An Wang

Most CSMs don’t really have a system that works ⛔ They throw their time at answering emails, jumping on catch up calls, or trying to put together QBR decks. Sometimes this works pretty well. Plenty of CSMs are successful because they simply got lucky. But for every CSM that lucked out, there are hundreds that have failed. And I know that so many of these failures could have been avoided with a better plan. 😅 Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed as a CSM? Are you looking for a proven system to take your career to new heights? Well guess what I have taken over a decade of my strategies and playbooks and I have created a course to help CSMs LEVEL UP their careers! This course has taken over 5 months to launch because I have packed so much content into 6 weeks! 😱 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗰𝗼𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 - 𝗖𝗦𝗠 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗨𝗣 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘆! This LIVE cohort training course will cover the following: ✅ Handle objections in upselling ✅ Understand and build customer revenue success plans ✅ Understand how the role of a CSM impacts a business ✅ Recognize and overcome traditional CSM mindsets ✅ Identify common pitfalls and challenges in traditional CSM approaches ✅ Develop a deep understanding of customer goals and challenges ✅ Strategies for establishing credibility as a trusted advisor And so much more... Don't leave your career up to chance. Join CSM RevUP Academy and unlock your full potential as a Customer Success Manager. Say goodbye to failures and hello to a better plan. Enroll now and start your journey towards becoming a super successful CSM! ⬇️ Check out the comments below on how you can enroll today! ✍️ Would love to hear your thoughts. ♻️ Reshare if this helped you. #customersuccess #csm #careercoach

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There are two ways to solve gaps in signal-based selling. Only one is guaranteed to work at scale. 1) Revenue Enablement Provide continuous training for (a) every new hire who joins a team and (b) every 6 months to refresh reps on essential information, workflows, and processes. Many factors can impact the effectiveness of enablement activities (from the comprehensiveness of training materials to the trainer’s institutional knowledge, to how closely the individual reps were paying attention that day). Enablement only becomes harder as more people and processes are added to the mix because there are so many moving parts. 2) Revenue Operations Through automation, RevOps can reduce gaps — especially from human error — that cause friction or inaction among reps. Specifically, end-to-end automation. Most common “automations” in signal-based selling usually don’t go far enough. Therefore teams are overly reliant on enablement touchpoints to stay aligned. Ex: A champion moves to a new role and this is automatically updated in Salesforce This automation gets the process from point A to point B, but still relies on multiple human touches from B to Z. End-to-end automation ensures that essential tasks throughout an entire workflow are set up to keep the process moving toward an end goal. It anticipates gaps and opportunities for human error from point A to point Z (meeting booked). Ex: A champion moves to a new role, the CRM record is updated, a rep is notified, and a multi-step persona-specific email sequence is triggered. Would every rep follow this process if it was entirely manual (even with enablement training)? Probably not. That’s why every signal play should be accompanied by clear workflows enabled with end-to-end automation. The play can scale with your team. Signals without action are just noise for reps. Automation guarantees signals get actioned.

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I did an informal poll on CSM vs Sales commission splits. I was pleasantly shocked to see that over 95% of companies do not have Sales take a commission on renewals unless it’s a particularly challenging one; the AE is there to help with it as a “bounty renewal”. in this case, the AE gets a % but is not taken from the CSM. Other interesting data points: "Commission on upsells and renewal made up 30% of the total compensation package. However, the exact commission % was determined by dividing the 30% by $$$ into the total ARR managed by the CSM." What metrics should this be based on? Most followed this model to Typically, companies that are earlier in their CS maturity will base this off a few leading indicators (adoption milestones, EBRs, etc.), and then move to comping on lagging indicators (retention, expansion, NRR, etc.) once their leading indicator activities have been proven. The following are examples of metrics you can use, not an exhaustive list: Leading: QBRs and/or EBRs (attained vs scheduled) Product adoption milestones (product dependent) Lagging: Net Revenue Retention (NRR) - this is likely the most common Retention Expansion Advocacy (hard to make this scale across large teams and mixed portfolios - this is better as a SPIFF or annual metric to Bonus on) From there, you can determine the weight of each metric on the bonus. I'll give an example using a bonus that is achieved by a renewal retention goal and an NRR goal. Criteria for 100% Bonus Attainment: 90% Renewal Retention (50% weight) 125% Net Revenue Retention (50% weight) "This keeps it pretty simple with two priorities. Retain and Expand Revenue. The Retention goal being assessed separately ensures CSMs don't have significant churn masked by massive upsells. In this example, if a CSM had 85% Retention and 115% NRR, they'd end up at 93.22% to goal for their overall commission/variable comp."

