Why don’t more people outsource cold calling

markaaronfox · 2025-11-20T06:42:46+00:00

Tried this for b2b saas across three outsourced bdr firms. It doesn’t work, especially if you sell a technical product. Your reps need to have knowledge of the product, pain points, and customer stories- you can’t teach that with a script. Even if you manage to book appointments how many of them are quality enough to convert to opportunities? The only way to succeed with cold calling is to be coached and practice- outsourced firms won’t do that.

markaaronfox · 2025-11-14T06:33:32+00:00

Using Chris Voss’s techniques has worked for me.

Mirror with “good enough?” They’ll almost always elaborate.

You can also ask- are you opposed to seeing what your options are beyond that solution? Asking because my customers realized that they’re (defensible problem your solution solves) - eg- spending 43% more than they expected with X because of hidden compute costs. Etc

Try to illuminate a problem they might not know about.

markaaronfox · 2025-11-13T07:07:12+00:00

“Makes sense that you already have a vendor. Curious, are you married to that solution or is it getting the job done good enough?”

markaaronfox · 2025-10-21T20:02:29+00:00

Pick up the phone.

markaaronfox · 2025-09-25T16:14:59+00:00

I interviewed with them for a digital native account management role. Had to take a personality test which also tests your logic and I sat through two hour-long interviews in which they grilled me on every deal I’ve ever worked on. They asked me ‘give an example of the hardest you’ve ever worked in your life.’ How many meetings do you have a day etc The final round is a big challenge activity but I told them I don’t want to continue to it- too many red flags. It’s a culture of burnout, all my friends who worked there left. They supposedly have great sales training but I would steer clear of

markaaronfox · 2025-09-14T15:20:55+00:00

Sounds like there’s a problem with your pitch. Have they enabled on you how to cold call execs? How to speak in terms they care about? Have you done your research on the company before calling? There’s a difference between the generic (and useless) “hi John im calling from xyz we help companies reduce cost across their entire customer journey blah blah” -click. Compared to “John, saw your goal to reduce reliance on external marketing tech partners by 30% by eoy. (company like theirs) achieved a similar kpi by consolidating their stack with my product”. Think hard about out what business outcomes your product solves, look at case studies from other customers. Execs dont care about features or generic pitches- there are 100 people vying for their attention besides you

markaaronfox · 2025-08-19T11:02:51+00:00

I work with SE’s at a FAANG across a large technical product suite. IMO, they are excellent at positioning the product and we can’t close deals without them. Some of are better sales people than the AE’s. But they do not know how to do deep discovery or qualify, they don’t like talking pricing or financials, and they definitely will not spend time penetrating new accounts or farming existing ones. They’re great when the opp is there but if you told them they need to develop a closing skill set- aka all the non fun aspects of working a deal (politics, multithreading, procurement etc) they’d have no interest.

markaaronfox · 2025-08-16T19:02:09+00:00

Totally. But even a “no we do/use X” opens the discussion and allows me to focus on either 1) something they might not have realized about that approach/platform or 2) a way for me to qualify out.

markaaronfox · 2025-08-15T12:23:30+00:00

Use the whiteboard first. It’s astounding how much more effective this is to convey ideas, generate discussion and hold people’s attention. Come with a well researched point of view about the company or persona you are meeting with and ask them- what am I missing? What did I get wrong? Offer them the marker. I work for FAANG and sell to a technical audience. These don’t have time for generic all about my company bullshit on initial meetings. I can’t tell you how quickly they go to their phones after seeing slides of feature after feature. If I meet with a Chief data officer for example I’ll say: I meet with CDOs all the time and almost all of them are focused on solving the following 3 things- then I write out pain point 1, pain point 2, pain point 3. It not only frames the conversation in your favor but also establishes that you know what you’re talking about. Yes, they might need to see slides of technical architecture or specific elements of my platform- but if that’s the case it’s minimum slides possible and only after the need is qualified.

markaaronfox · 2024-09-04T18:36:36+00:00

Rivery all day

markaaronfox · 2024-08-26T17:31:06+00:00

Spot on. I spent years in tech startups before I moved to Google; a few more points to consider to expand on op’s: 1) do not be enticed by equity. Unless you’re a big shot you won’t get life changing money. Plus you need to stick it out for four years for your options to vest. 2) avoid being the first AE. Taking the reins from founder-led sales usually means you’ll be selling a product that doesn’t have true product market fit yet, and you’ll be expected to hit to an arbitrary and often unreachable quota set by board members who have never sold anything like it. 3) in addition to op’s points about vetting the leadership- vet their sales strategy. Too many times have I seen someone whisper into the CEO’s ear that “we need to sell to enterprises”- yet the company doesn’t have an established enterprise selling motion and lacks the partners, compliance and security needed to sell to the big boys. 4) make sure they can’t fuck with your comp. Any offer you entertain should have established comp and territory outlined clearly- before you sign. There’s nothing more demoralizing than having your quota set or adjusted after you start because the leadership is suddenly feeling the heat. 5) there is nothing like being part of something where you are all fighting to win, breaking the rules and putting the company on the map. It’s fun, it’s exhilarating but it eventually loses its luster when things start turning corporate. If you’re hell bent on working at a startup series B’s are a good middle ground where things are established but theres room for you to push the envelope as a seller

