Rob Humphrey

Marketing budget allocation at Salesforce was based on a "simple" tradeoff. Will hiring more field reps produce more pipeline and bookings? We built incredibly nuanced models to inform these decisions. But it came down to -- was Sales bought into Marketing's impact? Did Marketing REALLY deliver quality pipeline, accelerate deals, improve win rates? Causality was important. The popular refrain was -- Marketing isn't the one betting their mortgages on quota attainment! Sadly, not much has changed over the years. So, if Marketing isn't working deals directly, and nobody's buying into your attribution models, how are you to impact revenue in a causal way? 🤔 By asking -- why is Sales struggling to accelerate and close more deals? 💡 For instance, are we focused on the right use cases, value props, and competitive differentiators? 🔍 ➡️ Are these aligned to what buyers want, right now? ➡️ What's converting to revenue the best, what's not? And from there, do what Marketing does best. 💪 Prioritize and amplify these insights at scale -- across messaging, website/seo, campaigns, content, sales enablement, product, CS. 🔊 That's how you drive Marketing's revenue impact. 💰 🏄‍♀️ CMOs have an unprecedented opportunity to use GenAI to: ✅ Create a single source of truth across ALL deals - no more guesswork ✅ Drive GTM alignment on 'where to play, how to win' - prioritization matters ✅ Operationalize these insights at scale in daily workflows - it’s all about the last mile Could this make the CRO your strongest champion? And slow down the revolving door? 👋 If so, check out Tribyl, Inc. #cmo #productmarketing #cro #saas #genai #gtm #revenueoperations

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Do you ever feel like Customer Success is standing still? Let’s take inspiration from Cool Ranch Doritos. 👇 The CS community is great, but it can be incestuous. We need to think differently if we’re going to survive. When I started in CS 10 years ago, I’d host peer-to-peer groups. We’d have panel discussions on a set of familiar topics. → Who owns revenue? → How do we prove our value? → What metrics should we use? → How can we be more strategic? → How do we scale? Sound familiar? It’s the same questions that dominate CS conversations today. I don’t hear Sales or Product still trying to answer the same questions as 10 years ago. They’ve evolved. CS has stood still. I heard a story recently about the invention of Cool Ranch Doritos. All of us CS leaders should listen up. _____________ Back in the mid-80s, the best selling Doritos flavor was Nacho Cheese. But sales were slowing. The brand needed something new. The Marketing team decided to take a field trip to the supermarket for inspiration. They started in the snack aisle. “We could combine these two flavors, create a spicy version of this flavor...” Those ideas were ok, but it’s what they’ve always done. They needed something bigger, so they went wandering. In the salad dressing aisle, they came across a display for ranch dressing. They asked someone at the store about it... “Oh, yeah, it’s our best seller. We can’t keep it on the shelves.” And Cool Ranch Doritos were born. The move revived the brand and Cool Ranch Doritos continue to be one of the best-selling snacks on shelves today. _____________ So what can CS take away from this? The transformational idea for Cool Ranch only came when Doritos decided to be bold and wander outside its comfort zone. I’ve been talking to more and more leaders outside SaaS. Here are some key takeaways. → Luxury hospitality invests heavily in people to deeply understand what their guests want, and to deliver experiences that exceed expectations. → Manufacturing excels at deconstructing processes, and building automation at scale. → Retail uses data to deliver personalized experiences across multiple channels. Depending on what your specific challenges are, the answers may be hiding in plain sight. CS complains all the time about how silos in our organizations prevent us from working together to better serve customers. But the worst silo may be the one we've built around ourselves as an industry. It’s time to take our cart down some new aisles. P.S. If you want to chat, DM me. 📩 Want more? Try my free newsletter. Click the link in my profile. 🔔 Follow me, Bob Mathers, for more. 🎙 Listen to the Growth Mixtape Podcast with Bob Mathers.

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Every AE ever - "I cannot find the information I need, and I need it now!" Sales Leaders, is it a common complaint from your teams that they cannot find the answers? They cannot find competitor information, that latest deck, or that marketing snippet. Do they lose time searching Salesforce, Sharepoint or name your company's resource of choice to find the information? We have the Answer! #Qlik Answers is a stand-alone GenAI (RAG) solution sitting over your unstructured data, every PowerPoint, PDF, email, and text field in your CRM, and so on. Allowing your team to ask a question and get the answer immediately. Demand your teams get the one tool they need!

