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Josh Nelson, CEO of High Tide. gives a unique perspective to SaaS as a consultant serving SaaS and tech. One thing you learn from hearing Josh’s story is the power of stepping up and saying “yes” to learning new technologies and opportunities. Being boutique is their superpower, delivering personalized salesforce support.
Cost is only a concern in the absence of value. If you’re creating a world-class solution and can show the value, that’s where you can make a big difference. Talk to the people in the organization to get the full perspective. You want to get the data-based approach, but also the emotional input. Give people little wins and they create buy-in for the project as a whole.
Key Takeaways for Success:
C-Suite and leadership need to know the “whys” behind a project and be able to communicate that to the teams that report up to them. Get their buy-in and focus on the why heavily to actively move a project forward. That helps cast vision to get the rest of the team on board as well. Alignment between sales, finance, and operations are some of the most efficient companies. Let data drive the conversation. Many of these companies have data in spreadsheets, or siloed systems that don’t talk to each other. One of the most impactful things you can do is a data transformation project so you can get as close to real-time insights as possible. This allows you to stay agile in a competitive market. Working with a boutique consultancy can be incredibly helpful. You can know the team who specializes in specific parts of the process. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, so it’s vital to have the right team who understands these needs.Connect with Josh Nelson
Josh's Podcast
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Essential Truths to Success in Go-To-Market Orgs with Russ Stanziale
Those who work in SaaS know how fast things come at you and how much may be asked of you on any given day. When you add in an org that’s literally operating 24/7 with more time zones than you can keep up with and more cultural nuances than you can count, you have to get strategic about how you’re empowering and driving change. It doesn’t happen by accident, and my guest, Russ Stanziale, shares this in so many ways in our conversation. His intentional moves have led to some amazing growth and team dynamics!
Working Around the Globe
It’s easy to underestimate the complexities of international organizations. You have to have sensitivity to those cultural differences, not just with customers but with the internal team members.
Change Management
Driving change can be difficult within your own culture, but when you try to change culture across multiple cultures and time zones creates even more challenges. Change starts with you first as a leader. Once you can do that, you can start to bring change through your team and an entire organization. Preparation and data can be helpful for the narrative and change you are trying to bring. Set up the why first and then you can help move people into the new process. Don’t take it for granted that they’re going to follow through. Be careful to assess your internal and external stakeholders to see if they’re buying into the new change.
To Re-Org or Not to Re-Org
There’s probably five different ways to win in any situation you’re dealing with. We could spend all year long reorganization, but the important thing was making sure people were aligned and focused, regardless of who is reporting to whom. There are often arguments for both sides of a decent decision. At some point you have to make the best decision you can with what you have in that moment.
Perspective is Power
Embrace the people on your team who think differently and have different perspectives about a situation. You have a wealth of perspectives and insights from the people on your team. Check your ego at the door and embrace these perspectives and get buy-in from your team. The question you should always be asking is how you can make the people around you successful.
Attributes for Solid Teams
When you’re growing an organization your people are so powerful. Look for professional curiosity on how to improve the organization they are joining. Look for people who can problem solve and be direct and concise. This is a sign of being focused and focused people get work done!
Driving Culture for Go-To-Market
As a leader, you get to drive culture for your team, and we all know well and good how fast our teams are moving at any given moment. So, what drives a healthy culture in this scenario? People leaning into their team instead of telling them what to do brings greater results. Respect is paramount. Another thing to consider is that sometimes the objectives we’re asking people to do get in the way of even greater opportunities for the org. Looking at things from a higher level perspective can help you see what the better objective is at the moment.
Empowerment is also incredibly important to drive culture in a go-to-market mentality. Every opportunity to mentor somebody doesn't need to be executed upon. Sometimes empowering someone else’s ideas is a simple way to build confidence while moving toward objectives and driving forward motion for the team.
Board & Executive Level Leadership
There’s a delicate balance of managing expectations with executive leaders, boards, and other stakeholders. When the...
