Territory planning Pt 1. With Amjed Aboukhadijeh

1
00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:07,800
They're releasing to fundraising
video a podcast about

2
00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:10,100
fundraising for early-stage
startups.

3
00:00:10,500 --> 00:00:13,600
The major rules that we follow
here is no bullshit on this

4
00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,100
podcast.
No music to relax, you know,

5
00:00:16,100 --> 00:00:19,100
advertisements of our sponsors.
And in this new season of

6
00:00:19,100 --> 00:00:22,800
fundraising radio, we are
changing things up and talking

7
00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,100
about sales, for early-stage
startups, instead of just the

8
00:00:26,100 --> 00:00:29,900
fundraising portion of it.
And today's a guest speaker who

9
00:00:29,900 --> 00:00:33,900
have, um, jets, and I'm not even
gonna try to pronounce his last

10
00:00:33,900 --> 00:00:37,600
name, because I'm jet is gonna
touch on to that himself.

11
00:00:37,900 --> 00:00:40,800
But I'm jet, is the head of
sales at socket and today, we're

12
00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,900
going to be mostly focusing
about territory planning what it

13
00:00:43,908 --> 00:00:45,300
means.
For your sales organization.

14
00:00:45,300 --> 00:00:48,500
How do you do and how much time
and effort you should put into

15
00:00:48,900 --> 00:00:51,500
doing the territory playing
before actually, starting to do

16
00:00:51,500 --> 00:00:53,600
the sales.
So I'm just, let's kick it off

17
00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,300
by you, giving us some
background on yourself,

18
00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:57,300
explaining how to pronounce your
last name.

19
00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:00,000
And Telling us just a lil bit
more about socket.

20
00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,700
Sure, no problem.
So yeah, just touching on your

21
00:01:03,700 --> 00:01:07,000
first point, the way you
pronounce my last name is just

22
00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,500
think like you're booking a DJ
for a party so it's pronounced

23
00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,500
book.
A DJ and there's quite a bit of

24
00:01:14,500 --> 00:01:16,700
silent letters in the air, but
once you think about it like

25
00:01:16,700 --> 00:01:19,300
that, it's actually not too hard
but could a DJ.

26
00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:20,700
All right?
That's that's why sure that's a

27
00:01:20,700 --> 00:01:23,000
great explanation of that case.
Now that we have that covered,

28
00:01:23,700 --> 00:01:27,100
just give us a brief background
of yourself and tell us just

29
00:01:27,100 --> 00:01:29,400
briefly about sockets.
Everyone is on the same page.

30
00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:30,900
Sure.
Yeah.

31
00:01:30,900 --> 00:01:33,700
So as you mentioned, I'm the
head of sales at socket, our

32
00:01:33,700 --> 00:01:36,400
website is Socket.
Dev, if anybody is interested

33
00:01:36,900 --> 00:01:40,700
and what we do is we are a
software supply chain, security

34
00:01:40,700 --> 00:01:44,100
product.
Our mission is to prevent supply

35
00:01:44,100 --> 00:01:47,900
chain and cyber attacks from
affecting our customers.

36
00:01:47,900 --> 00:01:49,600
So it's been a very exciting
Journey so far.

37
00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,900
I've been there about a year.
I've seen a lot happen in the

38
00:01:52,900 --> 00:01:56,500
first year.
We recently raised a series a of

39
00:01:56,500 --> 00:02:02,000
funding and You know, the future
looks very promising. -

40
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:06,900
congratulations on the Rays will
probably touch on to that at the

41
00:02:06,900 --> 00:02:09,000
end of the episode.
Because, again, the podcast is

42
00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,500
still cold fundraising really
even though now we're talking

43
00:02:11,500 --> 00:02:13,400
about sales more than
fundraising.

44
00:02:13,700 --> 00:02:16,300
So, let's kick things off.
Let's talk about territory

45
00:02:16,300 --> 00:02:19,100
playing well, and let's start
with the definition of the

46
00:02:19,100 --> 00:02:21,000
territory playing.
What does that mean?

47
00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,200
And why do you think it's so
important?

48
00:02:24,100 --> 00:02:25,000
Yeah.
Absolutely.

49
00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,900
So I think, you know, from my
experience having a strong

50
00:02:29,900 --> 00:02:33,000
approach to your territory,
planning is the single most

51
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,100
important thing you can do to
set yourself up for a successful

52
00:02:36,100 --> 00:02:38,900
year of selling.
I always like to say that

53
00:02:38,900 --> 00:02:43,300
Abraham Lincoln quote, which to
me is a perfect explanation of

54
00:02:43,500 --> 00:02:47,900
how I've approached my territory
in the past and the quote goes,

55
00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:50,500
you know, give me six hours to
chop down a tree.

56
00:02:50,700 --> 00:02:54,400
And I will spend the first four
sharpening the axe, And the

57
00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,200
basic idea here is that
preparation is key.

58
00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,100
And that's, that's really the
truth when it comes to territory

59
00:03:01,100 --> 00:03:07,000
planning, you know, I think it
really is about working smart,

60
00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:11,500
not necessarily working.
Overly hard to destroy yourself.

61
00:03:11,500 --> 00:03:14,700
I think, you know, in full
transparency.

62
00:03:14,700 --> 00:03:16,900
I think we're most reps fall
short.

63
00:03:16,900 --> 00:03:21,200
When it comes to territory
planning is, you know, they love

64
00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:23,600
this phrase that, you know, it's
a numbers game.

65
00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:28,400
It's a numbers game and to some
extent might be, especially, you

66
00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,000
know, depending on the stage of
your company.

67
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,400
Of course, things will change
and we can talk about that.

68
00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,400
But I think too often you see
reps, you know, they get their

69
00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:40,100
territory and, you know, they
get very caffeinated and then in

70
00:03:40,100 --> 00:03:43,100
the first two, three months they
blast out hundreds of thousands

71
00:03:43,100 --> 00:03:45,300
of emails.
And they, you know, they use all

72
00:03:45,300 --> 00:03:48,100
of their LinkedIn in males from
sales nav in the first two weeks

73
00:03:48,100 --> 00:03:52,800
and they don't have much to show
for it a few months later, and

74
00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:54,100
that could be really dangerous.
Dress.

75
00:03:54,100 --> 00:03:58,100
Because you know, at the end of
the quarter, you should be close

76
00:03:58,100 --> 00:04:01,100
to a quarter of the way through
your number, maybe a little bit

77
00:04:01,100 --> 00:04:03,000
less, right?
If you kind of a ramped quota

78
00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,200
but, you know, at this point you
see a lot of reps where they

79
00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:09,500
don't have any deals closed.
Or they're not even close to

80
00:04:09,700 --> 00:04:12,000
having too much in the pipeline,
or maybe they've closed one or

81
00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,600
two deals, small deals and
they're quite a bit away from

82
00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,600
their number and they wonder
why.

