Partners in Excellence

MAY 7, 2024

They started by saying, “We sell solutions… ” “That’s interesting, tell me more. What do your solutions do?” “I’m sorry,” I said, “I meant, what problems do your solutions solve? . “What does that mean,” I asked. ” I responded. ” I asked.

Start-ups 116

Start-ups Up-sell Conversion Product 116

Partners in Excellence

MAY 1, 2024

Andy Paul and I were having what I’ve labeled “The Old Fart Conversations About Selling.” ” Neither of us feel we are out of touch with modern selling, the challenges both buyers and sellers face. But every once in a while we get on a call to discuss “What’s happening in selling?”

Technology 115

Technology Technology CRM Pipeline 115

SaaStr

APRIL 2, 2024

Dear SaaStr: What Do Founders Need to Know to Navigate a Merger/Acquisition? Once you sell it, it is not yours anymore. You can no longer fail or run out of money, but really, you can no longer win in the same ways, either. You now have a much, much narrower role than you did before the deal, in most cases.

Sell 89

Sell Product 89

Martech

MAY 15, 2024

Q: Tell us about what you’re doing with Silicon Foundry. Marketing was not really part of this scope until this AI lifecycle. What really catalysed it was a lot of the questions we were getting about which use cases were generating ROI today and we kept coming back to marketing-related use cases.

Retail 91

Retail Cross-sell Technology Technology 91

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 2, 2024

There seems to be no passion for what sellers do. Selling is one of the toughest things to do well. Given this, I’m just stunned by the number of “sellers,” that seem to get no joy out of what they do. I started writing about the issue, the first was: “ Sellers, Are You Really Interested in Selling.”

Sell 111

Sell Clients Sales 111

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 12, 2024

As I look at selling, today, it requires far too much effort—far more than I’m willing to do. Who knows what it will be next year! They don’t care about what we sell, they don’t want to go through our demos-at least until they have no other alternative. How could I sell more, with much less work?

Sell 115

Sell Commission Up-sell Quota 115

SaaStr

APRIL 25, 2024

You’re worried about a bunch of VCs replacing you. You should be. First, if you really screw up, shouldn’t you be replaced? Second, if you don’t end up being a great CEO in the long-run, shouldn’t you be replaced when someone can do the next stage materially better than you can? That’s fair.

Finance 94

Finance Legal Up-sell Trust 94

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 16, 2024

We are inspired by thousands of articles, podcasts, and videos–each offering the same answers to what we have to do to be successful. (I We know what we have to do, and, for the most part, each of us is well intended–we really want to do the things that cause us, our customers, and our companies to be successful.

Cross-sell 113

Cross-sell Pipeline Meeting Presentation 113

Martech

APRIL 15, 2024

Q: You studied in São Paulo. Is that where you are from? Q: You did a bachelor’s in economics and then — fashion marketing? A: I never really liked economics in itself. That really piqued my interest. Dig deeper: MarTech Spotlight interviews Q: How did you come to join Stanley Black & Decker?

CRM 99

CRM Retail Technology Technology 99

Martech

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

Greg Kihlstrom is a best-selling author, speaker, entrepreneur and valued contributor to MarTech. Q: How did you get into marketing? I think that’s what really introduced me to marketing. It really taught me about this intersection of, back then, UX and marketing and technology.

UX 105

UX Technology Technology Up-sell 105

SaaStr

JANUARY 29, 2024

Dear SaaStr: How Do You Sell When They Ask for Critical Features You Don’t Have Yet? The key is simply to acknowledge the gap — and if you are willing, commit to building what the customer needs within X months. If you really commit. This is indeed the art of enterprise sales. ?

Sell 109

Sell Customers Sales 109

SaaStr

APRIL 7, 2024

So just a little while back, Lenny Rachintsky had me on his hyper-popular podcast to talk about scaling sales, from the perspective of a founder who hasn’t really done sales. What I missed was Lenny’s own summary of his Top Takeway from our deep dive. Hire a VP of Sales to help you scale from three sales reps to 300 reps.

