Part 1: Fill the Pipe
Part 1: Fill the Pipe
Part one of a three-part series on managing the full sales cycle from start to finish. Filling, moving and closing your pipeline.
Part 1 of 3: Fill the Pipe.
I’m excited to publish the first of a three-part series with insights and learnings on managing the sales cycle from start to finish. Here’s a quick look at how I’m breaking this down each week.
Part 1: Fill the Pipe (prospecting, opening, creating a deal, and filling your pipeline)
Part 2: Moving the Pipe (discovery, demos, and keeping momentum)
Part 3: Closing the Pipe (overcoming hurdles, negotiation, and closing)
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly - Part 1: Filling the Pipe, we discuss:
A surprising CTA for prospecting and opening sales cycles courtesy of GONG
Top traits to keep SDRs winning from SDRDefenders
How to overcome barriers like a boss with Ralph Barsi
Valuable snippets from gurus and experts on prospecting, cold calling, emailing, and more.
Give it a read and let me know what you think.
And lastly - as always, if you find this newsletter valuable- consider sharing it with someone who might as well 👊.
STRETCH SHARES
The best cold-email CTA to book more meetings
You know I'm a big fan of Gong's content. They use data points from thousands of calls (304,174 in this study to be exact) and spin out amazing, relevant insights to help you lead your team and pivot your approach.
In this study - Devin Reed outlines the (maybe surprising) cold email CTA where instead of asking for a meeting (specific day and time or open ended) you ask for INTEREST.
That's it. “Are you interested in learning more?”
The results? More than DOUBLE traditional success rates of 13% and 15% ! So - sell the conversation and not the meeting.
*Also - found it interesting that once you've engaged a deal and it enters the sales cycle - the "interest CTA" is actually the least successful CTA. Use Specific CTA there...
Top SDR traits that will keep you winning
Recently stumbled on SDRDefenders. Refreshing learnings and content focusing on SDRs.
I've found myself referencing their content for latest opinions and best practices. This recent article stood out as it included top traits for successful SDRs according to today's sales leaders.
Kyle Coleman: Curiosity, Passion, Tenacity.
Josh Roth: Hustle, Willingness to try, Passion.
Nikki Ivey: Confidence, Charisma, Compassion.
Tom Boccard: Goal Oriented, Humility, Competitiveness.
Nisha Parikh: Grit, Positivity, Empathy
Overcome Barriers Like a Boss
Not too far into listening to this podcast, I thought to myself - I need to reach out to Ralph and tell him how much I loved this podcast (I did and he couldn’t have been nicer).
Maybe its because he mentioned John Wooden (one of my favorites) and Tony Robbins (another HUGE fan of his), his confident humility, or his shared love for a bic’d dome, but this episode really resonated with me. He inspired me to pattern some of my own leadership style after his as I took copious notes and quickly subscribed to his blog.
Super informative, pertinent and relatable advice from Ralph, The WHOLE podcast is worth a listen but specifically overcoming 5 common barriers in sales development which are:
Most SDRs and salespeople are Obscure.
They lack focus (what is urgent AND important)
Inactivity
No conversation flow
Failure to keep improving
STRETCH VP POST 👇
Keeping SDRs' Butts in Seats
(guest post by Kaulana Shum)
I’ve known Kaulana for several years and watched him soar the ranks leading SDR teams in SaaS. I had this post earmarked and reserved for some time now and am stoked to finally feature it on the blog. It’s perfect for this week’s theme. Kaulana talks about his 5 pillars to hire, motivate and retain SDRs in SaaS.
Paycheck
Recognition
Promotability
Leveling-up
Culture of Winning
STRETCH SNIPPETS
🗣 “Control where you can control. Be emotional about the process- and not the outcome” - Morgan Ingram (VIDEO)
📢 Florin Tatulea (Mgr - Sales Development at Loopio) compares Quality vs. Quantity in outbound prospecting
📩 Want more responses from your cold emails? Austin Belcak shares 5 tips
📞 Cold Calling is the bread and butter for SDRs! Becc Holland walks through some time-tested strategies for more effective outcomes.
✍️ Promoted to Team Lead? Now what? Advice for a newly promoted managers from guru Richard Harris.
🤯 Jeremy Donovan said research shows that emails starting with “I” receive 93% more replies vs. emails starting with “You”.
☎️ Calling once vs. immediately a second time increases pick up rates to 60% according Lee Rozins study and test.
🧠 Mindset Matters
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. Contact Me HERE.
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