83
00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,700
And then it kind of becomes a
snowball effect that where you

84
00:04:19,700 --> 00:04:22,900
no doubt starts to creep.
Into your mind are to blame the

85
00:04:22,900 --> 00:04:23,700
system.
You start.

86
00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,800
Art to say, well, I have a
terrible territory and, you

87
00:04:26,808 --> 00:04:29,700
know, I'm not, I was set up for
failure and that's that becomes

88
00:04:29,700 --> 00:04:32,500
a very dangerous mindset to get
into as a sales rep, where

89
00:04:32,500 --> 00:04:37,500
momentum is very key.
So, you know, for me, I think

90
00:04:37,500 --> 00:04:41,700
having that plan well, thought
out, knowing, where to spend

91
00:04:41,700 --> 00:04:45,600
your time, first of all, is by
far, the most important thing,

92
00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,900
because if you do that
correctly, The work to actually

93
00:04:49,900 --> 00:04:53,200
send out the messaging because
it's so strategic and so

94
00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,300
targeted and because a lot of
times you're working through a

95
00:04:56,300 --> 00:04:59,700
warm Market when you do it
correctly, it's actually not

96
00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:02,600
that much work to get
opportunities into your

97
00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,200
pipeline, first of all and then
to actually convert those

98
00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:10,200
opportunities into, you know,
trials or pocs or, you know,

99
00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,400
getting them to actually take an
evaluation seriously.

100
00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,600
So I'll just pause there first
and see if there's any follow-up

101
00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:18,600
questions about that but that's
kind of the general.

102
00:05:18,700 --> 00:05:20,600
General idea.
Why I think it's so.

103
00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:25,100
So crucial, you know, to really
prepare and plan your territory

104
00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:26,900
correctly, at the start of the
Year.

105
00:05:27,300 --> 00:05:29,900
This was perfect kickoff.
You definitely set up this

106
00:05:29,900 --> 00:05:31,900
episode for Success.
Everyone wants to hear it

107
00:05:31,900 --> 00:05:35,000
including myself so let's dive
straight into the territory

108
00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:36,600
playing.
What are the steps to a

109
00:05:36,608 --> 00:05:39,200
successful territory planning
and what does it involve in

110
00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:41,600
itself is?
Its identification of the ideal

111
00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,500
customer profile is an actual
territory wise division between

112
00:05:45,500 --> 00:05:48,000
the Reps.
What are the steps are?

113
00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,000
Totally totally.
So, I will say that, you know,

114
00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,500
this obviously depends on the
business you're selling into.

115
00:05:55,500 --> 00:06:00,000
So, you know, just to specify
what I mean by that, you know,

116
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,800
if you're working at a start-up
like I am.

117
00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,000
Now, when I joined the company,
we had no paid customers, write

118
00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,900
zero.
So for me, the market is very

119
00:06:07,900 --> 00:06:09,700
wide.
So I have to think about this

120
00:06:09,700 --> 00:06:13,800
from, you know, I narrowed it
down to the United States,

121
00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,400
right?
But how do I approach my

122
00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:18,400
territory based on that, right.
I do.

123
00:06:19,100 --> 00:06:22,500
Blocked into a small segment.
Whereas when you get to a bigger

124
00:06:22,500 --> 00:06:26,200
company like, before this, I
was, I was a field sales rep, at

125
00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,400
Google Cloud, where I sold gcp.
You know, my territory was the

126
00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,900
San Francisco area and and I was
specifically based on funding

127
00:06:33,900 --> 00:06:37,600
levels, so that the accounts I
had were maybe only 30 or 40

128
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:38,800
accounts.
So it's a much different

129
00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:42,300
approach.
The larger the deals are and the

130
00:06:42,300 --> 00:06:45,300
smaller the amount of accounts
you have, the more strategic you

131
00:06:45,308 --> 00:06:46,800
need to be.
That's for sure.

132
00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,100
So, for the sake of This I'll
just kind of talk more in

133
00:06:50,100 --> 00:06:53,600
general terms, I'll assume this
is you know for a growing

134
00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,300
startup company with you know
you have a little bit more of

135
00:06:57,300 --> 00:07:01,400
the market and I think that
would probably be a good basis

136
00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,300
and then wonder if we talk about
ways to kind of, you know,

137
00:07:04,900 --> 00:07:08,500
transform that into regardless
of what your you know, territory

138
00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:10,700
looks like you can always take
these same principles and apply

139
00:07:10,700 --> 00:07:14,100
it, is that fair?
Absolutely sounds lovely great.

140
00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,100
But I think my experience my
first introduction to territory

141
00:07:18,100 --> 00:07:22,600
planning My first job out of
college which was I was a sales

142
00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,200
rep at Oracle, I sold different
Cloud products.

143
00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:30,100
And you know, I think Oracle
does a lot of things right with

144
00:07:30,100 --> 00:07:33,700
with sellers, I don't know if
you've heard this but they have

145
00:07:33,700 --> 00:07:38,000
a very extensive sales process
and sales training that they do

146
00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,400
for their reps.
So I just want to say that, you

147
00:07:40,407 --> 00:07:43,300
know I learned a lot there and
it was fantastic.

148
00:07:43,300 --> 00:07:46,800
The experience I got one of the
things however that I think they

149
00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:51,200
fell a little bit short on was
how Oh, they ran their territory

150
00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,800
planning meetings.
This was usually done once a

151
00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:58,900
year and it was this long 1520
page spreadsheet, right?

152
00:07:58,900 --> 00:08:00,900
Presentation with all this
information.

153
00:08:01,100 --> 00:08:03,300
Most of the people are falling
asleep in the boardroom.

154
00:08:03,300 --> 00:08:05,400
It's an all-day thing.
You take turns each rep on the

155
00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:07,600
team goes through their
territory planet, takes an hour

156
00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:12,900
each and kind of like you're so
burnt out from this experience.

157
00:08:13,300 --> 00:08:17,600
There's not a lot of focus on
like what strategies to take

158
00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:19,900
that will actually get you.
Your number, it's more about

159
00:08:19,900 --> 00:08:22,400
like how can you fill up this
spreadsheet to make your

160
00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,500
management and everyone, right?
That you're, you know, the

161
00:08:25,500 --> 00:08:29,600
you've got a handle on your
business and like it's really no

162
00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:31,800
fault to them.
I think that's just kind of how

163
00:08:32,100 --> 00:08:35,500
traditionally sales has been
done for a long time.