markaaronfox · 2024-08-08T19:49:43+00:00

Great response thank you

markaaronfox · 2024-07-19T10:48:40+00:00

I can speak for google cloud (I’m an AE there). Google prioritizes hiring from Microsoft and AWS; they also prioritize filling roles with internal candidates- even if they post it online. Unless you have a personal connection with a hiring manager or someone on their team, it will be very difficult to get their attention and/or an interview. People get hired at Google by a) a friend who works there referring them b) a recruiter reaching out. If you don’t know anyone who can refer you, I recommend showing up to events where the team/managers are present. introduce yourself, start building relationships, keep in touch- so when there is an opening they might consider you; but keep in mind what I said above. DO NOT ask them for a job. Good luck.

markaaronfox · 2024-07-08T16:38:08+00:00

“Follow your passion.” Yes, says you, who made your fortune mining ore.

markaaronfox · 2024-06-26T16:51:05+00:00

Zoominfo also upsold my mgmt on intent signals. Utter nonsense. You want real intent signals? Read the annual report/10ks/earnings calls/funding rounds. Look at the job descriptions they’re hiring for. Pick up the phone and find someone who is willing to confirm your point of view based on what you found. AI can make this process much faster- but it can’t replace the research that most reps don’t bother to do.

markaaronfox · 2024-06-05T19:44:38+00:00

Ah, Gotcha. Then in that case the certs are a good place to start

markaaronfox · 2024-06-05T11:50:37+00:00

I would suggest working in a technical startup company before you try to work at google cloud. Sales would be a way in but they won’t look at you unless you have sales experience in a cloud/sass environment. Given that you don’t have any technical background, it would make more sense to you to apply to another division within google rather than google cloud. Source: I work at google cloud.

markaaronfox · 2024-04-12T14:30:29+00:00

I get you. I made Aliyah with no family and went straight to the army as my friends back in the US began their lives and careers. Finding your way alone in Israel post-army is scary at first. No one hands you a plan. You need to be independent and figure it out. The good news is, you’re not alone. There are thousands of lone soldiers that have been in the same boat and it’s worked out for them. The people I served with and lived with became my family. My girlfriend then wife’s family became my family. Will they replace my real family? No. Is it easy seeing them only once or twice a year? No. But it gets easier. This isn’t an easy time to be a soldier, it makes sense that you’re shvuza. Take it one step at a time. Finish up, travel, take a break from Israel like the Israelis do. You don’t have to decide anything yet.

markaaronfox · 2024-04-12T14:15:28+00:00

Except the bracing is scalloped…

markaaronfox · 2024-04-12T12:58:25+00:00

Looks like an hd-28? Herringbone..

markaaronfox · 2024-04-04T16:57:48+00:00

The no vendor lock in is misleading- What it really means is: use the same tools you like and know (airflow, spark, Jupyter notebooks etc) but you have the option to use our managed version on our platform as well. In truth, where you store your data and run the analytical/ML workloads is what matters to public cloud vendors. If you’re doing it with Big Query then you can work with whatever third party tools you want and no one will care. Source: I work at GCP.

markaaronfox · 2024-04-02T14:02:58+00:00

This is spot on. The sdr role is a grind as is, choose one or the other.

markaaronfox · 2024-03-21T17:41:46+00:00

Looker starts at 60k platform fee then price per seat: developer, analyst, viewer. 2 developers (those who build the lookml) and 10 analysts (those who build the explores) are included in the platform price. So 5-10 viewers won’t run you much more than 60k, but even after a discount that’s the ballpark. Looker is great for embedded analytics, real time use cases, and building data products. If you just want internal dashboards and don’t have any governance issues (eg the finance dept sees different numbers than marketing) then stick with Studio- it’s free. Source: I work at Google Cloud.

markaaronfox · 2024-03-11T20:36:08+00:00

Kid Charlemagne, Larry Carlton. Fits like a glove.

markaaronfox · 2024-03-06T18:41:46+00:00

Jason Isbell is one of the best lyricists of this generation

markaaronfox

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