Christian Krause

The SaaS Sales Academy

The SaaS Sales Academy is a community-based sales training and coaching program for SaaS Account Executives and SDRs. Together we help you overachieve your quota and maximise your commissions. Our philosophy is to systemise every aspect of your job so you can operate with maximum efficiency.

Founder & Head Coach

Hard Skill Exchange

Hardskill Exchange is the first marketplace for top sales coaches who are real quota-carrying practitioners in the field.

On-demand Sales Coach

Salesforce

🤝 I partnered with Swiss🇨🇭 VCs to deliver the #1 growth platform to their portfolio companies.

🚀 Defined 1st year VC GTM strategy in Switzerland

🚀 113% FY23 quota attainment 

💰 577k ARR closed

Account Executive | Venture Capital Switzerland

🚀 Closed 45 new customer logos

🚀 Grew my territory ARR by 500%

💰 450k ARR closed

Account Executive | Startups Switzerland

💡 Enabled 100+ reps at Salesforce globally on Social Selling tactics. 

🌍 Teams include Sydney, Singapore, London, Brasil, Dublin, Munich.

Social Selling Champion (CSPO)

We are the pipeline generation engine for the high-growth market Switzerland. With the world's #1 customer platform, we empower our Swiss customers to grow faster and guide them in their digital transformation. 

Role:
- Outbound prospecting
- Cold calling
- Engagement via social channels
- Pipeline sourcing and progression
- Stakeholder management

Outbound BDR | Switzerland

💰 Generated $1.32M in pipeline and $390k ARR closed.

🏆 Experience Club Winner in FY20 Q2.

🦸 Got promoted to team lead.

Inbound SDR | DACH

Maastricht University School of Business and Economics

April-Mai 2018: 2nd year bachelor course "Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses"
Feb-March 2018:1st year bachelor course "Strategy"

Tutor for the Department of Organization and Strategy

SCOPE Maastricht

Part of a three-headed team in charge of organising the SCOPE Dublin Trip 2018 to visit major global internet and tech companies in the Irish capital

Student Excursion Committee - Dublin

KPMG Deutschland

Robotics, Automation, Digitalization, Data Migration and Testing, ERP Roll Outs

Intern Consulting ERP & CRM

SAS Automotive Systems

E-Learning in Corporations - Ways of Increasing Return on Investment via Targeted Knowledge Management

Bachelor Student Corporate IT Infrastructure

Support of corporate implementation of SAP Work Performance Builder 
Project Management, Training, Implementation and Simulation of Workflows

Corporate Student IT Infrastructure

CrossFit

🏋️‍♂️ My lifelong passion. Almost moved to Dubai to coach CrossFit, but decided to go for software sales.

CrossFit Level 1 Trainer

MAHLE Behr USA

🌍 My first working experience in the US. Some of the best months of my life.

Corporate Controlling Intern

United Internet Dialog GmbH

Working student PreSales & Sales Communication

I help SaaS sales professionals over-achieve their quota & maximise their commissions | Head Coach @ SaaS Sales Academy

💰Do you want to make $100-200k in SAAS SALES?

I bet you do. But chances are

❌ your quota seems out of reach
❌ you think just working harder is the solution 
❌ your company provides you with little sales training

If that’s you, you’re not alone. 

🤯 83% of reps expect to miss their quota in 2023.

How can you be among the 17% that are hitting quota?

Or better yet, among the 5% that are making a $200k+ income?

This is why I created the SAAS SALES ACADEMY 🚀 

As a member you get

✅ A comprehensive on demand sales training curriculum that covers the entire SaaS sales cycle end to end
✅ A library of done-for-you scripts, templates, sequences, pitch decks and other assets and frameworks
✅ Weekly live group coaching sessions & tactical tear downs, for example on cold calling
✅ A vibrant community of ambitious SaaS sellers with access to top performers
✅ Early access to annual sales masterminds in a tropical location
✅ Weekly live office hours for small group or 1:1 support

My name is Christian Krause. 