164
00:08:35,500 --> 00:08:40,500
And so, that's so unnecessary
for a company at the stage of

165
00:08:40,500 --> 00:08:43,200
socket.
For example, where, you know,

166
00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,500
I'm not trying to, I'm not
trying to prove to anybody here,

167
00:08:46,500 --> 00:08:48,100
right?
I really need to get these

168
00:08:48,100 --> 00:08:49,700
deals.
Because I want to and because

169
00:08:49,700 --> 00:08:53,700
the company relies on it and so
you can really explain your

170
00:08:53,700 --> 00:08:56,600
territory, you should be able to
I should say within five

171
00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:57,900
minutes.
I mean, it really shouldn't take

172
00:08:57,900 --> 00:09:00,400
more than five maybe 10 minutes
to go through your entire

173
00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:03,700
territory plan.
Now, the preparation of course,

174
00:09:03,700 --> 00:09:07,200
takes a heck of a lot longer
than five minutes but generally

175
00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:11,000
speaking this is a this is the
flow that I've taken it's

176
00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,200
essentially four components.
The first is just a one-page

177
00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,700
overview of all of the
information at a high level that

178
00:09:17,700 --> 00:09:20,000
you that you want to.
Reference back to on a daily

179
00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:22,600
basis.
And it really has to go around

180
00:09:22,700 --> 00:09:24,200
and really has to do with, like,
goal setting, right?

181
00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,200
And we all know the statistics
behind, you know, write your

182
00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,600
goal down, put it on your wall,
you're more likely to achieve

183
00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:30,300
it.
That's kind of the idea here.

184
00:09:30,300 --> 00:09:34,000
So, on the one page overview,
you want some basic information,

185
00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,300
you know, what's your quota, you
know how much pipeline is

186
00:09:36,300 --> 00:09:38,800
needed?
You know, what's the closed

187
00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:40,200
Revenue that you have your to
date?

188
00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,200
So far?
What's your Gap to close?

189
00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,900
You know, which what's the most
likely outcome in terms of how

190
00:09:46,900 --> 00:09:49,800
much business you'll close It's
the best case scenario, things

191
00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:52,600
like that right things that
we've all done before and maybe

192
00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:54,400
one or two goals on there as
well.

193
00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:59,400
These could be like personal
goals for you know you you have

194
00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,800
like career-wise.
These can be specifics around

195
00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,200
like types of deals.
You want to close anything to

196
00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,400
them but that's essentially.
The first Slide.

197
00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:12,800
The second piece is a top-10
account list.

198
00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:16,000
Now, you can structure this
number based on, you know, again

199
00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:18,400
the size of your company, for
me, it was more like a top 20.

200
00:10:18,500 --> 00:10:20,900
Five account list.
Just because again, I had a

201
00:10:20,900 --> 00:10:24,300
wider Market to cast and I
didn't have as much time to

202
00:10:24,300 --> 00:10:27,400
spend on, you know, I didn't
want to spend as much time on

203
00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,800
like what I'm trying to say is I
wasn't forced to like these are

204
00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:32,700
the 10 or 20 accounts that I
have to sell to.

205
00:10:32,700 --> 00:10:35,500
So I didn't I didn't narrow it
down to that list for me.

206
00:10:35,500 --> 00:10:38,300
I was looking for, you know,
higher buying signals and so I

207
00:10:38,300 --> 00:10:41,500
kind of cast a little bit of a
wider net, but essentially what

208
00:10:41,500 --> 00:10:44,600
you're trying to do here is
you're trying to think about

209
00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:46,300
where do you want to spend your
time?

210
00:10:47,100 --> 00:10:50,900
On an AR are per hour basis or
an ACV per hour basis.

211
00:10:50,900 --> 00:10:53,500
Now I'm stealing that quote from
one of the best vp's of sales

212
00:10:53,500 --> 00:10:58,300
I've ever worked for, but I love
that quote because basically

213
00:10:58,300 --> 00:11:03,300
what it tells you is that, you
know, you might be working on a

214
00:11:03,308 --> 00:11:05,900
50k deal.
Let's say, annual basis.

215
00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,500
But if that 50k deal takes you
six months to close and you

216
00:11:10,508 --> 00:11:14,100
know, there are very needy
customer and you know they're

217
00:11:14,100 --> 00:11:16,700
conducting this like very
extensive evaluation.

218
00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:19,800
SS, you know, that's great for
that customer.

219
00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:21,000
I mean, they're doing the right
thing.

220
00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,800
It's no fault to them, but from
your standpoint, if you're an

221
00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:27,500
early, if you're a sales rep at
an early stage company where

222
00:11:27,500 --> 00:11:30,700
your company is relying on your
Revenue to keep the company

223
00:11:30,700 --> 00:11:34,200
afloat and to survive, that's
probably not the best place for

224
00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:38,300
you to spend your time because
the amount of the amount of

225
00:11:38,300 --> 00:11:41,800
hours sheer hours you're putting
into it once that deal does

226
00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:45,200
close, if it does close, right?
It comes out to a very little

227
00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:47,200
amount on a per hour leaving
Aces.

228
00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:52,000
And so in that case, a 25k deal,
that only takes you maybe three

229
00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,800
or four weeks to close.
Could be a significantly better

230
00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:58,100
account for you to be targeting
and you're in the early days.

231
00:11:58,100 --> 00:12:01,500
So when you create this top
account list, it really needs to

232
00:12:01,500 --> 00:12:05,600
be focused on a CV per hour.
And you have to have a very

233
00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:09,200
strong game plan for how you're
going to get that deal closed.

234
00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:14,000
So, you know, some of the
things, you know, you want to do

235
00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,200
and with this account plan is
number one, have a rationale

236
00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:17,800
behind it.
It like why did you choose this

237
00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:19,900
account?
Why is this one of your top

238
00:12:19,900 --> 00:12:21,400
counts?
You know, do you know someone on

239
00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,700
the board you have you done
business with them before the

240
00:12:24,700 --> 00:12:27,700
previous company?
Do you have someone that's going

241
00:12:27,700 --> 00:12:29,900
to make an intro for you?
Like how are you going to get

242
00:12:29,900 --> 00:12:32,400
into the account right?
And it should be a fairly easy

243
00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:35,900
entry point if it's a top
account and then you want to

244
00:12:35,908 --> 00:12:38,200
connect the dots, right?
How do you get a deal there?

245
00:12:38,500 --> 00:12:40,300
What is the deal take?
Like is it?

246
00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:42,500
Is this /?
You know, are you going to

247
00:12:42,500 --> 00:12:46,600
leverage a existing relationship
to have an introduction?

248
00:12:46,700 --> 00:12:49,900
Him to somebody and then you're
going to give a demo to that

249
00:12:49,900 --> 00:12:51,400
person that's going to be your
Champion.

250
00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,900
Or is that person you'd
introduce you to your Champion.

251
00:12:53,900 --> 00:12:57,700
You need to have a general idea
of how is this deal going to

252
00:12:57,700 --> 00:13:00,200
flow?
Because once you once you know

253
00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,400
in your mind that there is a
path to a deal here, you can

254
00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:06,200
actually make it become a
reality by taking those

255
00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:10,900
necessary prep steps to get
there and then you know you want

256
00:13:10,900 --> 00:13:12,600
to have a set of next steps.
Right?

257
00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:14,600
Very concrete.
What is the next step?

258
00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:16,700
My next step is I'm going to
reach out.

