Sales Enablement Essentials

Lately I’ve been borderline obsessed with pointing out the flaws of the marketing qualified lead (#MQL) paradigm. If we’re ever going to find out what works, we need a unified (and account-based) view of go-to-market effectiveness. Thankfully, there are people who’ve been championing this for far longer than I have – and Shari Johnston is chief among them. Shari built and ran the account-based practice at GTM consultancy Winning by Design since 2019 (PS, congratulate her on the promotion to COO!!). Shari joined Growth Unhinged to unpack the steps to going account-based. Pro-tip: it's an account-based *strategy*, not account-based *marketing*. Full story: https://lnkd.in/etywaiqG The TL;DR: 1️⃣ Target account list This is the core building block of an account-based strategy – everything comes together if folks can all agree on the list. “Many people dismiss it. They assume they have a target account list, but the list is not in the CRM, it’s not accessible, and there’s no data on where their accounts are or where stakeholder engagement is.” 2️⃣ Team An account-based approach requires different skills from traditional demand gen marketing, Shari says. “Marketing being structured by channel doesn’t fit well in ABM where you need to look at the entire customer experience.”  3️⃣ Orchestration The heart of an account-based strategy is running plays to influence target buyers within target accounts. Shari recommends orchestrating different types of plays depending on average deal size of target accounts: - Deal sizes >$100,000: Focus on 1:1 plays like a C-level outreach program, customer stories, and referral requests. - Deal sizes of $50,000-$100,000: Focus on 1:few plays like targeted content or virtual roundtables. - Deal sizes of <$50,000: Focus on 1:many plays like content syndication or ABM chat engagement. 4️⃣ Technology It can be tempting to jump right to technology too early and before having everything else in place. The key is less about an expensive (and sprawling) GTM tech stack. It’s about having the underlying infrastructure to support account-based including a tech stack that’s integrated, collecting the right data, and being able to measure success in an account-based way. 5️⃣ Measurement “If your target accounts don’t know about you, they’ll never buy from you,” Shari emphasizes. She looks at account-based metrics based on where they are in their journey. At a high-level, this includes (a) awareness, (b) education, and (c) selection. Hope y'all find this useful! 🙏 #abx #marketing #gtm

Demand Capture 101. This is actual data from a $60MM ARR SaaS company. Let’s break it down 👇   How a lead/account enters your pipeline is the biggest predictor of sales velocity metrics - win rates, sales cycle lengths, even ACVs.    Because how they enter your pipeline is a surrogate for buying intent & indicator of how far they are complete in the buying process.    Here’s how to measure it & use it to drive your revenue strategy:   1. Measure the Opportunity Source in Salesforce on the opportunity record.    Campaign Source = What campaign type did they convert on to move this opportunity into pipeline? (e.g. demo request, e-book download, cold call, trade show, etc.)   Source / Channel = What source or channel did they come from in order to convert? (e.g. LinkedIn ad, organic search, account intent data, ZoomInfo, etc.)    Using both of these data points combined will literally guide your strategy.    This shows you the optimal paths to *capture demand* and is easily measurable using software-based attribution.   2. Separate conversion sources between *Declared Intent* and *Low Intent*.    Declared Intent = The buyer declares intent to buy from you (e.g. Demo Request, Contact Sales) Low Intent = You assume the buyer has intent based on their digital behavior (e.g. ebook download, webinar attendee, trade show badge scan, intent data, etc.)    3. Calculate core sales analytics between the two sources.    Calculate conversion rates, lead-to-win rate, net new ARR, sales velocity, and more.    4. Visualize how much conversion intent matters to sales velocity and sales productivity.    149X higher lead-to-win rates for declared intent conversions   Declared intent = 26 “leads” to win 1 deal for $54k ARR Low Intent = 3,868 “leads” to win 1 deal for $130k ARR   18X greater sales velocity for declared intent conversions   Declared intent = $14.2MM annual sales velocity Low intent = $781k annual sales velocity 5. Recognize not all MQLs are created equal Measuring on MQLs incentivizes teams to get the most volume of MQLs for the lowest cost (low intent conversions), which is entirely misaligned with sales productivity and sales goals. Separate these into two Pipeline Sources (Declared Intent, Low Intent). Plan and build your goals for these two sources separately.   __   Now you know exactly HOW you want buyers to enter pipeline (capture demand) for maximum sales velocity & sales team efficiency. You also know exactly WHY buyers choose to take those paths to enter pipeline & WHAT triggers / channels / tactics move them to conversion. And with all of these insights, you can re-architect your strategy that optimizes for REVENUE. #revenue #sales #marketing #b2b #gtm p.s. Every SaaS company’s data looks like this, because it’s universal to how buyers buy. Most just don’t take the 3 hours of time to analyze their own data and see it for themselves.

