Chris Orlob

Director, Product Marketing

pclub.io

pclub.io is the #1 sales learning platform and online course library for salespeople in the world. We work with the top 0.01% of sales earners, practitioners, and leaders to create top-rated online courses that help you grow your sales skills to life-altering levels. Instead of spending years mastering sales through trial and error or going through stodgy ‘one size fits all’ sales training, you’ll get to the steal the playbooks, frameworks, and skills of the top 0.01% sales earners on the planet, accelerating your mastery curve, income, and revenue to unrecognizable levels.

Co-Founder & CEO

QuotaSignal

40% of B2B salespeople are costly hiring mistakes. That devastates your revenue efficiency, annual model, and costs a ton of ARR. Mishiring gets even worse when you’re growing fast: Do you maintain your high talent bar or hit your aggressive hiring goals? Very hard to do both. 

Say hello to the BarRaiser Platform by QuotaSignal: Avoid expensive mis-hires that devastate your revenue plan. Our certified BarRaisers interview your sales candidates on your behalf so you can avoid expensive mis-hires and free yourself from hours of early stage interviews. Every interview is recorded, analyzed, and scored against your hiring profile. Your hiring managers can review the interviews, approve next steps, and accelerate the hiring process. All without wasting hours in dead-end early stage interviews.

With the QuotaSignal Revenue BarRaiser platform, you improve your revenue efficiency in three ways:

1) Avoid costly mis-hires: close efficient revenue.
Improve your quality and consistency of revenue hires so you can close more revenue and dramatically improve your financial efficiency. Stop the waste. Get a bigger return.

2) Accelerate hiring speed: maximize your market.
Hiring managers’ busy calendars limit the talent pool and slow things down, leaving territories uncovered. Triple your interview capacity and fill headcount FAST.

3) Free up manager time: drive more revenue.
Instead of ‘kissing frogs’ in early-stage interviews, your hiring managers free up tons of hours to ramp new reps, coach their existing team, and close more deals.

Raise your revenue bar at www.quotasignal.com

Co-Founder

Demostack

Advisor

Our meteoric success at Gong has made me fortunate enough to be able to invest and advise a number of early-stage SaaS startups (pre-Series B). My advisory is focused on refining the go-to-market motion, building a repeatable sales process, and defining what needs to be done today to scale to $100M and beyond later.

Angel Investor & Startup Advisor

Gong

In our quest to grow Gong to $1B in ARR, I'll be:
- Transitioning Gong from a single-product to a multi-product company
- Launching and growing multiple streams of ARR into (eventual) $100M+ product lines
- Responsible for the revenue growth of all new products

Head of Sales & Go-To-Market - New Products

- Attained 141% annual net new ARR targets (highest performing US sales segment at Gong)
- $60M total ARR responsibility (largest among segment leaders at Gong)
- Hired to transition growth sales motion from "farming" to "hunting"
- Grew org from 0 to 30 AEs, 3 frontline managers, ops, and enablement.
- Grew net dollar retention (NDR) to 149% (top 10% of all SaaS companies).
- Grew six-figure customer count by 21x.
- President's Club auto-qualifier

Head of Sales - Growth Segment

- Created the #1 SaaS startup marketing program on the planet
- Catapulted Gong from obscurity to a white-hot SaaS brand
- Generated the demand that fueled Gong's legendary ARR growth

Conversature

- Secured first customers in the revenue intelligence category
- Built outsized market presence through thought leadership marketing
- Joined forces with Gong.io at $200k ARR.

InsideSales.com

Regional Sales Manager - New Business

- Consistently top 1-3 producer on a 30+ person AE team

Account Executive - New Business

- #1 producer on mid-market SDR team (outbound)
- Promoted in three months

Sales Development Representative (Outbound - Mid-Market)

- #1 producer on inbound SDR team
- Promoted in 5 months

Sales Development Representative (Inbound)

Grew Gong from $200k to $200M+ | Online Courses for SaaS Sellers (pclub.io) | Solving Revenue Hiring (QuotaSignal)

Grew Gong from $200k to $200M ARR and a $7.2B valuation in five years. Employee number.... 13? Something like that. Created and built 'Gong Labs' (arguably the most successful SaaS marketing program ever), built and led the growth segment of the sales organization, and transitioned Gong from single product to multi-product company by leading the GTM launch of new products.

Entrepreneur turned SaaS executive turned entrepreneur again. Currently on a mission to build an ecosystem of companies that collectively make the biggest contribution to global sales success of any company on the planet by changing how sales organizations Hire, Ramp, Develop, and Retain their salespeople.

Yesterday a prospect emailed asking for the contract on a $40k deal.

I almost Slack'd my team to add it to the Sept forecast.

But I felt myself getting 'happy ears.' So I gave her a call.

