Ole I. Børseth ☁️

My goal this year: Hire zero new sales reps. If you are below 3 Mio. ARR and go after >50k deals, you do not need more than five people who are selling. The calculation is rather simple: Every sales rep should make min. 3x their salary. That is what you need to have a viable business model. And salespeople can realistically make 5x their salary as a max. If you have 5 sales reps at 180k per year, every rep should generate 540k of ARR per year as a minimum. With 5 reps, that is 675k per quarter, and 2.7 Mio. per year. At their lowest productivity. This should go up to 4.5 Mio. ARR per year with 5x the sales rep's salary. Unless you want to go from 3 Mio. to 9 Mio., you likely have enough sales reps to reach your yearly target below 3 Mio. ARR. If your sales reps are not at 3x their salary yet, you have no PMF, and no feasible business model yet. So work on that first. Don't hire new sales reps. Before you reach the 3x mark.

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7 examples of sales questions that sell: 1. “What are the biggest challenges you’re facing that you’d regret not solving 6-12 months from now?” Why it works: The “6-12 months” bit filters out 'nice to solves.' Buyers naturally talk about urgent problems. That's what you want. 2. “What’s going on in the business that’s driving that to be a priority?” Why this works: This uncovers the ‘need behind the need.’ Most buyers start with surface level pain. But when you ask this? It gets to the heart of what’s really going on. 3. “What business outcome or metric would be improved if you solved these challenges?” Why this works: In this economy, you have to quantify the pain. That’s how buyers justify a purchase. This question helps you do just that. 4. “What’s your opinion on why these challenges are happening?” Why this works: Products solve root causes. If you don't know the root cause? You can't align your solution to it. Products don’t solve problems. They address root causes. 5. “What are the ripple effects these challenges are having on the business?” It’s cheesy to ask “how does this impact you?” Language matters. A less ‘salesy’ way to explore impact: Explore the ‘ripple effects.’ Same question. Different language. Better results. 6. “Who else in the business is impacted by these challenges, and how?” Why this works: If a problem impacts ONE team? Not urgent. If a problem impacts SEVERAL teams? Very urgent. Plus, this sets you up to multi-thread. 7. “What do you think you need in a solution to solve these challenges?” Why this works: You'll get to know your buyer's criteria. Does it align with your product? No? Better to know that now while you can shape it. Tag a seller below if you liked this. If you're a SaaS seller and want to reach the next level of your financial success without burnout, boost your win rates with these 30 scripts: https://lnkd.in/gZcrmSWE

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Sales Efficiency is not (only) driven by "AI, CRM, ABM & (no) SDRs"? 🤯💡 But these components are becoming table-stakes for success - fast. AI: "Staying still is falling behind" here. If your competitors invest, you must as well to - well, remain competitive. Not building your own tech, but leverage it. CRM: This should be a no-brainer in 2024 - but isn't. Still so many (to be) great companies with Excel, Asana & "brains" as "CRM. Or unsustainable choices that are either not flexible or do not scale with you. So yes, taking a stand here for HubSpot as #1 CRM for B2B entrepreneurs. ABM: Account-Based-Marketing > "Spray & Pray". Your Target Accounts & Buyer Personas want to be & feel understood. Conversions from outbound sales are at an all-time low (if you don't do this). (No) SDRs: Qualified Pipeline is future revenue -> cash is "oxygen". So Pipeline Generation is more important than ever before. Just junior talent mass-spamming prospects is not. "Pipeline Generation Yes / Junior SDRs: No/Hard? 👉 Join me at DACH's #1 B2B SaaS event ARRtist Summit to discuss? (PM me for one of the few last Founder / CxO tickets if you like? ---- Julius Göllner Matthias Ernst Jannis Bandorski Dominic Klingberg thanks for having me again as a speaker and since Day as a Co-Host with SalesPlaybook.

