Courtney Hart

Hire ops first. If you're building from scratch, hire ops first. Marketing ops, revenue ops, all the ops. You build everything on the foundation of your automation, operations, measurement schemes, HubSpot, Salesforce, all that stuff. It feels good to just start shipping stuff and worry about the rest later, but believe me YOU WILL PAY FOR IT. Don't be like me, hire ops first. Brought to you by the Association of Marketers Who Wish They Hired Ops Earlier.

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Marketers: we should categorize self-reported attribution as "first recall." The human brain is fallible and memory is malleable. Prospects saw you dozens - hundreds of times and the first time a trusted colleague mentioned your name, it stuck. Or when your rep sent that cold email, your prospect [subconsciously] said "oh yeah I think I know them..." Emir Atli wrote about this today. SRA is another touchpoint to look at but is one of thousands along the journey. How much credence do you give to self-reported attribution?

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Today ZoomInfo introduced our new GTM signal to help take the guesswork out of prospecting: WebSight Buyer ID Every day, high-value decision-makers visit your website — but who are they? That's where WebSight Buyer ID comes in. This new signal identifies decision-makers or previously engaged leads visiting high-intent web pages, delivering real-time alerts so you can act fast. Gone are the days of generic outreach. Now, you can focus on the right people at the right time, with tailored messaging that drives engagement and builds trust. Ready to learn more? Check out this blog post Jonathan Hinz, our VP of Product Marketing: bit.ly/3Bia4Ab

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A refreshing perspective on SaaS retention metrics by Markus Rentsch! Shifting the focus from internal definitions and product signals to purely customer outcomes is what everybody would be interested in. But here's the tricky part: SaaS-related outcomes are often indirect and nonlinear. It's a good idea to set expectations on outcomes during the SLA and measure progress along the way. #csm #partnership

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Last week's Nooks offsite in San Diego turned into a competitive call blitz. Everyone -- from engineers to support (to marketers who are usually on the other end of cold calls!) -- participated. Here's what I saw: • It's remarkably easy to get dialing. Load your list of targets, numbers are enriched, start calling. In seconds, I had my first conversation. Team members that NEVER outbound as part of their job were having fun talking with prospects. • Being ready matters. Because Nooks lets you group prospects by persona, you can have a tailored pitch ready to go. And because the UX is so clean, it's a breeze to start the conversation. • Conversations aren't just about booking meetings. Even when a discussion didn't lead to a meeting, it was an opportunity for more market research. Getting feedback and data points from someone on a call is much easier and way more likely than getting a reply to a cold email. Here's the tale of the tape on our call blitz: ⏲ 45 minutes 📞 708 dials 🗣 42 conversations ✅ 7 meetings booked 🤝 7 referrals

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For any PMM having a hard time nailing messaging… Facts - There’s no ‘Don Draper’ moment where inspiration will strike in the middle of a meeting. The good news is you have everything you need. 1. Look at your wins. Find the last 6 months of closed/won deals in your CRM. Find the patterns, and talk to the AEs if you need to. Better yet go talk to the customers themselves. Why did they buy? What made them pick you? 2. Once you have a good sample, use your judgement and distill out 3-5 ‘winning use cases’. These are the foundational proof points of why you’re differentiated. And they’re real 3. Then build the top and bottom. Top = what’s the one unifying value prop across the winning use cases. Bottom = what’s the product capabilities that support those use cases 4. Document this, turn it into your first call deck, and your website nav + core pages Refine this every 6 months. Sales will love it, and customers will actually believe you #productmarketing #messaging

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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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The AEs and SDRs from 5 years ago are the CROs and VPs today. This may sound somewhat self-serving, but here it goes. It’s been cool to see the goodwill I created with those AEs and SDRs over the years turn into meaningful opportunities, pipeline, and revenue for Copy.ai. This has never been the primary intent of my presence or content here. But I will say, it’s a nice benefit. Build trust, provide value, be kind, build your network. It’s worth it for many reasons. #sales #sdr #gtmai