After a minute of small talk, I asked:


Me: "Sounds like you want the contract. Mind if I ask a few questions that you can stiff-arm me on if you want?"

Her: "Sure, go ahead."

Me: "Once I send this over, what are the series of steps that happen on your end before we're ready to move forward?"

Her: "We still have to get it through legal. And our procurement manager will be in touch soon. So, legal and procurement."

Me: "Anything beyond that?"

Her: "No. As long as there are no legal or security concerns, and as long as we find a win-win with procurement, we're good to go."

Me: "Ok. For the sake of managing my own expectations, how long does your legal and procurement process typically take?"

Her: "I've done this a couple times but not more than that. Legal is usually a week or two depending on the redlines. Procurement can take 3-4 weeks. We've got a formal procurement process."

Me: "Ok. Kick me in the teeth if I'm overstepping my boundaries. But under what circumstances do you think we'd be able to get through it all and execute an agreement before the month ends?"

Her: "Based on doing this before, it's pretty unlikely. It could happen. But if I'm you, I wouldn't count on it."

*DEEP BREATH*

I didn't like to hear that.

But it's better than the alternative:

But imagine if I didn't ask.

I would have spent the next 3 weeks expecting a September deal.

Pestering the buyer inappropriately to get it over the line.

I haven't given up on a September deal.

But I'm approaching it differently with this information.

More tactfully.

More strategically.

Less "wHeN aRe U GoNnA sIgN?!?!"

Salespeople - quarter ends soon.

Don't get happy ears.

If you sell to mid market accounts or larger, ask the questions you're avoiding.

Your future self  at quarter-end will thank you.

P.S.

Here's six (warning: advanced) sales techniques I used to make my first seven-figure year in SaaS sales: https://lnkd.in/g8mixtVc

Today I ran a sales call with the VP Revenue at a 3,100 employee company.

It was a great call. But we both agreed we weren't a fit.

But how he ended the call surprised me (and put me to shame!):


Me: "Based on what I've heard, it feels like this isn't a fit. At least for now."

Him: "I agree. It could be worth reconnecting in a quarter. Maybe two. But not right now."

Me: "Great. We can reach out then."

Him: "Before you go, can I ask you a question?"

Me: "Sure."

Him: "You're a well-known entity in Silicon Valley. I'm sure you talk to companies all the time that run into [problem his company solves]."

Me: "Sometimes. Not super often."

Him: "Well when you do, since you know more about our business now, would you be comfortable making an introduction?"

Me: *Laughs*

Me (again): "I have to imagine this is a habit for you. I'm not the only person you've asked this this week or even today am I?"

Him: "That's right. Everyone from our CEO, to me, on down asks for referrals in every call where it wouldn't be inappropriate to do so."

Wow.

We ended the call.

And it got me thinking.

There's so much more we can all do to generate referrals.

We all know the value of referrals.

But none of us really do it systematically.

Yet this company?

Despite 3,100+ employees, the VP Revenue never ends a business call without it.

Powerful habit, if you ask me.

Got any referral selling tips?

Write 'em below.

P.S.

Earlier this month I also rolled out THREE mini courses in one: The Tech Sales Underground Playbook. It’s a $7 mini course where I break down the nitty-gritty of how to build urgency as predictably as the sun rises (if you’re talking to your ideal buyer). 

This isn’t just another training. This is the blueprint on asking questions that find (and build) buying urgency. Grab it here: https://lnkd.in/g8mixtVc

Salespeople - 

Here's three phrases to (please dear god) never say again.

(and what to say instead):


1. "Just checking in."

You may as well say:

"Just trying to get your money."

Instead: 

Have a valid business reason to call.

"You mentioned your head of enablement will be involved. Calling to get a meeting between the three of us scheduled."

Much better.



2. "I'd love to do XYX next"

"I'd love to have another call to walk you through a demo."

"I'd love to schedule a call with Lisa."

You buyers are probably nice and won't say this:

But they don't give a sh*t what you want.

Saying this puts the focus on YOU.

Not them.

Instead say this:

"Here's what I'd recommend we do next based on your situation."


3. "let me check with my manager."

If you want to disempower yourself, say this.

If you want your buyer to see you as less than them, say this.

If you want your buyer to go over your head, say this.

If you want to build a 'learned helplessness' mindset, say this.

You want none of those things?

Then don't say it.

Instead, say this:

"I'd like to consult with a few people on my side so I can come back to you with a path forward."

If you say that?

You sound 10x more powerful than the rep who says "lemme check with my boss!"

What phrases in sales make your skin crawl?

P.S.

Here's 39 deal-closing questions that sell (free): https://lnkd.in/g-VRcCsq

The most underrated skill in enterprise sales:

Writing. 

