Ahmed Datoo’s Post

Goog morning! Simple vs Complex products. Is that the right perspective to look at things? Like, poduct-led fits nicely when you have a simple problem and simple product (read: Slack). You just wanna message somebody. But what happens when you have a complex product? What happens when you have huge competitors, category leaders, like Microsoft, who bundle up their products nicely, and also have a huge sales team? You need to have a sales motion to be able to compete and sell. It's really hard to go bottoms up (start with one person and one team). There are times when you can't do product-led. Lennart Prange is a smart guy, I suggest you start following him. This is a short part of the great conversation we had on the Funky Marketing show talking about ways to sell complex products (when you can't do product-led sales). ___ I'm Nemanja, a B2B Tech & SaaS Growth Strategist Specialized in High ACV & Long Sales Cycles You don't need a CMO/VP in-house until you're around $5M-$10M in revenue. You need me. Ring the bell on my profile for more insights Or schedule a free 30-minute call (link under my headline)

I couldn't agree more! Jason Oakley are there PMMs who resist speaking with Sales? It's puzzling to me. Collaboration with all components of the sales organization is obviously crucial to fulfilling the PMM role. I can think of several reasons off the top of my head, and I'm sure there are many more with further consideration: 1. PMMs play a pivotal role in setting business goals, but it's crucial they collaborate closely with sales and demand planning to ensure these goals are not only ambitious but also realistically achievable. 2. PMMs own the voice of the customer, gathering insights not only from direct consumers but also from B2B clients and B2B2C retail partners who offer invaluable knowledge of customer pain points and satisfaction levels related to the product. 3. PMMs are responsible for the GTM strategy. How can it be truly effective without robust channel strategy, channel marketing, and merchandising plans? These elements are essential for ensuring the product reaches the right audience through the most effective channels and resonates with customers at the point of sale.

If you're in B2B Marketing/Sales/Product/CS/Finance You are a GTM operator. You have a role to play in creating pipeline and bringing in $. You have a role to play in creating a culture of alignment and sustainable growth. Don't think that this is someone else's problem to solve. Stop saying marketing is responsible for leads and sales is responsible for meetings and deal closure. These functions have to come together to build a solid GTM foundation. Yes, the GTM function should be owned by a senior leader (read CEO) but at the same time, you have to do your part in building a culture of shared goals, values, and alignment. The blaming and finger-pointing have to stop. Even now I hear stories from friends and peers about sales and marketing fighting about lead quality and bad demos. If you want your teams and companies to grow, you have to get on the same page and work together. We're all responsible in our own way for growth, creation of value, and delivering value to our customers. Go out there, and get it done. #GTM #Alignment #Growth

S/O to those trailblazers willing to take a risk. This is how you can get ops (sales/revenue/marketing) support when you have none (or are with a lean team), while gearing your company to build more pipeline AND get your team off an island. What better way to prove out a process by doing it yourself? Here are some skill sets I have built from my previous roles (some with 0 ops support). ✅ Social engagement ✅ Collateral ✅ Cadences ✅ Scripts ✅ Email copy ✅ Infographics ✅ Demo decks ✅ Corporate engagement docs ✅ Activity tracking ✅ Outbound success trackers ✅ Utilization of intent If you have an idea. Prove it out first. Do well enough, and get it implemented in your org. This took me years to figure out. Sales is always changing. To stay on top of the game, you have to be willing to take a risk, or at least A-B test. Other DIY pros, what are some things you've learned and how long did it take you?