259
00:13:16,708 --> 00:13:20,000
Shout out to my friend, that I
know who is connected with this

260
00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,900
person on LinkedIn who looks
like they are my, they could be

261
00:13:23,900 --> 00:13:27,500
my Champion or somebody or an
influencer, they went to college

262
00:13:27,500 --> 00:13:29,300
together.
I know they're good friends.

263
00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:31,200
I know for sure.
I will get an introduction

264
00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:32,400
there.
Maybe I have to take this guy to

265
00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,300
dinner my friend and ask for
that intro but that is my next

266
00:13:35,300 --> 00:13:36,600
step.
That is the very next thing I'm

267
00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:41,300
going to do for this account.
Now notice I didn't say anything

268
00:13:41,300 --> 00:13:44,300
about mess you know sending out
tons of messages.

269
00:13:44,300 --> 00:13:47,900
I didn't say, you know, let's
let's You know, hit up,

270
00:13:47,900 --> 00:13:49,800
everybody.
My target market is the

271
00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:51,800
engineering team.
I didn't say let's message every

272
00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,900
engineer in the company.
Let's go now generic messages,

273
00:13:55,100 --> 00:13:56,400
right?
This is still just on the

274
00:13:56,408 --> 00:13:59,200
planning aspect.
So, I'll pause for a second.

275
00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:00,900
That makes sense.
So far, then there's doing

276
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,000
absolutely great one full of
question.

277
00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,200
That I want to throw up before,
before you start talking again.

278
00:14:07,700 --> 00:14:13,900
Is, you know, you cannot have 25
companies where you have inroads

279
00:14:13,900 --> 00:14:16,200
with every single one of them.
So how do you deal with

280
00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:19,400
companies that are not, you
know, that high quality where he

281
00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,400
don't have a friend who works
there?

282
00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:25,000
Would you do there totally?
Yeah, it's a fantastic question.

283
00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:26,500
So what you're what you're
referring to is?

284
00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:28,000
You know, what kind of sales
cues?

285
00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:30,100
Do you look for exactly this
racial?

286
00:14:30,100 --> 00:14:32,700
Did they find intense signals
that you've mentioned earlier.

287
00:14:33,100 --> 00:14:33,700
Totally.
Yeah.

288
00:14:33,700 --> 00:14:36,500
How do you how do you know that
this is this is an account that,

289
00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:38,400
you know, is worth spending time
on.

290
00:14:38,700 --> 00:14:41,700
So you look for a few things, I
mean, I can All off, a couple of

291
00:14:41,700 --> 00:14:43,100
things that I've used in the
past.

292
00:14:43,100 --> 00:14:45,100
Yeah, absolutely.
Some of these might be basic,

293
00:14:45,100 --> 00:14:47,700
some of them are a little bit
more complicated, but, you know,

294
00:14:47,700 --> 00:14:50,800
number one, is if I'm targeting
let's say, you know, the

295
00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:54,000
engineering department as my as
my buyer at the end of the day,

296
00:14:55,100 --> 00:14:58,200
let's look for the executives in
the company and how recently did

297
00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,000
they join the company?
If you have somebody that joined

298
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:02,700
the company within the first 100
Days?

299
00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:06,400
A lot of times more than not,
especially at that senior of a

300
00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,500
role, they have to put some kind
of a 30-60-90 day plan in place

301
00:15:10,500 --> 00:15:14,500
when they Tired of things that
they want to accomplish and

302
00:15:14,500 --> 00:15:16,800
their first quarter right at the
after joining.

303
00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,100
So, if you can find somebody
that's in that timeframe and you

304
00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:23,500
and you're confident, you have a
good product that solves a need

305
00:15:23,500 --> 00:15:26,400
for, you know, an engineering
leader or an engineering team.

306
00:15:26,700 --> 00:15:31,100
Then that's a good cue to look
for because there's a chance

307
00:15:31,100 --> 00:15:33,900
that they might have an
initiative in place to evaluate

308
00:15:33,900 --> 00:15:35,700
Solutions like yours.
Right.

309
00:15:35,700 --> 00:15:38,300
Or you might be able to provide
value there where you can get

310
00:15:38,300 --> 00:15:40,700
their time of day because you
know the again they haven't sent

311
00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,900
have to do that.
I look for pre-ipo companies all

312
00:15:43,900 --> 00:15:45,500
the time.
You know, one of the biggest

313
00:15:45,500 --> 00:15:47,900
things companies do before they
go public as they try to cut

314
00:15:47,900 --> 00:15:49,400
costs, right?
They want to increase their

315
00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:55,100
margins, you know, and so if you
can it's not only cutting cost

316
00:15:55,100 --> 00:15:58,100
but it's also the justifying to
actually purchase a product

317
00:15:58,100 --> 00:16:00,200
becomes so much more
scrutinized.

318
00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:01,800
I'm working with a handful of
companies.

319
00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:06,500
Right now, it's socket that are,
you know, pre-ipo and their

320
00:16:06,500 --> 00:16:11,000
scrutinizing every single dollar
that they spend they should And

321
00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:16,700
so you're in a way, it's more
challenging because there's

322
00:16:16,700 --> 00:16:20,000
there's more up against you but
it's time, it's actually a way

323
00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:21,600
for you to differentiate
yourself against your

324
00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:25,200
competition more because if you
know that then you know that

325
00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,700
your sales pitch should be
focused on want to find the

326
00:16:28,700 --> 00:16:31,000
return on their investment that
they're going to get.

327
00:16:31,300 --> 00:16:34,700
And if you do the work to do
that, you know, nine times out

328
00:16:34,700 --> 00:16:36,600
of ten, they're going to choose
to go with the company where

329
00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,800
they can get the clear
justification for the budget

330
00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,700
internally versus, you know.
Having to do all that work

331
00:16:41,700 --> 00:16:43,400
themselves.
And so you can, you can look for

332
00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:48,600
cues like that as well.
I look at competitor news a lot.

333
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:52,000
This one gets a little bit more
complicated, but this this one

334
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:53,900
has been.
This one has worked wonders for

335
00:16:53,900 --> 00:16:57,900
me in the past.
So what I mean by that is, you

336
00:16:57,900 --> 00:17:01,100
know, recently, you know, I
heard that one of our

337
00:17:01,100 --> 00:17:07,099
competitors cut their R&D
Department, you know, that to me

338
00:17:07,099 --> 00:17:09,400
is a clear sign that they're not
going to be innovating as much

339
00:17:10,599 --> 00:17:14,400
and So I go onto their case.
I go to their case studies on

340
00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,400
their website and I look at
their customers and you might

341
00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:21,599
find information about a company
that says, you know, you know, a

342
00:17:21,608 --> 00:17:25,099
customer of theirs that says I
chose to work with this company

343
00:17:25,099 --> 00:17:27,300
because they're staying on The
Cutting Edge and they're

344
00:17:27,300 --> 00:17:31,200
innovating case anymore.
And so I now have somebody on

