Olga Maslikhova’s Post

How to maximise Q4 success: tips for founders ⬇️ We are at the final quarter of the year so it's crucial for founders to shift gears and focus on closing strong. Here are five tips on how to make the most out of Q4: 1. Prioritise Sales ▶️ Adopt a more sales-oriented approach to meet year-end targets  ▶️ Set specific, achievable goals for your team, tailoring expectations to each role  ▶️ Focus efforts where they'll create the most value linked to year-end objectives 2. Act Early and Prepare ▶️ Start your Q4 planning as early as possible to gain a competitive edge  ▶️ Learn from previous quarters to make more precise sales projections  ▶️ Begin account marketing early to capture end-of-year budget spending from key clients 3. Focus on Key Accounts ▶️ Identify and prioritize accounts likely to close by year-end  ▶️ Leverage your understanding of sales cycles to predict which deals will close  ▶️ Pay special attention to clients who typically close out their budgets at year-end 4. Balance Q4 and Q1 ▶️ While pushing for strong Q4 results, don't neglect preparation for Q1 ▶️ Remember that Q1 is often challenging, so lay groundwork now to avoid a slow start  ▶️ Close deals where they matter most in Q4, rather than chasing less promising leads into Q1 5. Learn and Adapt ▶️ Reflect on lessons learned from previous Q4 periods to refine your strategy ▶️ Be prepared to adjust your approach based on current market conditions and company needs By focusing on these areas, you can not only finish the year strong but also set yourself up for a successful start to the new year. ➡️ Remember, a strong Q4 isn't just about hitting targets—it's about positioning your company for sustained success. Helping startups succeed is what drives me. If you need strategic advice, feel free to get in touch

Preparing for an Exit: What Makes a Company Sellable? When planning an exit strategy, positioning your company as a sellable asset is crucial. Here are key factors that make a company attractive to potential buyers: * Strong Financials: Consistent revenue growth, healthy profit margins, and clean financial records. * Scalable Operations: Efficient processes and systems that can handle growth without significant additional costs. * Diverse Customer Base: A wide range of customers reduces dependency on a few key clients, showcasing stability. * Robust Market Position A unique value proposition and competitive advantage in the marketplace. * Talented Team: Skilled and motivated employees who can drive future success. * Clear IP and Legal Standing: Well-protected intellectual property and a clean legal history. Now, if your business is transactional, for example, you buy and sell products either as a broker, or bringing devices in-house to process before reselling. In such cases, you likely don't have any patented technology or processes. Also, if you don't have contracts and recurring revenues, your only sellable position is a multiple of EBIDTA. That may only be 1x or 2x at the most. If you're like help in developing an exit strategy, we'd love to have a call to discuss. https://lnkd.in/gB4mJBEs Dana Dorcas, Allyson Lundquist, JOHN WAGENER★, Doreena M Beebe, Mike Karageorge, Tony Andrews, Daniel Suarez, Bernie Kozlowski Jr., Gregory WADE, or Bob Lafon #ExitStrategy #BusinessGrowth #SellableBusiness #Entrepreneurship #BusinessStrategy

🌟 Exclusive Offer for Startup Founders Managing Sales Solo 🌟 Are you at the helm of your startup's sales efforts, navigating the thrilling yet tumultuous seas of deals and prospects? I understand the weight of this role - the excitement of a potential deal, the uncertainty of its outcome, and the challenge of managing it all single-handedly. That's why I'm thrilled to extend a special invitation to ambitious startup founders like you: a complimentary 90-minute deal review session. Having collaborated with hundreds of sales professionals, leaders, and business owners, I've honed the craft of transforming average deal pipelines into engines of growth and certainty. This session is your opportunity to experience firsthand the benefits of expert pipeline and deal review, without any commitment. What's in it for you and your business? Enhanced Deal Qualification: Learn the art of distinguishing between a genuine prospect and a time-waster. This skill alone can dramatically increase your efficiency and focus. Strategic Sales Insights: I'll share strategies that have consistently helped in advancing deals from mere interests to closed wins. Optimized Pipeline Management: Discover how to keep your pipeline lean and potent, ensuring that your efforts are invested in deals with the highest closure potential. Increased Closing Rates: With better qualification and management, watch your closing rates soar, reflecting directly on your bottom line. The Impact? It's not just about the immediate wins; it's about embedding a culture of strategic sales management within your startup. This means more predictable revenue streams, better allocation of resources, and a deeper understanding of your market's dynamics. This is more than an offer; it's a chance for you to see what optimized deal and pipeline management can do for you. Whether you prefer a virtual meet-up or an in-person session, I'm here to accommodate. Remember, the best part of this journey is discovering how much more efficient and impactful your sales process can be. Let's unlock the full potential of your sales efforts together. If you're ready to take your startup's sales management to the next level, reach out to me. Let's schedule your free deal review session and start turning those possibilities into certainties. #sales #growth #startup #business