Sometimes we're too focused on revenue. 🌶 🌶 😬 😬 🌶 🌶 Okay, okay. Down with the torches and pitchforks for a minute. Maybe this is better said, sometimes we're too focused on SHORT-TERM revenue. Most of those I talk to accept that there is a sales cycle. Some are short. Some are long. It's where the work of sales happens—the time between engaging on a new opportunity and moving the deal to closed won. We might be able to influence it, but it's there. Often heavily influenced by our industry and ICP, sales cycles are a fact of life. And that gap between pipeline and customer can be maddening. The agony of seeing your actual close numbers not quite match your weighted pipeline... all the while relying on your weighted estimates in... 📈 your reports to the board 📈 your conversations with investors 📈 your runway calculations. We might be able to influence it, but it's there. A fact of life often heavily influenced by our industry and ICP. The sales cycle can add a lot of pressure. Then put marketing on the front end of that. Marketing is often doing a lot before we even start the clock on the sales cycle. Funnel conversion rates are even more squirrely than pipeline stages. Making it SO hard to be patient. Bias for action gnaws at you. Yet what I'm seeing is... if your intermediate steps are showing signal, you're best bet is to be consistent. Execute relentlessly and trust the process. The outcomes really will take care of themselves. As long as you're getting signal. Measurable and consistent movement in prospect behavior. 👉 Consistency > novelty. Successful marketing is built like a wall... one brick at a time. At CMO Zen, we're building this out for several great companies right now. If you're currently feeling a gap here, drop me a DM. #cmozen #marketing #execution

2 weeks ago, I asked a marketing manager of a B2B edtech company how are your website visitors getting in touch with your sales team today? Visitors have to fill up the demo form and she noticed the form fill-ups are dropping every month with the same number of web visits and the ones who end up filling out the form are then followed by custom personalized emails from the sales team. But she mentioned 3 out of 10 emails comes back with a response When I suggested incorporating a meeting scheduler to let prospects schedule a meeting with the sales team I was met with resistance. The reason? Senior leadership prefers the 'personal touch' of custom emails. This scenario is a common challenge in many organizations where a well-intentioned but flawed senior leadership mindset becomes a bottleneck to sales efficiency. They often overlook the fact that in the SaaS industry, buyers expect instant responses from sales and support. While it's important to maintain personal communication, it's equally crucial to streamline processes and meet customers' expectations most effectively. An automated scheduling system can not only speed up the process but also free up the sales team. Businesses that put the customer at the heart of their operation, making it easy for them to find what they need, are the ones succeeding in today's fast-paced market, not the ones that stick with rigid scripts and processes.

⚖ Is there balance between your marketing, sales, and product teams? What if there was a simple answer? Well, there is (imho). I was recently invited to a session of senior developers and product leaders. It was to discuss what could be done to achieve profitability and at the same time, secure jobs. One concern from development was that it appeared there was nothing that could be done. The team did all the things: 🎯 They added the requests to their backlog 🎯 They put in the extra hours and effort 🎯 They shipped the features ❌ It didn't seem to matter The features were not understood by sales or marketing. In some cases, sales and marketing were not even aware of the features. It appeared that the might not have asked for these specific features, and probably the worst was when a request came back to the development team for a feature that they had already shipped months ago. Complete disarray. What could be done? 𝗔𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 : A clear, written Go To Market strategy. 1️⃣ 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Ensures marketing, sales, and product are working towards the same objectives with clear roles and responsibilities. 2️⃣ 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Defines the most effective channels and messaging to quickly reach and convert target customers. 3️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝘅𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: Optimizes timing, positioning, and value proposition to gain competitive advantage and capture market share effectively. Specifically, for a development team, the GTM is something they can reference to confirm that what they are building is something that will move the needle. Of course this assumes the go to market strategy is well built and maintained. The world, and especially technology, is very dynamic. You cannot simply sit on a first version of your go to market strategy. 📕 See comments for a GTM Gold list of Leaders and Books in PDF format with links to the Linkedin and Goodreads profiles or just DM me : ).