Sales 98

Sales Quota Closing Up-sell 98

Partners in Excellence

MAY 15, 2024

But what does it mean to be a high performing organization? In selling, is high performance “hitting our numbers?” What are some of the elements? Many of the consistently highest performing companies sell products or services that are highly commoditized. ” Is it max’ing our comp plans?

GTM 113

GTM Quota Technology Technology 113

SaaStr

JANUARY 16, 2024

Bootstrapped you maintain control, and the unit economics. VC can let you go faster, but it can become an addiction. And the dilution all-in generally ends up being 60%-70% by the time you approach an IPO. One round might dilute you from 100% ownership to 70%, but that’s it. But many see it as so much harder.

Up-sell 131

Up-sell Start-ups Sell 131

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Without a doubt, selling is a really hard job. Regardless what role you hold in selling, it is very difficult. At the same time, there are endless details and minutia that we have to do as part of the jobs in selling. ” What does it mean to be “deeply interested?”

Sell 77

Sell Quota Conversion Meeting 77

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 9, 2024

What if we tried simplifying, for ourselves, our people, our organizations, and our customers? What if we could accomplish more with greater satisfaction, better results, by being more purposeful? Define and execute a selling process aligned with your customer buying process. Define and viciously focus on your ICP. Be prepared!

CRM 126

CRM Technology Technology Pipeline 126

Martech

MAY 7, 2024

What surrounds them might be atoms; often tiny atoms; often a lot of them. What the long tail really consists of, by and large, is not substantial technology offerings but what used to be called “point solutions” — bits of software that do one thing and perhaps do it very well. You can’t.

Hospitality 98

Hospitality Manufacturing Retail Technology 98

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 2, 2024

Many of you know my Sales Execution Framework (SEF), it wouldn’t have been possible without Rene’s deep thinking on these topics. Here’s his take: Why am I obsessed with Selling? I am not sure if I could say I am obsessed with selling, I guess it depends on the perspective one has about “selling”.

Sell 113

Sell Education Territory Engineering 113

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 25, 2024

We don’t have a set agenda, we talk about what we are seeing, usually it’s me whining about the state of professional selling. As a result we win by beating the competitor, not what we’ve done in helping the customer solve their problem. They have solved their problem, they have determined what they want to do.

Customers 117

Customers Objectives and Key Results Growth Objection handling 117

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 1, 2024

“Selling Bad Breath” repulses the people we are trying to reach. No amount of “mouthwash” disguises selling bad breath. What is Selling Bad Breath? But they really don’t want to talk about the problem they want to talk about their product.

Sell 73

Sell Pitch Quota Up-sell 73

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

It reminded me of a golden rule it took me years and years to figure out: If a new hire doesn’t work out, it’s always 100% your fault What do I mean? Did you do good ones? Were you really sure they could do the job? Or did you more love their LinkedIn and experience? Did the hire really meet the bar?

Education 101

Education Trust Meeting Sell 101

SaaStr

APRIL 19, 2024

How do you reverse-engineer your first million as a SaaS startup founder? SaaStr founder and CEO Jason Lemkin chats with Sam Parr on the popular YouTube channel and podcast My First Million about what’s required to make it on the map for a $100M exit and then reverse engineers the steps to get there. That’s where you have to be.

Engineering 98

Engineering Price Cross-sell Niche 98

SaaStr

MARCH 16, 2024

Dear SaaStr: I Have Some Shares in a Successful Start-Up I Worked At, But the Company Won’t Let Me Sell Them. And while it mainly impacts ex-employees, it also impacts angel and seed investors who are often blocked from selling as well. Ok but you asked Why. Employees and investors, you know. No CEO, CFO, etc.

Start-ups 85

Start-ups Up-sell Sell Cross-sell 85

SaaStr

JUNE 5, 2023

So much of it resonated with me, especially the story of the CEO’s 10-year journey, and turning down an earlier $100m offer to sell. Assume you get few-to-no offers to buy your startup. You have $0 now. Making $2m, $5m, $10m if you have $0 in the bank is so insanely significant. Not really. M&A is not.

Sell 141

Sell Up-sell Start-ups Price 141

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Ever since I started selling–you know back in the old days when phones were still attached to cords–I’ve been taught, “Buyers have a structured buying process.” On the selling side we would have perfectly structured steps like Qualification, Needs Identification, Solution Presentation, Closing.