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Get clear on your costs. As you do fiscal year planning for the upcoming year, it’s vital that you get real with what to expect for cost modeling. But, what goes into that? What should you be evaluating and considering? The cost models you’ll want to be building are waterfall and salary run rate models to get a good sense to understand how the costs will outlay throughout the year so you can track and monitor that throughout the upcoming year. I dive into how to approach cost modeling in this month’s episode.
Questions to consider:
Are we winning? Is what we’re doing working? How did we do last year in expenses (salaries, non-personnel costs, pension costs, additional benefits, compensation plans)?What are your ramp times in your sales cycle? What do your renewals and retention strategy look?And more!
Listen to hear more about sales compensation planning as it relates to fiscal year planning!
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Fiscal Year Planning Sales Compensation Planning
This topic is one most companies struggle with a lot. It’s all about balancing plans that motivate team members and are feasible, while also managing the financial implications of those compensation incentives. It’s often a highly overlooked topic until it becomes an issue.
Power of Feedback
Getting feedback from your stakeholders on what has worked well. These may include field staff, finance teams, sales leaders, CRO, CGO, and sales compensation team members. Sometimes your CEO may want to speak into this topic as well. Talk to these teams to get feedback about what’s worked well and what hasn’t to improve compensation plans moving forward.
*Questions to ask:
Where are we headed? What behaviors do we want to drive? What did we not do well in the past?Variables on Compensation Plans
While you can try to stay simple or get complicated, I typically like to have two variables involved maximum; one variable is ideal if you can. These are often around new logo and expansion or retention. There are a lot of ways to achieve your goals while minimizing your variables. You can’t solve for it all, so focus on the main pieces to avoid over-complication.
Listen to hear more about sales compensation planning as it relates to fiscal year planning!
Connect with Jesse:
Website
LinkedIn
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Fiscal Year Planning: Marketing Insights
Welcome to today's episode, where we're diving into one of the hottest topics in Revenue Operations: Marketing Insights.
Why Marketing Insights Matter
Marketing Insights are essential for understanding and optimizing the interplay between marketing and sales. By integrating Marketing Ops into Revenue Ops, we bridge the gap between these two crucial functions, ensuring that our strategies are synchronized and effective.
A Few Key Questions to Answer:
What questions are we trying to address with our marketing insights?How do we measure ROI and determine which areas are influencing revenue?Are our marketing efforts improving, and where should we invest more?Key Components to Be Looking at:
Marketing Lifecycle:
Key Stages: MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead), SQL (Sales Qualified Lead), Meeting Scheduled, Closed Won/LostMethodologies: True Funnel vs. Snapshot ApproachChallenges with long sales cycles and managing conversion ratesPipeline and Lead Source Attribution:
Understanding different types: Original Source vs. Most RecentAutomating data capture and setting up objects, fields, and data schemaCampaign Attribution and ROI Methodologies: Split credit vs. Weighted creditROI & Costs:
Deciding what costs to include, such as salaries and large one-time eventsImportance of granularity and the challenge of short-term fiscal measurementsPitfalls to Avoid:
Avoiding the illusion of perfect data and industry benchmarksThe risks of over-spending early and changing methodologies mid-yearFocusing too much on data quality frustrations rather than on continuous improvement____
Connect with Jesse:
Website
LinkedIn
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All fiscal year planning starts with data. It's better to have shorter time frames of consistent data than long-term timeframes of data that are inconsistent. Your methodology matters which is why we focus on key data and inputs to be most efficient with sales modeling as we look into the upcoming year.
Data & Inputs Needed:
Pipeline CreationConversion RatesSegmentationBudget & Hiring TimelinesRamp SchedulesAdditional InvestmentsAdded Products & EnhancementsTrend DataBoard Expectations & AlignmentCapacity and Support RatiosLead Source AttributionTypes of Sales Models
Cohort Expansion and New Business GrowthRep CapacityRep ProductivityPipeline ForecastingConnect with Jesse:
Website
LinkedIn
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People, Process & Technology with Carrie Ingersoll
Carrie Ingersoll has amazing experience in both large and small organizations. Her entry point was a contributor in account management. She focuses heavily on the trifecta of people, process, and technology for success in a software company. Jesse and Carrie focus on the power of data for account management. Knowing what your success metrics are is so important. She shares how important it is to start with the end in mind.