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My first job was as an outbound BDR. We didn’t get inbound leads - they were routed to a different inbound team. We didn’t have a CRM - we had to use notebooks for notes about prospects. Email also wasn’t popular in B2C sales back then - all outreach was phone-heavy. I didn’t love it, I wasn’t naturally good at it, I wasn’t pushy, and I hated overcoming objections. I was good at starting conversations, but really bad at “closing” them. When someone said no to me, I took it to heart. And yet, when I was done with onboarding, I consistently met my quota, and even got promoted to manage a BDR team shortly after. Why? When I look back, three things stand out: 1. I was relentless. Even though I hated objections, I would only stop calling in two scenarios - the prospects either purchased or said that they won’t. Sounds simple, right? However, what I’ve learned is that most people didn’t like saying a firm no. They said maybe, or not now, or call me back in a month. And when they did, there I was, calling them again in a month. And then again, and again, and again. I kept detailed notes, and I never let anyone fall through the cracks. There were no “fresh leads” - so I had to follow every one of them through. 2. I knew our products really, really well, and I loved them. In B2C, it wasn’t about use cases, and our product was definitely more of a “nice to have” than a need to have, but in a matter of one call, I knew which features to highlight, how to position these features to allow prospects to envision themselves using our product, and how to create a positive emotion associated with it. 3. I was creative. I scraped our homegrown database to see where there was sale potential. I left our brochures in random spots, hoping someone might pick one up and call me. I tag-teamed with field sales. Leads could be anywhere; you just had to look for them. Thinking of today’s BDRs, the version of me from 20 years ago is jealous. You get leads who actually want to talk to you and see your product? You have a system where you can look up the entire history of the prospect beyond your own notes - and it’s not hiding in a stack of papers? You can create a task for your future self, and get reminded when you need to call someone instead of putting it into a paper diary? You get intent signals so you can actually know when someone is researching? You know your prospects’ activity so you can refer to it instead of asking random questions to get information? And… you can EMAIL? This really is wonderful. And it makes it easy to forget the basics that can make you successful, even if you are not naturally good at sales. So, if you’re a BDR, don’t forget the basics that helped yours truly way back when: don’t let leads fall through the cracks; be an advocate of your own product; and stay creative in your approach to selling. P.S. Here is a bonus grainy pic of me circa 2002-ish at my desk in my full BDR glory Happy (almost) end of Q2!

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Multichannel sequences are killing your team's performance. This is why you should ditch them and run "call-only" instead... ⚠️ First, a clarification for the haters: What I mean by "multichannel sequences" are pre-built templated emails and LinkedIn messages that are added steps to your outbound Outreach or Salesloft sequences. 📖 Second, some light history: Outreach and Salesloft released the ability to save email/LinkedIn templates for sequences early in their conception. Ever since then sales leaders have believed that this would be the magic bullet to getting their teams to increase activity and generate more pipeline. For a while, it worked.... Until it didn't anymore. Fast forward to 2024, anyone still running this strategy is literally spamming the same templated garbage to all their prospects resulting in: A.) lower reply and open rates B.) high risk of getting blocked or landing in spam C.) less meaningful conversation that generate qualified pipeline Not to mention, any org still doing this is incentivizing their reps to be less creative, under research, and ignore prioritization. To give you an example, all of the templated emails I receive these days have the exact same 3 "relevant points" just rotated around: - recent investment - recent job change - recent headcount growth This is why I believe this strategy needs to die... 🌟 Now on to the positive message! Where I think we should go from here: Change all your sequences to call-only. It saves your reps time and teaches them to call first and email/DM second. Now I'm not saying to abandon email or LinkedIn entirely. Instead, run a weekly or monthly workshop and cover: A.) How to identify a worthwhile stakeholder to spend 5-10 minutes researching and crafting an email for B.) What are real "relevant points" to include and how to weave them into a short message C.) When during your sequence you should be sending these out and who to prioritize Rant over... ...for now

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Cold Email isn't dead... just a zombie of what it once was. 2% reply rates. Double digit bounce rates. SPAM inboxes are overflowing. Revenue targets are being missed. The same 200k contacts are being targeted by SDRs and AEs. The market's been painfully slow to adapt. I know this because the most common CTA in email is asking for a call - and it's not even close. How often do you reply "YES!" to a cold email meeting request? Asking curiosity based questions or no oriented questions is an improvement and gets better results than asking for a call. Offering something of value performs better than both of these. Lead Magnets, Data Samples, Site Audits, Clay Workflows, Podcast Appearances, & Webinars are all offers that get positive replies. I think Jordan Crawford said it best, "Send them an email they would pay you money to receive". That sentence is a paradigm shift, so read it again. Send them an email they would pay you money to receive. How can you make your emails worth paying for?? ps - it's mid-2024, there's no excuse to not use triggers or signals for your targeting. Check out platforms like Common Room, Trigify, or Clay if you don't know where to start. (or send me a DM) #sales #email #sdrleadership #salesdevelopment #salesops

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Case studies are a pain in the ass. They're filled with blockers like: - convincing your CSMs to let you talk to their customer - getting a customer to spend time talking to you - booking time and then your POC has to reschedule - getting a transcript of the recording - listening back to your own voice (ugh) to find the good stuff - writing something meaningful with just enough detail but not too much and finally... - publishing that case study - showing your case study to the sales team so they'll use it Some of these blockers are bigger than others but if you've ever gone through the process of creating a case study, you were with me from "pain in the ass". But they're a necessary element for B2B SaaS. Prospects *do* want to know what others have accomplished with your help. Publishing wins from a variety of customers is important for your SEO. And people just... expect them at this point. I gotta tell you, I used to dread case studies but I've been testing out Laudable for my case study production and it's gonna be a game changer, and I don't use that term lightly. In less time then it takes Zoom to process the call recording I can produce an entire case study and a wins slide for my team! Is it perfect? No. Does it get me 90% of the way there? Absolutely. And I dunno about you but if I can do 90% less work in one of the many areas I cover, I'm taking it. Anywho, Ryan Quindlen 🦇 or Angela Ferrante can hook you up with your own demo/trial account to see for yourself. Oh and I'll probably get in trouble for this with Blake Imperl since it's Not On Brand™ but if you want to read about what Ellyn Stastny shared with me about Pvolve's success with Digioh, I'll link it in the comments.