345
00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:34,500
their website that obviously
felt so strongly about this

346
00:17:34,500 --> 00:17:37,300
problem that they were willing
to give a case study for it and

347
00:17:37,300 --> 00:17:40,100
I might contact them, right?
And I might have a conversation

348
00:17:40,100 --> 00:17:42,400
about it now.
Now, you got to have to have

349
00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:44,900
some class you know here you
don't want to just go and Bash

350
00:17:44,900 --> 00:17:47,500
competitor you.
I don't I don't think that's a

351
00:17:47,508 --> 00:17:50,000
good strategy personally.
I think that will come back to

352
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,100
bite you in the butt or because
what you can do some Discovery

353
00:17:53,100 --> 00:17:55,900
there, you can say you know.
So I saw that case study you

354
00:17:55,908 --> 00:17:58,200
gave it was great.
It stuck out to me what was it

355
00:17:58,200 --> 00:17:59,700
about?
They're innovating that you

356
00:17:59,700 --> 00:18:03,600
liked and you know, you might
find that what they originally

357
00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,400
thought wasn't the case anymore.
And you might not even need to

358
00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:08,600
fully replace that competitor,
but you could be an add-on,

359
00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:09,700
right?
It could be a good foot in the

360
00:18:09,700 --> 00:18:14,600
door.
So that's another one, you know,

361
00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,000
I look for Mutual investors to
that's by the last one.

362
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,200
I'll talk about you.
The list goes on.

363
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,400
I mean, there's there's so many
things you can do here, but

364
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:23,300
Mutual investors is another huge
one.

365
00:18:24,700 --> 00:18:27,700
This is where this could take
you back to the original point

366
00:18:27,700 --> 00:18:28,900
of.
You know, you don't need to

367
00:18:28,900 --> 00:18:31,600
blast out a thousand messages.
You might realize that there's a

368
00:18:31,608 --> 00:18:35,000
mutual investor, you can instead
Focus your time on writing a

369
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,600
really well-crafted ghost email
for your CEO, have your CEO

370
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:43,300
reach out to the investor ask
That introduction and because

371
00:18:43,300 --> 00:18:45,400
that introduction came from an
investor already.

372
00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,600
Your 25%, the way closing the
deal in my opinion, you know,

373
00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:55,800
versus running the risk of, you
know, coming off as just another

374
00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:58,000
sales rep, right?
That sends out, you know,

375
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,200
standard messaging that doesn't
have a lot of context in it and,

376
00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,300
and all that kind of stuff.
And so I hope that answers your

377
00:19:04,300 --> 00:19:05,600
question.
But those are some of the cues

378
00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:10,500
that I look for certainly does.
And yes, doubled.

379
00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:13,300
Does that you also covered a few
questions I was playing to ask

380
00:19:13,300 --> 00:19:15,000
ahead so that's absolute
perfect.

381
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,100
Alright let's keep moving.
Then you were planning to finish

382
00:19:19,100 --> 00:19:21,400
covering the preparation of the
territory planning.

383
00:19:22,500 --> 00:19:24,500
Correct.
So the first two parts just to

384
00:19:24,500 --> 00:19:27,700
summarize the one page overview.
That's where you talk about, you

385
00:19:27,700 --> 00:19:30,900
know, it's like your flashcard.
You usually back at this every

386
00:19:30,900 --> 00:19:32,900
day, it maybe you have some
goals on their.

387
00:19:32,900 --> 00:19:35,800
The second part was the top 10
accounts or top 25, whatever it

388
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:37,700
might be.
But these should be focused on

389
00:19:37,700 --> 00:19:40,600
your a CV per hour where you
going to spend your time, that's

390
00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,900
going to result to the most
revenue on an hourly basis for

391
00:19:43,900 --> 00:19:49,800
the time, you're putting in the
third is in my opinion, the most

392
00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:52,600
important part to get off to a
fast start and that's Looking at

393
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:56,400
your current opportunities.
Now, everybody, I mean, if

394
00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,800
you're selling a good product,
you will have some level of the

395
00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,500
market out there that's
interested in what you're

396
00:20:02,500 --> 00:20:06,300
selling and you know, you will
have opportunities.

397
00:20:06,300 --> 00:20:10,100
So it's, the question is, now
that you have the opportunity,

398
00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:11,800
how do you actually wouldn't
deal?

399
00:20:13,100 --> 00:20:17,500
And this is where a lot of
people are more focused on the

400
00:20:17,500 --> 00:20:19,500
numbers game, where they're
like, let me just get a ton of

401
00:20:19,500 --> 00:20:21,200
opportunities.
And if I just closed 10% of

402
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,000
them, well, Why are you only
causing 10% of them?

403
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:25,500
I mean if it's a true
opportunity why aren't you

404
00:20:25,508 --> 00:20:29,900
closing 75% of them?
And so like, let's actually fill

405
00:20:29,900 --> 00:20:34,300
out the opportunity plan to see
if this is in fact a really

406
00:20:34,300 --> 00:20:37,200
strong opportunity.
Or if you're just, it's just an

407
00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,300
opportunity that, you know,
you've gotten the pipeline again

408
00:20:40,300 --> 00:20:45,500
to inflate your number two, man.
Do you so everyone's done

409
00:20:45,500 --> 00:20:49,000
opportunity plans?
I think like you are at least

410
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:50,700
you've heard a lot of these
things but like let's, let's

411
00:20:50,700 --> 00:20:52,200
Identify some of the basics.
Like, who's that?

412
00:20:52,300 --> 00:20:55,400
Anomic buyer here is, who is the
person at the end of the day?

413
00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,500
That's going to sign was the
budget for this.

414
00:20:57,500 --> 00:21:00,100
You know what, you might find
oftentimes is that you're

415
00:21:00,100 --> 00:21:02,500
working with somebody, the
entire process, you get to the

416
00:21:02,500 --> 00:21:04,700
end of the deal and then that
person actually doesn't have the

417
00:21:04,708 --> 00:21:06,200
budget for.
They need to go introduce you to

418
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,200
somebody else.
Well, now you're in the 11th

419
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:12,200
Hour, you've already forecasted
this deal, you know, that it's

420
00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,300
coming in and you never even met
the person that has the budget.

421
00:21:15,300 --> 00:21:18,200
Well, they might have a whole
slew of questions, right?

422
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,600
That the your Champion wasn't
aware of.

423
00:21:22,300 --> 00:21:25,200
You might have to restart the
evaluation and I've been victim

424
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:28,600
to that a few times.
So figuring out, you know, doing

425
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,400
proper Discovery to figure that
out early on is important.

426
00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,900
What is the decision criteria?
What is going to come?

427
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,800
You know, what is it?
What are the criteria that the

428
00:21:37,900 --> 00:21:41,600
customer has to make a decision?
This is oftentimes referred to

429
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,100
as you know, success criteria.
If you're doing like an

430
00:21:44,100 --> 00:21:47,500
evaluation or a POC, having very
concrete success.

