Ran Van Riper

SPaCE, the Final Frontier for GTM Enablement What is SPaCE?: Sales, Partner, and Customer Enablement Today's revenue enablement strategies need to support multiple GTM channels.  We have to meet our customers where they're at. Some customers work with our direct sales team, others with partners, and some (more than ever) want self-service & PLG. In today's rapidly evolving B2B landscape, the traditional approach to GTM enablement is undergoing a seismic shift. As millennials and Gen Z increasingly dominate the buying process, companies must adapt their strategies to meet these new expectations. The Changing Face of B2B Buying According to Forrester, 71% of B2B buyers now belong to the Millennial and Gen Z cohorts. These younger buyers prefer digital interactions and often seek to make purchasing decisions without direct contact with sales representatives. Gartner's research supports this trend, revealing that 75% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free sales experience. To address these changes, businesses must adopt a holistic enablement strategy encompassing Sales, Partners, and Customers.  And we need to enable those groups even better than we have in the past…..especially when it comes to Partner and Customer enablement. Our vitally important partner channels have largely been treated like second-class citizens, as partner enablement strategies have generally been very shallow. However, the technology is now available to ensure that they too can achieve their potential. SPaCE needs to be AI-driven and contextual. Static enablement and generic guidance will no longer cut it (it never has). SPaCE may not be the final frontier, but it's something we have to be good at today. You can read a bit more of my thoughts on the matter here: https://lnkd.in/gaakhXA7   #revenueenablement  #salesenablement #revops #revenueoperations Happy selling and enabling! 🙂

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"System of Intelligence" is the category I’m most interested in right now (and have been, for the last 5 years). It's the biggest opportunity in GTM tech. AI only exacerbates the need (and likelihood) of a “System of Intelligence” being built and adopted in GTM teams around the world. (Think: no more data silos, ability to use unstructured data, ai agents to do autonomous research, and so much more)  → Where does it sit in the current tech stack? I put together a simple visual to show how I see a “System of Intelligence” fits into the existing tech stack — see image below. (In fact, I think it has the opportunity to dethrone CRM.) The question a “System of Intelligence” answers is what humans do today—knowledge work. But, slowly… when I squint—I can start to see a path for AI to actually start making 6-figure jobs obsolete. SDRs? Yes. CSMs? Yes. BUT, I don’t think AI replaces the best reps. I do think reps using AI will replace reps. Imho, the most important question a GTM Leader can ask is the following: “What Company/Person are you reaching out to this week?” Ask 20 reps at the same company that question. You’ll get 20 different answers. This is obviously not efficient, or scientific. Everyone knows it. But there still isn’t a solution. Sales engagement was an attempt to OpErAtIoNaLiZe a reps workflow. But, SEPs don’t have all the data required to train a model to be “intelligent” (sorry SEPs). CRM (sorta) and data warehouses (increasingly so) have the most data in them. GTM teams need a “System of Intelligence” (a machine) that answers this question for them. Magically. I don’t want to go into “solution mode.” (If I knew the right solution, I’d be building that right now — I don’t). But, I do have incredibly strong (and increasing) conviction that this is the biggest opportunity in GTM tech. How to execute those actions is a whole other can of worms. I think there will be several ways that emerge — when it comes to the execution/workflows. (See also: The New Playbook for Pipeline Generation is Emerging)  → How will AI impact this space? Tomasz Tonguz recently published a piece that speaks to this concept a little bit. His focus is on the CRM being disrupted based on the new workflows of AI agents, compared to humans. In the article he says: > "When AI products are sold as services, they replace in-house labor. This changes internal processes. When the internal processes change, the opportunity to replace the system of record arises because the existing workflows are no longer relevant. I think this is right. As AI Agents become more prevalent, there will be a need/opportunity to rethink the CRM and the applications."  →Who is building this? Innovation will happen in this space, and I’m excited to see who is building here. I’m always trying to learn. Reach out if you’re using a product that you think is a “System of Intelligence.”