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Need to transform your SDR team’s performance? How to help your sales team achieve results that will earn you trust and budget. First, audit your content arsenal. Are your SDRs armed with the right tools? Invest time in creating or curating great collateral that addresses your Ideal Customer Profile’s (ICP) pain points and your solutions. Convert the best-performing material into templates. If budget allows, invest in intent tracking tools like ZoomInfo. Provide your SDRs with real-time intelligence on potential leads. This could involve identifying companies visiting key pages of your site or using tools that detect general intent based on topics. Now, launch micro-campaigns. Develop industry-specific value propositions and targeted landing pages. Your SDRs need ammunition that speaks directly to each vertical. Always measure & optimize. Track response rates, meeting conversions, and pipeline velocity. Use these insights to refine your approach. Don’t fear failure – it’s the only way to hit the target. Make small changes based on what works and what doesn’t. What’s working for your SDR enablement? While it can be an overwhelming project, it’s crucial for establishing the foundation for solid growth. #B2BMarketing #SalesEnablement #CMO #Leadership

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Imposter syndrome. The best, most high performing marketers, sales pros (and security practitioners) I know feel it. It's real. It's debilitating. I feel it too. All the time, by the way. Imposter Syndrome isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it's a catalyst for growth. It's a sign that you're pushing your boundaries. It's not a symptom of inadequacy, but an indication of progress. How then, can you leverage this for the best? - Reframe your mindset: It's okay not to know everything. Accept that failure and learning are part of the journey. - Be kind to yourself: During times of self-doubt, practice self-compassion. You are not alone in this struggle. Share your feelings with trusted colleagues or mentors - you'll find that many can relate. - Make imposter syndrome your secret weapon: Use it as a motivator to continually improve, to always strive for more, to never grow complacent. We need more of that in the B2B space. 🔥Self-Affirmation Sunday #growth #b2b #marketing #empathy #impostersyndrome

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First use data to prove, and then to improve. *Prove: a channel that works *Improve: conversion rate to pipeline *Prove: highest value feature *Improve: messaging to show clearly how that feature helps your buyer with their jobs-to-be-done *Prove: ABM viability *Improve: scale ABM beyond the pilot and into a repeatable process What are your prove>>improve marketing stories?

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Gong's GTM teams love DealHub! We're geeking out over how Gong, the Revenue Intelligence leaders, are using DealHub.io to, well, rock their sales world! Their Deal Desk, RevOps, and Sales teams are all raving about the platform. Here's why DealHub is a hit at Gong: * Less Busywork, More High Fives: DealHub slashed manual work by 50%, freeing up time for what matters – closing those deals. * Crystal Clear Visibility: Say goodbye to pipeline mysteries! Everyone at Gong has a bird's eye view of the sales process. * Faster Sales Cycles: DealHub helped Gong accelerate their deal cycles, meaning quicker wins and happier customers. * Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Collaboration is key! DealHub fosters seamless communication between all of Gong's awesome teams. Curious how DealHub can boost your RevOps magic? Check out the full story! https://okt.to/S0b1WB #RevOpsLife #SalesTeamWins #DealHubLove #CustomerSpotlight

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Proactive approach to Marketing Ops >>> Reactive approach While it can be easy to say yes to everyone and get stuck just putting out fires every week... is that really impacting your team or the business in a positive way long-term? MOps should strive to be a strategic partner within marketing and the wider GTM teams — not just an order taker reacting to stakeholder requests. Quick wins are great! But it's so so necessary to take a step back, develop a roadmap, and prioritize those projects that'll create a bigger impact and lasting change. That's the stuff that has staying power. People will notice 😎 #marketing #marketingops

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When I first joined Frontify and the partnership team, I quickly got used to using Gong for all my external calls. The funny thing is, more often than not, the people I'd speak to would also get very excited about it and ask if they could get it too (mind you, this was BEFORE the big AI hype). So naturally, when Udi Ledergor 🏳‍🌈 invited marketers to talk to him and learn more about how to leverage Gong for marketing, I was excited to hear more. While talking to Udi, I was reminded again about what a great tool Gong is (yes, I work for a SaaS company, and I love software, so what) and how easy it is to leverage for direct feedback at scale from your customers and prospects. Thanks so much for the insightful session, Udi!

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I've been getting lot of questions about intent signals since my post last week introducing Common Room. If you are still using a "black box" solution with general intent interest categories, you're probably getting a bunch a false positive signals. If you believe there has to be a better intent solution out there with transparent signals, you'll want to see the demo Kevin White gave. You can see the whole video and product demo here: https://lnkd.in/ghDg3Dyy #B2Bmarketing #intent. #demandgeneration

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