Last year, I spoke to the CRO of a $120M ARR SaaS who KILLED their Sales Enablement tech budget and moved back to Google Drive. Here's what went wrong (and why he called SE a "big lie"): CONVO RECAP: CRO: The entire concept of Sales Enablement is a big lie. Me: Ok, you got my attention… elaborate? CRO: Look at the tools and the ways people fill this role. I need my AEs to multithread, run better calls, build champions better, etc. But we’re paying [Top 3 enablement vendor] for sooo many bells and whistles, and what we end up with is basically a glorified Google Drive. Me: What do you think went wrong? CRO: These tools are solving for the wrong problem. Content Management isn't Enablement. It is a marketing/sales alignment problem, not a sales effectiveness one. Many of the Enablement folks are more L&D experts and marketers, so the enablement tech giants focus on them instead of the core problems in sales. Me: So, what is Sales Enablement in your mind? CRO: Solving for better deal execution, a better workflow with our buyers, and insights about deals (not just how content is being used). And sales experts should run this. Our team ends up downloading and emailing content to clients, ignoring the tech. I don’t need to pay $70,000 for what is essentially GDrive. MY THOUGHTS: Yes, this is a spicy take, but I think there's a lot of truth in it... We’re not enabling Sales if we’re not improving their actual process with buyers. We’re not enabling Sales if we’re not enabling Buyers. Years of ‘Growth At All Costs’ made us lose sight of what matters. Enablement should NOT be about: - how well the enabler knows how to train people - how many case studies and ebooks we build - how well we organize information internally - how fast our team can find this information Enablement SHOULD be about: - how well the enabler understands the seller & buyer’s world - how many critical buying supporting assets we build - how well reps deliver relevant, digestible information to buyers - how effectively our team can help buyers make decisions We could get away with it when sales were the source of knowledge. When we lived in a ZIRP, hire fast and just get reps out there, era. When buyers weren't a group of 11 confused stakeholders, each using ChatGPT to form their own opinions, navigating 100 vendors, facing CFOs in every deal. But it’s a different world now… 78% of sales teams MISSED 2024. And if you think sales is complex, you’re missing the point—Buying is. Sales is hard because buyers are failing. Because buyers are confused and stuck in indecision. And sellers who don’t help get ghosted. Sales Enablement should FIX THAT. Content Management and L&D are not enough. We should solve the actual buyer-facing process. The enablement profession and sales deserve better. P.S. We built Aligned to help solve this gap. Sales *and* Buyer Enablement platform. Free to try: https://lnkd.in/dmDcdM9v

Here’s a harsh truth: desperation smells. And in sales, it reeks. The worst salespeople chase. They try to convince buyers they have a problem when they don’t. It’s uncomfortable, off-putting, and - let’s be honest - ineffective. The best salespeople? They never do this. They operate from a place of strength, not neediness. When a buyer says, “We’re good, no problem here,” they don’t push. They respond with something like: "Sounds like things are going really well on your end. If that’s the case, I’m not sure we can help. Does that check out, or am I missing something?" And here’s where the magic happens: - The buyer agrees. “Yep, everything’s good on our side.” Perfect. You’ve just saved yourself time and energy. No forcing square pegs into round holes. Move on to the next opportunity. - The buyer opens up. “Actually, now that you mention it, there is something we’re struggling with…” Their defenses drop. Sales resistance melts away. Suddenly, it’s no longer about you selling - it’s about them sharing. The best salespeople understand that sales isn’t about convincing - it’s about uncovering. - They know when to walk away. - They’re curious, not pushy. - They understand the subtle social dynamics that make buyers feel comfortable enough to trust them. Desperation? It’s a deal-killer. But confidence? That’s a deal-closer. Selling from a place of strength means knowing your worth, respecting the buyer’s time, and focusing on the right opportunities - not forcing the wrong ones.

