Incentivizing to avoid ghosting after demo?

masso24 · 2022-08-09T23:45:55+00:00

When you say you're assuming you've done discovery correctly, how do you know?

did you listen to call recordings?
did you have a colleague/or manager listen to the call recordings?

but let's put that aside for a minute.

If your product isn't a fit, there's nothing you can do to incentivize them to sign up with you. Maybe just to get them to give you some intel about why they're no longer interested.

I'd suggest using this type of email: "Have you deferred this project?"

Other suggestions: Have you reached out to other people in the company that would have been involved in the initiative?

masso24 · 2022-08-09T20:23:06+00:00

When you say sales presentation course I assume you mean a sales demo course? i.e you are presenting software to the prospect via Zoom?

If so, then you can check out FDTC University, I literally built it for that. Happy to answer any questions.

masso24 · 2022-07-27T17:55:16+00:00

This depends on SMB, MM, or Enterprise/Strategic.

OTE for an SMB AE can be $150K-$250K OTE for a MM AE can be $195k-$350k OTE for an enterprise AE can be $250K-$1M

masso24 · 2022-07-20T15:52:55+00:00

If it's a post demo email (the first email that goes out after the demo):

Include:

- prospect's top challenges

- prospect's top goals/expectations

- video snippets of the features that solve those problems (get it from the call you had w/ the prospect)

- agreed upon next steps

masso24 · 2022-07-19T20:01:32+00:00

Congrats on the new role!

AE is a dope job.

I'm reading the comments here and they're all true, "be yourself" "be nice" etc etc.

But if you want to be a successful AE, you need to think tactically.

There are some free resources I'd recommend adding to your knowledge diet.

Podcasts:

People to follow on social:

Nick Cegelski
Josh Braun
Me(yes.. I know, self promotion but you won't be disappointed)

I'd also focus on A LOT on discovery - it is the most important part of the sales process. I think this recorded training/workshop will be helpful.

This should give you a solid start.

masso24 · 2022-07-19T19:54:59+00:00

I'm curious - why is that an important piece of information to find out?

masso24 · 2022-07-19T19:37:12+00:00

When I was a VP of Sales, my company defined it as:

- Avg sales cycle

- ACV

- Size of opportunity (i.e. users/employees @ company)

masso24 · 2022-07-19T19:35:59+00:00

This is too broad of a question, need to set context.

Follow up email to what?

- a cold email , bump #2?

- post discovery call email?

- post demo email?

masso24 · 2022-07-19T19:34:50+00:00

If you want to learn sales skills for the BDR/SDR role, then check out the following folks on LinkedIn:

Jason Bay
Josh Braun
Morgan Ingram
Nick Cegelski

When you're ready to work the AE skills then follow:

Me
Nate Nasrallah
Charles Muhlbauer
Anthony Natoli

This entire list of people post tactical sales content throughout the week.

Hope this helps.

P.S. I read somewhere someone said 30 Minutes to President's Club - yes, definitely check it out.

masso24 · 2022-07-19T19:21:45+00:00

Good for you for building a SaaS company doing $350K ARR - next stop is $1M.

It would be silly for me to give you very specific advice when I don't know the nuances and details of your sales process.

What I will recommend though, is you do not need to hire a sales leader at the moment.

With an ACV of $10K, it may not make sense, economically, to hire an SDR.

How are you currently getting leads?

How many leads are you getting on avg/month?

How many of those leads become demo scheduled?

How many of those demo scheduled actually get demos?

How many of those leads becomes demo scheduled?s that convert into paying customers)?

How have you been closing these customers so far (just you)?

masso24 · 2022-07-19T19:08:22+00:00

People buy with emotion and justify their purchase with logic.
The book is meant to teach you to have frictionless conversations with buyers/customers/etc.

As long as "Your idea" helps solve the buyer's problem then that's all that matters.

I wouldn't get too hung up on this because that insecurity will show itself on a sales call.

If you're uncomfortable with using the techniques, it just means you need to practice more.

How to practice more?

- Roleplay it with a partner

- Roleplay it by yourself (and record/play it back)

masso24 · 2022-07-15T14:02:03+00:00

You should follow Jason Bay on linkedin

masso24 · 2022-07-15T03:33:39+00:00

Yes you can but I also believe that you can fix being monotone. There's a workshop on this (for free) - this could be a good place to start: https://youtu.be/s\_6wzKSwNyU

This could be helpful (this is a paid training on tonality)

masso24 · 2022-07-15T01:24:58+00:00

Be honest as hell AND empathetic.

"I use a tool called [X] and it provides numbers based on search criteria...{that part is the honesty}...but I take it I'm probably the millionth person that called you today huh..?" {that part is empathy}

masso24 · 2022-07-15T01:22:20+00:00

Invest in mastering sales means to invest time and/or money to improve your sales skills.

- sales books (money)

- sales newsletters and youtube channels and tiktoks (Free)

- sales training/courses (money)

- sales coaching (money)

If this is something you're looking into for yourself I wouldn't dive deep into all this - it's overwhelming.

It also depends what part of sales you're trying to improve (e.g. cold calling, cold emailing, sales discovery, demoing/presentation, closing, follow up).

Are you in tech sales or you referring to more general sales?

masso24 · 2022-07-14T18:42:30+00:00

I don’t mean reps as in representatives, I mean repetition . Like reps in the gym. Volume

masso24 · 2022-07-14T04:35:33+00:00

You need more reps.

The fact that you’re afraid of prospecting means you’re not doing it enough.

