Jason Oakley’s Post

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.

⚖ 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 : ).

Marketers, this is the reality of being in a sales role: This week I had 17.5 hours of scheduled sales calls and proposal build for a total of 15 conversations (+ unscheduled emailing, texting, slacking and ad hoc calls). This was after back to back conferences, + referrals + inbound for pipeline generation. 2 weeks from now, I have 1 sales conversation on the calendar for 45 minutes. So if you ever wonder why Sales get frustrated with Marketing, it’s the feeling of this roller coaster. P.S. I’m also my own boss. There isn’t anyone questioning my pipeline, it’s quality, or when it will close. I set my own goals and we’re bootstrapped so no need to please investors. And this is still stressful. Add in a manager questioning every deal, feeling like you’re falling short on the goals, and knowing you’ve gotta hit the goals for investors, there are now multiple additional layers of stress on top. So again, Marketers, if you feel some serious frustration from your sales team, lead with empathy and help them out. 🧡💚

Targeting your entire TAM doesn’t drive sales. When I stepped into sales, I believed maximizing my TAM was all I needed for success. But I fell head-first. Here’s what I learned: you need to focus on:  One Customer Problem + One Perfect Solution = One User-centric Product. If you take one variable out of the equation, well, you've leaned into a failed product launch. Like I did. We focused on the product and not what users said. Here's what you need to know: - No matter how good your product is, your focus should be primarily on a user-iterative approach.  - If it's not helping them, it can't sell.  - Your entire TAM won’t convert.  Regular user feedback = effective product iterations = increased sales. Forget the broad TAM. Listen to users. That's what drives results every quarter. And that's why I love being part of a start-up after spending years and years climbing the enterprise corporate ladder. I get to listen to *real* users and deliver bomb-astic results at BetterContact.rocks. I'd love to hear what you prefer: Broader TAM or listening to customers? #sales

I've been working with Signal-based prosecting for the last 5 years. Most are using Sales Triggers ALL WRONG. How often have you got an email saying 'congrats on funding' or 'congrats on your new role'... Let's be honest we've all had and all done it at some point I'd imagine. If you are doing this and wondering why you haven't seen a marked increase well now you know why. Here's how you should be using Signals. 1️⃣ Focus on a Signal being the reason to research this company more not ideally the reason to reach out. I like to multi-layer Signals and have 2 or 3 things happening before I finally reach out. 2️⃣ When you do reach out focus on the Pain that the Signal has caused, not the signal itself. Let's break it down into an example 👇 Trigger = New In Role (VP of Sales) We know based on statistics the following: ↳ The average tenure of a VP of Sales is 18 months ↳ They have likely done a 30-60-90 ↳ Short-term revenue targets ↳ Most likely need to review team performance and make key decisions Based on this pain your goal as the seller is to link your value proposition to the pains that this event then creates. Do this and you're going to see a massive improvement in your GTM motions 📈

Do you want to keep your job as a CMO? Change what you measure. I can’t tell you how many teams (still) measure success as either leads generated or MQLs created. These metrics are totally divorced from the business. The business is looking at pipeline & revenue. Pipeline represents accounts with real interest, accounts actively evaluating solutions in the market. Leads on the other hand are just, well, leads. I’ve heard the arguments on why marketing shouldn’t be measured on pipeline. Marketing doesn’t control the follow up (unless they own the SDRs). They can’t control the messaging used by the sales person. They can lead the horse to the water but they can’t make them drink. Those arguments are the fastest ways to get fired. You’ve got to measure return on marketing investment, not by leads generated, but pipeline generated. For every $1 spent in marketing, how many $s did you create in pipeline. This aligns sales and marketing. If leads are given to sales and don’t convert, it’s time to become a detective. Is it because the leads were poor quality? Is it a sales enablement issue, in which case someone on your team should better enable sales. Is it because the demo isn’t landing, in which case someone in product marketing should get a new demo. When you work hand in hand with sales around what they’re measured on, it becomes less of an us and them mentality, and more of a we mentality. So start things right. Measure your team on pipeline created. #CMO #MarketingOperations #MOPS #MarketingOps

Thank you 🔶🔸Mason Cosby🔸🔶 for saying what is been on my mind for a while. I have always had a place in my heart for sales people (even if I make fun from time to time). Being a solo consultant, who has seen the ups-and-downs of sales cycles now, has given me a greater appreciation for people in sales roles. I prefer to be in a position where I'm helping people, which creates an uneasy relationship between the me that wants to get in and dig into opportunities to improve an organization's operations and the me that needs to be paid for those services (which is where the sales part comes in). Being a consultant that works a lot through collectives (which I love... I get to work with amazing and smart people in this way), I also understand the challenges of partner sales and selling through the Channel (where you don't have direct control of the sale, as you are selling through partners). I worked with Channel-focused marketing teams in #MOps and have heard the "why can't we track our leads/pipeline?" comments (and have voiced them before), and I believe from my experience in the last 9 months that we do need to be more understanding of the needs of Channel partners and learn to build win/win relationships built on trust, and in that trust understand that while we don't have full visibility into the deals that we are involved in, that our partners are aware that we know that we win together and that we have their back. Sales, whether it is direct or through the channel, is hard work and it's important for building alliances with our partners in sales organizations that we understand and are empathetic to the stresses that come with that role.

My job is simple! Put our team in the best possible position to be successful. Quite honestly the easier I can make the lives of my folks, the better. Marketing: Focus on lead quality, not volume. Dial in the ICP and align campaigns with real buying intent. Allow them to test, test, test. Sales: Give the team clarity and focus! Give them the right leads that can buy and want to, the right messaging that uncovers pain and drives velocity, and remove as much friction in the pipeline as possible Customer Success: Empower them to retain and expand our customer base. Give them the tools to ensure smooth onboarding and equip them to turn customers into long term partners and return customers. When every team is aligned and equipped, growth becomes inevitable.

#everyoneaboutsales During my two decades of B2B sales and marketing experience, the most challenging aspect of the sales cycle was to understand the Customer DMP (Decision Making Process). A lot of sales professionals in their earlier careers (3-5 years of sales experience) find it difficult to navigate the maze of people at the client end. And behold, by the time they reach to the "right" people, the deal is already with someone else. Understanding the DMP is based on reaching the following people in the customer organisation, and have a compelling sales script for each: 1. User 2. Initiator 3. Buyer 3. Influencer 5. Decider Should you be looking to enhance your sales skills, we are here to make it happen Stanford LEAD

Who’s more important to your business — sales or marketing? [𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘵: 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩] Still, sales often view marketing as a lead factory.  While marketing perceives sales as a quota-driven machine. This misalignment is eating away the revenue growth. How can we foster a culture of collaboration and shared ownership between these two critical functions? Here are a few things from our experience: 1) Admit it’s not about “choosing your fighter,” it’s about 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 2) Let both teams 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭. Sure, there’s still can be more effort on each side depending on the task, but involve them in each other’s daily processes. 3) 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘱. Let your teams exchange insights from clients and adjust processes accordingly. 4) 𝘚𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴. In the end, both teams have to convert more new leads into revenue. Even though each dept can track its own metrics. And how are you bridging that gap between your sales and marketing teams? Share your strategies 👇🏻