Michael Whited Jr.

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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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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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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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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If you're looking for a sign to get into tech sales... This is it. 👀 Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, this comprehensive guide features tips and tricks from Salesforce recruiters to help you land your dream job in sales. Check it out:

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Want to get acquired? Know the "try before you buy" M&A strategy. This is what Salesforce (and other big acquirers) do to validate potential M&A deals. Salesforce has backed 300+ companies and acquired 25. 28% of Salesforce’s acquisitions had a prior investment from Salesforce Ventures. On average, the time it took from first investment to M&A was a bit over 3 years. And 36% were built natively on Salesforce or were available on its AppExchange. What does this mean for founders? If you want to get acquired, position a product into your potential acquirer's ecosystem. Build native integrations and capture a relevant amount of their existing users. Develop scalable strategies that provide added value to their users. Remember: Great companies are bought, not sold. i5growth - international growth / i5invest: Investment Fund, global tech M&A arm, team of 100+, offices in San Francisco, Vienna, Madrid, Berlin, Frankfurt; 200+ exits & strategic partnerships with tech leaders such as Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, Qualcomm, Samsung, Nvidia, Naspers, NBC, … #strategy #startups #investing #venturecapital #technology #i5growth #i5invest Source: CB Insights

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The best "cheat codes" every AE should know: 1. 1:1s with your boss. Approach them strategically. Proactively share format and content. Biggest deals you need support on. Challenges you need help with. Forecast for the month, quarter, etc. Wins. 2. Perception. Performance is your fire. How you're perceived internally (aka your brand) is the water or gas that gets dumped on your fire. Attitude, how you show up, handle change, communicate, matters. Hold yourself to a high bar. Two levels above where you're currently at. 3. Document everything. Take the time to write down your own sales playbook. Every strategy, process and template you have. Store it on your personal computer. The value of this over time is immeasurable. I can't state this enough. 4. Problems are a good thing. Anytime there's a problem that's an opportunity to solve it, improve it, and add value. Some of the biggest opportunities I've gotten in my career came because I dove head first into problems and helped move the business forward. Startups always have problems. Don't be the negative person. 5. Time management. Block Monday mornings every week. Don't go to meetings if they're not worth your time. Most things can be solved async. Make meetings 15 to 20 mins. Sometimes you need a whole week of no meetings to catch up, get organized and do deep work. Don't feel bad for saying no to people. They'll understand. 6. External coaching. Up level by listening to podcasts, taking courses and building an external network. Don't rely on your company for everything. Even if they're doing a great job get the perspectives and strategies of other people for a significant edge. What would you add to this list? - Mike G 👉 Join 5,000+ sellers getting my (free) sales newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gwQVvVBK

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How did ZoomInfo Copilot help Account Manager Dave Howell close a $195,000 deal? 🤔 From surfacing insights about customer sentiment and product interest to identifying a C-level decision-maker who helped seal the deal, Copilot empowered Dave with everything he needed to win his client's business. Watch the full story below. ⬇️ #ZoomInfoCopilot #sellbetter #gtm #zoominfo

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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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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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Co-prospecting If you’re an AE that finds it difficult to carve an adequate amount of time to strategically prospect and you have SDR resources, you should be doing it. During my 8.5 years at Zoominfo, I worked closely with my BDRs, and 8 got promoted: Sam Sheehy, Kyle Volpe , John Basile, Stephanie Siegart, Adam Toothaker, Mark Verrill, Jeremy Delphonse, Steve Nino Sorry if I’m forgetting anyone. Here’s how it works: 📝 Map out your target accounts and identify the key people you want to meet with. This should be the cream of the crop. 🤝 Work with your SDR on messaging. It’s important to incorporate any ideas they have with your own. 🎯 Write an authentic personalized message. Give the prospect a unique compliment, give them insight into the problems you solve with an example, and without being overly salesly. Keep it short and simple. 🏹Finally introduce your BDR on the same email. This is setting them up to call them. You can always drip more content/ messaging. Be sure to follow up with some value. Remember it might take 10 or more touches to land the meeting. This day and age people send video, direct mail campaigns, etc.. This can all be a part of it. But remember not to overdo it. I personally stick to good customer stories. 🏋️This way you’ve done some heavy lifting for the SDR. If the prospect read the note, they are expecting the call, and have already been introduced to you and your company. 📞Now say you’ve done just a handful of these each day, say 5 on average. On Friday, you’ve got 25 calls you can make, easy. Do joint calling sessions with your BDR. Watch what happens to your opportunity creation results. This was a huge key to my success over the years. Be invested in getting your SDR to the next level, they will be movitated to get you meetings and thank you for it. Yes, that might include, giving your SDRs a free meeting once in a while that you prospected. Remember, it’s a team effort. Start co-prospecting today and share some results. #sales #prospecting #coprospecting #sdr #bdr

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As an AE is a high win rate good? Not always. In Q1 my win rate from demo at Nooks was 55%, But my win rate was hurting me Let me explain... -Running too many deals -Discounting and lowering my ACV -Letting large deals slip through the cracks because i was spending too much time on smaller ones Since Q I've cut my win rate in half, but 3x's my ACV What do you think is a healthy win rate? Let me know in the comments

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3 ways CROs can drive more revenue in 2024: (1) Build a revenue army As a CRO, you should become a magnet for the best talent in B2B revenue. Bring in reps who demonstrate: - Curiosity - An appetite for growth  - A franchise mentality (2) Position your team to win Start with a deep understanding of your book of business. Then, set up an infrastructure that enables your revenue team. (3) Create a “no silos” rule Customers don’t care if your organization is fragmented. They experience you as one company. Work to align:  - Sales - Marketing - Customer success How are you working to grow revenue in 2024?

