on the table or pricing yourself out of deals. Or worse, you're selling T&M blocks and trading hours for dollars. Neither of these approaches scale. It’s time to build a strategy that removes the guesswork. Here’s how: 1. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀    - Calculate price on those.    - With efficiency comes margin 2. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗢𝗪    - Link the outcomes to deliverables    - Now your work reflects the pricing 3. 𝗧𝗶𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀    - Clients pay more for differentiated services    - Align your price this way and melt objections 4. 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗱𝘂𝗵, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 😂)    - Know your value; make sure your price reflects it.    - Don’t race to the bottom. Not a good fit? Walk away. With the PowerGRYD vCISO System, pricing isn’t a guessing game. It’s a structured, proven, and predictable approach that maximizes both value and profit. So if you want to stop guessing and start building your next 7-figure revenue line: DM me with “Pricing” and get your vCISO packages built to convert and win business 💪

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In the 0-1 phase of business building there seems to be a fine line between being scrappy/resourceful and being "penny wise and pound foolish." While this has always been an especially delicate balance to strike for bootstrapped founders, it seems to be a hot button topic amongst venture backed startups in light of the current funding environment (and focus on getting to breakeven). I'm glad to see more founders taking expenses (overall) more seriously, but I also believe it's possible to swing too far to the other extreme; hoarding resources to preserve runway and optionality (at the expense of taking risks which will always be required to build anything of significance). While there are no "right" answers on how to strike this balance, I think having folks you can process this with is helpful (sometimes we need to just get out of our own heads). This may be your investors, board members, advisors, or just close founder friends. Thoughts?

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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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STOP Wasting Time Chasing Deals You’ll Never Close. Most buyers fumble because they don’t know their weak spots. Get your BBR Score and uncover what’s holding you back. 🔥 Don’t guess—get clarity in minutes. Your million-dollar future depends on it. Take the Assessment Here https://lnkd.in/emEzGXZ2

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#1 skill I’ve seen consistent across sales reps Is their ability to stay organized. It doesn’t mean unorganized reps can’t be successful, I know plenty that are. But a rep that can consistently execute a process will win a lot more often. This goes for: - Prospecting - Deals in early stages & follow up - Deal alignment with multiple stakeholders - Multi-threading - etc. Sadly, most deals are lost due to poor organization and follow up. My suggestion, take the thinking out of it as much as you can. Check out Boomerang who's solving this problem: https://lnkd.in/gmRveMqa

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Clay raised $62M at a $500M valuation, following Apollo.io's monster raise last summer. Here's why a merger in the coming years would lead to market dominance: First, the business models of Gong, Outreach, Salesloft, Drift, et al. are broken. They dominated "The Golden Age of SaaS" but have not adapted to market shifts: -The per license model does not scale with more efficient and leaner GTM orgs -They lock you into expensive, annual contracts -Their value drivers (automated, high-volume outreach) no longer work for pipeline conversion I've been using Clay, and it is awesome. They've significantly increased our productivity associated with highly targeted and scalable outreach. Specifically: -Flexible, low-cost, month-to-month contracts with an allotment of credits -If you are realizing value, you can buy more credits. If not, you can cancel -They leverage a robust ecosystem of sales data and platform providers which significantly improves accuracy -Highly customizable to your specific business needs They stop short of being a sales execution platform. Since they already have a robust partnership with Apollo, there is a significant opportunity to invest in tightening that integration. With a merger, reps in the era of "profitable and efficient growth" will have the opportunity to work out of one platform. Currently a massive pain point from a workflow perspective. Full article here: https://lnkd.in/eDVkMkbi