Investing in Your People
Building trust with your account team and creating a culture of trust is so vital in SaaS. Listening goes a long way to build trust and keep your team on board, even in hard times.
“People help support what they create.” - Carrie Ingersoll
Defining the Process
There’s a huge relationship between Rev Ops and Account Management teams. There’s a balance between finding the right process, but also a process that doesn’t become cumbersome.
Embracing Technology
Looking for ways that technology can help you automate the parts of your process that may not necessitate the human touch can free your team up for more meaningful engagements with customers, such as detailed business reviews. These are key to uncovering the information that you need to drive retention and upsells. For example, if you are aiming to improve efficiency and timeliness of contract renewals, using automation to send personalized communications to customers to educate them about the process, and then focusing your follow-up only where needed, can make a significant difference.
Connect with Carrie
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The Path to Sales Success with Michael Heuer
In this episode of our podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Michael Heuer, a seasoned sales leader renowned for his operationally minded approach and impressive track record in revenue operations. With over 25 years in sales leadership across diverse markets, including EMEA, Michael brings a wealth of experience and a strategic perspective to the table.
Michael's journey began as a developer with an entrepreneurial spirit, having started his own business at just 15. This early exposure to both technology and sales laid the foundation for his career. Over the years, Michael has navigated through various tech revolutions, from the early days of email systems and groupware to cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions and now, SaaS data protection at KeepIt.
During our conversation, Michael shared insights into his operationally focused sales leadership approach. He emphasized his interest in data and its role in driving sales success has been a constant throughout his career. For Michael, effective sales leadership goes beyond just setting strategy; it involves backing it up with data, selecting the right team, targeting the right customers, and helping them achieve their goals.
One key area of discussion was the foundational elements that give Michael's teams an edge. He stressed the importance of understanding price points, analyzing win/loss reasons, and having a comprehensive grasp of the sales cycle. His approach also includes a keen focus on lead generation, whether through marketing, channels, or SDR/BDR teams. According to Michael, success in sales requires discipline, a clear focus, customer orientation, and assembling the right team.
We also talked about the nuances of leading sales teams across different regions. Michael compared the European market to other regions, noting that while there are commonalities, local differences do exist. For instance, European procurement processes are more powerful, and employment laws are more stringent compared to other regions. These factors can impact hiring practices and sales processes significantly.
When discussing turnaround stories, Michael shared his experience in transforming struggling sales teams. Common challenges he has encountered include a lack of clear profiles for customers, opportunities, and partners, as well as ineffective hiring processes and sales methodologies. Addressing these basics often leads to significant improvements.
Finally, Michael's passion for team culture and leadership shone through. He highlighted the importance of building trust within the team and maintaining honesty in all dealings. His advice for new sales leaders includes hiring individuals with a strong desire to win, focusing on output rather than just input, and mastering revenue operations.
This episode offers a wealth of practical insights from a veteran sales leader who blends operational expertise with a deep understanding of the sales process. Whether you're a seasoned sales professional or new to the field, Michael's experiences and advice provide valuable lessons for driving success in sales.
Connect with Michael:
LinkedIn
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Connect with Jesse:
Website
LinkedIn
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Dive into this episode of Rev Ops Revolution, where guest Paul Ross unveils the secret to mastering operational alignment and the art of negotiation in revenue operations. Discover how a team overcame obstacles with data-driven decisions, leadership principles, and a fresh approach to simplifying business processes. Don’t miss his insights on predictability in sales and the challenge of creating a thriving, debate-friendly environment.
Paul Ross is a seasoned professional with a diverse background in sales operations, enablement, and revenue operations on a global scale. His career includes significant experience in product marketing, sales, and product management teams, despite initially stepping into product marketing without prior experience. Paul has worked with both SaaS and system companies, encompassing hardware and software, and has navigated through startups and established organizations, ranging from private to public sectors. This extensive journey has given him a wealth of knowledge and learning from numerous challenges along the way. Outside of his professional life, Paul enjoys engaging in various outdoor activities.
