Robert Clesi

This B2B pitch process and method is exactly how I get a 50%+ close rate on qualified deals. Your Questions Answered... Question: Yeah, but the deals were small, right? Answer: AOV historically $10-20K/year SAAS deals. I have won a $750,000/year enterprise deal with this method. Question: What industry do you sell in? Answer: Upstream oil and gas data analytics (one of the toughest SAAS markets in the world to sell enterprise deals). Question: But you had an amazing product and brand to sell for all the time, right? Answer: No, most of the businesses I took from $0-$1 million ARR single-handedly as complete start-ups with zero trust, brand, or a proven product. Question: This seems super obvious and simple, what am I missing? Answer: A lot, I wrote a 70+ page book on it (want the book? DM me). Question: How is this different than any other B2B pitch method? Answer: Way too hard to explain here. DM me for the book. #b2b #sdr #accountexecutive #sales #B2BPitch

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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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The Unicorn Seller Dilemma! Only 5-10% of candidates interviewed for SaaS sales roles meet the "unicorn seller" criteria—those who align perfectly with your sales motion and target market. These candidates bring industry expertise, technical knowledge, and a proven track record but are highly competitive to secure. Need help finding your unicorn seller? Let’s strategize on how to attract and retain top-tier talent.

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Want to scale a B2B inside sales team? Struggling with how to get started? Want to gut-check your current sales process? I filmed an hour of training describing the exact B2B sales process I've used to scale 4 start-ups to north of $1 million ARR in less than 12 months each time. If you want access to this, comment "process," and I'll send you the link. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: (a) The CRM is only as good as the sales process behind it. If you have a shitty sales process, then your CRM will become a dumpster fire of data mislabeling and lost opportunities. (b) Also, your entire team (from Sales Ops, SDR/BDRs, Account Executives, Account Managers, and Customer Success) needs a clear step-by-step sequence of events to bring prospects through within the CRM. This is the "agreement" on which the sales team collectively operates, organizes data, and communicates. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: (a) Dial in a fully fleshed-out and highly detailed sales process to implement directly into your CRM. (b) Train your team religiously and continuously to deeply digest the sales process and the CRM while building in incentives and performance reviews around attention to detail, organization, and CRM usage. (c) Sales reps that can't "get on board" and completely buy into using the CRM with precision and accuracy each and every day need to go. They are killing your CRM focused culture. And no, this is not obvious. I have seen too many sales managers and reps who treat CRM as a nice-to-have thing that collects dust. 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲: It took me over 10 years to settle on this sales process, which I still tinker with depending upon the business I am working in. This video will dramatically shortcut you to a working sales process for your sales team to sell millions. Check out the detailed video describing the entire process! #salesprocess #b2bsales #salesteam #insidesales #saas

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The Great Sales Industry Reset is here 📍 What do I mean by that? 15 years ago, being called a salesperson was almost looked at as a bad, potentially even sleazy job title. Sure, outsiders knew you could make money, but at what cost? Fast-forward post-pandemic, entry-level sales was the most sought-after role coming out of college. Work remote? Make six-figures or more from home? Say less! Fast-forward to the present day. People are jumping ship or getting let go like the sales industry is the Titanitic. Here's why: ➡ Old-school sales guys can't keep up with the tech knowledge required to stay ahead of the game in prospecting. ➡ Founders know they have to have smaller teams because they can't just throw around the abundance of capital investors were giving away only four years ago. ➡ Younger salespeople are starting to figure out it's not as easy as they thought it would be. ➡ AI is taking jobs and simultaneously disrupting the industry and making it harder this year What does this mean to the sales industry? This means that if you want to play the game at a high level and last, you must quickly become a sniper. You can't just be a soldier. 💡 Build your network here and in other communities and attach yourself to a mentor 💡 Read, read, read. There are a few great books out there that will help you perfect your craft. 💡 If you're not performing or looking to get better, you must be willing to work your ass off. 8 hours, or however long it takes for you to hit your goals! The sales industry will be leaner in the next five years, but the best of the best will again be some of the highest-paid people in the world! btw - this show is CRAZY ⬇ #richhitsgoals