Over the last 4.5 years I went through being an SDR, BDR and AE. During this time I have

🤝 coached and enabled hundreds of reps
💰 grown my personal income from $50-200k
🚀 built systems and frameworks for every part of the sales cycle
⭐️ sold 1,000+ online courses with 5-star reviews and testimonials

If you want to master the mindset, habits and skills required to make $100-200k in sales you have to take 100% ownership.

If you're ready for that, book your free strategy call with me:

https://calendly.com/christiankrause/discovery

Every new hire should be an SDR for 2 weeks:

AEs, managers, directors, VPs. Everyone

- They will learn who their customers are.
- They will learn their goals and challenges.
- They will learn what works vs. what doesn't.
- They will learn how the product is perceived.

Most importantly:

They will stop imposing top-down decisions on their SDRs that make absolutely no sense.

I also have an easy way out for you:

Just listen to your SDRs.

They have the pulse on the market.

Let them guide you in your decisions.

Bottom up ⬆️

What else would you add?👇

PS: Help your SDRs 2X their pipeline like 4,000+ others: https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

Your sales managers can make or break your career.

10 attributes of great sales managers👇

1. They care how you’re doing.
2. They establish a trust relationship.
3. They give advice instead of orders.
4. They actively support you in deals.
5. They coach & develop your skills.
6. They protect you when things go wrong.
7. They take responsibility for your results.
8. They stay out of your way and let you do your best work.
9. They celebrate you when you win.
10. They build you back up when you fail.

✍️ What else would you add?

PS: Are you not getting the guidance, coaching and accountability you need to excel in your sales career? Consider joining 60+ other sales professionals in my private coaching program: https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

It only took me one quarter as an AE to realise:

Just working harder wasn't the answer.

❌ Making more calls wasn't the answer
❌ Sleeping less wasn't the answer
❌ Stressing about work wasn't the answer

I realised I had to work on myself as a person.

• Educating myself to improve my sales skills
• Practicing mindfulness & gratitude
• Being patient & present
• Trusting the process

Sales is a marathon, not a sprint.
Steady pace wins the race.
But no winning the race
without developing
yourself.

✍️ Do you practice personal development in sales?
♻️ Repost if you found this helpful

PS: Consider joining 60+ sales professionals who are taking a holistic approach in their sales career → https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

Most sales reps never ask for referrals.

A huge mistake👇

• 92% of buyers trust referrals from other buyers they know.
• 84% of buyers kick off their buying process with a referral.
• Sales reps using referrals make 4-5x more commissions.
• 73% of execs prefer to work with referred sales reps.
• Companies with referral programs grow 86% faster.
• The CLV of referred customers is 16% higher.

The best sales professionals have always used referrals.

It's time for you to catch up:
↳ what used to be a nice-to-have is now a must-have strategy.

If you don't use referrals you won't make it through 2024.

Especially in light of the new Google spam limitation.

✍️ Comment: What's your referrals strategy?
♻️ Repost if you found this helpful

PS: Learn my entire referrals play here → https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

50-100% More Sales Pipeline In 60 Days | Head Coach @ The SaaS Sales Academy | We help SaaS sales professionals systemise sales success & become efficient top producers

How I prospected in 2019:

- Made 50 cold calls/day
- "Sell the meeting" mindset
- Same pitch for all prospects
- Made friends with gatekeepers
- Objection handling rebuttals on the phone

How I prospect in 2024:

- 10-15 highly targeted calls
- "Validate problem" mindset
- Persona-based problem statement
- Scrape contact info and warm up via social
- Deep account research & POV to handle objections

I was successful in 2020. I'm still successful in 2024.

Why? I fundamentally changed my approach.

I adapted to increased buyer expectations, more complex tech stack, a pandemic, a recession and now the AI revolution.

B2B sales is moving fast.
↳ Adapt every 6 months or get left behind.

✍️ Comment: How has your prospecting changed since 2019?

PS: Level up your prospecting in 2024 with my free course → https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

I started my sales career at age 26. 
 