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Sr. Principal Product Evangelist Ami Arad is coming to the Gartner CSO & Sales Leader Conference. Don't spend days – or even weeks – on account prioritization and territory planning! Ami will show you a better way. Ami's session – complete with props and lots of laughs – will contrast the old-school ways sellers prioritize their accounts vs. using buyer intent and predictive models. Get the deets (plus a Gartner ticket discount code) here: https://okt.to/i5SfTE

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hey RevOps - wanna help us define the future of the RevOps role and the RevOps path the C-suite? 🤔 That's exactly what we're doing with our #RevOpsAF Executive Think Tank event series, Getting 25+ RevOps leaders together in the same room to: 🗺️ Define what RevOps should be in every organization ⛔ Figure out what’s standing in the way of a unified revenue operations function 🤝 Determine how to convince CEOs to respond and adapt to evolving market conditions by adopting a comprehensive revenue operations charter 🚀 What the RevOps path to the C-Suite looks like Our first Think Tank event will take place in San Francisco on August 22nd at 2pm PT. 🌉 So if you're a RevOps leader in the Bay area, then join us. 👋 We've already got RevOps leaders confirmed from companies big and small, and everywhere in between. Seats are extremely limited and we are limiting entry to senior leadership with deep experience in the field of operations. Learn more 👉 https://hubs.li/Q02F3M0X0 A huge thank you to our sponsor at Subskribe for making this event possible. 🫶 #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #salesoperations #marketingops #marketingoperations #csops #cxops #gtmops #alltheops

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Walnut has gone where no nut has gone before— and beyond 🚀 Our team has gone beyond ‘Beyond Demos’ and expanded Walnut’s capabilities to capture and analyze diverse interactions, giving GTM pros a 360° view of the buying journey. To learn more, read the full NY Weekly article >

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Teach, Tailor, Take Control – the trifecta of the well-documented Challenger sales methodology. In every sales training, we’re told to research deeply and bring unique insights to the customer—something that will change their perspective and open up new possibilities. But here's the reality: People don’t come to meetings to have their mindset changed, and they certainly won’t shift perspectives just because we say so. Change happens when someone feels it, and that feeling comes from within. The only time you can influence change is when you've earned the power to do so—the power of trust. Before you jump into teaching, build trust. Trust wins over the fast, instinctive part of the brain (System 1) before any logical reasoning (System 2) can kick in. Only then can real change begin. #Sales #ChallengerSale #TrustBuilding #SalesStrategy #CustomerSuccess #B2BSales

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Combining Fuzzy Search and Prefix search in the same query AND keeping the latency down is harder than you might think! It will be exciting to see applications with high query rates using this. The latest advances in embedding in multiple resolutions and multi-phase ranking will enable new use cases in many organizations:

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DevRev's SLAs are linked directly to your customers, product features, and issues—not just tickets. Now you can effortlessly create, assign, and monitor SLAs with powerful automation and a simple UI. It’s time to rethink your support strategy with DevRev: https://lnkd.in/g3YBttbB #DevRev #SaaSSupport #CustomerSupport

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Sharing real stories from the trenches of product management. First topic - balancing big visions 🌟 with building MVPs that actually solve problems 💡 Would love to hear your thoughts! 👇 https://lnkd.in/einzrwbZ #ProductManagement #MVP #Startups

