Show and Tell
How to lead your team in every stage of the sales process
Welcome to Wednesday. It seems like we just did this!!??
I actually had to cut nearly HALF of my saved content out this week to keep just a few featured articles and a bowl full of snippets. But excited for this week’s edition to feature some first time contributors.
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly -
Join Chorus CEO - Jim Benton, and Data Dog VP of Sales - Shaunt Voskanian as they discuss when and how to show product on an early sales call.
Tera Allas and Bill Schaninger with McKinsey on leadership - and how good bosses make good workplaces. Why the relationship with management is a critical factor in employee happiness.
Brennan Vaughn and Kyle Hermann cover key prospecting tips for breaking into Enterprise Accounts.
Plus - solid snippets to help you share some practical wisdom as you lead your team to success.
And lastly - as always, if you find this newsletter valuable- consider sharing it with someone who might as well 👊.
STRETCH SHARES
Show and Tell?
When do (and should) prospects first see a demo of your product?
Join Chorus CEO - Jim Benton, and Data Dog VP of Sales - Shaunt Voskanian as they discuss when to show product, how to direct your product messaging appropriately and what the numbers say about using a deck during a demo, coaching, culture and more!
And don’t miss Jim’s Linkedin post with discussion, feedback and comments debating the varying opinions on which approach is best.
Lots of mixed reviews and feedback from the community on best practice here, but no ignoring the data which shows this has started earlier in the sales process since February.
Good Bosses Make Good Workplaces
Came across this well done article from Tera Allas and Bill Schaninger with McKinsey on leadership - and how good bosses make good workplaces. A few highlights for me:
People are more likely to be satisfied at work if they think managers get along well with employees. If they think relationships are bad, job satisfaction is substantially lower.
When it comes to employee happiness, bosses and supervisors play a bigger role than one might guess. Relationships with management are the top factor in employees’ job satisfaction, which in turn is the second most important determinant of employees’ overall well-being.
In many ways, there is only one question any manager need ask: How do I make my team members’ lives easier—physically, cognitively, and emotionally? Research shows that this “servant leader” mentality and disposition enhances both team performance and satisfaction. Moreover, studies also suggest that managers themselves are happier and find their roles more meaningful when they feel they are helping other people.
Great read Tera and Bill!
The Enterprise Prospecting Guide: 6 Easy Tips to Implement Today
It may have been the sports analogy with Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, or the mindset reference to stay positive, (if you follow this newsletter long enough you know I'm a fan of both) but this Sales Hacker article definitely stood-out as something I wanted to share.
Brennan Vaughn and Kyle Hermann cover four prospecting tips for breaking into Enterprise Accounts (plus some bonus tips at the end).
Broken out into four main groups (no food pyramid here) as follows:
Shifting your mental game
Building rapport with prospects
Leveraging information to become your prospects doctor
Leaving every call with new pieces of information
STRETCH SNIPPETS
🔥 Hot take (depending on who you ask - maybe not so hot) from John Barrows on the future of sales. Barrows predicts full cycle sales coming back, AEs needing to prospect again, and SDRs moving under marketing....[VIDEO]
🤖 Lee Rozins reminds reps that you can do everything right - but if you did not come across as the expert because you sounded robotic…you lost the deal. Ditch the script.
📹 Tyler Lessard says that .008% of people actually watch a recorded video. (Fake News) but - still - makes a valid point with most agreeing (see comments) that sending a video recap is always better.
⏰ Gong tells us to keep your sales pitch to 9 minutes. Why 9? It’s our brain. It taps out.
🗣 Clever insight from Richard Smith on using LinkedIn Voice Messages to cut through the clutter and get more response from your outbound.
🤔 Thought provoking podcast on ramping SDRs (and if you should outsource) from Nimit Bhatt with Memory Blue and Scott Leese + Richard Harris on the Surf and Sales Podcast.
⚾️ Jeb Blount warns against swinging at every opportunity. JB gives us 4 keys to keeping qualified pipeline opportunities in the Strike Zone.
📌 Great reminder from Daniel Disney on working WITH your reps as an advocate instead of threatening and pitting management against them.
🧠 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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