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Improved ramp time for new reps by 40% Some CROs see the value and still want to wait for the “right time” (ie. after SKO, after year end) Other CROs like Brent Thurrell see the value and move fast knowing now is the only time. A big reason why he’s running a half a billion ARR revenue org. Decisive and knows the moves he made earlier in the year start paying off in Q4 and in Q1. Your next year starts now. #TOP #Sales #Training

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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 you understand your buyer --> training will be more effective --> reps will be more confident --> reps will use training in the real world --> revenue & efficiency will increase --> the sales process will become more powerful If however you brute-force sales process compliance and overlord the whole thing, you are walking backwards up a steep hill. Seeing reps not use things in the real world, because they're not confident, because the training lacks context, BECAUSE they don't understand their buyer.

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Salesforce State of #Sales report is finally out and DAMNNNN the proof is in the pudding folks!!!! Conclusive data showing the shocking truth about the state of the sales profession... Company revenue is WILDLY UP and quota attainment is still WILDLY DOWN... 🤬 The full report is like +30 pages but I'm here to give ya some of the highlights. I CANNOT RECOMMEND ENOUGH TO READ THIS! Salesforce is one of the few companies with enough data to actually pinpoint what's going on in the sales profession. What was most shocking to you? - Growth is back - Quota attainment is now that bad - How many reps actually get 1:1s - Reps are finally getting paid fairly - #1 reason why reps are jumping ship Or something else entirely? Lemme know in the comments! #deathtofluff ☠️ --- Get your hands on the full report here: https://lnkd.in/dFGrQRSU

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This is how our team systematically approaches the b2b SDR sales process in 2024. SDRs are not just appointment setters. They are also list cleaners. Organizing prospects into neat "buckets" (i.e. Status') helps illuminate the good (new deals), the bad (bad fits/bad info/future prospects), and everything in between. Think of it like email segmentation but with human intervention. And no, AI can't do this yet (maybe in a year or 2).

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Be honest with why you need experience for your SDR/BDR role? You could be saving yourself huge amounts of money for the same results by going with an entry level hire. Legit reasons for needing experience - Complex sell with a tough buyer profile (CISO, CTO, CRO etc) - You don't have an outbound process or manager who can train. Non legit reasons - You're too lazy to train - You think hiring with experience improves your retention (it's the opposite) Analyse your SDR culture, could you be going with no experience?? #sdrjobs #sdrteam #salesjobs

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Most B2B sales math is flawed, or just wrong. The biggest problem with this is that companies base Sales team staffing, activity requirements and GTM investment on these numbers, wasting millions.  According to the cognoscenti: 8-12 = Touchpoints required to book a meeting with a B2B executive 1% = Cold email response rate 24% = Cold email open rate 36.4% - 47% = Percentage of enterprise AE's who hit quota 91% = Percentage of sales teams that failed to achieve >=80% of quota targets I am not saying that the above data is wrong, as these measures have proven to be pretty accurate. I am saying that the expected execution that is being measured is either fundamentally flawed or antiquated. So, WHAT is being measured is the problem, not the measures themselves. This is about addressing execution quality vs. quantity, and yet so much of our execution still focuses on coverage and activity vs. productivity. What is observably true: The majority of prospecting content is low value, one-to-many messaging that favors coverage over focus and quality, making it very easy to quickly recognize and dismiss. The majority of sales processes require current FY, in-market demand to function, which means that vendors are lagging/chasing the prospect/customer, and often direct competitors, leading to low win rates and wasted SG&A. We all know this math: 67% to 77% = The percentage of the “buyer journey” that is completed digitally before they speak to/engage a salesperson/vendor. If you want to successfully engage an executive, tight focus on your compelling financials mapped to how they are measured and paid is required, not optional, especially in a NNN motion. This takes time and expertise, but when done properly this indexes to 7-13% engagement rates after an average of 3 touchpoints. Getting this right indexes to higher: TCV, win rates, revenue velocity, and quota attainment rates. Execute objective project and program (engagement) management skills vs. typical sales methodologies, requiring value driver based DCF analysis, joint RACI and critical path determination 👉🏼up front👈🏼, and win rates will increase. Technology has evolved, business has evolved and it is time for decades old sales processes and prospecting approaches to do the same vs. fine tuning what has proven to not work well at scale. Without fundamentally evolving HOW and WHAT we execute, the above numbers will not change. How much more of the above math do we need to prove this? #b2bsales #b2bgtm #salesenablement

