Ana Leyva

🛑 Reps and AEs, we need to talk about something crucial you're not asking about enough: the critical event. If you don’t ask about the why now, you’re missing the most important piece of the puzzle. No urgency? No deal. It’s that simple. Prospects move when there’s pressure. Whether it’s a looming deadline, compliance risk, or competitive threat, you have to uncover what’s pushing them to act. Don’t just focus on pain points—dig into what’s making that pain unbearable right now. Ask questions like: 👉 “What happens if this problem isn’t solved by [insert deadline]?” 👉 “What’s driving the urgency to solve this now?” Deals are won in discovery, not just in the closing call. Start asking the tough questions and watch your win rates climb. https://lnkd.in/dKdZhTnq #SalesTips #B2BSales #CriticalEvents #SalesProspecting #SalesStrategy

1

🤯 “Ramping up SDRs, AEs and CS people  takes us no less than 6 months.” 💣 🙈 This is what I heard on a recent demo from  a CRO of a rapidly scaling tech business. 📈 Time to efficiency is a struggle Heads of Sales Enablement and Customer Success are going through across their commercially-driven teams… 📖 At the moment, they expect internal  sales and CS decks, call recordings,  business pitches, etc. should do the job. 🙄 But it doesn’t! 🗓️ They're wasting too much time for people to start performing, closing deals, effectively onboarding customers, reducing churn & upselling… ❌ Sometimes, they still don’t perform... And then guess what? Off leaders go through to recruiting mode again starting from ground 0. 🎯 Hence the need for action-based learning.  Not just passively reading through PDFs  and listening to call recordings. 👨‍💻 Below are some use cases we see our customers here at UJJI AI ✨ leveraging our tech for: 🔸 Business-specific lead gen and outbound 🔸 Pitching quick and easy over the phone 🔸 Delivering demos and answering queries 🔸 Effectively onboarding new customers 🔸 Efficiently implementing product features 🔸 Practising great customer support 🔸 Guiding customers to upselling 🚀 Ultimately, growing tech businesses comes down to predictable new business development, high customer retention and low churn. 💬 So, DM me if you want to see examples  of AI-powered. easy to build and consume knowledge equipping experiences. 👇 Anything to add to this, Sales and CS leaders? Gautam Rishi Rohan Dickinson George Heron Russell Mitchell Callum Hartley Jon Teale James Dixon Seán Colfer Caroline L. Guy Rubin Jake Carter David Muscat Arun Raveendran Steve Eveleigh Ayo Kukoyi,

30

7 Comments

I've met very few revenue leaders this year who are satisfied with their AE-sourced pipeline. Many companies are pushing the 2023/2024 demand shortfall onto their AEs, expecting them to source 20-40% of their total pipe. Understandably, prospecting falls to the wayside for AEs when they have active deals to prioritize. It seems to disappear completely without a top-down process in place. The most successful orgs make it easy for reps to bite off a small chunk of prospecting each day. We've launched our own flavor of this in AccountAim for our customers. The surprisingly simple workflow that has kickstarted AE pipeline generation includes: - Manageable daily lists of 2-5 accounts straight to reps' inboxes - Surfaced with context from the customers' sea of enrichment and signal data - Tied to sequences relevant to the context, so minimal additional personalization or research is necessary - Manager level reporting to incentivize the behavior with spiffs The key is to reduce all friction for the AEs while also driving top-down focus on the initiative. Without both in place, AE-sourced pipeline initiatives typically fail.

22

8 Comments

we're making progress with a Slack app that automates driving more & better practice / outputs / behaviors with your AEs & other sellers… goal: make role-playing practice more manageable, realistic, & consistent while applying it to actual deals during prep ofc we're plugging into AI for some fun feedback loops too 😊 our next phase is seeing how more teams react to decide what to build for early customers. we can focus on anything you're looking to improve right now: outbounding, cold calling, disco, negotiation, storytelling, improv, forecasting, testing champs, etc... let me know if you want to test it out with your team, or it's easy to get started with the link below. thx!