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Thanks to Dave Rigotti and team for a wonderful #PLGTM conference in SF. I had great discussions with sales and marketing leaders and here are some observations on how PLG has evolved. Part 1: Time to rethink PLG practice ✔ While the core idea of PLG revolves around self-service adoption and user-driven growth, the practice has evolved, and companies are recognizing the need for a hybrid approach. ✔ For a lot of practitioners, PLG means self-service and users adopt the product without sales support. In practice, PLG leads to increases S&M costs increasing CAC. So, it no more just about building a product but putting the marketing $ behind it. ✔ Enterprise buyers are researching on their own and have good information before they come to the call. Huge number of prospects want sales help in navigating the value prop but want to try out themselves. ✔ PLG does lead to execution speed driving the awareness, showing the value, decreasing sales cycles and enabling simple and faster expansion. ✔ There is a myth that only startups or B2C companies use PLG and has to be bottom-up approach. While many of the companies we know and products we use might be B2C, lot of enterprise B2B companies are PLG as well. e.g. users can simply signup and start using Calendly, Canva or Airtable. teams can start using the products like loom, figma and datadog. ✔ Bringing customers need a hybrid approach in 2024. You need to provide user value created by the product and buyer value created by sales teams. Think about product market fit and product customer fit - leading to greater number of happy customers ✔ Every KPI you are measuring should drive an outcome. If you collect data, ask "what is it used for? " and "how does it help customer or adoption?" ✔ As the PLG model continues to evolve, companies must adapt and embrace a balanced approach that leverages the power of self-service adoption while providing sales support to drive customer success and long-term growth. Thanks to David Yockelson and Dave Boyce for providing engaging discussion on the core of PLG. #productledgrowth #productledsales #salesledgrowth #startups #salesleadership #productmanagement

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"Sporadic customer requests count as Anecdotal Evidence, and create only Low Confidence in the proposed idea (if you sell to large enterprises you can give this type of evidence x 2-3 confidence boost, or count how many sub-groups within the customer org asked for this). If customers express support for the idea in a survey, that only gives you Medium-Low Confidence. If this idea is a top customer request, or has come up in dozens of interviews, you assign the idea Medium Confidence." Why so low?

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"An innovation juggernaut"..."A leader"...a couple of the things I love about Cresta's recognition on the Forrester Wave for Real-Time Revenue Execution. (Getting the highest score in 15 of the 31 evaluated categories is also pretty sweet). My favorite one though from this wave was a statement about our customers. "Customers validated that its innovative platform is delivering results." Businesses are driving results with the Cresta platform, today...this isn't something far out into the future. Fortune 500 customers are using Cresta to drive more revenue, improve agent productivity, make their managers more effective, and supply insights to the leadership team that propel their business forward. MASSIVE thank you to our customers and to all Crestans who make it possible....still lots more to do...it's always Day 1. To get a complimentary copy of the Wave and read more about it, check out our blog: https://lnkd.in/dj-hfYMt

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In Episode 16 of Statisfy's CSM Chronicles series, Alice L., Manager, Customer Success at Sitecore, shares actionable advice on how to align product value with customers’ needs and business activities.  “In CSM calls and business reviews, always address the customer's specific goals to build trust and credibility. If your business review content could apply to multiple customers, then it is likely too generic and missing “unique value”. Read On! https://lnkd.in/gee7VSFi

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Generative AI is revolutionizing go-to-market strategies, making it crucial for those in GTM roles to explore and adopt today’s AI-powered tools. Embracing these technologies can significantly boost your impact and help you stay ahead as the workplace evolves. We’re witnessing a paradigm shift from traditional, manual methods to data-driven, scalable, and personalized customer interactions. This transformation enhances efficiency and improves the ability to meet and exceed customer expectations with tailored experiences and innovative solutions. As generative AI technology advances, its role in GTM strategies will expand, providing ever more sophisticated tools for engaging and capturing market share. Sales Ops and Marketing Ops will increasingly need to integrate into a unified tech stack, creating a centralized intelligence hub. This integration may blur the lines between the CRO and CMO roles, necessitating collaboration or even unification into a single function. Regardless of organizational structure, leaders must cultivate a deep understanding of how generative AI and other technologies can propel success. We're already seeing that Generative AI is transforming GTM strategies in multiple dimensions: Sales and Marketing Optimization - AI-driven personalization of content and outreach - Automated lead generation and qualification - Dynamic content creation for emails and social media - Targeted customer segmentation Customer Interaction and Support - 24/7 engagement through AI chatbots and assistants - Smart support tools for quick query resolution - Predictive services that anticipate customer needs - Multilingual support via generative AI Product Development and Innovation - Faster market research with AI insights - Rapid prototyping using generative design - Enhanced competitive intelligence - Accelerated documentation and technical writing Sales Enablement - AI-generated sales scripts and conversation guides - Real-time coaching and team performance optimization - Automated pitch deck and proposal generation Content Strategy - Scalable content creation across channels - AI-enhanced SEO optimization - Rapid localization of marketing materials - Continuous content personalization Customer Experience - Hyper-personalized user interactions - Predictive customer journey mapping - Enhanced recommendation systems - Adaptive product interfaces Operational Efficiency - Lower customer acquisition costs - Faster time-to-market for products and campaigns - Efficient resource allocation - Reduced manual work in repetitive tasks Just to name some examples and this is just the beginning. There's never been a more exciting time to build businesses! #generativeAI #CRO #CMO #GTM #businesstransformation #genAIrevolutionizingGTM #genAI

