Michael Remley

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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Some sales reps are scared to get a no for a mid to late stage deal. Why? The best sales reps are always trying to get to no. I think it’s probably because then your pipeline will look weak to your leadership or you thought the early stage conversations went so well that you started to count your commission checks. Or you flat out just don’t want to get back to Ground Zero and start prospecting again. Whatever the reason is you need to stop holding onto things that aren’t progressing. They know where to find you if they start to buy. They’re not going to forget about you, so keep them in your tickler and do your due diligence but turn the page on people that are not coming back at you. #sales

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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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You can make WAAAAAAAAAAY more money as a rep than as a VP of Sales. (OTE math below) 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐓𝐄 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐕𝐏 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬: - A top Enterprise AE will have a $300-350k OTE - A VP of Sales will have a $400-600k OTE   But the key is in the ability to **over-attain** as a rep. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚 𝐕𝐏 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝟏𝟓𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫. That's because that literally means the entire team blew out their quota by 150%, which probably means your board is either going to promote you to CEO, raise your quota, or call you a massive sandbagger (and raise your quota). 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝟑𝟎𝟎%+ 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚 𝟕-𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐖𝟐. Ian Koniak (Salesforce's #1 all-time producer) told me a story about how he closed a $10M+ deal with Berkshire Hathaway on a couple-million-dollar quota or something like that. That's a lot of ARR in accelerators. Now you get way more *equity* as a VP of Sales, but you never know if that's gonna be real. Want cash? Want freedom? Want job security? Don't become a VP of Sales. Do it because you love the people and you love to build. #sales #leadership

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To all Sales and RevOps Leaders... What are you most stressed out about right now? Chances are it's one or all of these 3 things: ⏰ Territory, Quota, Comp Plans for 2025 ⏰ Forecasting Accuracy that is below par (90%) ⏰ 2025 Capacity Planning If any of these resonate - let me know in the comments. Or reach out as maybe I can help take these off the table for you. #fractional #revops #planning

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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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Many sales organizations spend days or weeks on account prioritization and territory planning exercises. There's got to be a better way... If you're heading to Gartner CSO next week, don't miss Ami Arad's presentation on May 21 at 2:05pm! He'll contrast the traditional ways sellers prioritize their accounts and the new way made possible through buyer intent and predictive models. Get the details here: https://okt.to/GhFXdQ

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Andy Stanley, author of Next Generation Leader, says that “fear defies logic.” This has been more evident lately in sales because some sales reps are afraid to talk to customers about price increases. “We have to save them money." ”They won’t buy from me if we are more expensive.” “I just lost to someone with a lower price!” All things being equal, yes I’d buy the lower cost item, but why are we allowing things to be equal? Why can’t we take a different approach and talk about how our product or service will help a business grow/scale/be more productive/etc.? Sales reps, overcome your fear this week and teach to your prospects how you can help them solve a problem they didn’t know they had, versus being a rep that says “I can save you money.” #mondaymotivation #overcomingfear #salesprofessional

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The 2024 State of Sales Report from Salesforce just dropped and there's a ton of cool data point to check out. I mention a few interesting points in the clip below including: Who the heck are the 36% of you who would NOT leave their current job for better pay? 😂 😉 You can download the full report here: Link: https://lnkd.in/ePEWegNV

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One question we like to ask all the execs that join After Earnings (from Morning Brew ☕️) is: "What metrics should investors be looking at?" It's such a basic question, but an important one for retail investors who are trying to analyze and evaluate companies across a ton of different sectors and categories. For SaaS it may be total subscribers or new vertical penetration; for EV manufacturers it could be placed orders or shipments; for pharma, it's sales and clinical trial progress; for platform companies, it's cross-selling momentum and average contract size, etc. The result us that our listeners can understand the dynamics of broader sets of businesses through the lens of one specific company.

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Everything wrong with Software Sales: Tons of demands from others. Low flexibility oneself. 0 value creation. Reps have 1 job to source & close deals. Create, articulate & capture value. Happy if a rep gets paid $1M. If (s)he creates 4-10x that. The value here is 0?

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"Effective sales reps don't sell to buyers. They sell with them." Book 21: 'Sell with: The art of selling with champions to shape internal buying conversations & close enterprise deals' by Nate Nasralla Some interesting points in this book from Nate Nasralla around champion building, account mapping and writing compelling problem statements. Here are some of my takeaways: 🛣 Enterprise account mapping should have the flow of information and the priorities, metrics and incentives each person cares about. 🚧 There are three levels of consequences: functional problems, strategic problems and personal problems. 📝 Good writing is clear thinking made visible. 💚 When you are champion building, what you are really doing is trust building. What book are you reading this week?