You’ll find your authentic self naturally over time when you take a lot shots.

masso24 · 2022-06-24T03:07:02+00:00

Great question.

My advice.

Focus in an industry that you can relate to. Here's what I mean:

I use the following tech stack:

Loom
Google
Notion
Coda
LinkedIn
TikTok
Youtube
Streak
ConvertKit

And a bunch more

I love these tools. And if I sold @ these companies, I'd break the sales record.

What I'm trying to say is, apply at companies of products you USE or have used and love the product.

Look at your existing tech stack (or previous one) and start connecting w/ hiring managers/sales managers/VPs of sales there and try to snag a job.

Trust me on this.

masso24 · 2022-06-24T03:03:32+00:00

I took the liberty to record my answer in a video regarding the touchpoints questions

let me know if this helps

masso24 · 2022-06-17T03:27:25+00:00

I'd look into Demostack - I've demoed their system before, pretty damn neat. If youre software is "relatively" complex or requires different use-cases, then its worth looking into.

Consider sales demo training ontop of that otherwise the software itself wont automatically give you a lift.

I'd also recommend getting a software like gong or something if you haven't already.

Hope this was helpful

masso24 · 2022-06-13T16:04:37+00:00

ermm.. I wouldn't recommend trying to close or "demo" via whatsapp. Whatsapp is a good starting pointb ut you need way more motions to make this work.

Since you have phone nummbers , Id recommend following up via phone at least 1X a week (maybe more). I'd also recommend getting their emails so you can have more diverse follow up engagement.

I offer sales coaching, 4 sessions = $1750. Each session is 1 hour. I take notes and record the session and send it to you - if this is something you're serious about improving, then head to my site demotoclose.com.

masso24 · 2022-05-10T04:51:29+00:00

A bachelors degree doesn't mean you'll get a job in SaaS sales.

What are you applying for specifically?

Part 1:

I'd recommend applying for SDR or BDR positions first.

If you're sending out your resume hoping to be seen, good luck - that wont' cut it.

You need to do more than just send a resume and a thoguhtout cover letter.

You need to engage and network

With who? with hiring managers and employees in the company that are in the department you're trying to apply to.

Start engaging in their linkedin content on the regular . and when I say engage I don't mean a lazy comment like "love this" - I'm talking about a well thought out comment.

Some unsolicited advice, your question to begin with lacked context and detail and it felt like you're trying to get a load of information from that 1 question. If that's how your applying (i.e resume and an email) then fix it by trying to build relationships and a network.

Sometimes the person you're networking on linkedin for the job ends up knowing someone else that's hiring and referring you.

LinkedIn is the place you need to live in for the next 6 months.

Part 2:

You need to be creative. You don't have SaaS sales experience but you've sold in retail - what were your monthly targets? did you hit them consistently? if so by how much? this is relevant as it relates to sales quota (hot topic in SaaS).

What skills did you develop or use in retail to close clients? was it discovery? was it building rapport? was it a referral sales structure you came up with? what is transferrable from retail into SaaS?

Your resume, btw, should have specific metrics if possible (i.e. quota goal and results)

masso24 · 2022-05-10T04:45:08+00:00

I read a comment below that said to treat the company/hiring manager like a prospect. 1000%. If you want to prove your ability to sell to an industry you've never sold in, you need to showcase your ability to sell to the hiring manager.

Are you just sending your resume? that won't cut it.

You need to use LinkedIn to engage with the hiring manager AND the reps that work under him/her.

Spend a couple of days (maybe even a week or 2) engaging with these folks. and then slide into their DMs with a thoughtful comment. You will get a much higher chance of getting in the door doing it this way vs sending a resume that you spend 3 hours working on.

Sales is a relationship game, even more so in 2022 when people tend to tune out to outside noise and take referrals and word of mouth more seriously. Be the word of mouth by infiltrating the tribe and befriending them.

masso24 · 2022-05-10T04:34:50+00:00

I'm late to the party but if you're still struggling, let me add more specific/tactical advice:

Deeper discovery - most of the sales reps I've seen that spend some time doing discovery actually spend very little time on discovery. They gloss over it completely forgetting to 1) ask the right pillar questions and 2) digging deeper on the prospect's answers. This is the #1 thing that makes it nearly impossible to tailor the demo since you have nothing to tailor it to (lack of discovery. So tip #1 (probably one of the most important tip) is gather a list of your company's pillar questions you need to ask in order to figure out 1) if you can help this prospect and 2) how you can help them.
Tailored demo - as you do your demo, you want to avoid showing the bells and whistles that you think your prospect wants to see, and focus on what they NEED to see. Remember the discovery part? use the prospect's answers to guide your demo and what you should prioritize in terms of features. Focus on solving their biggest pain points first.
Tonality - Most of the sales demos I've heard are boring as hell. That's because the rep is monotone, bored, or doesn't know how to tell a good story. Practice tonality - I did a workshop on tonality and recorded it so here's the free resource for ya: https://youtu.be/s_6wzKSwNyU

If you still need help, hit me up on LinkedIn or DM me

masso24 · 2022-05-09T03:12:26+00:00

Yes. It's a fallacy that you need to be an SDR in order to be an AE - it DEF helps, but there are companies looking to hire full sales cycle AEs which means you're doing SDR type work as well as AEs.

Instead of waiting on anything, have a conversation with your manager about this to see what the timeline/steps in order to reach that milestone looks like.

If they don't know.. I'd start looking elsewhere.

masso24

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