Rick Baruah’s Post

😮 This one's been going around, but a GREAT beefy doc with some eye opening stats... 😮 Some of my favorite: ✅ "58% of pipeline stalls because reps are unable to add value." -> 😱 WOW! a.k.a. What are you doing to 💪 ARM 💪 your reps with the ammo they need to Knock some Socks off 🧦 in their client-facing conversations? ✅ "55% of CxOs attribute sales enablement solutions as the #1 tech investment necessary to boost sales productivity." -> 👨💻 When was the last time you took a good look 🔎 at your #salestech stack? Are you on team #salesenablement 🤩 or #salesdisablement ☠ ?

Does more outbound volume automatically mean more results? The days of random "spray and pray" are gone. Higher productivity requires more smarts. In this chat with GTM advisor and SaaS sales leader Heath Barnett, we discuss his recommended sales metric: The Strike Zone. ⚾ And how it applies to the sales funnel, including outbound productivity. Heath recommends that you look at conversion rates throughout your process. Do your calls convert to connects? Your connects to conversations? Conversations to meetings? And so on. When you know these conversions, you can: 🗺 Plan your day, week, and month to get the results you want. 🏋♀️ Identify weaknesses in your process. Maybe your call-to-connect ratio is declining. You might need to look into how you're prioritizing who you call. 🚂 Or, maybe you're a sales manager. The Strike Zone helps because each team member will have different conversion rates throughout the funnel. You might spot that Rep A has a higher-than-average connect-to-conversation ratio. What can you learn from them to apply to the rest of your team? Or, Rep B has a below-average conversation-to-meeting ratio. Is there coaching, process, or tooling that can support them better? #sales #outbound The full interview is in the comments.

Complex sales frameworks often hurt early-stage companies more than they help. I've tried teaching MEDDPICC and other specialized strategies to founders, and it's too much.  They're wearing too many hats already. Claude and I collabed on a new sales acronym for early-stage SaaS sales a while back for my clients that's been working, so I wanted to share it. Check it out - it's called "PATH." We qualify by divining answers to 4 topics, 12 questions. This is an art in itself of course, but you want to know: P - Problem What specific pain exists? How are they solving it now? What's the cost of doing nothing? A - Authority Who owns the problem? Who controls the budget? Who can kill the deal? T - Timeline Why change now? What drives urgency? When do they need it live? H - How How will they measure success? How will they implement? How will they get buy-in? If we can't get an answer to any of these questions, the partnership likely won't work out. Two Asks: How could it be improved? Try it out. Close rates are up across the board with clients since implementing and I suspect retention will be up too.

#SalesDevelopment is a long term solution to an indefinite problem. Yet because of the shortsightedness of the modern corporate mentality, most look at it in the short term. The focus is always on how to improve this quarter's numbers, with little regard for next quarter, next year or beyond. Can you be successful by focusing your efforts on identifying those in market today? Yes, of course. But be ready for some burnout. When you are focused on hitting your numbers this month/quarter, you'll use inbound, intent, or some made-up "inbound led outbound" in an attempt to meet your number. Imagine running sprints back-to-back-to-back-to-back... The reality is, regardless of whether you successfully hit your quota or not, you have to start over from scratch the next month/quarter. Immediately starting another sprint after finishing the first. When you view sales dev as a marathon, you realize that every account in your ICP will have a need for your solution someday. The purpose of sales dev is to figure when that time is going to be. In this scenario, you'll use inbound and intent to help identify today's deals, but you still need to engage with the rest of your market. In doing so, you'll have conversations along the way and gather invaluable information. Prospects will give you insights to their current vendor, current contract length, when a solution like this might be of need, etc. When you enage with your entire market, regardless of whether or not you hit quota this month/quarter, you've identified several potential opportunities for the next couple of quarters. This means as you begin that next month, you already have a good base of potential opportunities in place. There will be several that asked you to follow up this month that could potentially materialize as well. Now those inbound and intent opportunities become the icing on the cake. Rather than you trying to bake the whole cake with just them. And while we're in the subject, if you have a 12-month sales cycle, how are you going to judge your sales dev program on the first 6 months? 🤷

SaaS sales isn't just about the software. It's about solving real problems. Why do some sales reps thrive while others barely survive? 1. They listen more than they talk. Example: Instead of pitching features, ask about the biggest challenges your prospect faces. 2. They personalize every interaction. Example: Use insights from a prospect's LinkedIn profile to tailor your outreach. 3. They demonstrate value early and often. Example: Offer a quick demo that shows exactly how your software addresses their pain points. It's not rocket science, but it does take effort. Try these strategies on your next call and watch the difference it makes. What's your go-to tactic for closing a SaaS deal? Share below!

