Thought leadership
Riffs on scaling your startup On the Go Fast, Grow Fast podcast with
Shawn McGaff
I enjoyed my time with brilliant marketer, Shawn McGaff, VP of Marketing at OneForce, a full-service marketing agency.
Good Stuff In The Blog
Opportunities and BANT
The sales pipeline is one of few forward-looking business planning tools available to business leaders. In order to develop the most accurate sales forecast possible, it is important to fully[…]
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Profile of great salespeople
Subject matter expertise is a nice to have, but four personality characteristics are not negotiable. These four characteristics are a leading indicator to wildly successful salespeople in the client- centric sales organizations that I lead.
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Developing an Ideal Customer Profile
An ideal customer profile is a composite picture of the perfect buyer for your solution. Its purpose is to focus your product development, marketing and sales communications, and prospect outreach. If you have your ICP dialed in and product/market fit, you should have good margins and short sales cycles – selling should be easy.
Read moreCHIEF REVENUE OFFICER
Alignment between sales and marketing is critical for overall commercial success. The two teams count on each other for intelligence, to develop effective communications, attractive products, to fill the top of the funnel, and to effectively qualify and close new customers. Unfortunately, this relationship is often strained and devolves into a blame game.
One good way to deal with this problem is to assign one company executive to be responsible across the entire commercial scope of the business. This responsibility begins with evaluating and aligning product/market fit; targeting appropriate prospects and executing an effective marketing and sales strategy to close them. My strategy is based on a client-centric approach to selling – uncovering needs and solving problems.
VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES
I have been fortunate to serve as VP of Sales for a variety of technology companies from 2000 to 2019 when I elevated to Chief Revenue Officer. During my tenure I led sales teams for SaaS, IoT, Software, and mobile companies – always selling complex solutions into enterprise accounts.
The need for change was the one constant amongst all of my roles and I have been lucky to lead pivots, turnarounds, and scale.
Templates
Getting started is often the hardest part of a task. I have developed a number foundational templates over the years and use them to begin and refine my thinking with new clients or roles. I have included a portion of that library here for you to use and refine for your own purposes. There is much more to share. Feel free to reach out if you are stuck on something that is not reflected here. I hope this collection helps you get started, too.
Company Overview
Every company needs an overview deck. Likely one for investors and another for prospects. Many elements are shared between them.
DOWNLOADSales Training
Process alignment, consistent use of systems, and product features are all critical components for commercial teams to deeply understand.
DOWNLOADPipeline Review
Sales forecasts are the only future-looking tool companies have to plan. This template tracks key elements and transparently communicates them.
DOWNLOADStrategic Account Planning
Landing and satisfying key accounts takes strong planning and a team effort. This provides a framework for planning and organizing the effort.
DOWNLOADAccount Management
Every company needs an overview deck. Likely one for investors and another for prospects. Many elements are shared between them.
DOWNLOADQuarterly Business Review
Every company needs an overview deck. Likely one for investors and another for prospects. Many elements are shared between them.
DOWNLOADLearn More. I’ll only send good stuff
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Pricing For Advisory Work
Initial assessment
$7,200
up to three days
- Interview Key Team Members
- Light Pipeline Review
- Light Marketing Readiness Assessment
- Summary Report
market readiness
$144,000
up to 160 hours
- Assess Product/Market Fit
- Assess and Recommend Go To Market Strategy
- Evaluate Commercial Team
- Evaluate and Recommend Market Readiness
- Assess and Recommend Commercial Systems and Processes
RETAINER
$24,000
per month (up to 80 hours)
- Leadership Team Participation
- Ongoing Market Readiness Alignment
- Implement and Manage Sales and Marketing Systems
- Implement and Manage Sales and Marketing Processes
- Assess and Align Sales and Marketing Teams