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SDRs - struggling for the best way to improve? Here are 5 ways I did it FAST: 1) Imitate the best: Find the top reps in your company for specific things. One for processes, prospecting, cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, objection handling - you get the idea. They clearly have a process that works so utilise it. 2) LinkedIn: There are lots of good (and bad) sales content creators out there, the likes of: Kyle Asay Brian LaManna Salman Mohiuddin Chris Orlob, Chris Ritson and Mike Gallardo are my go-to people to name but a few. Find a handful of creators you like and soak up their content and if you can, check out their paid stuff. This will speed up your development and allow you to skip mistakes. 3) Actively Seek feedback: Don't just wait for your call/deal/forecast review for feedback, chase your managers and actively set up extra sessions to go over weak areas. What's going to bother them more, you asking for help? Or you missing your number? 4) Meet with other teams: Struggling to understand persona pains? Meet with your ICP at your company. Need help on use cases? Chat to a CSM. Product knowledge? Meet with your SE. If there's an area you're finding difficult there are likely multiple people to lean on at your company to help you, so use them. 5) Help others around you: You only really know something if you can teach it so if a new joiner/teammate is struggling with something you're good at, help them out. Sales Karma is a real thing. BONUS) Take what's useful and discard what's not - Bruce Lee: Not everything you learn will be useful, so correctly filtering the bad and applying the good will allow you to make steady and consistent progress over the days, weeks, months and years. Anything you'd add?

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"Founders are always the first salespeople" I didn't expect it to be (THIS) hard... Before launching Smart Role, I knew it would be challenging. Suddenly, I’m the entire sales team: SDR,BDR,AE,CSM,AM, while still managing everything else in the business! Adapting to this role has forced me to rethink my approach. Too often I was feeling too pushy or second-guessing my move. Which was really frustrating because obviously I needed to improve my acquisition. But I didn’t want to be uncomfortable… Until one day I saw the reality. No one will magically do my job. And we don’t have the time to sit back. Otherwise, Smart Role would just be a failed project... We needed traction, and we needed it now. So I’ve learned to take risks, test different approaches, and stop overanalyzing. I realized that sometimes it’s better to act first, and apologize later, rather than wait for permission… Today, I’m so grateful for this uncomfortable position I was in. Again, entrepreneurship is way harder than what we usually see on LinkedIn, but it’s what makes it amazing. Every day is a new lesson and an opportunity for improvement! - Thibaut 🦊 PS: Fellow founders, how was your first step as a salesperson?

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Interviewed 100s of sales candidates this year What I have learned being the interviewer: 1. Many candidates have not been taught the basics of sales From terminology to sales process fundamentals, there is a gap 2. AE candidates don’t want to prospect Many AEs were SDRs before Now that they are AEs, prospecting is not considered a top responsibility I am often asked if the candidate would receive a SDR/BDR as an AE 3. Unable to describe specific sales deals closed I ask questions that require a seller to share a story about a deal they worked Without the details, I struggle to believe you or build confidence that you know what you are doing I can remember deals I closed 15+ years ago and what I learned from them If you cannot describe recent deals you have sourced, closed, etc, I question you 4. Ask questions beyond the basics Anyone can google top 10 questions to ask in an interview What about the next level of questions? This is the thing you are going to be doing for 40+ hours a week and you don’t have deeper questions you want to understand It is sad to see so many great people lose out on a gig because they struggle in the interview Thinking about putting together a workshop that teaches inexperienced, soon to be or recent grads, and even job changers the basics of sales and how to interview This will 10x confidence and give candidates an advantage Going to bring in top sellers and leaders actively hiring to share best practices as well Comment “Im interested” and Ill put you on the list for add’l details

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Same s***, different day… We all know the drill: SDRs think AEs are slow to close, and AEs think SDRs are passing weak non qualified leads. But the truth is, when both sides align, most companies will see a 30% increase in account penetration! Its simple: -Communicate regularly – Don’t wait for weekly meetings. Share quick feedback throughout the day to stay in sync. - Define lead criteria together – Align on what makes a qualified lead. It saves time and eliminates finger-pointing. - Quick deal huddles – Hold short, tactical check-ins to discuss hot accounts. - Debrief wins & losses – Celebrate what worked and break down what didn’t to improve for next time. - Support the hand-off– SDRs should warm up intros, they after all have that initial relationship with the prospect. Collaboration is key!