26 things I wish I had known back then👇 
 
1 Sales is the best job when done right, and the worst when done wrong. 
2 The art of B2B sales is problem solving. Nothing more, nothing less. 
3 Closing is not something you do. It's the outcome of what you do. 
4 Who you work for matters just as much as how good you sell. 
5 Getting a sales mentor or coach is an amazing shortcut. 
6 Money cannot buy happiness. But it can buy freedom. 
7 Never, ever be unethical. Your integrity is everything. 
8 Building a strong brand can be an unfair advantage. 
9 Sales never gets easier. You just get better at it. 
10 Always put your client's success over your own. 
11 Celebrate every win. Shrug off every failure. 
12 Working harder doesn't mean you sell more. 
13 Where your attention goes, energy flows. 
14 Adapt every 6 months, or get left behind. 
15 Sales is a team sport. You can't win alone. 
16 Cold calling is intense mental exercising. 
17 Everything in sales follows Pareto's Law. 
18 Ditch the pitch. Listening trumps talking. 
19 Always make mental health a priority. 
20 Your number 1 differentiator is YOU. 
21 Product knowledge is OVERRATED. 
22 Business acumen is UNDERRATED. 
23 Sales is like dating: full of rejection. 
24 Sales is a numbers game. 
25 People buy from people. 
26 Karma in sales is real. 
 
Repost ♻️ if any of these resonate with you. 
 
✍ What's been your top sales lesson so far in 2024?
 
PS: Photo of my ARRtist Circus Opening Keynote last Friday. An unforgettable experience and by far the best sales conference I ever attended. Make sure to join next year! 🎪 

If you are prospecting daily, remember:

- 3% of prospects are active buyers
- 7% of prospects have an intent to change
- 30% have a need but are not ready to act

The remaining 60% are irrelevant.

Your job is to

→ convert active buyers
→ challenge those with intent
→ nurture those who aren’t ready.

Do not spend time with prospects who are not a good fit.

Narrow focus → optimal results

What else would you add?👇🏼

PS: Join 4,000+ students and grab my free prospecting training: https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

If you want to reclaim 30 hours/week as a sales rep, read this 👇


PS: My name is Christian Krause 👋

I help SaaS sales professionals increase their pipeline generation by 50-100% within 90 days.

For more daily sales content, head over to my LinkedIn profile Christian Krause and hit the 🔔

Or join 11,780 subscribers in my free newsletter, The SaaS Sales Academy 📥

5 Time Saving Tips For SaaS Sellers

Inbound vs. outbound prospects are wildly different. 
 
They are in separate stages of the buyer journey. 
 
Run your discovery calls accordingly👇 
 
➡️ OUTBOUND discovery: 
 
You took the initiative. The prospect agreed to meet. 
 
Validate a business problem you can help solve. 
 
3 possible scenarios: 
 
- Not a good fit → disqualify 
- Good fit but not the right time → nurture sequence 
- Good fit and good time → set up mutual action plan 
 
⬅️ INBOUND discovery: 
 
There is already buyer intent. 
 
Quickly qualify in or out by understanding 
 
- Price range & budget 
- Competitive situation 
- Solution fit & requirements 
- Decision process & criteria 
- Decision makers & paper process 
 
The mutual action plan should be much tighter. 
 
In addition: 
 
OUTBOUND = soft, cooperative, educate the prospect 
INBOUND = rigid, process driven, challenge prospect 
 
Meet your prospects where they are. 
 
What else would you add?👇 
 
PS: Grab my FREE Mutual Action Plan template: https://lnkd.in/dYYWFHd4

I booked $2M ARR from cold calls. Here's how to build an effective cold call script (from scratch)👇

5 Step Cold Call Script by Christian Krause

5 lessons from my first 5 years in sales:

1. Prospecting is like going to the gym.

- You have to show up every day to see results.
- Once you stop, your prospecting muscle weakens.
- Results compound over time. Never break your streak.

2. Systems beat motivation.

- Sales isn't a ton of fun most of the time.
- Motivation comes and goes. It's unreliable.
- You must put systems in place to operate on autopilot.

3. Problems over products.

- All products are the same on paper: commodities.
- Competitive deals aren't won with features.
- They are won through business advisory.