17

Had the pleasure of joining 👨‍🍳 Elric Legloire on the SDR Game podcast! I absolutely LOVED sharing my tips & tricks in hopes it helps others who are just getting started in the sales world or want to level up their game. Find out how I lead with a quality > quantity approach and prioritize my accounts for the month (based on my "oh shit" moments 😉). Give it a listen to learn more! #sales #sdr #bdr #salesleaders #saas #techsales #outbound #prospecting #salestrategy #outboundstrategy

34

8 Comments

SDR Manager: "Do 100 activities per day using this very specific set of instructions. We created these scripts for a reason, they work, don't deviate from them." Commercial AE Manager: "You need to close 50 deals per year to make your number. Qualify hard and run our playbook." Enterprise AE Manager: "Do detailed research on an exceptionally complicated organization then develop a unique perspective on this organization's business that would get the attention of a person who has >10,000 people that they are responsible for and makes more than anyone that works at our company." If we don't encourage critical thinking on the way up the AE career path, why would we expect people to be great at it when they get to the top?

5

1 Comment

SDRs and AEs are sending way too many emails these days. All you need is 4. 𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 Jill, looks like your team’s growing quickly. How’re you planning SKO for all your new AEs? We help sales leaders pick everything from destination, flights, meals and events. Simply put in your team size and budget and we’ll give you all your options in seconds. Curious to learn how? 𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 Here's a quick video showing how you can plan SKO (flights, meals and events) in less than a minute: [insert video] ♻️ And then repeat that (a week later) with a new pain point That's it. 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆: Don't send break up emails. Those get marked as SPAM. What cold email tips do you have? - Mike G 👉 Join 7,000+ sellers getting my (free) sales newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gwQVvVBK

468

62 Comments

This might be the biggest Hot Take ☀️ I’ve ever made: sometimes it makes sense for a #CustomerSuccess executive to report to a leader who owns all of the customer journey (sales and CS). [Ducks for cover] I’m a big believer in the need for a Chief Customer Officer role. Someone should be accountable for the customer experience. Someone senior needs to own retention. And in a company going through transformation toward a customer centric culture, a CCO reporting to a CEO helps bring that mindset to the leadership table. For startups this is often the only choice. In addition, many of the top CCOs 💪🏾 want to report to a CEO. But there are situations where an integrated organization makes sense: ✅ All revenue is centralized under one leader. ✅ The sales process is a huge part of the customer journey - so having pre and post sales together can drive a more integrated customer experience. ✅ In this model CS executives can more easily own expansion revenue (good for sustainability of their teams and for their own careers). Some CS executives have had a bad experience reporting to a CRO. But I'd argue that’s often because the CRO is a “sales leader” who also owns CS. There is a new crop of CROs and Presidents who are rising up to the challenge of owning the full revenue lifecycle. They look at themselves as a customer leader - not just a revenue leader. Increasingly I’m seeing people who own the entire lifecycle thinking of themselves as Chief Customer Officers versus sales leaders. I was prompted to write this because I was having coffee with a CS exec I trust and she said that she’s learned that all of go to market under one leader makes a lot of sense. Again this isn’t for everyone. If you need a big transformation, you may need to split out the CCO role. If you don’t have the right CRO, it may be impractical. And sometimes, to get the best person, you need to offer a role under the CEO. But my own POV is that it’s more important to be successful in a job than obsessing over to whom you report. And increasingly, a playbook that succeeds is to break the silos between and pre and post sales. Indeed, the idea of “pre” and “post” sales needs to go away. What benefits and drawbacks have you seen from having CS under a CRO? P.S. BTW the CRO doesn't have to come from a sales background. Increasingly, I'm watching CROs like Emily McEvilly and Sangeeta Chakraborty coming from a CS point of view.

684

149 Comments

Business Development Representative (BDR) - $9 - $12/hour + Uncapped Commissions About Us: Join Budget Mailboxes and be part of a dynamic sales team! We’re looking for a proactive and driven BDR to generate and qualify leads, support early sales activities, and collaborate with Account Managers to close deals. Key Responsibilities: Lead Generation: Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator, industry databases, and other tools to identify new opportunities. Engage prospects through calls, emails, and social selling. Qualification & Nurturing: Understand client needs, use frameworks like BANT to assess leads, and follow up to move them through the sales funnel. Sales Support: Conduct discovery calls, handle objections, and work with Account Managers for seamless lead transitions. CRM Management: Keep an organized sales pipeline in Zoho CRM, record interactions, and analyze data to refine strategies. Requirements: Experience: 4-5 years in B2B sales (Only those who have worked in SAAS) Success: Proven ability to meet or exceed sales targets. Skills: Excellent communication, strong sales techniques, and CRM experience (Zoho preferred). Mindset: Adaptable, analytical, and growth-oriented. Why Budget Mailboxes? We value innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Your ideas will be heard, and we’re dedicated to your development. Compensation: $9 - $12/hour + Uncapped Commissions Timings: 6pm - 3pm PST Location: We are completely remote - Work from wherever you want How to Apply: READ THIS CAREFULLY - I REPEAT - READ THIS CAREFULLY DM your resume and a Loom video with two true facts and one false fact about yourself. Explain how these storytelling skills would enhance your sales approach. NOTE: Applications without a Loom video will not be considered. Good luck!