- business cases that sell
- emails that get exec attention 
- summaries that get forwarded

Great writing skills get you all of those. 

Especially business cases that sell. 

If you can’t write those? 

You’ve got one hell of a road ahead as an enterprise seller.

But if you can?

Your customers will stop looking at you as a salesperson and start looking at you as a business professional, who happens to know how to sell. 

P.S.

Get Nate’s bullet proof business case template free here: https://lnkd.in/dycxuMnG

P.P.S

Full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gHPyb3bZ

Pitching ROI in sales is dead.

According to Gong data, presenting ROI and low close rates go hand in hand.

Two things happen when most salespeople sell ROI:

- they do it so naively that it backfires
- it's a Hail Mary attempt to save a deal

When a senior exec hear's a salesperson say "the ROI of our product is..." they write-off that salesperson.

They think you’re making too big of a leap between what your product does and the expected financial return you’re waving in front of them.

The best salespeople create bullet-proof business cases instead.

(Read: ROI is only one element of this!)

Here's how they do it, according to one of the top business case experts in the world:


1. State the Situation

Define the current state. 

What are they trying to accomplish?

What's standing in their way?

Make it relevant to the exec's priorities.

Make it urgent with conflicting obstacles standing in the way of their goal.


2. Define the Problem Statement

This is what most sellers get wrong:

They think buyers buy because of ROI.

Nope.

They buy to solve problems first.

And the financial ramifications of those problems are far more compelling than the ROI of your product.

In other words, the 'cost of inaction':

- what is the problem costing them?
- what the opportunity costs?
- what are the indirect costs?
- what are the direct costs?

Capture the problem as well (or better) than your customer can.


3. Create a Bridge

Read: This is not about your product.

Read (again): This is not about ROI.

The Bridge explains the root cause of the problem.

Which then allows you to explain what the customer NEEDS to solve the problem.


4. Define Three Scenarios.

This is where you start to hint at ROI.

Show three possible scenarios.

- no action
- best case
- base case

Executives think in ranges and possibilities.

Yet most sellers give a definitive number:

"You'll get exactly 22% ROI on our product, just like our other customers!"

That's a sure-fire way to lose your credibility.

Build three possible scenarios instead.


5. Define the Required Resources.

Explain what the customer will need to do to make this projection successful.

- dedicating headcount
- dedicating time
- spend
- etc.

Most salespeople shy away from this.

They want to make it seem (unrealistically) easy to deploy their product.

Execs know better.

Call out what you need for this to be a success, and you'll earn instant credibility. 

Plus, you reduce their fear of shelf-ware. 

Because they know what it takes to avoid that now.

That's all for now.

If you want to see a real-life example of this (plus steal the bullet proof business case template), grab it here: https://lnkd.in/dycxuMnG

P.S.

Tag a salesperson in the comments that would find the template useful.


Yesterday I got a "verbal" on a deal I've been working for a week.

It was my second call with the VP Sales. 

At the end of the 45 min call, he asked "what comes next?"

Here's what I said:

Me: "I have an opinion. But before I poison the well, what steps do you think you need to take from here to make a confident evaluation decision?"

Him: "I'd need to know the price."

Me: "Ok. I'll make sure you leave this call knowing that. Let's say we land on a price we're both happy with. What would come next?"

Him: "It depends on the price - if it's above a certain threshold, I need GM approval. If it's below, I'd move forward."

Me: "Appreciate you bearing with me on a few of these questions. I'll get to price in just a sec. Let's say we end up in the second bucket: it's below threshold, and you're good to go. Do you envision any legal or procurement review?"

Him: "Good question. Legal, yes. Procurement, no. Legal usually lasts a week depending on how intrusive your terms are."

We spent a few minutes going over price.

It was below the threshold.

And I got the sense that this was "closable":

Me: "Can I ask you an overbearing question that you can publicly shame me about if you don't like it?"

Him: "Ha! Go ahead."

Me: "What conditions would have to be true for us to move forward together within September?"

Long story short, we're trending well toward a September deal.

This was a bit of a "Utopian" scenario (I get that).

But there are still a few lessons:


1. Always ask "what comes next?" Twice.

When you get a firm intent to buy, ask this:

"Once we do [hoop], what would still have to happen before we formalize our partnership together?"

Follow up on their answer one more time.

At the final stretch of a deal, you're goal isn't to know the next step.

It's to know the SERIES of next steps that lead to the finish line.



2. If it's closable, shoot your shot.

When you've been selling a while, you get a sense for "blood in the water."

When you get that sense, make your ask:

"What conditions would have to be true for us to move forward at X date?"



3. Use softening language when asking hard questions.

Notice what I said before I asked a somewhat "intrusive" question:

 "Can I ask you an overbearing question that you can publicly shame me about if you don't like it?" 

