Create Predictable Scalable, Revenue

aaron ross

$1B+ @ salesforce.com /etc

9 kids

20 hour workweek

@motoceo

#1 award-winningbestseller

called “The Sales Bible Of

Silicon Valley”

CEO Reviews on the Sequel

• “Best business book I've ever read”• “We’d have scaled 4x faster

with this book”• “It changed the way we do business” • “I was blown away by this book”

@ Salesforce.com

@ Salesforce.com

1. was single

2. got married with (lots of) kids

3. “oh shit”

4. grew income 11x

AARON - why i’m here

1. they had “something”

2. they wanted to grow

3. some grew 10x (added $100m’s)

4. some floundered

i’ve seen the same pattern with clients

1. Salesforce.com: $8 billion+

2. EchoSign: $0 to $144M

3. Zenefits: $1M to $100M in 2 years

4. Acquia: $100M+ and #1 fastest company

for example:

it’s a lot to shift:are you ready - what will it take?

1 painful truth:you’re not ready to grow

“Organic” -> Hot Coals -> “Proactive”

the problem with brilliant people…

results can be sexy

nail your niche

niche <> small

niche = focused

tip: to win, be a big fish in a small pond

it’s easier to make the pond smaller than the

fish bigger

examples

• Amazon: books• Facebook: Ivy League schools• Zappos: shoes • Salesforce.com: SFA

need vs. nice

are you a NICE-to-have?

to which kinds of customers are you a NEED-to-have?

painful truth:speeding up growth creates more problems than it solves

2

4 types VP Sales

• you should learn a lot from them• they upgrade the talent• improve results < 1 sales cycle• don’t be blinded by the resume

for CEOs hiring a VP Sales

1. drive deal sizes up as soon as possible2. great reps perform in 30 days3. honesty up and down4. great teams stay together5. inbound AND outbound lead generation

from the VP Sales @ EchoSign/LinkedIN

specialization = focus

4 core sales roles

specialization = predictability

• insights• scalability• talent / farm team system

you will struggle without specialization

common ratio samples

• 1 inbound lead responder per 400 inbound leads a month that need human review

• 1 prospector per 0.5-4 salespeople

• “how long?”• “we’re too small”• won’t relationships & service suffer?

common questions & objections

• new roles need 6 months• plan transitional period• if people feel safe & respected, they will

support, not fight, changes

comp plan transitions

questions for the table

• What was one take-away from the section on VP Sales?

• what should your sales & customer teamslook like when 2018 begins?

painful truth:overnight success is a fairy tale

3

• even with an amazing product, you’ll struggle

without a system to grow leads predictably

• with great leads, you can get a lot wrong &

still grow

• key: 3 types

leadgen is your “big lever”

3 types of leads

seeds: turn your funnel into an hourglass

seeds: turn your funnel into an hourglass

#1 customer success tip

invest bigger, faster!

“customer success is 5x sales”- co-author jason lemkin

nets: example marketing funnel

nets: example marketing funnel

favorite marketing tactics

• head of marketing needs a “Lead Commit”• make it personal

spears: outbound funnel

spears: outbound funnel

outbound pros & cons

• pro: can drive very predictable, fast growth• pro: get into bigger companies• pro: source bigger deals (3x-10x inbound)• pro: perfect complement to inbound marketing• con: not for everyone

questions for the table

• what’s been your best lead generation source to date?

• what should it be in the future?

painful truth:it’ll take years longer than you want

4

why you’re struggling when others are crushing it

• Anxiety Economy• 2-3 years• 5-10 years

painful truth: your employees are renting, not owning

5

• a rental car vs. your car? • apartment vs. house you buy?• others’ kids vs. your kids?

are you renting, or owning?

painful truth:EMPLOYEES: you let frustrations stop, rather than motivate, you

6

where’s the money?

• it’s part of growing• i’m frustrated every day• are you resisting (frustrated) or embracing

(excited)?

embrace frustration

1. what’s highly frustrating to you?2. list some cons3. how could it be an opportunity?4. now list some pros5. what baby step can you take today to take

a step?

embrace frustration: ACT

1. SPECIALIZE your team(s) or time2. “Nail A Niche” to enable faster growth (could

require business changes)3. outbound prospecting can be powerful sales

driver (and Forcing Function)

if you only take away 3 things…

questions for you today

• one major sales strategy change this year would be…?

• What’s ONE THING you can do to move it forward in the next 24 hours? (great ones find a way)

Q&A

+BREAK

next up: Build Your First Outbound Program

aaron@PredictableRevenue.com@motoceo

Aaron Ross

PredictableRevenue.com

FromImpossible.com

what are you selling?

what do they REALLY want to buy?