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Research from SaaS Capital on Channels Strategy shows 60% of horizontal SaaS companies have a channel sales strategy, and only 40% of vertical companies. Companies can more easily break up the market to access more segments using a channel sales approach. In both horizontal and vertical products, this is through the hiring of Partner Manager roles in specific country markets after initial market-entry. As ACV increases, so does the portion of revenue through channel partners. This makes sense commercially as it is possible to share margin on sales when moving up-market. Horizontal companies can leverage industry specific marketing and partners that help them target specific segments and customer profiles. Horizontal companies seem to have ~30% revenue from channels. Vertical companies would need complimentary (non-competitive) partners, where their product is differentiated and co-selling makes sense, e.g. via a consultancy. For Vertical companies at larger ACVs about 20% have channel sales partners. Are you building your GTM and Channel Sales Strategy? I'd love to chat and see where I can advise on scaling your teams. https://lnkd.in/g87Cgj5b #GTM #growth #channels #channelstrategy #sales #partnerships

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Buyer expectations have changed and we must evolve with them. With Adobe Dynamic Chat, now powered by generative AI, you can engage buyers anywhere on your website in dynamic, two-way conversations. Deliver relevant responses, assist sales agents, and generate conversation summaries with a chatbot trained on your marketing, sales, and product information. Learn how you can qualify leads and engage customers earlier in their buying journey — https://ow.ly/yP1M30sGHU3

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We've been running an in-product NPS survey for the last few months (thanks PostHog for making it easy), and we've been blown away by the results! After 139 responses, we leveled out at 68.3! Now, I'm not the biggest believer in taking NPS too seriously, but in software (according to HubSpot [https://lnkd.in/gHTMp4ZK]) the average NPS is 27 -- I don't know what the standard deviation is, but I'd say a 68 is pretty dang good. We also let customers give some feedback after they score us and here are some examples of what they've said (mostly the 10s): "This has been a really useful way to compile training in a simple yet effective manner using the material I have already developed. Quick, intuitive and easy to use, saved me hours of work!" "Cuts my development time in half." "the app has made lesson development so much easier and efficient" "We are developing a training program and I have been searching for a great tool to make it more lively. This is working!!" "it was the tool that I was searching for a long time." "Lo amo... Es genial!!!" "LOVE everything available in Mindsmith" "Because the lessons are awesome!" "wonderful system" "I love the way Mindsmith works!" "I like the speed and layout of the lessons." And my favorite: "You deserve it"

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In Episode 13 of our CSM Chronicles series, Conner Treuhaft, Senior CSM at BoostUp.ai, shares his advice on how to successfully grow in the CSM role. “Get to know your customer's business inside and out. When you’re familiar with them …. your calls start to feel more like internal meetings. Customers are more likely to share valuable insights and feedback when they feel like you’re part of their team … not just an external CSM checking in” https://lnkd.in/g7ADS_84

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