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Most orgs get the definition of "Scaling Customer Success" wrong. FACT: A study by Index Ventures found that in successful SaaS companies, CS teams grow to nearly the size of sales teams - 140 CSMs to 158 sales reps in a 1,000-person organization. Yet, a Gainsight survey revealed that only companies investing 10% of revenue into Customer Success and CS Ops achieve the highest Net Revenue Retention (NRR). Why? Because they focus on scaling systems, not just headcount. Scaling Customer Success ≠ Adding more bodies. PERIOD. Hiring more CSMs without investing in tech, processes, and product enhancements is a waste. It’s a band-aid for deeper issues - like bad onboarding, poor product adoption, and reactive processes. Adding people might make the churn problem quieter, but it won't make it disappear. If your tech stack isn’t automating routine tasks, you’re not scaling If your processes aren’t leveraging the few to achieve more, you’re not scaling If your product isn’t self-serving for customers, you’re not scaling Scaling CS is about multiplying outcomes, not headcount. The best companies know this. That’s why they invest heavily in Customer Success Operations (CSOps) - building systems that reduce dependency on people and increase customer-driven outcomes. Real Scaling looks something like this: - A lean team of CSMs managing millions in ARR, backed by automation and self-serve tools - Processes that allow one person to handle what used to take five - A product that reduces the need for human intervention and drives adoption organically If your CS team is growing but your NRR isn’t breaking 120%, you’re not scaling Ask yourself: - How much of your CS budget goes into systems versus salaries? - How many workflows can you automate this quarter? - How much of your product's success is tied to your team instead of the product itself? Maybe then - your definition of scaling will start making some sense? Scaling isn’t about doing more with more. It’s about doing exponentially more with less. Thoughts? Block 1:1 to create a strong revenue focused CS team structure, process/ playbooks, tech stack with me - https://lnkd.in/gjQxGq7f #CustomerSuccess #CS #Revenue #NRR #GRR #CustomerSuccessManager #CSM #CSLeaders #Founders #linkedin #B2BSaaS

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10 salespeople spend a minimum of 500 hours in sales conversations / month. Yet, 95% of the information from these conversations is typically lost. The Consequence: - Lack of understanding of customer pain points and buying behavior. - Poor Go-To-Market Strategy. Capturing customer conversations and transforming them into actionable insights is the most crucial action in your go-to-market strategy! #sales #b2bsales #salesmeeting #ai #customer

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The #SAAS revolution of ever growth of sales & market cap is not working for most users The impact of unspent licenses and unused tools are becoming an eye sore The use it or lose it philosophy with users are being used for many IT tools by business focussed IT departments I see decommissioning of SAAS tools becoming a trend as many companies see taking out systems that are just protecting old ways of doing work a value driver Those providers that try to arm twist customers into staying may succeed in the very short term, but are well served to remember that SAAS was sold on " pay per drink", rip and replace and their ilk #Salesforce #Microsoft

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When RevOps is really just SalesOps (And the CRO is really just the VP of Sales) 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗘 - Closing deals should work - Clear pipeline management process - Forecasting is as accurate as possible - But everything before & after is an issue 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 - Has different goals - Maybe the target is MQLs - Has their definition of MQLs - And their definition of SALs, SQOs - Has systems with different metrics - Their reports don't match sales' reports - Leads routed from one system to the next - With lots of things falling through the cracks - Classic case of marketing/sales misalignment 𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 - Do SDRs report to marketing? - If so, we're misaligned there too - The goal may be meetings booked - So AEs have lots of leads and meetings - But maybe not the ones they really need - The ones that convert to pipeline/revenue - We have more misalignment & finger pointing - Do SDRs report to sales? - What content do they have? - What events and assets do they share? - What visibility do they have into engagement? - How does marketing align with their outreach? 𝗢𝗡𝗕𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 - Sales is paid to close deals - How do they hand off customers? - What is the onboarding process? - Who builds/maintains that process? - What is done if sales drops the ball? - What is done if sales overpromises? - How are incentives and comp aligned? 𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 & 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 - Which customers are easiest to retain? - Which customers are most likely to churn? - Which customers are the easiest to expand? - How is this data used to improve sales targeting? - How do we maximize NRR if sales is in their own silo? For me RevOps drives value by getting into the weeds and finding ways to generate more revenue with the resources available. That includes SalesOps and optimizing the sales process to close more deals. However, if we stop there we end up with an expensive and inefficient revenue engine with high CAC, high Churn and low LTV. We end up with different departments chasing different goals in different systems with different reports and different definitions of success. What would you add to this? Anything I missed? ✌️