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4 tips for running better discovery calls +1 bonus tip +1 one give-away [last line] Discovery isn’t just a stage in the sales process. We've all heard this. Yet, too many reps walk away without truly understanding the pain or the cost of doing nothing. Here’s how to fix that: 1. Start with curiosity. Don’t dive in with generic questions. Instead, open with something thoughtful: → “What made you take this call?” → “When did this challenge first show up for you?” Simple, yet effective. 2. Go deeper. Surface problems aren’t enough. Your job is to dig into the why. → “What’s causing this issue?” → “Who else is impacted?” → “What happens if it doesn’t get fixed?” Get them talking about the ripple effects. 3. Tie pain to metrics. No impacted metrics = no urgency. Find out what matters most to their business: → “Is this impacting win rates, pipeline coverage, or forecast accuracy?” → “What’s the cost of missing those targets?” You’re not just finding pain. You’re quantifying it. 4. Call out the cost of inaction. Paint the picture of staying as is. → “If this isn’t fixed in 6 months, what does that mean for your team?” → “How does this impact hitting revenue goals for the year?” They need to feel the pain now. Bonus tip... 5. Know when to walk away. Not every problem is urgent. If the impact isn’t big enough, qualify out. Save your time. And theirs. Great discovery isn’t about pitching. It’s about listening, digging, and connecting the dots. Get it right, and you’ll build urgency without ever needing to offer a discount. Which number could you be doing more of? ------------------------------------------------------- 🔔 Follow me for more on sales James Bissell ♻️ Repost and I'll send you a Discovery Call talk track.

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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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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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As I keep saying Business Development isn’t entry level. It is the connective tissue between Sales & Marketing alignment. It is the connective tissue between Sales & Customer Success. To understand how far we have strayed off this path, let’s look under the hood. Prior to the over specialisation and split outs 2011, which some commenced in 2008. Business development was a senior role you had to be promoted into. You were an A player You were able to speak to C Suites at their level. How they got there was their development track coming from two years working accounts at CS You dazzled on the phone You worked accounts in site visits You knew the commercial pack inside out, the legal clause process, the financial requirements and approvals. You knew what would work in the written communication plans and what wouldn’t. You then, got a chance to be promoted to BD. You already had familiarity with your name across industry, everything just ran and worked better. It gobsmacks me micro niches and verticals that either ; Aren’t old enough to remember this Or haven’t seen it. The skillset and fundamentals that also went along with that said person, were drastically different from what we see today. What were the actions of that seasoned professional? I guarantee you this, it wasn’t ‘selling the meeting’. The components of what the role WAS is the secret sauce across industry sector. George Coudounaris The B2B Playbook and I, have spent the better part of this year creating the guardrails on HOW to navigate back every channel, via action, via department. And the result Chief Revenue School The curriculum on Marketing, Sales & Customer success. We aren’t talking in fluffy circles. We outline and show you the actions that matter and your C Suites should be lead coaching and inspiring your level 4 management teams of said departments. Backwards to go forwards. #B2B

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Tired of poor pipeline hygiene? Create a Dirty Opps board and review it live with your team multiple times a week. Set clear rules for hygiene and make dirty opps public, and you’ll see hygiene improve quickly. Characteristics of opps that enter this report at QuotaPath: 1. Close dates in the past 2. No recent next steps 3. Deeper funnel stages missing key info (BANT, primary contact, etc)

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I knew nothing about B2B sales. In the early days with my startup, I Really. Really. Struggled. to sell. Like most early-stage startups, we couldn't afford to hire, so I became the first SDR, AE, and customer success rep. There were Many. Many. Confusing, often exciting, but mostly self-doubting dark days. "Is it me or my product?" But because of these experiences, I learned so much about the art and science of talking to customers. (My favorite method for customer discovery is #JTBD, thanks to Techstars.) I gained real insights into what customers want, need, and, most importantly, are willing to pay for. This real-time feedback was the key to quickly monetizing the solution. That’s why I still believe in founder-led sales until you find product-market fit. Shifting from founder-led to founder-less sales was also challenging. With added responsibilities, it can be overwhelming and easy to lose the direct line to understand their needs, pain points, and feedback. I quickly realized I needed to set some KPIs to track my interactions with customers. Mine was 333: talking to 3 customers, 3 prospects, and 3 partners weekly and keeping track of the data. I truly believe: Your organization can only be truly customer-focused if you, as a leader, remain customer-focused. PS: How do you stay connected with your customers as your company grows? Share your strategies in the comments!

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