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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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SELL A MUST HAVE - FEDERALLY MANDATED PRODUCT! AE & SDR REMOTE I am open to talking to ANYONE with a #saas sales background who has the BEST number$$ and wants to be apart of a #gtm team (less than 5 sellers) Ideal candidate has sold #saas #insurance and worked at an earlier stage startup #seedstage #healthcare #healthaccesability 29M+funding as seed stage, they are very exec and tech tool lean. They hire from within (your boss was the first sales hire, taking the co $100k to $5m, and the head of marketing, was a founder at a company in a VERY similar space) Seed stage start ups take work! Helping to refine & increase average deal size, build predictable revenue. Fight for funding. build a book, reduce customer churn total forecasted headcount in the next 60 days 4 headcount: Account Executives (w/csm and am work) no renewal quota 2 headcount: Sales Development Representatives 1 to 1 AE to SDR ratio Deal size: $25k-$60k Sales Cycle: 2 weeks - 1 month Tools: HubSpot Apollo.io Orum verticals: #homehealth #nonprofits  MUST be willing to be getting your #insurancelicense this solution is a MUST have product, solves real problems based on #federalmandate with this direct to primary care, mental health saas tool, requires high volume #physical exams they can be done here AE salary $75k base - $150k OTE $85k base- $170k OTE $95k base- $190k OTE monthly quota = your salary (for example closing $75k/month) SDR: $55-$60k base - $120k OTE (75-$125/attended + 3% of closed won) Quota: 25-30 qualified, attended meetings offering $200++ attended w/ hr & c suite SDR growth: head of sdr AE growth: head of csm/am/enablement/rev ops Decision makers: HR C suite, CEO/SVP ops 75-100 dials per day AEs work closely with small CSM team to help onboard, keep clients to their success measurements, and reduce churn (no expansion, retention quota) they really appreciate reps with top of funnel and post sale exp hired in 2-3 interviews (after meeting me!) 1) meet with your boss, VP of sales - 30 min via zoom 2) FOUNDER or meet with the head of marketing/head of engineering, who has built sales programs internally/ been at earlier stage orgs (series b) or potentially panel - 45 3) exercise: cold calling with your direct boss (first call) for #sdrs and #discovery call #accountexecutives- 30 very phone heavy, leaders like to solve problems via email with colors, emojis and visuals - they have sequences that work, after you set meetings at scale, you can start bringing ideas to be creative since this solution is sold to #hr teams and companies 20-500 employees, they are open to someone coming from #hr solution like #adp or any earlier stage startup TONS OF TRAINING!!! SaaS company + insurance brokerage that that helps cos stay in compliance with a federal mandate startup experience is NOT req and this is a great chance to grow your skill set and be apart of a "no brainer" solution training done by Nick Cegelski 30 Minutes to President's Club

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SDRs don't work for AEs.... In fact, AEs should work for SDRs. If you're in a position to have an SDR helping you crack meetings you need to point them in the right direction with the right messaging and use cases. SDRs aren't your assistants. They're the tip of the spear. Cole Praver 🙌 #sales

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Salesforce now needs 3x pipeline coverage compared to 2x due to: - longer sales cycle - deal size pressure due to cut backs - lower demand in general In times like these, your win rate matters more than ever. Here are 5 strategies to improve your win rate: 1) Fight pipeline bloat Don't accept: - Unqualified opportunities - Poor deal hygiene - Missing deal insights & signals - Gut-driven deal reviews 2) Simplify your sales process & exit criteria - Clear entry criteria for opportunity creation. So important! - Simple sales process everyone understands + follows - Clear process governance - Simplify exit criteria to ensure your team actually follow them 3) Operationalize your methodologies Remember: Most reps hate sales methodologies as it's "more" work‼ - Help your team understand the "why it matters" to close more deal - Understand what are the key criteria to closing deals and incorporate them - Run ongoing trainings - Train the managers and the reps - Support coaching with hard numbers to showcase success - Tie hard numbers back to leaderboards and commission success 4) Become great at multi-threading Without multi-threading most deals are dead these days‼ - Coach reps on multi-threading tactics - Managers should proactively help multi-thread - Leverage exec & board members to multi-thread further and higher in org 5) Incentivize the right behavior Combine compensation and management to change behavior‼ - E.g. comp more for e.g. higher TCVs and upfront payments - E.g. coach managers to amplify change management aspects - E.g. use CRO to communicate importance of the above - E.g. use data to showcase success This list is by no means extensive and all those topics deserve more details! What would you add? Comment 👇 — 👀 Get free RevOps content like Cheat Sheets, Salary Report - link in profile ➕ Follow me for tips on how RevOps can impact revenue growth ♻️ Share with your friends #revops #saas

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An AE on my team just closed/won a 137k ARR deal (multi-year contract) 🤯 (steal her scripts for negotiating) 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀: - Getting on the same side of the table - Holding your ground 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭. 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 When negotiations start. It's important to approach it from the same side of the table vs having a battle. Here's what she said: "Hey Jill - Correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds like we're trying to find a path to partnership. Is that right?" This script diffuses the situation and allows you to do some additional discovery. Like understanding if you're the provider of choice, if price is the final step in their evaluation, etc. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮. 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 Totally OK to make concessions like giving a discount. But sometimes buyer's ask for too much. When that happens... Here's the best script for holding firm: "I can respect some tough negotiation but we do have to recognize the value of the product" That script is great for letting the buyer know they've done a good job but you also have to hold firm at the current proposal. Works like a charm. What are your best negotiation tips? Let me know in the comments! 👉 Join 6,000+ sellers getting my (free) sales newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gwQVvVBK

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