That'll disarm your buyers and make them far more receptive.

If you don't use that kind of "tee up"?

You might come across as pushy.


Hope these tips help.

Happy selling out there this quarter-end.

We are having a blast over here at pclub.

P.S.

Here’s six (advanced) SaaS sales skills that can help you grow from $200k per year to $1M per year over time: https://lnkd.in/g8mixtVc

Last week I had a call with the SVP Sales at a $2 billion+ publicly-traded company.

Before this meeting, I spent two months:
- multi-threading with his team
- deeply understanding their issues
- building consensus with his reports

Finally, my champion and I were "ready."

We scheduled a 30 minute meeting with the SVP to get him up to speed.

I started summarizing what we've learned to date.
- their short-term and long-term top priorities 
- the challenges in their way of the priorities
- the root causes of those challenges
- the negative ramifications 

It was a simple, two slide "Here's what we know" deck.

After summarizing here's what I said:


Me: "What's your perspective on what I've shared so far?"

Him: "I mean, it looks like you know our business incredibly well. These are the topics I discuss in every 1:1 with our [CXO]."

30 minutes turned into 60 minutes.

We continued expanding on those challenges.

Didn't talk about the solution at all.

Despite that, here's how we ended the meeting:


Him: "I'm looking forward to our next call. You have a strong grasp of what we're facing, and and it feels like you're going to be able to move the needle on a lot of this."

What's interesting about that statement, is he hasn't seen the product yet.

In fact, he's vaguely familiar (at best) with what we do.

Yet his confidence level in us helping is high.

Why?

Simple:

If you can articulate your buyer's challenges as well (or better) than they can, they will automatically assume you have the right solution.

That's worth writing down.

Contrast that story, with this one:

I talked to another Head of Sales earlier that week.

He complained that - while their reps used a 'what we've heard' slide - they breeze through like a checkbox, eager to get to the demo.

The point of this post:

If you can deeply understand your buyer's world, the solution comes much easier.

Don't skimp on it. 

It pays massive dividends.

P.S.

Here's the 5-step selling system I used to make this happen. It's how great SaaS sellers find and quantify BIG business pain and close more deals faster: https://lnkd.in/gWVp_Vxd

Here are the 11 best discovery call tips you'll read in 2023.

Part 1.

But first... a disclaimer:

These aren't for beginners.

If you don't have the basics, you'll misuse these.

If you do have the basics, you'll get to the next level.


1. Discovery is a process, not an event.

It's not a sales stage.

It's continual.

Bad salespeople treat discovery as "check the box."

Top salespeople continue to discover and confirm.


2. Match your questions to the buyer's journey.

Your first questions should meet your buyer where they are.

Ex 1:

If they're actively exploring solutions:

"What has you motivated to explore solutions like this?"


Ex 2:

If they're passive (not exploring solutions):

"Talk to me about the challenges you'd regret not solving 6 mos. out?


Do this, and you'll avoid friction.



3. Manage expectations.

Bad calls come from bad expectations.

The buyer expected a demo.

You expected discovery.

Spend 5 minutes managing expectations.

Set the objective.

Set the agenda.

Ask if they're aligned.

If they're not? Audible.


4. Reconfirm everything.

Never assume what you learned once remains true.

Priorities change.

People leave jobs.

People start jobs.

When things shift, you'd better know it.

Start every call with:

"What's changed since last we spoke?"


4. Phrase your questions to get long answers.

And according to Gong data, great salespeople get long answers to their questions.

Get responses like that by re-phrasing your questions.

Phrase to get long responses:

- Help me understand...
- Walk me through...
- Talk to me about...

Those phrases signal to your buyer to go in-depth.



5. Use mirroring to go deeper.

Want your buyer to expand on what they just said?

Take the 1-4 keywords from their last sentence.

And repeat them with an upward tone.

This is called mirroring.

Chris Voss popularized it.

THEM: "We're struggling to hire top talent."

YOU: "Struggling?"


6. Find the need behind the need.

As a rule:

Buyers answer questions with surface-level information.

You need to get a few layers deep.

Ask this:

"What's going on in the business that's driving that to be a priority?"

That question gets great answers.

Ask it AFTER you've already been discussing a challenge.


7. Use 'commercial-grade' listening.

Another one popularized by Voss:

Label your buyers' emotions.

As they speak, label the emotion they're expressing:

"It seems like you ________."

Fill in the blank with the emotion they expressed.

Then shut up.

If you did it right, they'll open up.

"It sounds like you're frustrated with your team's adoption rate."


8. Ask questions based on what they just said.

Don't start a new thread with every question.

Ask your questions as a follow up to what your buyer said.

Great discovery doesn't sound canned.