139,000 videos sent. One Vidyard award. Zero competitors even close. And I still don't understand why more teams aren't using video. It is truly the most under utilized tool in sales (not just propsecting) My teams at PatientPop sent more one-to-one videos than anyone I know. Not generic marketing videos. Not AI. Personal, one-to-one prospecting and post sale/mid sales cycle videos. 139,000 in 18 months. Vidyard literally gave us an award for it. And here's what kills me: Most sales teams send maybe 10 videos a month. Total. It. f'n works. Execs get 10 cold emails a day. 10 cold calls a day. They get 2-3 videos a month. MAYBE (execs chime in here, how many do you get?) You do the math on where you can stand out. But it's not just about being different. Video lets you control everything: - The tone (enthusiastic, not desperate) - The pace (fast, not rushed) - The humanity (real person, not automation) You become human in 30 seconds. It also lets you show, not just tell. Email: You tell them you noticed something. Video: You show their actual website while explaining what you noticed. Email: You tell them you're excited. Video: They see your energy, your research, your preparation. Email: You tell them about your product. Video: You show them exactly what matters to them. See the difference, ya'll? Here is the exact framework that we used for videos. **K** - Know: "Here's what I know about you..." **P** - Problem: "Here's the problem you're probably facing..." **I** - Impact: "Here's what that problem is costing you..." **C** - Connect: "Here's why I'm reaching out..." **C** - Call to action: "Here's what I'd like you to do..." Under 60 seconds if you've never talked. 90 max. Up to 3 minutes if you've spoken before. A lot of people also overthink video in a big way. We had one key rule. End it and send it. Stumbled? Send it. Dog barked? Send it. Said "um" three times? Send it. No redos. No perfection. No overthinking. The stumble makes you human. The dog makes you real. Perfect videos feel like marketing. Imperfect videos feel like people. One last key tip here. The email/msg has to sell the click. Nobody cares that you sent them a video. They care about what's in it for them. Your subject line, your email, your link text - everything should scream value, not "watch my video." Tell them WHY to watch. What they'll learn. What problem you'll solve. The video isn't the value. What's IN the video is the value. Here's my challenge to you. Pick 5 prospects tomorrow. Send them each a personal video: 1. Show their website/LinkedIn while you talk 2. Use KPICC structure (60 seconds max) 3. End it and send it (no redos) 4. Email sells the click, not the video 5. Follow up with confidence: "Did you see what I put together?" Then call each of them 2-3x the next week & watch your connect rates triple. Because while everyone else is sending bland email templates, you're showing up as a human. And humans buy from humans.

30 years of email. 30 years of "touching base" and "checking in." 30 years of the same boring text-based messages. Here's what baffles me: We now have the technology to send personalized video messages to prospects and clients in LESS TIME than writing an email. Even better, video messages: 👉 Build instant connection 👉 Communicate complex ideas clearly 👉 Create genuine trust through face-to-face interaction Yet over 90% of sales teams are still stuck in the 1990s, sending plain-text emails that scream, "I'm just another salesperson." It's baffling to me. Less time + Better results = No-brainer decision So why are we still hiding behind walls of text when we could be showing our real faces and human voices?? Your prospects deserve better than simply "following up." Your brand deserves better than being another faceless email. Your results deserve better than average open rates. The future of sales is human-first. And it starts with pressing a simple button called "record." Let's go, sales managers. It's time to raise the bar.