B2B 130

B2B Up-sell Contract Start-ups 130

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 25, 2023

Dear SaaStr: If You Just Received a $10m-$15m Funding Round, What Should You Actually Use it For? If you’ve raised $10m-$15m, I’m assuming you are somewhere between $2m and $10m in ARR (revenue). The most important thing you can do at a high level is to go hire Great VPs. You have to be patient.

Engineering 104

Engineering Up-sell Start-ups Sell 104

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

He researched others, understanding their roles and what their companies did, creating personalized emails. He tried to connect what he learned they were doing with his prospecting efforts. “What is he interested in talking about? “What is he interested in talking about?” How do you know if he cares?

Pitch 127

Pitch Prospecting Start-ups Conversion 127

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Not only because it really matters, but because hiring the wrong VP of Sales can set you back a year — or longer. Hiring a VP of Sales Who Never Really Understands Your Product During The Interview Process Ok I know some even many will disagree, but I’m right here :). You gotta watch the YouTube videos.

Process 92

Process Sales Up-sell Quota 92

SalesLoft

APRIL 25, 2024

In this three-part series, you’ll learn how a Salesloft AE lands multiple mega deals — from prospecting to selling to power, to delighting them as customers — so you can replicate his success. Now what? In this episode, Corey explains why you need a strong vision, a strategic foundation, and a lot of patience.

Commission 52

Commission Contract Legal Strategize 52

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Sales execs can screw up so many things and still close a lot if they just get 1 thing right If they just are a true subject matter expert in the product they sell Yet so many aren't — Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin  ?? I tried to do the Salesforce demo, but I actually had never really used Salesforce before. It didn’t work.

Product 92

Product Engineering B2B Pitch 92

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 2, 2024

Dave, being obsessed with selling depends upon the story you tell yourself about ‘What is Selling’ If you imagine selling to be Herb Tarlek from WKRP or Vin Diesel as Chris Varick in Boiler Room, you should hate it. To be a great sales person, you have to connect with the customer.

Sell 73

Sell Up-sell Promote Meeting 73

SaaStr

JANUARY 18, 2024

Dear SaaStr: What Are The Most “Evil” Things That VCs Do? I think what founders get wrong is not understanding incentives. VCs really do want you to be a big success. No one is out to get you. So really, the ‘worst’ things VCs do are simply around incentive dis-alignments. Not necessarily wrong.

Price 91

Price Up-sell Growth Engineering 91

Martech

APRIL 15, 2024

What will customers remember after they have experienced your website, product, service or people? What will they tell their friends or colleagues about their experience — will they even mention it? Do you think customers will talk about how they were “wowed” by their AI experience? I’m willing to bet they probably won’t notice.

Customers 120

Customers Hospitality Technology Technology 120

SaaStr

MAY 25, 2023

Not sure what to do? Look at this pic or a similar one Do you want it? Probably just say Yes pic.twitter.com/K483lKnyzd — Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin  (@jasonlk) April 21, 2021 So I wrote a version of this post years ago, about when to think about selling your startup, if you do get an attractive offer. But Not Really.

Sell 144

Sell Price Up-sell Start-ups 144

SaaStr

MARCH 5, 2024

It’s not just how big a problem you are solving — although that’s a very large part of it. If your product is like Salesforce, but 5x more important, and that is clear to customers — then yes, you probably can charge 5x as much as Salesforce, or at least as much ? Once you figure out how to really sell.

Price 80

Price Product Up-sell Sell 80

Partners in Excellence

MAY 8, 2024

Desperately, we try to find someone to talk to, something interesting to talk about, but…… It seems so much of “modern” selling looks like this. But we don’t understand what has happened. All we really want to do is present our product, our pricing, and hope that we get an order.

Price 68

Price Up-sell Conversion Presentation 68

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 12, 2023

Remember when you were first chasing the deal. And guess what, there is some sales person stirring things up. What had worked well in the past, no longer works as well in the current environment, or can be an impediment to responding to challenges in the future. To be fair, this is not just a selling issue.

Cross-sell 133

Cross-sell Up-sell Sell Customers 133