431
00:21:47,500 --> 00:21:52,100
Criteria is, is integral to this
to the success of a sales.

432
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,800
And it's not just enough to just
have what the success criteria

433
00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:58,300
is.
For example, you know, again

434
00:21:58,300 --> 00:22:01,700
going back to socket example,
you know, we sell a solution

435
00:22:01,700 --> 00:22:04,500
that is very Innovative in the
space, you know, there's nobody

436
00:22:04,500 --> 00:22:10,800
really doing that what we're
doing to our extent and we, you

437
00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,900
know, we're our goal is to
prevent a software supply chain

438
00:22:13,900 --> 00:22:15,800
attack from affecting our
customers.

439
00:22:16,300 --> 00:22:20,900
Now, when they do an evaluation,
they might say, well I want

440
00:22:20,900 --> 00:22:23,800
socket to be able to detect Ekta
vulnerability that could lead to

441
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,400
a supply chain attack.
Okay, that's great.

442
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:30,100
That's a, that's a very good
success criteria, but what are

443
00:22:30,300 --> 00:22:33,500
the leading indicators of that?
What does that what?

444
00:22:33,500 --> 00:22:35,300
Now, let's take it a little bit
further.

445
00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,000
Okay, we want us to detect a
vulnerability.

446
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,400
Now, what will that detection
look like, does that mean?

447
00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:45,300
Like, how, how severe does that
detection need to be great?

448
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,200
Oh, it would be nice if we can
at least flag it to a developer

449
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,400
earlier in their workflow.
So that they know that this

450
00:22:51,500 --> 00:22:54,600
potential You know, piece of
code that they're using is risky

451
00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:56,100
and we want to flag it to them.
Okay, great.

452
00:22:56,100 --> 00:22:59,500
So you want some kind of
alerting to the developer for

453
00:22:59,500 --> 00:23:02,600
them to indicate at least have a
chance to prevent, you know,

454
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:04,300
something very risky from
happening.

455
00:23:04,300 --> 00:23:06,100
Okay, great.
And now what's the return on

456
00:23:06,100 --> 00:23:07,700
that investment?
Like, what does that mean to you

457
00:23:07,700 --> 00:23:10,400
as a business?
Well, that means that we don't

458
00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:12,500
have to remediate issues after
the fact.

459
00:23:12,500 --> 00:23:13,800
They might tell you.
Okay, great.

460
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:18,200
So time saved after the fact
from the security team having to

461
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,200
go through and fix an issue.
How much time on average have

462
00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,200
you guys spent Right.
Fixing those issues, taking it

463
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:25,800
further level.
Well, you know, it can take

464
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:28,500
anywhere from 5 to 25 hours,
okay?

465
00:23:28,500 --> 00:23:32,300
5 to 25 hours, great.
Now, you have very, very

466
00:23:32,300 --> 00:23:35,500
valuable information.
You can assume that, you know, a

467
00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:37,600
really good security engineer.
Might make a hundred, fifty

468
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,200
thousand dollar salary or
whatever, right?

469
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:42,600
And you can start to quantify
that hourly rate.

470
00:23:42,700 --> 00:23:44,900
Well, you know, a hundred fifty
thousand dollars a year comes

471
00:23:44,900 --> 00:23:48,200
out to about 80 bucks, an hour,
if they're spending 25 hours on

472
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,400
it, you know, it's costing them,
whatever x amount of dollars

473
00:23:51,500 --> 00:23:54,600
every time to An issue.
Now with tennis shoes, on a

474
00:23:54,608 --> 00:23:58,200
monthly basis, this is how much,
you know, return on your

475
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,600
investment, your saving, by
having a tool in place that can

476
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,400
proactively prevent that.
And so now you have all of this,

477
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,500
this information readily
available to you.

478
00:24:06,500 --> 00:24:08,800
And this is the kind of stuff
that you have to think about

479
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,700
with every single one of your
opportunities because you're

480
00:24:11,700 --> 00:24:14,000
going to significantly increase
your clothes right.

481
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,500
You know from that 10% to 50% or
75% or what have you.

482
00:24:19,900 --> 00:24:22,300
So just to fly through a couple
more of these you know that You

483
00:24:22,300 --> 00:24:25,400
look for in an opportunity plan.
The paper process is important.

484
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,400
This is kind of goes without
saying, but so many times, you

485
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,700
know, people neglect, the fact
that legal could take two weeks

486
00:24:30,700 --> 00:24:32,900
to six weeks or whatever.
The let you know longer.

487
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,400
I've one time gone through a
legal process that took an

488
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,000
entire quarter.
Yeah nice.

489
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:39,200
Yeah.
For the first large company I

490
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:44,300
mean yeah it could be it could
be a disaster and so there's no

491
00:24:44,300 --> 00:24:46,400
reason why you shouldn't be able
to start that process

492
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,900
simultaneously nine times.
It's a completely different team

493
00:24:49,900 --> 00:24:52,100
internally.
That will be handling that and

494
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:56,100
You have to know just from
practice, you'll get better at

495
00:24:56,100 --> 00:24:59,200
this, but there is the right
time to ask this process.

496
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,700
If you're in a POC and it's
starting to Trend in the right

497
00:25:01,700 --> 00:25:04,400
direction, you have totally
earned the right to ask your

498
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:07,900
champion and decision-maker.
If they can start the onboarding

499
00:25:07,900 --> 00:25:10,400
process just so that you can be
doing that kind of stuff

500
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,900
simultaneously little things,
right?

501
00:25:12,900 --> 00:25:14,900
These are all this is all this
kind of stuff is going to help

502
00:25:14,900 --> 00:25:17,700
you increase increase your
clothes rate but also reduce the

503
00:25:17,700 --> 00:25:20,200
time to close.
Etc.

504
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:22,000
You know obviously identifying
pain.

505
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,600
That's An obvious one, right?
That kind of goes into what we

506
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:26,900
were talking about and then
little things, like, who's your

507
00:25:26,900 --> 00:25:30,800
Champion here, who can influence
the deal, are there multiple

508
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:32,900
teams that need to be involved
here, getting to all of this

509
00:25:32,900 --> 00:25:37,900
stuff ahead of time are all ways
of increasing your success rate

510
00:25:37,900 --> 00:25:40,700
of closing these deals but also
potentially growing your deal.

511
00:25:41,500 --> 00:25:44,700
I did a deal one time with a
company where you know we found

512
00:25:44,700 --> 00:25:48,200
out that multiple teams could
benefit from this same product

513
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,600
and so halfway through the
evaluation we actually decided

514
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:52,100
to Loop in to other
stakeholders.

515
00:25:52,300 --> 00:25:55,200
Ours and you know, 3x the size
of our deal.