ABM is NOT: ≠ account-based ads + outreach to target accounts ≠ a substitute for demand generation Here are eight pillars of ABM: 1. 𝐀𝐁𝐌 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬 There are 4 goals ABM helps to achieve: - Net new revenue - generate sales opportunities - Pipeline acceleration - win stalled opportunities - Expansion - upselling or cross-selling to existing customers - Renewal / Churn prevention - renewing contracts with key customers Make sure to include all 4 campaigns in your marketing plan. 2. 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞 (𝐈𝐂𝐏) ICP includes: - Firmographics - Buying committee - Account qualification - Account segmentation - Account enrichment 3. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 - Engagement threshold to identify engaged accounts - Sources of intent data - Account-ICP fit Make sure all accounts are qualified and fit ICP. Avoid broad targeting or creating a wish list. 4. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 - Account key initiatives, strategy, and goals. - The role of every buying committee in the strategic initiatives, their KPIs, needs, and challenges - Value proposition mapping: how exactly your product fits their needs and what value it brings. 5. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 - Warm-up: how marketing and sales will create awareness inside buying committee, connect and engage with them. - Activation: how sales should activate accounts - Nurturing: how marketing and sales will stay in touch with target accounts 6. 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐭 Here is the lean ABM team setup and 5 core functions. - Senior ABM manager - Researcher - Copywriter - Designer - SDR 7. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 If you are building a pilot ABM motion, don't buy an expensive stack. Start with Sales Navigator and website traffic reveal software. If you have robust processes and scaling ABM, consider more expensive software to enhance your processes. 8. 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 Define key metrics and leading indicators for all 4 campaigns. Create simple dashboards to track campaign performance. Align everybody on reporting. --- The success of account-based marketing lies not in your stack or budget, but in solid foundations, and joint sales & marketing programs. Make sure you have a team and skillset that can dedicate enough time to develop ABM strategy and maintain the motion. And if you want to learn more about ABM, check out our flagship course:  https://lnkd.in/dCUX_sJX #abm #b2bmarketing #strategy

Stop Selling. Start Listening.🎧 Most sales fail because we talk too much and listen too little. Real success comes when you pause, listen, and truly understand your customer’s world. It’s not about quotas or targets - it’s about discovering: 1. What challenges are keeping them up at night 😟 2. What goals they’re chasing 🎯 3. What outcomes would make their lives easier 💡 When you approach sales this way, you stop pushing products and start delivering solutions. That builds trust. And trust? That’s what turns conversations into long-term relationships and repeat business Actionable Takeaways: 1. Listen first – Ask open questions and hear them out fully 2. Empathize genuinely – Show that you understand their struggle 3. Provide solutions that matter – Don’t sell a product, solve a problem Remember: the better you understand your customer, the easier it is to create value… and the easier the sale becomes. Bottom line Shift your focus today: Listen more, sell less, serve better. ✨ #SalesTips #CustomerFirst #ListenMoreSellLess #B2BSales #SalesStrategy #EmpathyInSales #BusinessGrowth #TrustBuilding #SellingSmart

This year I spent 256 hours in meetings with strategic account sellers. Here’s the #1 issue driving them crazy (and how to escape this hell): Being forced to sell by activity rather than strategy! I heard this story over and over again. Senior sellers at SaaS companies being pressured by their leaders to meet high outbound activity metrics each week. They're treated like glorified SDRs rather than Strategic AEs… But with $150K - $200K base salaries. Here's the problem: Surpassing $1.5M - $5M+ ARR quotas will not happen by running call blitzes using senior reps. 7-figure transformation deals unfold by designing a high-quality executive buying experience for a smaller subset of accounts aligned to the unique characteristics of the AE. So if you’re a strat account seller and find yourself in this sticky situation, here’s a playbook you can use to get out of it: STEP 1: Break down how you spent your time over the past 4 weeks The key is a deep understanding of revenue-generating activities (RGAs) vs non-RGAs. Remember: Research, prep, and follow-up are RGAs - not just the call or meeting. BTW, I like using Timeular for detailed time tracking. STEP 2: Draft up an internal business case Use this to present your case on why replacing cold outreach time to focus on more creative and impactful strategies will improve your performance and grow the business. STEP 3: Outline your strategy Structure your plan like this: ⇢ Title that includes your BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) Example: “The path from $400K to $4M deals” ⇢ Headline Example: “I will replace 2 mandatory call blitzes per week with strategic account win design sessions. This deep work will result in elevating my executive status within my top 10 tier-one accounts.” ⇢ The Problem Statement Example: “For the past 4 weeks, 200 cold calls during the mandatory call blitz windows have produced 2 meetings (a 1% call-to-meeting ratio), resulting in a 50% attendance rate.” ⇢ Recommended Approach Example: “By allocating two 1-hour blocks for strategic account win designs instead of the cold call blocks, I will develop specific plans for my top 10 accounts using tools such as account maps, creative strategies such as crafting open letters, and arranging peer network exchanges which have been proven strategies from other 7-figure sellers within a strategic sales community I have invested in. I will still have time to meet the required 80 weekly outbound outreaches.” ⇢ Outline The KPIs You will want to drill down into the key levers that matter (show current vs target): - Win rate - Deal size - Deal cycle Remember to set a date for your targets. The beauty of this model is that it’s a blueprint for how you can sell more effectively with your prospects too. Going through this exercise proves to both you and your leaders you can be more strategic. Which, in case they forgot, was what you were hired for in the first place! 🐝 P.S. This is a snapshot of my Timeular for 2023.