Below are the key takeaways from this episode:
Operational Alignment and Leadership: Paul Ross highlights operational alignment as crucial for effective execution. He emphasizes the role of a revenue operations leader as a negotiator and mediator, bringing teams together for optimal performance.Data-Driven Decisions: The necessity of making data-driven decisions is underscored through a story about addressing marketing qualified leads, cautioning against optimizing for a single metric without considering the broader context.Simplifying Business Operations: Both Jesse Morris and Paul Ross advocate for simplifying business operations, from compensation plans to sales processes, to support employees better and ensure operational efficiency.Value of Diverse Perspectives: Paul's admiration for Abraham Lincoln’s leadership style underscores the importance of having a team with diverse perspectives. Encouraging debate and respectful disagreements leads to better decision-making and exceptional outcomes.Overcoming Hiring Challenges: The discussion on the challenges of hiring for specific skill sets and designing processes for the majority rather than relying on exceptional talent highlights the importance of effective processes and ramping up new hires efficiently.Todays guest, Paul Ross, can be found online at:
Website: https://lative.io/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosspaul/
Your host, Jesse Morris, can be found online at:
Website: https://rev-ops-revolution.captivate.fm/listen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessemorris1/
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Join Jesse and SaaS expert Sylvia Price as they delve into the intricacies of the quote-to-cash process, discuss the critical importance of stakeholder management, and provide deep insights into building an efficient, high-performing RevOps team. Discover Sylvia's essential strategies for integrating CPQ and billing systems to achieve scalable success.
Sylvia Price has spent over two decades navigating the enterprise software landscape. She began her career in business consulting before transitioning into various roles supporting sales, including presales, sales operations, and systems management. Sylvia thrives on driving large-scale transformation projects that blend people, processes, and technology to generate business value. With roots as an industrial engineer in manufacturing, she has effectively leveraged her expertise in process and technology to adapt and excel within the SaaS industry. Sylvia's unwavering commitment to fostering change and achieving business success has defined her impressive career trajectory.
Below are the key takeaways from this episode:
Streamlined Sales Processes: Sylvia Price highlights the importance of streamlining the sales process to enable better conversations between sellers and businesses, emphasizing pragmatism and effective stakeholder management.Value of Soft Skills: Both Sylvia and Jesse discuss the critical role of soft skills such as listening, communication, and transparency in achieving success, agreeing that these skills are crucial for change management and collaboration.Quote-to-Cash Complexities: The discussion delves into the challenges of the quote-to-cash process, including data migration, aligning CPQ and billing systems, and the need for manual workarounds, all of which impact data integrity and system scalability.Team Building and Mentorship: Sylvia underscores the importance of hiring technically skilled team members who are also strong communicators and listeners, and discusses valuing cultural fit and teamwork over individual glory, stressing the importance of mentorship and coaching for team success.Recognizing Team Achievements: The episode touches on the significance of vocal affirmation and celebrating team accomplishments to foster a positive culture and enhance team morale.Todays guest, Sylvia Price, can be found online at:
Website: https://www.onsolve.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviaprice/
Your host, Jesse Morris, can be found online at:
Website: https://rev-ops-revolution.captivate.fm/listen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessemorris1/
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Dive deep with Aaron Mellman of Aiden Tech as he uncovers the transformative power of data in Rev Ops, detailing the journey from TV production to leading marketing and revenue operations. Tune in to discover the secrets behind targeting C-suite executives, crafting impactful event strategies, and harnessing AI to revolutionize marketing efficiency.
Aaron Mellman serves as a marketing and revenue operations leader at Aiden Tech, a cybersecurity company. With a rich background that began in television production, Aaron transitioned his storytelling skills to marketing before discovering his passion for technology and operations within IT and cybersecurity. His zeal for data analysis, continual learning, and efficiency is at the core of his role, with a particular interest in AI implementations and their impact on software development and marketing attribution. Aaron's varied career and deep-seated curiosity about technological advancements make him a font of knowledge and experience, which he shares generously with his audience.