4. Longterm focus wins.

- Short term tactics (e.g. discounting) always backfire.
- Never let EOQ or EOY jeopardise your integrity.
- Always put customer success over your own.

5. Be a snail.

- Slow down. Do less.
- Focus on 1 customer at a time.
- Transform 1 life, 1 business at a time.

These 5 lessons have served me well over the last 5 years.

And they will be good guides for the next 5 years.

✍️ Comment: what's your top sales lesson?

PS: Join 4,257 students who have implemented these lessons → https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

I call myself a salesperson.

It's a lie.

The truth is: my job is not to sell👇

Instead, my job is to

1. find prospects with a problem.
2. identify whether we can solve it.
3. tell stories about how we did it for others.
4. show a path to resolution and offer guidance.

In the end, I get to close a deal if I do my job well.

But it's not because I sold...

It's because the customer decided to buy.

Small mindset shift → big difference.

✍️ Comment: do you agree or disagree?

I’ve never done an MBA.

But I’m glad I’ve been an SDR👇🏼

• It’s been the foundation for my career.
• I upgraded my communication skills.
• I made good money out of college.
• I built good business acumen.
• I learned to handle rejection.
• I fell in love with sales.

Whether you stay in sales or not:

SDR is a great first job for any business grad.

Actually, any college graduate.
Actually, any high schooler.
Actually, anyone.

✍️ What’s your opinion of the SDR role?

PS: Join my on stage on April 19th in Berlin & learn how the best SDRs operate → https://lnkd.in/eaZ-YbAg

It takes on average 4 NOs to get to 1 YES.

Don't believe me? Here's how👇

Prospect: "I'm not interested".

Sales rep: "Sounds like you already solved (PROBLEM STATEMENT). Mind sharing how you did it?"

Prospect: "We haven't completely solved it, but there are other priorities atm. So there's so budget for (SOLUTION)."

Sales rep: "Have you tried to make a case internally? We typically see a quite strong ROI with other customers in (INDUSTRY)."

Prospect: "No, I probably should. Can you help with that? Please call me in 3 months."

Sales rep: "What's happening in 3 months that will make that significantly better timing?"

Prospect: "We are deciding on the budget for next year."

Sales rep: "How about putting the case together now, so that you'll be ready to present it in 3 months? That would also allow for enough time to put a project roadmap together, get all the stakeholders on board and have a holistic overview on the investment."

Prospect: "Fine, let me think about it. As a first step could you just send me an email?"

Sales rep: "What would you like to see in that email?"

Prospect: "Just a high-level overview of your offering."

Sales rep: "How about I walk you through it in a quick Zoom? That way you can ask questions ad hoc. Might save you some time."

Prospect: "Sure, let's do it"

Meeting booked ✅

- - -

Did you get all the NOs?

1. I'm not interested
2. There's no budget
3. Call me in 6 months
4. Send me an email pls

The imaginary rep who booked this meeting did.

Instead of taking NO for an answer, she kept peeling the onion.

This won't work every time, of course.

But you will book 100X more meetings than if you stopped at the first NO.

Repost ♻️ if you agree.

✍️ How would you handle these NOs?

PS: Access 30+ Objection Handling Flashcards in here → https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

How 99% of sales orgs operate:

- Onboarding is 2 weeks of product cramming
- Zero coaching from frontline managers
- Questionable product market fit
- Focus on activity metrics
- Nobody making quota
- Excessive over-hiring

How 1% of sales orgs operates:

- Onboarding with actual sales playbooks
- Regular coaching & development
- Strong product market fit
- Focus on conversions
- Attainable quotas
- Lean sales teams

99% of orgs treat you like a number.
↳ They churn talent and they burn customers.

But the best 1% treat you like a human.
↳ They develop talent & delight customers.

Work for the 1%.

PS: You can find them here → https://lnkd.in/ekcQe8iV

#RepVuePartner

Sales reps: you sell on average 11 hours per week.

The other 29 hours are spent on this👇

1. CRM admin
2. prioritising tasks
3. internal meetings
4. product enablements
5. preparation and planning
6. prospect and account research
7. quotes, proposals and approvals

The majority of your time is blocked with low-value tasks.
↳ Tasks that don't move the needle towards your goals.