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁2𝐁 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬. 🙄 The problem is that it is compared like to like for Sales. I understand the POV and therefore tried to break it down from a CEO's perspective, and share the marketer's position on this. 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬. But there is a reason we assume that sales people do. The reason lies just below the surface of every business. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞. Here’s how it works: ✔ Start building a revenue model. ✔ Start with a rep hiring plan. ✔ Attach quota to every rep. ✔ Add some sophistication by adding: - ☑ Quota attainment rate - ☑ Rep attrition rate - ☑ Ramp period This allows a feeling of being properly conservative even though the root of the problem is still there. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄. However, hiring more people without supplying those people with the requisite amount of opportunities is dangerous game. Here's how you can look to solve this: - ✅ Draft a revenue model that works backwards from your revenue targets and estimates the opportunities and leads needed to get there - ✅ Review recent closures to evaluate current Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and cost per lead and opportunity That will tell you how much you need to spend across sales and marketing - 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 Cross reference against your headcount model and ensure not adding more opportunities than current team can handle (so so important!) The result? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐚 𝐯𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐬! $$ That works almost every time! What's your take? :) #marketing #b2bmarketing #growth #demandgeneration

I hear the grumblings - many people think I’m trying to “put Marketing down” but in reality I’m one of the only people trying to save this profession. The B2B Marketing profession will slowly die if this doesn’t change. It’s already happening. -Lots of PE firms telling me they are broadly disappointed with Marketing performance and the business acumen within that department -Lots of CROs telling me they don’t have confidence their Marketing team can fix the pipeline problem. -Lots of CEOs needing to make changes to Marketing leadership due to continued underperformance (inadequate unit economics that don't scale) -Revenue Marketing / Demand Gen / ABX is starting to roll into the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Some CMOs are trying to give this away from their mandate and focus only on Product Marketing & Comms. -Product Marketing teams are starting to roll into Product or Strategy, instead of Marketing. Don’t shoot the messenger. These are facts about what’s happening, not my opinion. You can get mad at me for telling you the truth, or you can use this information to your advantage. ___ Unfortunately, just changing who owns the responsibilities that Marketing currently owns isn’t going to fix this problem. It's just yet another superficial band-aid B2B companies use to patch up this problem for a few quarters until the dysfunction resurfaces again. ___ B2B companies continue to spin around in a circle 1. Hire a New CMO 2. Get measured on the wrong things 3. Do the wrong things 4. Don’t have a story to tell around business impact because there isn’t one 5. CMO asked to resign 6. Repeat every 18 months Change how you measure the success of your CMO and magically Marketing strategy changes and the impact of Marketing investments increase dramatically. Smart people can achieve clear goals. The person in the seat (CMO) isn’t the problem. The process of how we plan, measure, and optimize our Pipeline Creation process is the real problem. Stop wasting your time hiring a new CMO that will be set up to fail and FIX THE REAL PROBLEM. #marketing #b2b #finance #sales #gtm

The B2B Marketing landscape is shifting – and fast. If companies don’t adapt, Marketing could become obsolete. 🔎 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸: Many organizations are misjudging their Marketing teams, measuring them against the wrong metrics, and expecting instant returns. “Where’s the ROI?” they ask, when most of their audience is still in the early stages of the customer journey. It’s like planting a seed and demanding fruit the next day. Here's what I'm observing: 1️⃣ 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 ≠ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝘆 Yes, Performance Marketing is built around generating leads, but let’s be real – not every lead is ready to buy. CEOs are tracking pipeline numbers and pointing fingers at Marketing leadership, but the root issue is often 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, not lead generation. 2️⃣ 𝗕2𝗕 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀 B2B isn’t just a revenue machine. It’s about creating and maintaining relationships. Focusing solely on conversion metrics misses the bigger goal: building a sustainable pipeline of connections that eventually leads to revenue. 3️⃣ 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗨𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 Right now, many Marketing leaders are held accountable for metrics they can’t directly control. This misalignment creates unrealistic expectations, leading to a cycle of frustration. If leads aren’t converting, the answer isn’t another CMO or restructured Marketing team. 🚨 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻? 𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲. Leads need nurturing to mature into sales-ready opportunities. Without a solid pipeline, companies get stuck in a cycle, hiring and firing CMOs every 18 months, chasing an elusive “quick fix” that never materializes. Companies that understand this and realign their focus will be the ones to thrive. Are you ready to focus on what truly matters?