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Your sales strategy is dead. (And your prospects know it!) You see, those "checking in" emails are burying your sales dreams six feet under! Generic follow-ups are boring, ineffective, and a total waste of your precious time. They're like that creepy uncle everyone avoids at family reunions. The truth is brutal: Your prospects are ghosting you because you offer nothing of value. Stop being a sales ghost in their inbox! Here's how to come back from the dead: 1️⃣ Erase the gimmicks:  → Nobody falls for empty promises anymore!  → Become a problem-solver, not a used car salesman. → Offer real solutions that address their biggest pain points. 2️⃣ Become their hero:  → Show genuine interest in their success.  → Forget transactions and build relationships!  → They'll see you as a trusted advisor, not just another number. 3️⃣ Craft follow-ups like a boss:  → Make them crave your expertise. → Don't just remind them you exist!  → Remind them of the life-changing impact you can have on their business. 4️⃣ Be the anti-meh:  → Imagine Jeff Bezos sending a "Hey, remember me?" email. Completely unthinkable!  → Be memorable, strategic, and irresistible. Leave them wanting more! Stop suffocating your sales with generic tactics! Follow these steps and watch your deals resurrect with explosive growth! It's never too late. (P.S. Your bank account will thank you.) Enjoyed this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Christopher Njokanma for more! #entrepreneur #sales #mindset #growth #value #followup

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New features don't close deals. I'm guilty of seeing "one more new feature" as being the silver bullet to closing a major deal. It's not. This isn't exclusive to SCs/ SEs either - everyone in sales has at some point seen a missing feature as being the difference between winning and losing. It's not to say that feature / functionality is not important - it absolutely is key to ensuring a successful implementation and value realisation for our customers. In reality though it's not features and functions that drive the real differential between you and the competition. You're not going to choose one make or model of car over another because of the in-car entertainment system, or the make of speakers. You'll look at it wholistically and make a decision based on a wide range of criteria. It is also easy for SCs to think "well building the business case is what sales are there to do". Wrong. It is the role of the Sales Team (e.g. everyone involved) to provide inputs on and help shape the business case for your prospect. As solution experts; you need to think not just about if the buttons do the right thing when pressed, but do they also lead to the desired outcome that is being sought by the business as a whole.

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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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"67% of sales reps don't expect to meet their quota this year, and 84% missed it last year. 🤯 59% of business buyers say reps fail to grasp the unique goals they aim to achieve. 🤯 86% of business buyers are more likely to buy when vendors understand their objectives. 🤯 " Don't wait for your turn to talk 🗣 Listen to your customers & prospects and ensure you understand the assignment 📖 Check out more from the #Salesforce state of sales report - link in the comments below ⤵ #stateofsales #buyers #quota

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The Shrinking Pipeline: A Cautionary Tale for Sales Professionals! If you don't separate yourself from your distractions, your distractions will separate you from your goals Tom, once a top salesman, found his performance slipping due to constant distractions. His days were filled with social media notifications, casual chats, and "quick" checks of emails that turned into hours of lost productivity. Focused solely on closing big deals, Tom neglected other crucial aspects of the sales process. His pipeline dwindled, and his manager warned him: improve or face demotion. The wake-up call prompted Tom to make changes: - Turning off non-essential notifications - Scheduling specific times for emails and messages - Blocking out hours for different tasks - Using website blockers for social media Result? Within months, Tom's pipeline was healthier than ever. He was prospecting, nurturing leads, managing clients, and closing deals effectively. Key Takeaway: In sales, as in life, if you don't separate yourself from your distractions, your distractions will separate you from your goals. Balance all aspects of the sales process for sustainable success. #SalesSuccess #ProductivityTips #TimeManagement #PipelineManagement

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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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