The solution: take radical control of your time.

1. Block time for high value activities, such as prospecting.
2. Spend 30 minutes on Mondays to organise your week.
3. Cancel all internal meetings that are non-mandatory.
4. Squeeze admin work into short 30-minute blocks.
5. Commit to doing less, but at a higher quality.
6. Measure KPIs that matter, such a pipegen.
7. Communicate it to your manager & team.

The best sales professionals fiercely protect their time.
↳ To spend it on the only thing that matters: customers.

Repost ♻️ to help someone take control of their calendar.

✍️ What's your best time saving tip?
♻️ Repost if you found this helpful

PS: Learn how to get your time back for prospecting: https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

Don't prospect like an amateur.

Instead, try this:

1. Build General Industry & Persona Messaging

- What are industry-specific pain points?
- What are persona-specific KPIs?
- What's the business impact?

2. Build Specific Account POV

- What's your observation about this account?
- Assume: what's going on behind the scenes?
- What's your strong opinion of how you can help?

3. Make The Outreach

- Write 3 cold emails
- Make at least 3 cold calls
- Use LinkedIn connect, InMails, likes & comments

Do this for every prospect on your list.

Most sales reps skip 1. and 2.

It's why they either get radio silence or slapped with objections.

They make it all about their product & company.

Remember:
Nobody wants to be sold.
Everyone wants to be educated.

✍️ What would you add to these?
♻️ Reshare if you found this helpful

PS: Join 4,000+ students and grab my FREE prospecting course
→ https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective (Sales-) People:

1. Be proactive

• Sales is all about creating your own luck.
• Don't expect great leads or deals to fall into your lap.
• In this profession you harvest what you seed.

2. Begin with the end in mind

• Build a Mutual Action Plan with every prospect.
• Start with their goals, and reverse-engineer a timeline.
• Help them clearly see your vision of a better future.

3. Put first things first

• Prioritise daily pipeline generation and progression.
• Avoid busywork that does not help you hit quota.
• Minimise distractions, notifications and gossip.

4. Think win-win

• You and your customers are equal partners.
• Try to maximise the common good in every deal.
• Keep a healthy balance between giving & taking.

5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood

• Understand your customer's deepest fears and worries.
• Spend the majority of time listening & asking questions.
• Minimise pitching, feature dumping or talking about you.

6. Synergize

• Sales is a team sport. You cannot do it all alone.
• Build alignment with your internal team, SEs & partners.
• Build customer consensus through multithreading.

7. Sharpen the saw

• Continuously invest in your own self development.
• Keep a good balance and prioritise your health.
• Look for a change onces the learning curve flattens.

Adapted from the 1989 classic by Stephen Covey.

They perfectly apply to high effectiveness in sales.

✍ Which habit would you add to the list?

PS: Join 12k readers & cultivate these habits in 5 minutes each week: https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

The best AEs aren't the best closers.

Here's why👇 

You will always lose a certain ratio of deals to 

1. the status quo (no decision)
2. your next competitor

Yes, the best AEs know how to beat both.

But they will still lose 2 out of 3 times.

That's the nature of B2B sales.

The solution: having more shots at target.

→ More meetings in the calendar
→ More qualified deals in the pipeline

The best AEs in 2024 won't be the best closers.

They will be the best prospectors.

✍ Agree or disagree?

PS: Join 4,500+ prospectors and grab my free training: https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

Every sales rep is unique.

- Some are cold email artists.
- Some are cold calling machines.
- Some are social prospecting wizards.

Everyone has different styles, strengths & weaknesses.

That's why activity metrics don't make sense.

"Make 50 calls, send 50 emails" is an outdated approach.

They are lead indicators and easy to measure for leaders.

That's they only reason why they're in place.

But what matters is impact (lag indicator).

Meetings, pipeline, ACV. Focus on that.

✍ Agree or disagree?

Repost ♻️ to spread the word!

PS: Join 4,500+ students who develop their unique sales strengths: https://lnkd.in/gTbPiShP

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