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5 reasons why prospects don’t reply to your messages:   1. Busy schedule 2. Not ready to buy yet 3. Prospect forgot to reply 4. Missed message (e.g. in spam folder) 5. Poor timing (e.g. prospect on holiday)   There are many reasons why your prospects don’t reply.   No reply doesn’t mean no interest. -- How many times do you follow up with prospects? #JamesEEnglish #Sales #China

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The second iteration of the 2024 @Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Process Mining Platforms is live! Spoiler: Software AG is a Leader, again. Read the full report – no email required: https://lnkd.in/df8HcVfD #ARISProcessMining #GartnerMagicQuadrant #BusinessProcessManagement

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Managing more than 10 BDRs spread out across different countries… How do you adapt prospecting sequences for each market? How do you make sure each rep ramps up properly if you can’t coach them because you can’t understand German or Hebrew? And how do you set up the right KPIs to track performance fair and square for every one? Those are the questions Rachel Fay Martin, Senior Manager Business Development EMEA at Zoom, answers in today’s episode of International Corner 🎙. One of the learnings she shares with us are the 3 tips she applies to adapt guidelines for each region: 1️⃣ Creating a buddy system She pairs each new rep with another BDR or AE speaking the same language to role play. 2️⃣ Fostering each rep to create an ecosystem with the wider team She pushes them to talk to marketing, finance people etc… that are speaking the same language as them within the organization to have coffee and get more understanding and support internally 3️⃣ Feedback loops with Enablement She created a group of BDR delegates. 1 Senior BDR from each region joins a bi-weekly call with the enablement team to provide feedback and get help to adapt sequences and create scripts. That.. is only part of the tips she shared. If you want to find out more, click on the links beloooow #internationalexpansion #globalbusiness

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Sales Leaders - Avoid this Mistake! Please don’t give your SDRs access to Smartlead/Instantly and ask them to manage multichannel workflows like LinkedIn touchpoints and cold calling. It doesn’t integrate well with your CRM, dialler or data provider meaning it will make a simple workflow very complex. You might actually be better off with a traditional sales engagement platform like Outreach, SalesLoft, or even Lemlist (even though you're hearing something else from Linkedin.) Instead you should think of SmartLead/Instantly as an additional SDR on your team that can send emails at such a high volume and low cost. Use it to reach out to your Tier 3 and some Tier 2 prospects where the average deal size doesn't justify having a dedicated SDR. ----------------------------- Hi, I am Leo, former head of sales now agency founder of the The Playbook Agency

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Most businesses neglect sales pipeline automation: - Rely on manual lead tracking with no system in place. - Focus on closing deals but neglect the follow-up process. - Ignore key insights by failing to track the sales journey. - Use outdated tools that don’t integrate seamlessly. They skip 90% of what makes a pipeline effective. The truth? They don’t believe in the power of automation. They see it as unnecessary tech rather than a way to streamline sales. This mindset leads to inefficiencies like: - "We’ll just track leads in a spreadsheet for now." - "We don’t need reminders; the team can handle it." - "How did that deal slip through the cracks again?" They expect strong results from a broken system. And the consequences are clear: - For the Business → missed revenue opportunities. - For the Team → wasted time on manual tasks. - For the Leads → poor experiences and lost trust. It always ends like this: Founder: "Our sales process isn’t working. We need more leads." Me: "You don’t need more leads. You need a better pipeline on 3 layers." 1. Pipeline Strategy Layer Start by understanding your sales cycle and buyer journey. Map every step to identify where deals stall. Automate follow-ups, lead scoring, and task assignments to keep momentum alive. 2. Pipeline System Layer Set up a CRM that fits your needs. Connect it to your lead generation tools, email platforms, and reporting dashboards. Ensure seamless integration to avoid manual data entry. 3. Pipeline Optimization Layer Track your metrics such as conversion rates, pipeline velocity, and deal stages. Use this data to refine automation, improve team performance, and focus on what works. Sales pipeline automation isn’t just a tool. It’s the backbone of consistent, scalable growth.