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B2B Sales Leader: Multi-threading is really important. But also: → Doesn't train reps on mapping accounts → Doesn't give reps talk tracks → Doesn't give reps budget to get external help Then they wonder why → Reps only have 1 person involved in their deals → Deals stall and land in Closed Lost → Deals slip to next quarter Stop wasting money on buying more sales tools. Reps don't have a tool problem. They have a skill problem. Give them the skills they need to go wide and deep. If you're a rep reading this, this image is something I call Multi-Threading Compass Concept 📌 Me and Andy Aveyard, Head of MM Sales at Zoom discussed it Watch the interview here: https://lnkd.in/e-Cp4M7Q Most reps are in a rush to get to power [North] → But they're not ready → They don't have a clear business case Instead, focus on going East and West → To find and build more Champions → Gain wider consensus Then go South → To win over power users → Create raving fans Then, take your business case to the Economic Buyer. It might take longer. But you'll win more deals. Let me know what you think about the interview above!

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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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Every sales leader I know has a goal to "be more data driven." Those same sales leaders work constantly in ungoverned, stale spreadsheets and manual edits. Why do they do this? 1. Salesforce is never 100% up to date or accurate 2. Leaders have their own context to add 3. Aggregate views for forecasting require more tempering than a deal by deal roll up Sigma saves our sales leadership team tens of hours per week in forecasting alone. See how my boss Mike Gerardi had a hand in building our process here:

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If I asked your AEs or SDRs how they define excellence for their role at your company, what would they say? Would it vary by person? What about by manager? Clarity brings focus, focus brings excellence, excellence brings success. #ae #leadership #sdr #bdr

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Mega dealers vs the rest I’ve spent the best part of the last decade working in hyper growth SaaS (Salesforce & ServiceNow) In that time I’ve worked with & led some incredible sellers, and studied them Here’s what sets the true big deal giants (high 7 and 8 figure ACV deals) apart: 1) Belief They believe almost fanatically in their pursuit and ability to help their customer fix big problems They inherently also understand that they must focus. This is important as it shows 2) It’s on them - they take FULL responsibility They show up, and understand that the buck stops with them No excuses 3) They go together, not alone. They understand that an unfair share of resource on their customer will lead to oversized reward As such they recruit people (at all levels) to their cause Lead without authority And orchestrate for success Whether the markets good, or bad these people deliver time & time again Right now I think there’s a lot to learn in this!

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How can AEs 3.1x WinRate AND close deals 4.7x faster? Analysis of 4 million opportunities on $54bn of B2B sales pipeline shows preparation pays...   The better you prepare, the more you get to work great deals.  But what is the preparation to 3.1x WinRate?    → Prospect your ICP + Ideal Personas. - It's crucial to know your ideal customer profile.  - It's crucial to know the best personas to target.     →Top Performing AEs Disproportionately prospect both.     - They source less deals but close more self-sourced revenue.   - Most AEs half heartedly prospect "big accounts".  - The most successful AEs whole-heartedly prospect "ICP accounts".       → Preparing the list of ICPs + Personas is hard work.   → That is the best part, most don't do it.     Give yourself a fair advantage.     1. Discover the criteria of ICP & personas. 2. Apply the criteria to your prospects. 3. Target the top 20% of accounts that meet the criteria.   It sounds simple, but most people give up half way through.     So once you find deals.... what then? How do you close opportunities 4.7x faster?    The Answer? → Be Prepared to Hard Qualify.    → Apply the sales methodology you follow.     If you don't have 80%+ of MEDDPICC or SPICED by the end of Discovery... Sounds harsh, but without it at discovery deals slow down and often don't close.   Seriously consider walking away from the opportunity.     → The best AEs close deals at discovery 3.1x more than average AEs.     Hard to do with pipeline at a premium.    → In 2024, AEs don't have time to waste on unqualified opps.     → The big thing is PREPARATION for qualification and discovery calls.    Research the prospect, bring a perspective on the methodology.    e.g. following MEDDPICC?    I'm guessing your trying to solve X, because of the comments your CEO recently made.     What company initiative/OKR does this align with?    What business metric does this help?      Now you’re a step closer to M. (Metrics)      I'm guessing you've tried to solve this problem before?    What else are you considering?    Drilling into this brings you closer to C. (Competition)      When we send across paperwork...what happens?    Starting to understand the P. (Path to Paper)      If doesn't matter if your using MEDDPICC, SPICED or an internal custom sales process.    What matters is your prepared to use it in qualification and discovery.     Know the questions, form a POV on each from research.     If you’re an AE in 2024, then use the data to improve you're attainment.     Hat tip to Guy Rubin and the team at Ebsta for their AMAZING B2B Sales Benchmarks 2024 Report. p.s. want to fast track your AE Skills? I've one spot left for an AE to join my coaching program in July, send me a dm saying "90"🔥

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