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Want to elevate your sales game and win over C-suite executives? 📈 Learn from the best with ZoomInfo's top sales tips, including insights from our CEO and Founder, Henry Schuck!  Discover the definitive guide to selling to the C-suite in 2024: bit.ly/4aSCL3i

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Signs that a company truly values its sales team: ↳Proper enablement and training ↳Competitive comp plans ↳Clearly defined career paths ↳Modern sales tools and processes ↳Dedicated sales operations ↳Marketing and demand gen alignment ↳Executive support and sponsorship ↳Healthy work-life harmony I’ve worked with 100s of sales teams over the past 10 years. The reality? OTE and quota attainment have a high correlation with how the company values its sales team. How to find a sales team that values you: 1) Speak to a previous employee Ask them their thoughts on how the sales team was treated. 2) Speak to a current employee Specifically a person on the sales team. Ask if they feel liek they are setup for success. 3) Speak to a customer of the company Ask how their experience as a customer has been over the past 12 months. --- Ignore getting googly eyes for a shiny OTE. Instead, find a team that sets you up for success. 📌 p.s. Comment “SEQUENCE” below if you want me to send you 13 email sequences that sell like crazy. 

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If I was in a full time enablement role right now my #1 focus would be working to become my CRO’s go-to person when they want to see rep’s in-call behavior change. Every sales leader I’ve ever worked with has been unsettled by the behaviors they see when they watch reps calls and frustrated by how nothing seems to change no matter how much training they do with the team. If you can become their go-to person when they need to get reps to change how they sell, and if you can establish a track record of successfully doing so, you'll probably be the last person on the enablement team to get cut. To accomplish this though you’ll need to adopt a different approach to training than what’s been done in the past; one more focused on helping reps rewire their brains with new skills, reflexes, and abilities rather than just learning the material. On July 23rd I’ll be hosting a Hackathon along with The Enablement Squad in Denver where you can spend the afternoon learning how to build behavior change programs modeled after how Olympic athletes and professional musicians train. In this session you will learn about a new approach to sales training, and you'll spend time collaborating with your peers figuring out how to apply what you're learning to each create a practice-based behavior change program tailored to the specific needs of your own sales team. ⌚Date & Time: July 23rd from 1-4pm MST 🗺️Location: Oracle Office, 7700 Technology Way, Denver CO 80237 🖊️Register: https://lnkd.in/esfDYcrS Happy hour to follow for more networking - details to come. 👀 #SalesEnablement #Practice #TheEnablementSquad

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Ashi from Gong is fast (😮‍💨10k) But not as fast as Gong Engage users when they use Lavender. Access to your Gong calls in our personalization assistant ✅ Access to our coach & "Ashi fast" personalization in Gong ✅ Better 🤝 Faster 3.0 (and so much more) coming soon

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“People buy from people. That’s why companies who invest in meaningful connections win.” - Devin Reed Devin shares his journey from sales rep to Head of Content at Gong and Clari, now founder of "The Reeder". He discusses the importance of content marketing, audience engagement, and authenticity. 𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀: 1. 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁:    - Shared KPIs are essential to ensure both teams are aligned.    - Trust between sales and marketing hinges on understanding the audience.    - Consistent, data-backed strategies help bridge the gap between sales and marketing. 2. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱:    - Establish a strong online presence through consistent content creation.    - Engage with your audience authentically to build trust and credibility.    - Personal branding opens doors for new opportunities and ventures. 3. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀:    - Differentiate your content by doing extensive research on guests.    - Surprise your audience and guests with deep insights and engaging questions.    - Use multiple channels (audio, video, written) to reach a broader audience. 4. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁:    - Adapt your leadership style to suit different team dynamics.    - Foster an environment where team members feel safe to voice their opinions.    - Own your mistakes and create a culture of transparency and trust. 5. 𝗡𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:    - Take calculated risks to pursue your passion projects.    - Use past experiences to inform your new ventures.    - Maintain a balance between professional growth and personal life to sustain long-term success. Devin drops so much knowledge - grab some time on your lunch break to listen to the podcast:  https://lnkd.in/enaNCwyq

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A mock conversation to help position yourself as a performance consultant during your next request for enablement: THE TIP: Go broad before getting specific. Requesters typically start with a specific problem. —— SME: “Reps aren’t asking the right questions during discovery to surface business impact. We need training!” *Pause* *Get broad first* YOU: “Sounds like they’re at risk for not hitting quota.” SME: “Well, some are on track. But many aren’t.” YOU: “Hitting quota typically depends on the amount of deals booked and the average deal size. Are both a problem?” SME: “No, we actually have a consistent deal size. It’s the number of deals they aren’t closing because they aren’t asking the right questions early on!” YOU: “I see. Number of deals booked requires deals to be created and then converted through the sales cycle. Are they struggling with those?” SME: “Creating opportunities isn’t a problem - they’ve actually been able to surpass our meeting metrics. The problem is converting because they aren’t doing proper discovery!!!” YOU: “Meeting metrics?” SME: “Yes. They need 3 prospect meetings a week. We’ve averaged four, so it’s the discovery skills they lack to actually convert into qualified opportunities.” YOU: “Who do they book these meetings with?” SME: “Good question. We do want them to get high in the org, but most are with lower level personas…probably because they’re easier to book a meeting with.” YOU: “You mentioned reps weren’t surfacing business impact. Can lower level personas provide business impact data?” SME: “Hmm…I suppose not.“ YOU: “If they had the right personas on the call, could they uncover the right business impact data?” SME: “Well…I suppose they could. The information we want them to gather is well documented, along with sample questions to ask.” YOU: “Do they know who the right personas are and are they properly prioritizing them?” SME: “I’m not sure. We do prioritization at the account level during territory planning, not at the contact level.” YOU: “Do you think that might help?” SME: “I do. An easy lift as well.” YOU: “And those meeting KPIs - any chance we can include persona-level requirements?” SME: “Great idea. The amount might drop, but the quality could be improved.” YOU: “Another easy lift. Should we give it a try and measure how it impacts conversion rates before adding any formal training?” SME: “Good idea. The reps have been asking for less training lately anyways.” —- You’re looking for leverage; you can only find it if you dig. #sales #salesenablement