12

3 Comments

Sales folks especially SDRs and AEs I will tell you a hack about how to achieve more in less time ↓ "Start blocking your calendar thoughtfully and strategically every single day" Working out of whims & fancies and adhocism will not get you the desired result you aspire to achieve. You need to have a plan for your day even before starting the day. Every time you block your calendar make sure you block it for a single activity and you define what output you want to achieve out of this activity. Have a time block for at least Prospecting, Identifying new accounts, and Follow-ups on a daily basis, the rest you can block based on your roles and KRAs. Remember: "You cannot control time but you can surely control how you want to spend the time"

50

4 Comments

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

105

10 Comments

Hey #RevOps I have 2️⃣ questions for you First = what IS RevOps in your organization? 🤔 Second = what SHOULD RevOps be in your organization? 🤨 We're getting 25+ RevOps leaders together in San Francisco in a few weeks to help answer this question, and a whole lot more. Intrigued? Of course you are. 😏 This is part of a broader event series for us called 👇 RevOpsAF Executive Think Tank 🧠 Where we are getting RevOps leaders together in a variety of cities across the US for a roundtable discussion on: What RevOps should look like in every organization 🪞 What's standing in the way of a truly unified RevOps function 🚧 How to convince CEOs to respond and adapt to evolving market conditions by adopting a comprehensive RevOps charter 🗺️ A RevOps path to the C-suite 🧑‍⚕️ Current problems and issues faced by RevOps teams today and how to solve them 🛠️ This event will have two parts: 🧠 Part 1 is a 90-minute roundtable session on the above topics 🥂 Part 2 is a networking and cocktail reception Event details: 📌 Proper Hotel in San Francisco ⏰ Starts at 2pm PT ✅ Register here → https://hubs.ly/Q02Hvfj40 If you're a RevOps leader in #SanFrancisco and want to help shape the future of RevOps, join us in August. PS - in addition to San Francisco, we'll be holding these think tank events in #Chicago and #NewYorkCity ...registration for those will be open soon PPS - shout out to our friends at Subskribe for sponsoring this event. 🫶 #revops #revenueoperations #salesops #salesoperations #marketingops #marketingoperations #sops #mops #csops #cxops #gtmops #alltheops

12

->If you wanna join a company how will you reach out to a hiring manager? ->If you are a Founder how will you reach out to a VC for funding? and ->If you wanna go out on a date with someone how will you approach them? The answer is via Cold Calls, Cold Emails & DMs You see these skills are not just limited to SALES, it's a Life-Skills that are unfortunately not taught in schools and colleges, Anyone reading this post who is not from Sales and is not aware of the art and science of Cold Calls, Emails & DMs start learning it immediately, it will help you a long way for your success in both your personal and professional life. And if you are a salesperson who is reading this post it's high time that you level up the game to stand out from the noise. #sales #lifeskill #sdr #se #b2b #coldcall #coldemail #dms

81

10 Comments

There’s a conundrum when it comes to measuring sales training impact… I’ve worked with a lot of enablement teams that use leading indicators to measure training impact: Workshop Attendance Gong Recordings SFDC Hygiene Rep Surveys The problem: There’s no clear way to connect these metrics to business outcomes. Then, on the other side, you have teams that focus mainly on lagging indicators: Win Rate Pipeline Creation Sales Cycle Length Average Contract Value The problem: It takes a minimum of 3 months to see any results, and even if you do, no one believes that the changes can be attributed to sales training. Basically, if you focus too far down the funnel, no one believes you, but if you focus too far up the funnel, no one cares. Here are the only 3 questions you need to be able to answer to know if your training worked: 1/ Did reps use the training? Did they show up and engage during the session? Are they practicing the skills covered? Are their skills improving as a result of practice? 2/ Is there a clear change in outputs as a result of the new behavior? This is where you can think about leading indicators like (talk ratio, buyer engagement, and business case creation) 3/ Did the the new behavior lead to a change in key outcomes. This is where you tie a thread from the leading indicator to the lagging indicator. (Eg. What’s our win-rate on opportunities that include a business case?) The team over at Replicate Labs are taking what used to be a long drawn out process of measuring impact (that involved lots of help from RevOps), and turning it into a few simple steps. They’ve built one of the only training adoption platforms I’ve seen that allows you to see how practice produces outputs that lead to outcomes. If you’re tired of relying on surveys or waiting 3+ months to see results that no one believes your team influenced, reach out to James Pursey, and see for yourself.