What do you call the person who bottles up a magic sales formula?🧪🤔 I read a blog post yesterday from one of Atlanta’s prominent founders, David Cummings He talked about the transition startups go through as they shift from founder-led sales to accommodate a #sales team and a #revenue leader. He described this as a critical moment, the outcome of which is a make-or-break scenario. In fact, this precarious shift often ends in total failure. The founder is good at selling their product. But when bringing in a revenue leader, these founders tend to look for someone who has shown success at the level they are striving for. The founder hasn’t bottled up their magic formula for winning customers. It’s a secret sauce they’ve cultured over years, and through many failed pitches. Since there is a solid customer base and the business is now poised to scale, the next steps appear deceptively simple. The pitfall? The failure, as David points out, will stem from the newly appointed revenue leader’s confidence. (S)he underestimates the importance of the magic formula, thinking that the product market fit speaks for itself. David stresses this inflection point as one to be managed carefully. The founder would do well to bring in someone to codify the magic formula before bringing on sales leadership. Automate it where practical. Document everything that works AND what doesn’t work. Create playbooks, prospecting and sales stages, etc. Without bottling up the founder's formula, the door is left wide open for interpretation from the new sales leader who is under pressure from day 1 to increase top-line revenue. Without codifying what works, the rug is swept out from under the engine of the business and it ends up treading water (at best). So, what do you call this person, who comes at such a crucial moment in the evolution of the startup into a thriving company? I call them the “Formulator”. 🧪 What do you call them? BTW you can check out David’s post here: https://davidcummings.org/ —— Hi 🙋♀️ I’m Amber Victoria. I write daily emails to help revenue leaders optimize their funnel, increase conversion and catalyze team alignment.

Are your pitches too focused on product features? You might be missing what executives really care about. After studying several successful and failed pitches, I've found that technical brilliance alone rarely closes deals. There's a knack for executive communication that many founders overlook. My latest article reveals: ✔️ How to align your solution with executive priorities ✔️ Why larger proposals can sometimes be more appealing ✔️ How to communicate more value in less time If your great innovations aren't winning in the boardroom, this offers a new perspective. Check out the full article below. ⬇️ #enterprisesales #startupstrategy #b2bsales #startupadvice #growthhacking

Got a great product but struggling to close big deals? Mark Donnigan's new guide cuts through the noise, revealing why executives say 'no' to seemingly perfect solutions. He offers practical strategies to structure your pitch, speak the language of the C-suite, and align your solution with strategic priorities. Plus, discover why proposing larger investments can sometimes increase your chances of success. Transform your pitch. Win more deals. Read more below. ⬇️ #StartupSales #ExecutiveDecisionMaking #B2BSales #BusinessGrowth #LeadershipInsights

Scale quickly, despite your limited resources, using this repeatable, three-step system (that has others do the heavy lifting for you.) 👇 😨 Looking to scale quickly but have limited resources? 🤝 What about building trust and awareness with customers in an entirely new market? The answer could be in the strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships you build and nurture. It’s called partner-led growth. The idea? To build an ecosystem of partners who work *with* you to promote your products and services. You combine: • Your customer bases, • Your lead pools, • And your industry know-how And you grow *together*. These strategic partnerships allow smaller businesses to grow together and take on industry giants. Or, they allow those giants to defend their competitive advantage against agile upstarts. Here’s how to do it in three steps (h/t Scott Barker, Partner & Cofounder at GTMfund) 👇 1) Build a network 2) Provide value to that network 3) Extract value in a mutually beneficial manner First: Connect with the people in your space. (You can get started right here on LinkedIn). Next: Provide value to that network. Showcase your authority and expertise, positioning yourself as someone that can be trusted. Someone others would want on their side. Finally: Make clear to your prospective partners a clear economic incentive for helping you win. Associations bolster credibility. They present new opportunities. They benefit your customers and clients, as well as your organizations. When do you know you’re winning? When you see that, the more your partner benefits, the more you benefit in turn. Want the full rundown? Grab your no-cost copy of the Partner-Led Growth Playbook. 👇 https://lnkd.in/erYBKfji