-

That's 8 of 11.

Part 2 coming later.

If you got value, tag a friend.

P.S.

Grow 6 advanced sales skills by 5% in 60 minutes here: https://lnkd.in/g8mixtVc

Last quarter-end (June), I 'negotiated' a few big asks coming from a prospect who had not yet signed with us.

"We won't move forward without this," he started.

Here's how the rest of the call went:


Him: "I want to see a full rollout plan, including professional services, for the first year before we're comfortable moving forward."

*most reps would agree to this, only to be disappointed that it doesn't close the deal*


Me: "Let's assume we did that and you were comfortable with the plan. What would still have to happen before you moved forward with us?"


Him: "A customer reference. I'd want to talk to a happy customer of yours to see how the rollout went. This is a big deal for us so I want to eliminate risk wherever I can."


Me: "Ok. Assume we gave you a rollout plan you were happy with, plus 1-2 customer references. Then what happens next before you move forward?"


Him: "We'd still have to get final sign-off from the CRO. She's aware of the proposal, but we need to get her comfortable with the details and business case."


Me: "Makes sense. Based on that, here's what I suggest:

"In the spirit of partnership, we are happy to make those investments in you in the form of creating a rollout plan and arranging a customer reference.

"As long as you meet us halfway and that investment is reciprocated.

"It feels like we still have plenty of work to do with your CRO after those are done.

"So let me know if it feels fair to you that we flip the order in which we tackle these upside down:

"I'd hate to jointly do all this work only for your CRO to shoot everything down at the end.

"So let's get her on board first... then tackle the rollout plan and customer references.

"Fair?"


He agreed and we baked it into a mutual success plan.


Here are three sales lessons from this:

1. Had I agreed to his first ask without further qualification, I would have gotten it done, thinking the deal was in the bag, only to find out I'm not even halfway there.

2. It's NOT your customer's job to create the right 'order of operations' in your mutual success plan. It's YOURS.

3. When customers have big 'ASKS' in the sales cycle, don't agree to them until you know what still has to happen AFTER you've completed it.

Otherwise, you're chasing your tail.

Try asking this:

"Let's assume we do all that -- what would still have to happen before you and your company will be ready to move forward?"

Get ALL the asks on the table first.

THEN decide what you will agree to.

Give some. Get some.

Create a mutual plan.

Full steam ahead.

Good luck closing this quarter!

Those were my takeaways. What are yours?

P.S.

pclub.io just released a new course that teaches who to run an insanely effective "closing motion" in B2B tech sales.... so you can close your deals on-time and without surprises at quarter-end. Here you go: https://lnkd.in/e8VdZXKg

Salespeople:

When your buyer asks for a discount:

Before you do anything else, ask what's driving them to need it.

DON'T respond by haggling.

DON'T respond by defending price.

DO respond by seeking to understand.

This is really simple but I rarely see it done.

Example:

Yesterday I had a sales meeting with a finance leader.

He was looking to finalize a purchase of pclub.io for the sales team.

But he wanted me to take 15% off the price.


Me: "What's behind that ask? What's making you need 15% off beyond wanting to get the best deal you can?"

Him: "We have a funding partner that will automatically approve projects like this under [$XX,XXX]. 15% off takes us under that threshold."

Me: "What happens if you're above the threshold?"

Him: "We can still get it done, but there's a lot of paperwork, and it will take a month or two. We can move forward in a week if we get this under the threshold."

After a few more minutes, we found a creative idea.

They needed licenses for their SDRs.

They needed licenses for their AEs.

If we sold a separate contract for each, both contracts would be under the threshold.

Which fits their funding partner's criteria.

And we could get those "two" deals done in a week instead of two months.

Without me giving a 15% discount, which would be unfair to our other customers.


Here's what I'm NOT saying:

I'm not saying you should go replicate that exact idea we landed on.

This was a unique situation.

And it's not the point of the post.


Here's what I AM saying:

Salespeople assume too much when buyers push on price.

Sometimes, they're just trying to posture.

But sometimes, there's a real constraint driving the ask.

And sometimes, you can solve for the constraint without discounts.

But you can't do that until you ask.

Ask the question.

Make your quarter-ends easier (for you and the customer).

P.S.

Here’s six (advanced) SaaS sales skills that can help you grow from $200k per year to $1M per year over time: https://lnkd.in/g8mixtVc

4 mistakes salespeople make that get them ghosted.

In good economic climates, and bad ones:


1. Taking too long to find true business pain.

There's a careful balance to strike:

a) Trying to find pain too early (and overstepping your boundaries).

b) Waiting too long and losing all leverage and momentum.


2. Staying single-threaded for more than two (maybe three) calls.

Being single-threaded for your first few calls is fine.

It's expected.