The 2025 Account-based Marketing Playbook I'm rebuilding the ABM motion for a unicorn SaaS. Here's exactly how: 1️⃣ Total Addressable Market Map You should have data on every company in your ICP. In this case: ↳ Their Salesforce CRM had 2500 accounts ↳ Sourced from ZoomInfo + Cognism ↳ We did a CRM download. ↳ Added industry matches scraped from the internet using DiscoLike. Meaning we had WAY more accounts. But not all were qualified. 2️⃣ Develop ICP model Few companies study their ICP like a science: ↳ Analyze closed won for signal trends. ↳ Study highest-spend customers. ↳ Find commonalities among closed-lost. ↳ Backtest model against closed won. Now, you have a model to score your TAM map. 3️⃣ Account research + company scoring The point of ABM is that you focus on the right accounts: ↳ Automate account research using Clay. ↳ Deploy research agents to scrape info from websites. ↳ Add enrichments from data providers. ↳ Feed data into AI scoring prompt. ↳ Categorize accounts into Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, and unqualified. Send data on qualified accounts back to the CRM. 4️⃣ Find relevant contacts at company Multithreading is key when it comes to ABM: ↳ Use Clay, Apollo.io, or Icypeas to find people by title. ↳ Key decision makers are Tier 1. ↳ Management end-users are Tier 2. ↳ Operational end-users and Tier 3. ↳ AI scoring prompt to categorize. Big deals require buy-in from all three tiers. 5️⃣ Track first- and third-party signals This is to prioritize accounts when timing is right. 1st party signals: ↳ Outreach replies. ↳ Data straight from your CRM. ↳ Ad insights w/ Fibbler, Vector 👻, or Influ2. ↳ Product usage w/ Amplitude, Mixpanel, or Heap. ↳ Website visits w/ Warmly, RB2B, or MeetVisitors. ↳ LinkedIn signals w/ Common Room, Teamfluence™, or Trigify.io. This makes up your engagement score: ↳ Aware (0-40), Interested (41-70), Evaluating (71-100) 2nd party signals: ↳ Review sites like G2, Capterra, or ColdIQ. ↳ Champions w/ LoneScale, UserGems 💎, or Champify. ↳ Tech integrations w/ Crossbeam, PartnerStack, or Reveal. 3rd party signals: ↳ Job openings w/ Clay, PredictLeads, or PDL. ↳ Funding w/ Crunchbase, PitchBook, or Owler. ↳ Company initiatives w/ Clay, Serper, or 10-K reports. ↳ People changes w/ Clay, LoneScale, or UserGems 💎. ↳ Tech stack w/ BuiltWith, HG Insights, or Wappalyzer. ↳ Social signals w/ PhantomBuster, Trigify, or Common Room. These make up your intent score: ↳ Low (0-40), Medium (41-70), and High (71-100) 6️⃣ Composite score and CRM enrich In Clay, this data is composited into one priority score. And sent back to the CRM. 7️⃣ Segment actions based on scores Strategy for Tier 1 acquisition: ↳ 1:1 outreach ↳ Focused ad spend ↳ Event invites + warm intros ↳ Personalized videos + landing pages For Tier 2 and 3s, you can automate: ↳ Email outreach w/ Instantly.ai ↳ Linkedin outreach w/ HeyReach ↳ Multichannel sequences w/ lemlist Comment if you'd like the full res graphic 👇