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I got a sales team to increase their booked meetings by 221% in two days by doing this one thing. Calling with clear purpose. You'd be surprised how many people lack clear communication skills - and what a toll it's taking on their sales process. Vague doesn't get leads. Vague doesn't get sales. Vague doesn't give you 'word of mouth' business forever. Clarity = cash.

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[COMPLETED] Experiment: SDR vs Full Cycle AE (FCAE) Results are out and it's shocking. SDR's are expensive and unnecessary - That seems to be the trend these days. We took the advice and experimented for 2 months with the FCAE structure. What we found was that it took too much time out of the AE's schedule to scrape, contact, book demos, follow up, negotiate & close. This led to a drastic dip in the quantity and the quality of the demos. Due to the nature of the business, sales cycle is king. And this was not helpful at all. In November, we reverted to the SDR-AE model and results were up across the major KPI's- 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀: +𝟰𝟬% 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲: +𝟲𝟬% 🔥🔥🔥 Also, this was done with:  1. A leaner team than before and; 2. Full outbound sales. So here are the lessons:  1. Find a process that works for you. I still believe that FCAE will work, subject to type of product, industry, geography, culture & economics. 2. Start early - Had we start FCAE process from Day 1, I'm pretty sure the result would be much better than the experiment. 3. SDR-AE model - It's all about the flow. From the SDR's first call script to the AE's discovery questions and negotiation method, they all have to be aligned. Tight. 4. Outbound - Depending on the financial goal, SDR-AE model pays much better dividend when you're outbound-centric. All in all, it was an eye-opening experiment and credits have to be given to the team for adapting to the changes so quickly. They definitely gnawled and clawed their way through the 3 months past. #fullcycle #sdr #ae #salesmonk

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Most scale-ups hit a wall. You’ve got some early traction and pipeline is growing, but it's getting trickier to close those opportunities. Sales cycles are getting longer. What’s missing? Demand. In the early days of a start-up, we all lean on outbound and short-term tactics (cold emails, sales outreach). That works to a point. But to scale, we need to shift our focus: 1. Building demand is all about creating awareness *before* buyers are ready to purchase. --- If your brand isn’t top of mind, you’ll always be playing catch-up. 2. Be ruthlessly consistent with brand building, because your buyers don’t just choose products, they choose brands they trust. --- Your name should carry weight in your industry. ("Ruthless consistency" is something my CGO Mark Mullings is relentless about, and for good reason!) 3. Great content, thought leadership, and community don’t convert overnight, but they build brand equity that pays off later. --- Sometimes much later in many cases, and this can be really hard to justify when you're under pressure to grow and hit targets. The best scale-ups don’t just compete for attention, they create demand where it didn’t exist. That’s how you shorten sales cycles, lower the costs to acquire customers, and dominate your category. This is coming from someone who once thought 'demand gen' was a nice-to-have, and I've learned it really is the difference between stagnation and scale.