After doing three $50M+ SaaS deals, being top 1% at Oracle and becoming financially independent, here are 5 rules about selling I’ve learned which no one talks about: 1. Email is the absolute worst form of communication. - Overused in prospecting - Can’t accurately convey tone - Too easy for recipients to ignore - Can’t build relationships through email - Permanent record of massive faux pas 2. Constantly assess who you are talking to. - Are they friend or foe - Do they have influence - Are they being truthful with you - Are they invested in the problem you solve - Do they actually know what’s going on internally - Deprioritize them if you can’t answer the above affirmatively 3. Break out of common sales plays or you will never land an uncommonly large deal. - Prospect > discovery > demo > pray = common road to nowhere - If you haven’t learned to engage executives, that is your glass ceiling - Learn to get more than you fair share of A-players and other internal resources - Break rules and get exceptions to internal policies to get your customers unique solutions that hit the nail on the head to address their business realities. 4. When it’s go-time in a big oppty, get serious. - It will be 24/7. - There will not be work/life balance. - You will be making sacrifices. - It will hurt. - Sometimes the pursuit of happiness drives you right through stress and pain. 5. Success is short-lived. - You will/should enjoy it in the moment - Reward yourself a little and save the rest of your commissions - But come Q1 you’ll be back to zero and management has a short memory - Don’t let it rock you. Accept that it's part of the game. If transactional, velocity sales plays are burning you out, my new course, The Elite Sellers Playbook starts tomorrow, Monday July 1st at 2pm EST. Comment 'check it out' and my main man Shelton Smith will get you the details.

My top tip for SaaS sales professionals: Shift from selling to guiding. - Stop the hard sell. - Stop bombarding prospects with pitches. - Stop relying solely on persuasion tactics. - Stop demanding more of their time without adding value. Instead, embrace these strategies: - Start actively listening to your prospect's pain points. - Start identifying the unique challenges they face. - Start crafting a customized solution that addresses their specific needs. - Start providing value upfront, even before asking for a commitment. In SaaS sales, success lies in guiding rather than pushing. It's about becoming a trusted advisor to your customers. When executed effectively, your customers will see the value and benefits of your solution and essentially sell themselves. What additional insights would you include?👇

Effective SaaS Sales: Prioritize Discovery Over Speed In the fast-paced world of SaaS sales, there's often a rush to close deals quickly. But here's the hard truth: a speedy close without thorough discovery can leave clients and support teams scrambling. 🚀 🔹 Pain Points First: Before chasing that quick win, invest time in understanding your client's problems. What challenges are they facing? How can your solution genuinely help? This not only builds trust but also ensures your solution fits their needs. 🔹 Thorough Discovery: Rushing the discovery process might seem efficient, but it leads to repeated conversations and frustrated clients. Avoid making your clients reiterate their issues multiple times. Dive deep, ask the right questions, and listen intently. 🔹 Long-Term Success: A well-understood problem leads to a better solution and a happier client. When you address the real pain points from the get-go, you pave the way for smoother implementations and long-term relationships. Remember, a quick close isn’t truly a win if your client and support team are left to pick up the pieces. Do the work upfront to ensure everyone succeeds. 🌟 #SaaSSales #CustomerSuccess #SalesStrategy #Discovery #ClientFirst #SalesExcellence

Features > Outcomes in cold calling. Before you roast me let me explain… Starting with outcomes (i.e. Increasing deal velocity, reducing churn, increasing top of funnel, etc) puts you in a bucket with the ten other sales tools your prospect already has. If you want proof, just look at the website of any SaaS sales tool. You are not convincing anyone that you can solve a 6-7 figure problem with their business on a cold call. Your goal is to pique someone's interest by telling them about something cool and starting the process of helping them visualize how you can solve their pain. In other words, you want to start bridging the gap between feature and pain. Once you get someone into the intro/demo/etc. phase, the dynamic is totally flipped on its head, where features are merely mechanisms for solving pain and creating positive ROI for prospects. 

I couldn’t get out of sales until I did this. Most of us technical founders are not sales people.  Or growth people.  Yet, after cycling through contractors and agencies, here we are. Out of our comfort zone in our ‘head of growth’ role, we keep pounding away at ad hoc tactics and guesswork. And then, “ holy shit, 2025 is right around the corner.  Another year…” Yup, we want out of sales.  But here’s the thing you probably missed. As the CEO, you have to own it and know it otherwise getting out of sales will never happen.  Assuming your marketing funnel is working, you [should] have 2 goals: →. Predictable customer acquisition/deal flow; and →. Making the most efficient use of people, tech, processes and systems. To get started, here’s what predictable customer acquisition (sales) actually looks like: . 1/ Repeatable processes.
 ↳ The first step is to build a process that works every time. Document what’s closing deals today, then optimize and refine it. Make it easy to replicate. 2/ Focus on key sales metrics.
 ↳ Stop with vanity metrics. Focus on ones that move the needle, like your average deal size and sales velocity. This tells you what’s working, or not. 3/ Unified team.
 ↳ Get your growth-lever teams/people on the same page. Period.  Silos will bury you and burn opportunities (and lead to churn). This isn’t hard.  But, it takes discipline and attention to detail.  Push the envelope of your comfort zone and focusing on what really matters. What’s your alternative?  2025 is right around the corner. If you’re ready to move from inconsistent sales to a predictable system that drives ARR, let’s talk. DM me to find out how. Hope this helps. ---------------------------------- I help technical founders thrive in business, and life.