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I did an informal poll on CSM vs Sales commission splits. I was pleasantly shocked to see that over 95% of companies do not have Sales take a commission on renewals unless it’s a particularly challenging one; the AE is there to help with it as a “bounty renewal”. in this case, the AE gets a % but is not taken from the CSM. Other interesting data points: "Commission on upsells and renewal made up 30% of the total compensation package. However, the exact commission % was determined by dividing the 30% by $$$ into the total ARR managed by the CSM." What metrics should this be based on? Most followed this model to Typically, companies that are earlier in their CS maturity will base this off a few leading indicators (adoption milestones, EBRs, etc.), and then move to comping on lagging indicators (retention, expansion, NRR, etc.) once their leading indicator activities have been proven. The following are examples of metrics you can use, not an exhaustive list: Leading: QBRs and/or EBRs (attained vs scheduled) Product adoption milestones (product dependent) Lagging: Net Revenue Retention (NRR) - this is likely the most common Retention Expansion Advocacy (hard to make this scale across large teams and mixed portfolios - this is better as a SPIFF or annual metric to Bonus on) From there, you can determine the weight of each metric on the bonus. I'll give an example using a bonus that is achieved by a renewal retention goal and an NRR goal. Criteria for 100% Bonus Attainment: 90% Renewal Retention (50% weight) 125% Net Revenue Retention (50% weight) "This keeps it pretty simple with two priorities. Retain and Expand Revenue. The Retention goal being assessed separately ensures CSMs don't have significant churn masked by massive upsells. In this example, if a CSM had 85% Retention and 115% NRR, they'd end up at 93.22% to goal for their overall commission/variable comp."

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Focusing on the weakest link can really boost your sales performance.

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This framework is incredibly valuable for diagnosing sales issues. Breaking it down step by step makes it easier to identify where improvements can be made.

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Great approach to troubleshooting sales. Focusing on KPIs and asking the right questions can really help uncover what's holding back growth.

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What will work for future SDRs? The same thing past SDR greats focused on. Deep account research Deep contact research Unique + bespoke value props Building real relationships The fundamentals exist for a reason. Focus on those and you'll go very far. Obsess over silver bullets, shortcuts, and "scaling" everything... and you'll be stuck on the treadmill. #gtmai #sdr #sales

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Amen to this. Senior leaders need to get involved in the details and understand the structural and operational issues in their organizations that lead to customer churn. You hold the power to improve the quality of your product and the value of your service - you're customer facing Sales and CSM teams do not.

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SDR Dashboards - what do you want to see? Gimme your top 3 stats/charts/reports you like to see on YOUR dashboard for pipeline gen. There's the obvious activity levels and SQL/SAL volumes but what else do you like to see.....

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Want to improve your cold calls 📞💰? Here are some top tips from sales experts on Linkedin >>> Alexander Stefansson shows you how to prep for your calls beforehand to hit high conversion rates 📈: https://lnkd.in/gnNfMQri Levi Nichols avoids feature dumping on a cold call. Check out why. 🚫🗣️: https://lnkd.in/gxHipR3s Morgan J Ingram gives a solid tip: Stop interrupting your prospects. Wait for a second or two. ⏱️🤐: https://lnkd.in/gSmkqaW2 Josh Braun shares a call opener that lowers your prospect's guard. 👂🔓: https://lnkd.in/g-3nDmBQ Mike Gallardo from Deel shares 2 voicemail scripts that actually work 📞✉️: https://lnkd.in/ggRr9qzg Last but not the least, here's the largest cold calling wiki built by Giulio Segantini based on 100k+ cold calls he has made in 11 years. It's a gold mine💎🔥: https://lnkd.in/gmfbzuXR _________ ♻️ Found this helpful? Repost it so your network can learn from it too. Follow me, Ashwin Gupta, for more content on entrepreneurship, B2B sales, startups and the role of AI in B2B. #business #b2bsales #b2b #revenue #startups #entrepreneurship

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Love these tips from Daphne to stop CSM’s being reactive and start being proactive

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Should CRO’s even exist? Not if they’re going to be: - Super expensive glorified head of sales - With no marketing or CS experience - Compensated like an account executive  - No focus on ICP or aligning the entire GTM motion - No coordination with peers in cross-functions - No P&L fluency or ability to read a P&L  - Only focused on new business with no understanding of recurring impact - No knowledge of the bowtie or systems designed to deliver ongoing customer value - Have a short term view and only care about the quarter CROs should absolutely exist if they: - Can come from Marketing, CS, or RevOps not just Sales - Have foundational understanding and respect for other functions - Are compensated like all other executives - Are focused on driving tight alignment across the GTM motion - Are focused on collaborating across Sales, Marketing, CS leveraging data generated from RevOps - Are focused on a customer journey that begins when the prospect lands on the website and continues through at least 3 annual renewals - Have a deep knowledge of the bowtie  - Have built expertise as revenue architects - Have a long term view that balances short term urgency with long term enterprise value Revenue generation is a team sport. Recurring revenue is driven by recurring impact. If you’re leading the revenue function, you have to understand that and you have to be an expert at driving tight alignment across the customer journey to deliver that impact. This is the way.