But if you don't expand your footprint after call two or three?

You're stuck.


3. Demos that focus on trivial many rather than vital few.

Do this, and you confuse and otherwise good prospect.

They'll either think:
- this isn't for them
- they don't need all that

Your attempt to "build value" backfires.

And you get ghosted.


4. Avoiding tough and skeptical customers.

Skeptics and tough buyers are scary.

It doesn't feel good to talk to them.

But they are actually your key to the deal.

Because if you win them over, they run through walls for you.

Do the hard things and work with the tough buyer.

P.S.

Steal the playbooks of the top 0.01% tech sales practitioners in 15+ online courses, each created by a world-great subject matter expert for its given topic:  https://lnkd.in/gBm7Cb4R

PSA for salespeople this end-of-quarter:


The best salespeople SEEK the risk in their deals at quarter-end. 

The worst salespeople pretend it's not there.



The best salespeople confront the risk head-on. 

The worst salespeople hide their head in the sand.


The best salespeople ask "what are the series of steps between now and moving forward" when a customer asks for a contract. 

The worst salespeople send the contract and expect it to get signed.



The best salespeople ask about legal, security, and procurement. 

The worst salespeople think they can "sneak under the radar." Only for the deal to slip because it comes up at the end.



The best salespeople ask: "if we arrived at a price we were both happy with, what happens next" when their buyer grinds them down on price. 

The worst salespeople jump into a premature negotiation, not realizing it's still not going to get the deal done.




The best salespeople know if they're vendor of choice this late in the quarter. 

The worst salespeople, don't.



If timing looks TIGHT, the best salespeople shoot their shot: "What conditions would have to be true for us to move forward by [date]?" 

If timing looks tight, the worst salespeople hope and pray.




If timing looks GOOD, the best salespeople ask "what would derail us from getting this done in time?"

If timing looks good, the best salespeople... do nothing.



It's not as hard as you think to be one of those "best" salespeople.

Go be the best this quarter-end.

What else do the best salespeople do at quarter-end?

P.S.

If you're struggling with urgency, here's a battle-tested framework to amplify business pain and get buyers to act faster: https://lnkd.in/gcE7hHV3

Here’s 7 cold email hacks to book more meetings and boost reply rates:


1. Make the call to action easy to say YES to.

Don’t make ‘em think. Don’t ask for too much time.

Ask for “interest.”

Not time.

"Interested in exploring more?"

That's easy to say yes to.

"Interested in a 30 minute demo?"

That's hard to say yes to.



2. Add a P.S. to every cold email.

Direct response marketers know this:

The P.S. is the most-read part of any message.

People jump to the bottom to cut to the chase.

Use that real estate wisely.



3. Make the subject line 3-4 emotionally-packed words.

Not too long.

Hit the hot buttons.

What are your buyers’ pain points?

What words do they use to describe that pain?

Use those words.

Enter the conversation already happening in their own mind.


4. Make it seem like an internal email.

Figure out who their direct reports are.

Use their names in the email.

Tie it back to the problem you solve, and you’re on your way.


5. Write the cold email in the shape of an F.

Research shows that’s how people ready emails online.

They scan horizontally a couple times.

Then their patience dwindles.

And they skim vertically.

Write your emails accordingly.

Work WITH people’s habits, not against them.


6. Describe their problem better than they can themselves.

Buyers will automatically trust you, if you can do this.

If you can put words to what they’ve been thinking (and feeling), they’ll have an epiphany.

They’ll “lean forward” as they read your email.

And they’ll "bite" on your your call to action.


7. Leave your product out of the email completely.

Most cold emails talk about the product.

Its features.

Its benefits.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Describe the pain.

Agitate the pain.

Speak to the outcome.

Offer social proof.

Then ask ‘interested in talking about solving [pain]?’

You’d be shocked at how absent the product is from the highest-performing cold emails.

P.S.
Here’s three high-performing cold email templates (that put these 7 tips together) you can use in your next outreach: https://lnkd.in/gZUeHKv5

Back in college, I worked at Sears making $4.50/hour.

I still have the lanyard.

A decade later, I had my first seven-figure year in SaaS sales.

I don’t share that to brag.

(I’m sure some guy in the comments will seethe over this. Save your complaints, friend!)

I share it to tell you how I did it, despite:

- coming from a low-income home
- not completing my bachelor's degree
- having my 1st child before finishing school

Here’s what worked. 


1. Goals + Grit Will Take You Everywhere

Today, it’s cool to turn up your nose at hard work.

Somehow, hard work became a bad thing.

Yet here’s what a CEO mentor told me:

“I’ve never met a highly successful person who doesn’t work incredibly hard. Not one.”

“Not one.”