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On 67% of CS leaders now having a quota… 1. This is a trend I think will continue as the CRO role continues to absorb all GTM functions. This trend is a big reason we were passionate about building retain and enabling the future of customer sales. 2. This is a good thing because it creates accountability for CS teams who often struggle to demonstrate their worth and earn a seat at the table. 3. This is driving really bad renewal and expansion behavior, and your most urgent sales enablement job is to teach your team how to sell to customers. HINT: giant price increases and BDR-like upsell process are not the answer. https://lnkd.in/gpQbCNCn

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Awesome feedback, awesome session❗️ Global tech sales pros dug into our "Discovery Playbook." once again. Thank you to Drips and mainly Cassandra Anderson who helped make this reality. We covered the latest research from Gong and our own win-loss analysis data based on 5K in-depth buyer interviews: ✅ How to find a business pain that money follows. ✅ How to quantify pain to drive urgency ✅ How to uncover the need behind the need ✅ How to identify the "Cost of Inaction" in every deal ✅ Step by step talk tracks & discovery questions ✅ and much more. Mastering these discovery skills is not easy. I believe the leadership team under Noah Sniderman will coach their teams to improve their sales metrics. A big thank you also to: Bryce Marshall Colleen Sheley Dan Fox Patrick Kellner David Romito Jason Varghese Steve Tanner What was the most interesting thing you would like to share with others in the comments here❓ #salesdevelopment #saleseffectivness #B2Bsales #salesenablement

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Let’s be honest, sales is not for the faint of heart.  And while the adrenaline hits are fun when we’re winning–sometimes it's hard to keep anxiety at bay. I was on a ride along with a founder, and CEO recently here in Austin.  We met in the parking lot, when I pulled up, I got a text. It said:  Give me a few, I’m 555ing. WTH, I thought. Later, I found out this person suffered from situational anxiety–and it would just creep up on him at any random time.  He was using a technique called the 5-5-5 technique, which is a mindfulness and grounding exercise used to help people manage stress, anxiety, or overwhelming emotions by focusing on the present moment. It typically involves the following steps: 𝟱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗲-> Look around and name five things you can visually observe. This helps shift your focus outward and away from racing thoughts. 𝟱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿-> Identify five distinct sounds in your environment, whether they’re loud or subtle. This grounds you by connecting your awareness to your surroundings. 𝟱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹 (𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵)->  Pay attention to five things you can physically feel, such as the texture of your clothing, the temperature of the air, or the surface beneath your feet. By shifting your focus - and focusing on your senses, the 5-5-5 technique helps break the cycle of anxiety and snaps you back to a calmer, more mindful state. It can be especially useful in stressful situations like public speaking or high-pressure work environments. Do you have anxiety–how do you cope? If you’re in sales, all of these rules of engagement apply to you. LMK in the comments if you learned something new today. #salea #leadership #anxiety #success #linkedin

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People don’t realize what “closing skills” are in sales, and they’re not “is persuasive.” Reps with closing skills CONSISTENTLY know, can choreograph and advise on how the deal gets signed and returned. And their forecast accuracy reflects those skills.