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Outside sales leadership - drops in revenue within high performing territories due to retirement - doesn't have to take place. It should not be accepted as inevitable. Joe McDonald of Jasper Engines makes strategic plans to not avoid the revenue drop, he uses a retiring rep to actually grow revenue. He's hands down one of our favorite customers. A strong leader that cares, leads with strategy and process and holds his team accountable to what drives revenue (AKA what makes reps successful). Link to the full podcast link is in the comments. #outsidesales #fieldsales

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Our brilliant leader David Zeff ✌️ hit the nail on the head with this post. The rush to automate SDR work with AI is fundamentally misguided. Scaling outreach is important, but scaling in a way that disregards the critical factors—quality data, channel effectiveness, and genuine human connection—just creates noise. Too many leaders overlook the legal barriers and platform limitations that make AI-driven outreach unsustainable in the long run. We're seeing a tendency to crank up the volume rather than focusing on building meaningful connections, which could seriously damage brands and channels alike. The irony here is that while AI could enhance the SDR role, it won’t solve the real challenges of getting through to people in an authentic way. Buyers will see through the inauthenticity, and it won’t foster the trust needed for lasting partnerships. Agree 100% that this "solution" misses the mark. Curious to see where we’ll be by 2026—chances are, this post will age very well.

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When you have simple frameworks, it allows you to easily create compelling messages and content… Steve Plummer’s TMS framework of Transformation, Mechanise and Speed is one I will be definitely committing to memory. #ReferitDaily #B2Bleadgeneration #ReferralMarketing #BusinessCoaching #B2Bsales

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🤯 “Ramping up SDRs, AEs and CS people  takes us no less than 6 months.” 💣 🙈 This is what I heard on a recent demo from  a CRO of a rapidly scaling tech business. 📈 Time to efficiency is a struggle Heads of Sales Enablement and Customer Success are going through across their commercially-driven teams… 📖 At the moment, they expect internal  sales and CS decks, call recordings,  business pitches, etc. should do the job. 🙄 But it doesn’t! 🗓️ They're wasting too much time for people to start performing, closing deals, effectively onboarding customers, reducing churn & upselling… ❌ Sometimes, they still don’t perform... And then guess what? Off leaders go through to recruiting mode again starting from ground 0. 🎯 Hence the need for action-based learning.  Not just passively reading through PDFs  and listening to call recordings. 👨‍💻 Below are some use cases we see our customers here at UJJI AI ✨ leveraging our tech for: 🔸 Business-specific lead gen and outbound 🔸 Pitching quick and easy over the phone 🔸 Delivering demos and answering queries 🔸 Effectively onboarding new customers 🔸 Efficiently implementing product features 🔸 Practising great customer support 🔸 Guiding customers to upselling 🚀 Ultimately, growing tech businesses comes down to predictable new business development, high customer retention and low churn. 💬 So, DM me if you want to see examples  of AI-powered. easy to build and consume knowledge equipping experiences. 👇 Anything to add to this, Sales and CS leaders? Gautam Rishi Rohan Dickinson George Heron Russell Mitchell Callum Hartley Jon Teale James Dixon Seán Colfer Caroline L. Guy Rubin Jake Carter David Muscat Arun Raveendran Steve Eveleigh Ayo Kukoyi,

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🎉 After a bunch more promotions, we’re back at it and hiring SDR’s and BDR’s! 🎉 (Read this entire post for tips on how to get our attention) By the end of this month, we will have promoted 9 sales people in the last 4 months and our last 4 new AE’s were internal BDR promotions. 😲 This means we need to hire our next generation of SDR’s and BDR’s. If you’re looking for a winning product, opportunities for growth and a team that will push you to be your best, Owner is a pretty great spot. What you need to know about selling at Owner: ☎ We are a phone sales organization. Over 90% of Opps are booked on the phone. If you love talking to prospects instead of hiding behind a keyboard, this is your jam.  👷‍♀️ We sell to a blue collar, SMB buyer. Restaurant owners want to shoot straight so you need a thick skin. 🌵 We’re a growth obsessed team. We’re going to invest in you like crazy and expect you to do the same. If you don’t like reading or self-improvement, this might be a struggle.  🏗 We promote from within. Most of our XDR’s will be promoted to new roles within their first 12 months.  🏅 We hold a high bar. This is a performance culture and we expect effort and outcomes. There’s pressure in that but you also get to be part of a winning team.  🏦 We pay very competitively.  💾 We’re hyper focused on enabling our sales team with tools and technology. We’ve built a bunch of cool tech in-house to maximize the impact of the effort of our team. If this sounds like the type of environment that you want to be a part of, please reach out to Vanessa Matthew and Claire and apply below. Bonus points if you listen to my pod with Kevin Dorsey and follow the instructions hidden in there (but replace me with the XDR managers please!). 🏆 One important tip for your outreach and this is arguably the most important! Lead with results. We only hire top performers so make sure to include some of your performance highlights in your messages. 🏆 Lastly, this may seem harsh but I want to help save applicants valuable time researching and building outreach to us. If you’re not currently a top 5-10% performer in your organization or have a history of high achievement outside of sales, it’s probably not worth reaching out. The last time I posted BDR roles, we got 800 applications in 3 days so it’s a very competitive field. 

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