516
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:57,800
So little things like that,
right are obviously very

517
00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:01,300
important and then of course,
the last thing to keep in mind

518
00:26:01,300 --> 00:26:03,700
is competition, you know, whose
it in the deal with you are they

519
00:26:03,700 --> 00:26:08,000
evaluating other Solutions being
able to you know, subtly plant

520
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,800
landmines for the competition
things where you know you

521
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:15,200
differentiate ahead of time is
definitely a good strategy to

522
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,600
have.
So that's the third piece.

523
00:26:17,700 --> 00:26:20,000
Any questions about that?
No, not at all.

524
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:22,700
Cool.
And then the Last is just the

525
00:26:22,708 --> 00:26:25,500
prospecting strategies.
Like, okay, great.

526
00:26:25,500 --> 00:26:27,400
We now have our plan.
We have our opportunities.

527
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:29,200
We're going to change that.
We have our top accounts.

528
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,300
We know what our goals are and
our stats are to get us to the

529
00:26:32,300 --> 00:26:34,700
number.
Now, what's the actual strategy?

530
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,600
And so you know this is where it
now comes down to.

531
00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,500
If you've done all of this work
and you know that you have

532
00:26:43,500 --> 00:26:47,300
mutual investors then maybe one
strategy is let's go through all

533
00:26:47,300 --> 00:26:49,600
of our investors.
Let's see which accounts you

534
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:52,800
know that we have a mutual
relationship for Then instead of

535
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:56,400
me blindly reaching out to the
investor, Let Me Go stright, a

536
00:26:56,408 --> 00:26:58,900
nice email for my CEO who
already meets with these

537
00:26:58,900 --> 00:27:01,400
investors right on a monthly
basis or quarterly basis and

538
00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,400
let's have him or her, you know,
make this introduction for us.

539
00:27:04,500 --> 00:27:06,700
So that's a great strategy to
taken place.

540
00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,600
I talked about competitor sites
well like looking for case

541
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:15,000
studies looking for quotes.
You know, if we if you know you

542
00:27:15,100 --> 00:27:18,900
compete very strongly in one
particular vertical then you

543
00:27:18,908 --> 00:27:22,100
know, looking at where some of
your competitors have one deals.

544
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:27,100
But those Target accounts, you
know, being able to go and talk

545
00:27:27,100 --> 00:27:31,100
directly to that person and say,
Hey you chose this solution

546
00:27:31,300 --> 00:27:33,800
because of these reasons based
on the case study I read.

547
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:38,100
You know if you have time to
talk about that because what

548
00:27:38,100 --> 00:27:41,600
we're finding is that, you know,
companies that chose XYZ

549
00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:44,400
solution are now looking at our
solution because of the

550
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:50,000
additional benefit of XYZ, the
cost savings, which are x y z,

551
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:51,000
right?
And so on and so forth.

552
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,100
And it's a very kind And pointed
thing.

553
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:55,100
And again, if they did a case
study, they care about this

554
00:27:55,100 --> 00:28:01,200
problem or a lot.
And then another really good

555
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:05,900
strategy for prospecting, which
I think really flies under the

556
00:28:05,900 --> 00:28:08,800
radar.
I don't hear a lot of people

557
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:13,600
doing this, especially if you're
at a start-up like the size of

558
00:28:13,700 --> 00:28:16,400
socket Dev.
We're we're, you know, we raised

559
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,000
a series a we're starting to,
you know, we're past the stage

560
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,700
of design partners and early
adult Years, and we're trying to

561
00:28:21,708 --> 00:28:25,400
scale This business.
Now we're still a relatively

562
00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:31,700
small sales team, and so you
can't spend hours and hours on

563
00:28:31,700 --> 00:28:34,500
smaller deals.
And so you have to think

564
00:28:34,500 --> 00:28:38,300
strategically like, how can you
increase the velocity of these

565
00:28:38,300 --> 00:28:42,100
deals without having to hold
their hand through the entire

566
00:28:42,100 --> 00:28:44,200
evaluation process?
All the way?

567
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:48,600
And so something that I have
done in the past and that I find

568
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:52,000
really successful is pushing
prospects.

569
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:56,300
You like a monthly or a
quarterly webinar where the

570
00:28:56,300 --> 00:29:00,000
agenda for the webinar is to
demo the solution, talk

571
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:02,900
specifically about industry
Trends, maybe you you know,

572
00:29:02,900 --> 00:29:05,600
reach out to, you know,
companies that are all in one

573
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,500
industry and you push them to a
specific industry webinar or

574
00:29:09,500 --> 00:29:11,800
maybe it's generalized, right?
You can try different different

575
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:17,600
flavors of it, see what works.
And the idea here is that it's a

576
00:29:17,608 --> 00:29:21,500
lot easier to book a meeting,
you know, to push somebody to a

577
00:29:21,508 --> 00:29:23,200
meeting.
And then to try to pitch them

578
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:26,100
over LinkedIn and over email.
It's very difficult, I mean,

579
00:29:26,100 --> 00:29:28,500
there's so many questions but if
you can at least get them to

580
00:29:28,500 --> 00:29:33,100
just agree to join a 30-minute
webinar, then you can have you

581
00:29:33,100 --> 00:29:34,900
know that's not a lot to ask for
your founder, right?

582
00:29:34,900 --> 00:29:37,700
The person that's probably the
best at selling your product to

583
00:29:37,700 --> 00:29:39,800
come in and do a quarterly
right?

584
00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:43,500
Or even monthly, you know,
webinar where they product.

585
00:29:43,500 --> 00:29:45,700
They talk about the vision.
Why do they start the company?

586
00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:47,100
What are the trends?
They're saying?

587
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,700
And now if they're interested,
right?

588
00:29:49,700 --> 00:29:53,500
You've basically now demoed for
potentially You could push 15 20

589
00:29:53,500 --> 00:29:56,500
50 companies to this.
And I've done this in the past

590
00:29:56,500 --> 00:29:59,000
and now you're basically you're
done one for all of them at once

591
00:30:00,500 --> 00:30:02,000
the follow-up becomes a lot
easier.

592
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,100
Hey, you watched our webinar,
what did you think?

593
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,000
Did anything stick out to you?
They tell you maybe two or three

594
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:08,100
things that stuck out to you.
Great.

595
00:30:08,100 --> 00:30:10,700
What do you think about doing an
evaluation specifically on those

596
00:30:10,700 --> 00:30:12,400
two points that you said are
important?

597
00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:14,700
We have other customers that
have done, that evaluation of

598
00:30:14,700 --> 00:30:16,800
what they found.
Was one, two, three.

599
00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,300
If you saw one, two three, would
that be something that would be

600
00:30:19,300 --> 00:30:21,000
interested in interesting to
you.

601
00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:25,300
And now, you know, you can you
can follow up with the warm

602
00:30:25,300 --> 00:30:27,700
leaves, the ones that actually
either reached out to you or

603
00:30:27,700 --> 00:30:29,500
have responded to your messaging
that way.

604
00:30:29,700 --> 00:30:31,800
Because at least now they've
seen your product.