I spent the first decade of my career:

- waking up daily at 6am
- reading for 60 minutes every day
- working at least 10 hours most days

Did I sacrifice my family? 

Not all all.

But I did sacrifice:
- an overly stimulating social life
- bar hopping with friends
- typical "20 something" recreations

Do I regret that?

Approximately 0% regret here.


2. Built My Skills As If I Was “Architecting” Myself

During those 10 years, I read 500 books.

Took countless courses.

Attended seminars.

Found mentors.

I got precise with the skills I wanted.

I broke down every skill into its component parts.

And built skill plans to address each one.

For example:

Instead of learning “how to do enterprise sales,” I broke it down:

- advanced discovery
- accessing senior executives
- writing business cases
- business acumen

When you get precise with your skill building?

You move faster than those learning something generic.

Much faster.


3. Saved Money Like Crazy

I wasn’t saving for retirement.

I was saving to take advantage of an opportunity that demanded cash.

By age 24, I had saved 2 years of living expenses.

That let me start my first company full time.

Which led to the next thing:


4. Manufacture Your Own Luck

If you’re fortunate enough to live above the poverty line, then you can manufacture luck.

Some people call me lucky:

I joined Gong at the right time. 

It took off. 

The rest is history.

Sure. But…

Joining Gong wasn't a random lottery ticket, given to some lucky winner in a random population of people.

I wouldn’t have had the opportunity if I hadn’t:

- built my skills 
- created early success
- started a company

Luck is a thing. 

But most people don't "get" luck.

It’s not a roll of the dice.

It’s the outcome of doing the right things for a long, long time.

At least, for most people reading this.



Those are a few things that worked for me.

There's more to the story. Another post for another day/

Inspiration is one of the most powerful human emotions.

It helps you cut through life's obstacles.

Hope this inspired you.

Let me know in the comment if it did.

P.S.

Here’s six tech sales skills I learned along the way to get that first seven figure year: https://lnkd.in/g8mixtVc


What separates salespeople who make $500,000 per year:

Most of them do not:
- work 80-100 hours a week
- treat sales as a numbers game
- have a privileged background

They are just regular people who:
- acquire skills like mad
- learn and grow every day
- find and seek $500k mentors
- have a strong bias for action

You’re not years away from your goals.

You’re skills away from your goals.

Stop relying on effort only and build the skills your dreams demand.

P.S.

Here's 6 sales skills that helped me make well beyond $500,000:  https://lnkd.in/g8mixtVc

Never trust the first thing your customer says on a discovery call.

Not because they're lying (they aren't).

But because:

Humans are bad at crystallizing their thoughts.

So their first answers to your discovery questions?

They will always be surface-level.

If you stop there, you will HALF your ability to close that deal.

Follow up their surface-level answer with:

"I imagine you've discussed this issue internally. What did those conversations sound like that drove you to prioritize solving this?"

That gets to the heart of the matter like you wouldn't believe.

P.S.

Here's 39 more deal-closing sales questions: https://lnkd.in/g-VRcCsq

Yesterday I met with the SVP Sales for a $20,000 deal.

He's halfway through the 'buyer's journey' with us.

Here's the roadblock we faced (and how we're overcoming it):


Him: "We're still not sure what we need. I LOVE the concept of pclub. But we're also talking with sales consultants."

Me: "Sounds like those solve different issues. When I think of consultants, I think of sales process design. 

"pclub is squarely focused on skills. Talk to me about how you're thinking about these two potentially separate issues, and whether I'm right or wrong?"


Him: "I think you're right. We have more of a skill issue than a process design issue. Our process is decent. We have trouble with the skills needed to execute it."


Me: "That sounds right. But it also sounds like you're still crystallizing your thoughts and you don't *yet* have full conviction in that statement."


Him: "Yeah, that's true. Still sorting things out."


**here's where the trajectory changed**


Me: "This might be tough to answer. But what steps do you think you'd need to take from here to firmly crystallize how you think about this and make a confident yes/no evaluation decision?"


Him: "That is a great question...."


Him: *silently thinking*


Him: "I talk to the consultant on Monday. So want to have that conversation."


Him: **silently thinking again**


Him: "Then I'm making a recommendation to our CEO by the end of next week."


Me: "If you learned nothing new between now and that recommendation, what do you think that recommendation would sound like?"


Him: "pclub."


We spent a few more minutes crafting a few steps that would help us move forward together and firm-up the right decision.

The deal's not closed, but I'm feeling good.

Here's what I learned on this one:

When a buyer intends to move forward, but they're not sure exactly what they need, ask this:

"What steps do you think you need to take to crystallize your thoughts and make a confident yes/no decision from here?"

Then craft a simple action plan to support them.

MUCH better than 'letting them think about it' independent from your influence.

That's what I learned.