Below are the key takeaways from this episode:
The critical role of data in shaping marketing operations, from cleaning up data to creating effective dashboards for strategic decision-making.The emphasis on understanding and engaging with specific audience needs, highlighted by the significance of targeted marketing towards CIOs, CTOs, and CISOs, as well as the importance of customer-centric event strategies.The value placed on continual learning, open-mindedness to failure, and the drive to constantly improve in order to offer more value to customers and the company.The strategic approach to marketing investments, especially in events, where Aaron Mellman stresses the need for detailed tracking and ROI optimization to ensure stand-out results and direct alignment with customer interests.The transformative impact of AI on marketing and software development, as Aaron Mellman shares his excitement for tools like Microsoft's Copilot and discusses leveraging AI within existing technologies to enhance marketing efficiency.Connect with Jesse:
Website
LinkedIn
Connect with Aaron:
Website
LinkedIn
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In this eye-opening episode, Tanner Lauringson unveils his journey to shattering sales records by embracing perspective, adapting to industry shifts, and mastering the art of authentic connection. Dive into Tanner's compelling story of capturing unexpected opportunities and discover the revolutionary strategies that propelled him to soar past 180% of his SaaS sales quota.
Tanner Lauringson is a seasoned sales professional and AE in the SaaS industry, known for surpassing his quotas with a record achievement of over 180%. With a rich background that includes owning a digital marketing agency and coaching sports such as beach volleyball, Tanner's versatile experiences have honed his skills in sales and digital marketing. His strategic mind and authentic approach to building long-term relationships have been pivotal in his transition to the SaaS space, where he's made a significant impact by focusing on niche markets and leveraging industry trends. His passion for the industry and dedication to continuous learning shine through his work, inspiring peers and driving success in his sales career.
Below are the key takeaways from this episode:
Understanding your product and your target audience well is crucial for success; Tanner Lauringson's approach to mastering the landscape of SaaS businesses allowed him to exceed his sales quotas significantly.Prioritizing tasks, setting weekly goals, and being able to say no can significantly boost a sales rep's productivity; Tanner's focus on ‘winning the week’ and preparing meticulously contributed to his remarkable performance.Building personal connections and focusing on long-term relationships rather than immediate sales leads to more substantial and consistent success; Tanner highlighted the influence of authenticity in his outreach strategy.Sales success requires an equation that includes a good product, successful clients, and clear growth opportunities, as well as adaptability and diverse experiences; Tanner's background and approach to sales illustrate this blend perfectly.Continuous learning, effective communication, and being a team player are the fundamental attributes that distinguish a top-performing sales professional; Tanner's constant effort to improve and foster connections underscored the importance of these traits.Connect with Jesse:
Website
LinkedIn
Connect with Tanner:
Website
LinkedIn
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In this episode, Jesse Morris delves into the fundamental components of revenue operations and discusses the ideal alignment of various functions under RevOps, providing valuable insights for both seasoned professionals and those new to the world of revenue operations.
Jesse Morris is a leading expert in revenue operations (RevOps) with a passion for maximizing the capabilities of companies to drive revenue. With extensive experience in the SaaS industry, Jesse provides valuable insights into key areas that fall within revenue operations—such as systems, data, sales compensation, enablement, and deal desk—offering a nuanced perspective on the ideal scenario versus quick wins and value, and the complexities involved in structuring a revenue operations function within an organization. Join us as Jesse shares his expertise and practical considerations for ensuring the success of revenue operations within your company.
Below are the key takeaways from this episode:
Revenue operations (RevOps) revolves around the essential components of systems and data, which are non-negotiable in the ideal scenario of RevOps functionality.Along with systems and data, functions like sales compensation, sales enablement, sales operations, field operations, marketing operations, and channel operations also should likely fall under revenue operations.Deal desk and value engineering are areas that could be considered for alignment with revenue operations, but require careful consideration based on their nuances and organizational impact.The tension between the ideal scenario of RevOps functionality and the need for quick wins and value must be carefully navigated, with the focus on driving long-term value for the organization.Quantifying and establishing the actual dollar impact of revenue operations to the organization should serve as the North Star, guiding decisions and actions in this realm.Saas Company Growth Strategies: "Ultimately what I need to do is get the areas that aren't working well, working really well, and then I can go back to the business and we can have a conversation as the business of what's in the best interest long term." - Jesse Morris
Connect with Jesse:
Website
LinkedIn