605
00:30:32,100 --> 00:30:35,700
So we can go on all day.
I know we don't have a ton of

606
00:30:35,700 --> 00:30:39,600
time, we read about half an hour
but yeah, I'll just pause and

607
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:43,000
see, that's, that's generally,
you know, some things to think

608
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,200
about it, a high level, of
course, if you did ever want to

609
00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:49,200
have a follow-up session, get
more into the specifics of what

610
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:53,400
some of those steps actually.
Look like, Like in practice I'd

611
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,000
be more than happy to have
another conversation about 10

612
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:59,100
percent we should do that.
That was a long-lasting

613
00:30:59,100 --> 00:31:01,900
discussion here at fundraising
radio that we should start doing

614
00:31:01,900 --> 00:31:05,800
2 parts interviews where one
part is more high-level strategy

615
00:31:06,100 --> 00:31:09,400
and second part is just like
digging deep into the specific

616
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:13,900
of a strategy.
So yes there's a 95% chance they

617
00:31:13,900 --> 00:31:16,000
will do part two of this
episode.

618
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:20,400
So people if you're listening to
this, check out if there is part

619
00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:24,300
2 coming up.
Because probably it is in this

620
00:31:24,300 --> 00:31:29,300
case yeah we'll come to wrap it
up after one last question and

621
00:31:29,300 --> 00:31:31,300
one last question would be
what's your advice to the

622
00:31:31,308 --> 00:31:33,600
founders listening to this right
now because again most of people

623
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:35,900
who are listening to this our
Founders who don't have much

624
00:31:35,900 --> 00:31:38,900
sales experience, what will be
your advice to them?

625
00:31:38,900 --> 00:31:43,100
Right now one thing that they
can do immediately after this

626
00:31:43,100 --> 00:31:48,600
episode is over.
Yeah, I think founder of

627
00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:52,000
starting a company.
I would say, a lot of times,

628
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:57,000
they, you know, can get the time
of day, a lot more from a

629
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:02,600
prospect than a sales rep can
just because of the reputation

630
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:06,300
and just sheer fact that they
are title says CEO and you have

631
00:32:06,300 --> 00:32:11,100
reason funding.
And so you know I think that

632
00:32:12,500 --> 00:32:15,700
Something I've seen a lot of
Founders do that works against

633
00:32:15,700 --> 00:32:21,700
them, is they?
They underestimate how much of a

634
00:32:21,708 --> 00:32:26,700
sales process actually comes
down to Discovery and deep dive

635
00:32:26,700 --> 00:32:30,500
into the problems that they're
solving and quantifying those

636
00:32:30,500 --> 00:32:33,500
problems for their customers and
they just think that if they

637
00:32:33,500 --> 00:32:36,300
tell a really good story and
maybe they have a background on

638
00:32:36,300 --> 00:32:40,100
this that they'll win deals just
because of their, you know,

639
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,900
storytelling ability and because
You know, of like the product

640
00:32:43,900 --> 00:32:47,700
that they built and they don't.
And I think that is true to some

641
00:32:47,700 --> 00:32:49,200
extent.
I mean, you'll, you know, they

642
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:51,700
can probably close down those,
you know, those first design

643
00:32:51,700 --> 00:32:54,200
Partners just based off the
vision which is great, that's

644
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,900
extremely important.
But to actually be able to

645
00:32:56,900 --> 00:33:01,100
scale, you know, a sales
organization and you really

646
00:33:01,100 --> 00:33:03,900
gotta focus on a lot of the
things that I talked about in

647
00:33:03,900 --> 00:33:07,100
the current opportunities.
Portion, if you have 10 15

648
00:33:07,100 --> 00:33:10,400
interested, come companies that
could potentially equate to a

649
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:13,700
lot of Revenue, which is
Valuable at an early stage.

650
00:33:14,100 --> 00:33:17,100
So spending the time to do some
of the Dirty Work, right?

651
00:33:17,100 --> 00:33:19,900
That that sales reps were just
trained to do on a daily basis

652
00:33:19,900 --> 00:33:23,200
like ask those questions like,
hey, I had a really great time

653
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,300
talking to you.
It sounds like you are the exact

654
00:33:25,300 --> 00:33:28,200
type of person, you know, that
understands the problem that

655
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,400
were solving and you're the
exact type of person I want to

656
00:33:30,408 --> 00:33:32,500
work with.
Can you help me understand a

657
00:33:32,508 --> 00:33:35,400
little bit more about like what
it would take for you to

658
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,300
actually use our product?
You know would you be the person

659
00:33:38,300 --> 00:33:39,900
that would ultimately be making
this decision?

660
00:33:39,900 --> 00:33:41,600
Is there anybody else that you
think I should have a

661
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:43,700
conversation?
In with right, like, starting to

662
00:33:43,700 --> 00:33:48,100
ask you questions, I would say
it's probably the lowest hanging

663
00:33:48,100 --> 00:33:51,900
fruit for where Founders can
get, you know, increase their

664
00:33:51,900 --> 00:33:55,500
success rate of early sales and
you have to bring in somebody to

665
00:33:55,500 --> 00:33:57,300
help out with that that has
experienced.

666
00:33:58,300 --> 00:34:01,700
It's, you know, a really good
sales rep is very good money.

667
00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:06,000
Well, spent, and so, yeah, I
mean, to answer your question, I

668
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,000
would just say Discovery, you
know, do more Discovery really

669
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,000
make sure you're, you know,
you're not going on the right

670
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,400
door.
Yeah, actually discovering

671
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,500
because again yeah a lot of
Founders don't ask that many

672
00:34:17,500 --> 00:34:19,699
questions or ask the wrong
questions.

673
00:34:19,900 --> 00:34:21,600
So yeah, that's a great call to
action.

674
00:34:23,300 --> 00:34:25,100
Ask dumb questions on the Dem
Discovery.

675
00:34:25,100 --> 00:34:27,100
That's what the discovery is.
Therefore, right?

676
00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,699
So coming on this notes, we'll
wrap it up as, usually.

677
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,300
All the stuff that was mentioned
during the episode is going to

678
00:34:33,300 --> 00:34:34,600
be in the description of this
episode.

679
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:39,699
So go read it all full up with.
I'm judge to see if there are

680
00:34:39,707 --> 00:34:43,300
any books written articles that
she would like I recommend, and

681
00:34:43,300 --> 00:34:46,900
if there are any, they are going
to be a links in the description

682
00:34:46,900 --> 00:34:50,900
of this episode and yeah,
that'll be my call to action.

683
00:34:50,900 --> 00:34:53,300
Go read it to go, check out the
resources that we're going to

684
00:34:53,300 --> 00:34:55,300
share their.
And of course, be on the lookout

685
00:34:55,300 --> 00:34:57,900
for part two of this.
We're going to take a much

686
00:34:57,900 --> 00:35:00,400
deeper dive into this
discussion.

687
00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:04,400
We just had, and as always, have
a good day, Take care,

688
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:05,800
Constantine my pleasure.