What do you takeaway?

Having fun this quarter-end over here. Hope you are too.

P.S.

Here’s six (advanced) SaaS sales skills that can help you grow from $200k per year to $1M per year over time: https://lnkd.in/g8mixtVc


Salespeople: 19 business days until Q3 ends.

Last quarter I almost let a deal slip. Until I did two things:

A) Got clear on each step left in the process
B) Tackled those steps in the right order of operations

Few salespeople do that second one.

Here's what happened to show you why it matters:


Last June, I negotiated with a buyer who hadn't signed yet.

"We won't move forward without this," he started.


Him: "I want to see a rollout plan, including professional services, for the first year before we move forward."

*most reps would agree to this instantly*

Me: "Let's assume we did that and you were comfortable with it. What would still have to happen before you moved forward?"

Him: "I'd want to talk to a happy customer to see how the rollout went. This is a big deal for us so I want to get rid of risk where I can."

Me: "Ok. Assume we gave you a rollout plan you were happy with, plus 1-2 customer references. Then what happens next?"

Him: "We'd have to get final sign-off from the CRO. She's aware of this, but we need to get show her a business case."

Me: "Makes sense. Based on that, here's what I suggest:

"In the spirit of partnership, we are happy to make those investments in you, as long as you meet us halfway and that investment is reciprocated.

"It feels like we still have plenty of work to do with your CRO even after the rollout plan and references are done.

"So let me know if it feels fair that we flip the order in which we tackle these:

"I'd hate to jointly do all this work only for your CRO to shoot everything down at the end.

"So let's get her on board first. Then tackle the rollout plan and references. Fair?"

He agreed and we baked it into a mutual success plan.


Three sales lessons from this:

1. When a customer gives you a hoop, qualify it. Had I agreed to his first ask without asking what happens next, I would have gotten it done, thinking the deal was in the bag, only to find out I'm not even halfway there.

Missed forecast.


2. It's not your customer's job to create the right 'order of operations' in your mutual success plan. It's YOURS.

And the order matters.


3. When customers have big 'ASKS,' don't agree to them until you know what still has to happen after you've done it.

Otherwise, you're chasing your tail.

Ask this:

"Let's assume we do that. What would still have to happen before your company will be ready to move forward?"

Get all the asks on the table first.

Then decide what to agree to.

Those were my takeaways.

What are yours?

P.S.

I've been fortunate to cross a seven-figure income in tech sales. 

I put together a 3-in-1 mini course that teaches 6 techniques I used to earn $1.7 million, build predictable buying urgency, and run deal-closing meetings with VPs, C-Suite, and Senior Execs. 

Grab it here:  https://lnkd.in/g8mixtVc

Chief Revenue Officers:

Which option best describes the functions you own?

Salespeople:

Here’s what to say this quarter-end to close deals without giving crazy discounts.

I call it the three bucket talk track. Here’s how it works.

You’re at the end of the sales cycle.

You’re close to getting the deal done.

But your buyer is still pushing you hard on price.

Try saying this:



“Usually when we get price resistance this late, it’s for one of three reasons:

“(A) you’re not sold on the value. You don’t believe the issue we’re solving is worth the price we’re asking.

“(B) you have a constraint keeping you from paying. You’re sold on the value, but something is logistically in your way from moving forward.

“(C) you’re simply being a good steward of your company’s capital, and you’re trying to get the best price you can.

“Which of those three buckets do you most closely fall into?”



Here’s the beauty:

When they answer, you start problem solving with them.



If they answer with (A), that’s an open invitation to get them up to speed on the business case you’ve built.

(you have one of those right?).

Walk them through it.

You may have to slow down to speed up here.



If they answer with (B), you problem solve with them.

What are the constraints keeping them from moving forward?

Usually this is where you get creative with payment or billing terms.

Net 60 terms. Semi-annual payments. Etc.

The point is to start by understanding their constraints.

Then solve accordingly.



If they answer with (C), then you’ve got to help them over their emotional hurdle.

It's rare buyers answer with (C). 

But I've had it happen.

And simply calling out the possibility makes them aware that you're pricing fairly.

Savvy buyers won’t pull the trigger until they know they’ve got the “best and final.”

So convince them of that.

Let me know you understand where they’re coming from.

They want to use their budget as efficiently as they can.

Tell them you’d do the same thing.

But then let them know: 

You’ve priced this as fairly as you can (assuming you have), and that they’re getting the best they can get.


Give this a try.

Tag a colleague or friend who could use this as the quarter closes.

P.S.

This is one of six techniques you can find in the Underground SaaS Sales Playbook. I credit mastering these six techniques to earning $1.7M in tech sales. Join over 10,000 SaaS and tech sellers here: https://lnkd.in/g8mixtVc

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