Moving Fast
What we can do as leaders to help our team move faster than the competition as we look to the future in selling
Woah. That was fast.
Depending on who you ask, we’re looking at no more than 23 business days before we close out 2021!
As sales leaders - beyond helping the team sprint towards the end zone and finish strong, that often means we’re looking at quota and comp plans, GTM strategy, pricing, rep attainment/contribution and territory planning for the new year.
Speaking of moving quickly. One of the better books I’ve read is It’s not the BIG that eat the SMALL, it’s the FAST that eat the SLOW. While examples are a bit outdated now, the concept still applies.
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly, I’m featuring a handful of pieces of content I found insightful to maintain momentum through the end of the year and what we can do as leaders to move faster than our competitors as we look to the future in selling.
Rob Jeppsen talks with Joe Caprio of Reprise, as they discuss the buyer's journey and removing friction in the sales process. (hint: Rob also mentions the fast eating the slow here)
We take a look at the psychology behind meeting overload and the 6 key reasons why we put up excess meetings and what to do as leaders to help overcome them.
Plus sales focused snippets on building SPIFFs, cold-emails, selling during the holidays, SaaS buying today, and more!
THANKS for reading!!
-Grant
And lastly - as always, if you find this newsletter valuable- subscribe or share it with someone who might as well 👊.
STRETCH SHARES
Removing Friction in the Buyer Journey
One of my favorite podcasts is the Sales Leadership Podcast with Rob Jeppsen. This episode resonated as Rob talks with Joe Caprio of Reprise, as they discuss the buyer's journey and removing friction in the sales process. Highlights for me:
Discovery is throughout the entire process. Not a one-time event.
Win rates go up when you tailor a demo to the customer needs.
BANT sucks. Do better - specifically with Outbound.
Tour guide vs. Self guided sales process.
Joe’s opinion on Product Led Growth - and where it fits with a Sales-led approach.
MQL to initial meeting booked is too long. 3 weeks for first demo is why PLG succeeds. If sales led - need to act quicker.
Align with what the customer is expecting. Connect to that to start building trust.
It’s not the BIG that eat the small. It’s the FAST that eat the slow (A great book by the way) is key in sales.
The Psychology Behind Meeting Overload
Covid destroyed in-person meetings. But we got something worse. More meetings.
Everyone hates meetings says this Harvard Business Review article and I don’t disagree. I really found this article fascinating on why we schedule, hold and attend the meetings we do - and best practices we can use to help improve this.
It goes on to state it’s hardly a surprise that managers in one survey reported 83% of the meetings on their calendars were unproductive, or that US-based professionals rated meetings as the “number one office productivity killer.”
So why do we attend more meetings than we should?
Meeting FOMO. We are afraid of how a “no-show” may be perceived. Its on managers to avoid this.
Selfish Urgency. Sometimes leaders knowingly schedule meetings that conflict with team calendars. Let’s not do this.
Meetings as Commitment Devices. Make sure we do what we say we’ll do. Incent team members with a cancelled meeting if deadlines are met.
Mere Urgency Effect. (scheduling and attending meetings can make us feel accomplished). Leaders: end meetings early by default.
Meeting Amnesia. Debriefs after key calls can alleviate this and avoid further meetings.
Pluralistic Ignorance. We all think this is pointless, but we assume we’re the only one who thinks so. Encourage teams to openly share frustrations and feedback.
STRETCH SNIPPETS
😀 Print this out and post on your wall: “Great salespeople are short-term pessimists and long-term optimists”- says Chris Orlob.
✅ Florin Tatulea offers top 3 things SDRs can do to smash Q4 goals going into the Holiday Season
Stop lying to yourself. People are still working and booking meetings.
Closed Lost reports. Hit them up NOW!
Address the “not now - but maybe later” objection up front.
👉 Check out this helpful guide from Setsail building an impactful incentive program. Includes the top 6 behaviors to SPIFF and why.
🤔 Richard Smith from Refract shares an insightful post on what he’s learned as a SaaS buyer - and what we can do better as sellers.
Outbound email outreach is meh. Be thoughtful.
Cold calls cut through the clutter.
Focus the sales process on outcomes and less on the product.
Demos are gold. Don’t waste them since buyers are busy.
🧵Great tips from Morgan Ingram via Twitter on how to write a great cold email.
Subject line less than 5 words
Focus on first 3-8 words
Keep it between 2-5 sentences
Send it to yourself. Read it on your phone.
What’s in it for them?
Ask for interest, not for time.
🧠 Mindset
Great salespeople are short-term pessimists and long-term optimists
- Chris Orlob.
Thanks for reading!
My hope is if you find this valuable, consider sharing it with friends (or signing up if you haven’t already).
— Grant 👋
About stretch vp: confessions, learnings, and insights from sales leaders in SaaS
Compiled and aggregated from a network of sales leaders in SaaS, Stretch VP showcases learnings, insights, and experiences as well as best practices to overcome common hurdles, obstacles, and setbacks in your quest for excellence as a sales leader in SaaS.
Are you a VP, Director, thought leader, or content producer in the SaaS space? We’d love to have you contribute. Just reply to this email and I’ll be in touch.
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