22

2 Comments

The same page… AEs, SDRs, CSMs & renewal managers How are you tracking to your goal achievements 🎯? Some mid-year reminders for the team. - Re-align to find out what has changed in your shared account(s) - Stay connected on a regular cadence - Build report and trust - you want to rely on each other - Meet in person if possible - see previous bullet - Enable tough feedback sessions - so important - Share current customer status and revisit top priorities - Strive for a unified front & strategy - Known when to engage leadership - target this as a step - Share your success metrics, KPIs, and percent to goal Success is a #team sport Have a great day!

6

How can you help your CSMs become the most effective and engaged versions of themselves? Tomorrow at 10am PT, we are diving deep into the impact of career development on job satisfaction for CS professionals. Join me and Vitally.io's very own Sarah Steingraber and Mia Kang as we discuss this important topic. Link to register below in comments.

28

3 Comments

Me in 2021: *smug voice* 'My AEs are 100% inbound and their close rate is well over 50%' 💁🏼‍♀️ (Meanwhile, company gets bought and inbounds grind to a halt) Me in 2022 *knackered* 'How many calls did everyone make today?' 😩 ☝🏻True story, which taught me a valuable lesson I'll always remember. As a #gtm leader, if you find yourself with the luxurious problem of being heavily weighted towards inbound leads, you have a lot of work to do. For example: ✅ Research new channels ✅ Onboard junior team members and coach them ✅ Track ACV and churn for the deals that closed via inbound vs outbound ✅ Based on the above results, refine your ICP and invest in high quality outreach to a more qualified audience. Do these things while times are good, because doing them in a dip is really exhausting, and the price of botox is spiralling 😜 Happy Friday LinkedIn - its coming home ⚽️ 🎉 #inbound #outbound #salesengine #euro24

61

5 Comments

As a founder who has taken the helm of sales at TalPoint for the past two years, I’ve seen firsthand the critical impact of sales on business growth and evolution. I also regularly see comments from leaders who bash the AEs and SDRs on the front line. Every outreach by a salesperson is a potential seed for growth, yet many resist change, preferring the comfort of the status quo. This resistance to adapt isn't just a refusal to evolve; it’s a decision to fall behind. Sellers connect market needs with innovative solutions. In a rapidly evolving business landscape, those who engage with and understand the value of these connections are often the ones who lead and succeed. Let’s appreciate the hard work that goes into building and maintaining these growth pathways. The next time a salesperson reaches out, consider the courage it takes to challenge the status quo, give them the benefit of the doubt that they actually believe they are offering something of value, and accept the role they play in our collective progress. #Sales #BusinessGrowth #Innovation #FounderLedSales #TalPoint #ChangeMakers

32

During my time at HubSpot and Klaviyo, I learned that success in sales often went beyond just selling. Sales is just as much about mastering your sales craft as it is about mastering systems. The top reps weren't just exceptional sellers; they were also adept at navigating CRM, sales enablement tools, and company-specific technologies. They even built systems for themselves to stay productive and on top of every single target account they had. But should it really be that way? Sales reps shouldn’t need a degree in Salesforce to excel at their jobs. They should be free to do what they do best: think critically, create human connections, and deliver value. The good news is that the inefficiencies and gaps in today's systems will diminish over time with better technology. However, those same people that have mastered the systems of today, will simply move to mastering the systems of tomorrow. They will find new ways to stay ahead as technology unlocks more avenues for them to scale their work even quicker, far outpacing others who choose not to do the same. The same people who found inefficiencies in today's systems will find inefficiencies in tomorrow’s. These reps understand that the future of selling is working with technology, not against it. But who knows maybe I am wrong and AI will come and fix all our problems :) feel free to disagree with me in the comments #Sales #Technology #AI #CRM #SalesEnablement #FirstTouch

62

7 Comments