Direct quote from a founder client this week: "My sales guy makes more than I do and the sales still aren't coming in." I think one of the trickiest transitions for any founder is hiring their first sales person. Do you go for a college grad or a seasoned VP or something in between? I recently sat down with OIF Ventures investor Oliver Darwin to discuss my experience building, managing, & advising high performance sales teams.    We covered everything from how to transition out of founder led sales to building your sales team from the ground up.   Off the back of this article (link in the comments) we’ve partnered with the #awsforstartups team to host an exclusive workshop! Come join us to ask your burning questions in person. Make sure to sign up to the workshop using the link below!    👉 https://lu.ma/4gspqkqv 👈

The #1 challenge that we see when we diagnose a customer’s GTM function... you guessed it... pipeline (quality opportunity creation.) Thing is, this isn't new. Startups/scale ups/pre PMF companies/those that don't have the luxury of a brand behind them have always found pipeline a challenge at some point. So where can we look to ensure that we have the foundations in place to build healthy pipeline? Outbound approach fundamentals: 😎 Multi channel, multi touch, multi threaded 😎 Considered and thoughtful personalisation 😎 Focused on core business challenges 😎 And outcomes you can drive against them 😎 Backed up with results/references (if you have them) 😎 Underpinned by creative, out of the box thinking Kick ass discovery: (Full credit to 👩🏻🏫 Krysten Conner who did a great post on this - check it out) 🔥 Build credibility quickly - Put your reference logos up at the start of the call (or as your background on your zoom). Show who's already gaining value from your product/service. FOMO induced. 🔥 Menu of pain - Try concise, research driven, multiple choice questions to dig into their core pain. "Other CROs we speak to have challenges A,B or C and need to make improvements or D are crushing it and want to find out how they can capitalise on their success. Which one sounds like your world or did I miss anything?" Reduce friction to gain what you need. 🔥 Match their urgency - Prospects show up to discovery calls because they 1) have a problem that needed to be fixed yesterday. 2) have a problem they need to fix at some point soon. 3) have a problem they think they might have that needs exploration but isn't a priority this year. Find out which one they are and save everyone time! A qualification framework which is followed consistently: 👀 Customised to your company/product/service 👀 Aligned to your ICP (to spend your time on "good fit" accounts) 👀 Include some flexibility (8/10 factors validated to qualify... but non-negotiables are non-negotiable) 👀 With pre-qualification done prior to discovery (which is validated on the call) Once you've got these in place you need to check your enablement. 🤷♂️ Are you setting your team up for success? 🤷♀️ Do they know what they are doing? 🤷♂️ Do they know how to do it properly? 🤷♀️ Do they know why they are doing it in the first place? Finally check your team: 👯♂️ Do these people possess the skills, experiences and mindsets to successfully build pipeline for you in the 2024 climate? 👯♂️ If they don't, can they get there quickly? --------------------------- Is pipeline a challenge for you? If you could use a fresh set of eyes to take a look under your GTM bonnet then give me or Peter Lamb a shout. We're running GTM readiness assessments and health checks for the current selling climate now. ✌ #sales #gtm #pipeline #prospecting

How to Remove Yourself from Operations: One client pays me $50,000 per-month.    Or, ex-client I should say.    When I first partnered with JK Molina, he came to me wanting one thing:   "I want to be removed from operations"   So we went to work.   I installed world class client tracking, onboarding, and systems to enable scale without having him do much on the coaching side of the business.    We hired a team, a fantastic CSM, and I built out a sales and setting team.    Things were going good. Business was scaling, clients had incredible results. And clients were paying us longer than 12-months, which in the coaching industry is rare.    The business was pretty self-sufficient at that point, with me not doing much aside from working with some of our higher level clients.    And he eventually realized that he wanted to be involved in delivery, and didn't like having to fill the sales team calendar.   So we went our separate ways, but he still pays me $50,000 per month over the next year.    Because what people really want is not to be removed from operations.    What they want, is to removed from the monotonous tasks.    And they want to do things that energize them, according to their own self-imposed constraints.    JK didn't like having to fill a sales team calendar, because it didn't energize him.    What did fill him with purpose, and a sense of enjoyment was working with clients, on his terms.    It was a discovery journey that took over a year.    Which is why one of the first things I work with clients on, is to define the type of business they want to build.    When you start with the end point in mind, combined with your own self-imposed constraints (what you will, and won't do), it makes decision making easier.    If you know you want to sell via google docs (like I do), scaling decisions became way more simple. Because everything you do is built towards the business you want to design, not some obscure concept like "1,000,000 dollars per month."   It also prevents you from building a business based on some idea a guru has sold you. It keeps you focused.    So remove yourself from operations if you want.    But before you do, ask yourself what part of operations you really hate, what you love, and get aligned on that before doing anything.