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Final month of the FQ...where GTM leaders are facing the challenge of distinguishing what deals are real. Measuring prospect intent while deals extend past the average sales cycle can be hard. At times, reps strive to meet quotas but cling to dead opportunities. 🙌 Closing longer-than-average deals with above-average ACV remains a significant win. 🤑 Smaller-than-average ACV deals also bring remarkable benefits. However, small ACV deals that extend and drain resources must be let go when intent is lacking! Don't be scared to DQ those who don't fit. The earlier the better. #GTM #Sales #Prospecting #BusinessDevelopment

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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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11 things world-class sales development teams DO—and what the worst teams DON’T Insights from... → Outbound Squad's experience working with world-class teams at Gong, Shopify, Rippling, and more → Orum's 2024 State of Sales Development report Commentary on how the best sales development teams... ✅ Use AI responsibly ✅ Retain top talent SDRs ✅ Align with AEs ✅ Deal with low-pick up rates ✅ And plenty more 👇 P.S. Watch this video for our full commentary: https://lnkd.in/eBFYfnU3

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14 meetings, 9 opportunities, 4 closed/won deals, all in less than 60 days, all from one hour of prospecting. How'd we do it? This is a play I created at ON24 that I call our Executive Power Hour. A team of 8 or so pulled in our CRO and another senior leader for an hour meeting. Each person brought two accounts they were targeting, we all had LinkedIn and Sales Nav pulled up. "I'm trying to crack Komodo Health...who do we know?" We weren't looking for who knows who - that's table stakes with Nav and if you have TeamLinkExtend enabled. (<---don't sleep on this insanely impactful feature of Sales Nav). We were looking for who knows someone who knows someone. We were looking for the, "I don't know anyone but my neighbor is connected with their CMO and it looks like they worked at UHG together for seven years, I'm on it." Your executives' networks are brimming with senior level people who also know senior level people. And execs are more likely to say yes when other execs make the ask. In one hour of teamwork, we put referrals and relationship selling to the test, and it stands to be one of the easiest ways to source meetings. We not only found camaraderie and motivation through these wins, but we increased speed to lead and speed to trust by coming in through trusted sources. Bonus? It gave that team great exposure to senior leadership that they didn't ordinarily get. Double bonus? You can create a killer monthly or quarterly SPIF around this, complete with leaderboards and prizes. The full playbook for this move is available in our prospecting playbook, along with nearly fifty pages of education and plays that will set your bookings on fire, but will also teach you how to use Sales Navigator to sell exactly like I do. https://lnkd.in/g4kSRRVe #samsales

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Great post (...and I need that knife) on the topic of quota attainment and the impact it has on sales. While in this post it's about sales interviewees asking about it, it is important to realize that this is #SalesOps / #Revops as well as sales leaders' role to make them fair and achievable. But why do you rarely hear about any companies that really do this right? More often than not, the miss is that the incentive compensation plan is great, an awesome plan, opportunity to make great money, but....the quota makes hitting it unachievable. #SalesPlanning is the connective tissue between your #ICM solution and finance, and too often it is still managed in EXCEL! Quick Fact: If sales turnover averages 35%, many orgs have reps leaving and joining every day so when doing the annual sales planning, it can't even be completed before it needs to change and this process goes on daily throughout the year, a big reason why it is so often a miss. Oh and did I mention no data to inform the decisions the front line sales managers have to make? #TakeFinanceFurther #CFO #CRO

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Telecoverage Guidelines Building an effective telecoverage model takes more than just a phone and an agent. Your BDR team is often the first touch point with a prospect, so it's critical that this support team has the proper level of focus and investment. When building an inside model, here are some quick critical success factors that can make or break your effort: - Build a strategic plan: This plan should not only include what you want to accomplish and why, but also, the process you will use to accomplish all your objectives. Your “playbook” will evolve as the company grows. - Telechannel coverage map: Right size the organization and establish roles and responsibilities for the BDR team and all stakeholders. - Review compensation plans: People work to accomplish their personal goals, make certain they match yours. Create a comp plan that ties directly to accomplishing those objectives. - Hire strong tele-professionals: I always look for a blend of skill sets for inside roles that touch upon everything from education and technical background to self-motivation and the ability to carry on a business conversation over the phone. - Decide how you will manage the team: Many companies have problems seeing success with this model because they don’t give enough consideration to how and who will manage the team. Remember that this is a tough role that demands constant supervisory attention. You need to constantly measure, monitor, and motivate agents and reinforce everything you built into your strategic and training plans. - Create useful sales tools: Build a library of tools that are accessible to the team. They range from messaging guidelines, tailored to the contact and situation, to a strong prospecting database and targeted collateral material. - Develop on-going training: New hire as well as ongoing training and one-on-one coaching plans should be developed to support the team and cover product, sales, systems, current marketing campaigns, and procedures within your inside group. - Create a “lead management” system:  While you may have technical tools in place to manage the agents (CRM, marketing automation,etc.) you also need to map out everything from what a qualified lead looks like to what happens to that lead once it is fully developed. - Metrics management: Discipline and structure are key critical success factors for any inside support model. Your focus should be on tracking and managing the metrics you set for the role. - Build an ongoing communication plan: It is important to initiate a regular communication plan that involves all stakeholders they touch. Having them interact on a regular basis helps create an environment of sharing that helps all groups. Consider this a quick “starter kit” of things that need to be considered when building an internal support group. If you are looking to have an analysis done on your current operation, contact me at [email protected], www.soda-consulting.com.

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