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SDRs - if I were to start again with 0 knowledge. Here's what I'd do to ramp as fast as possible: Meet with the 3 top performing BDRs: Pick their brains on everything: Prospecting, Research, Sequences, Cold calls, emails, Linkedin etc. Once you have a good pool of knowledge on strategies that are working in the current market you can adapt it and make it your own. Problem enablement: The most important thing to know is WHO you help and HOW you help them. Speak to your AE's who've closed business, CSMs and your own internal personas. The goal is to be able to crisply articulate how you can help a target persona in a target account get to their desired state. No one cares about WHAT you do, they care about how you can help them. Roleplays: You're not going to get better without practice, aim to do 1/2 cold call roleplays a day with the top performers in your team and get feedback. Narrow your focus: If you sell multiple products/have multiple use cases pick 1 or 2 and double down on those. Jack of all trades master of none. Meet with your AE's: This will be the difference between you hitting target and not. Set up regular cadences with the AE's you'll be working with. Take them out for dinner, learn what they like and don't like in a new business meeting. You're partners so working with them effectively will make your life 10x easier. Volume: Practice makes perfect, you're not going to get good without the reps so get out there and prepare to fail. Double down: If you're finding you're better at one medium than the other, consider going heavier on that to increase your conversion rates. Mindset: Don't expect to be good from day 1, expect to fail and enjoy it. Take the pressure off and remember even the best reps were beginners at one point. Buddy up: If you join with someone use them as a support system, celebrate your successes mourn your losses, you'll travel further with friends. A/B test and iterate: After every successful or unsuccessful call/email/LI message think about what went well and how to improve the next dial you make, to improve by 1% with every bit of outreach. Speak to managers and other reps about how you can improve too. Find a Hobby: Gym, tennis, football, hiking etc. Something you can do outside of work to keep your mind sharp and away from work once the day ends, this will prevent burnout. Personal Growth: Soak up quality content on LI - Dedicate 30mins a day to self-development and watch your skillset grow. My favourites are Kyle Asay Chris Ritson Brian LaManna Salman Mohiuddin Chris Orlob. Go into the office: Hate to say it, but you're going to be able to have a lot more Facetime and relevant conversations with the top performers, AE's and other relevant departments if you chat f2f. When I first started out as a BDR I was in 4/5 days of the week, allowing for faster development. Anything I've missed?

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Resilience in Sales: How to Bounce Back from Rejections Let’s face it—rejection is part of the sales journey. But it doesn’t define your value. Resilience is what separates top performers from the rest. Here’s how to bounce back from a “no”: 1️⃣ Reframe it: A “no” is just feedback, not a failure. 2️⃣ Reflect: What could you improve in your pitch or approach? 3️⃣ Reset: Move on to the next opportunity with renewed energy. Every great salesperson has faced rejection, but they don’t let it hold them back. Instead, they use it as fuel for growth. How do you stay resilient after a tough rejection? Let’s share and learn from each other. #SalesResilience #SalesProfessionals #SalesTips #MondayMotivation

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What's the State of AI & Automation in B2B Sales? Simple insights you can’t miss. In our session yesterday, we presented the initial findings of the Sales Efficiency Report. Here are the key highlights: 🚀 Manuel presented on Inbound-led Outbound VS Traditional Approaches: He took the stage, tackling the age-old debate. The verdict? A balanced blend of inbound and outbound is key. Our survey (n = 132) also revealed: 📈 Lead Engagement: Trade shows & conferences remain vital for industry presence. Personalised emails are still king for staying in touch with leads. 💡 I had the pleasure of showcasing the 2️⃣ most popular AI use cases that increase value for B2B companies (n = 130): 1️⃣ Practical examples of CRM enrichment (CRM regularly synchronises with AI data providers for up-to-date insights) 2️⃣ and Follow-up Automation (AI continuously evaluates feedback and personalises follow-ups), demonstrating how these processes can be streamlined using AI. 👏 Many thanks to our speakers Manuel, Florian, and Valentine for sharing their expertise and insights. If you missed it, don't worry, here's the ungated recording https://lnkd.in/eN9Zd7jW and we are sharing the full report soon. 🔍 What was your favourite takeaway from the webinar? #B2BSales #AI #Automation #SalesWebinar #LeadGeneration #MarketingAutomation #SalesEfficiency

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