Hope is More Than a Strategy - The 411, September 29th
Plus, the ideal cold email length for getting replies.
Hey sellas,
Businesspeople like to say hope is not a strategy.
It’s a phrase that gets repeated over and over again in sales because too often salespeople let hope take the place of action.
They simply hope more leads will appear. Hope that deal will close. Hope next quarter will be better than last. Without doing the work to make it so.
We’ve all been caught hoping when we should have been taking action.
But it’s also important to realize that holding onto hope is no small thing. In a year that can only be described as relentlessly exhausting, depressingly lonely and soul-crushingly hard, hope is in short supply. Many are close to giving up.
Hope is what keeps us going. It’s what pushes us to solve problems, to come up with new ideas and to make things better. No one sells anything without hope because no one buys anything without hope.
As Q4 rolls around, remember that while hope may not be a strategy, it’s actually much more and it must be kept alive. In your head and your heart, and in the heads and hearts of everyone you work with.
Hope for better days and bigger deals. And take the steps necessary to make it so.
Now, here’s the latest edition of the 411. I hope you like it.
Featured Tools
This week’s edition is brought to you by Pickle and Vidyard.
Pickle provides god-like insight into your deals. Helping you replicate winning talk tracks and kiss CRM note entry goodbye.
Record and send sales videos to connect with prospects, convert opportunities and close deals—for free.
Four Links
1. What’s the ideal email length for getting replies?
According to Hubspot data, 50-125 words.
Easy to read in under a minute. Looks digestible, even on your phone.
As William M. Ballance, CEO of Lavender, emphasizes in this short LinkedIn post, “Shorter emails are easier on the reader, help reduce cognitive load, and are more optimized for mobile: so be mindful of brevity.”
2. 3 Things Every Enterprise Customer Wants to Know
This article by Mark Cranney, COO of Skydio, is full of sales wisdom.
He explains:
Why SaaS products don’t sell themselves, especially when you’re talking about enterprise deals
Why the true purpose of sales isn’t just to communicate value, but to create new value
And why enterprise selling is about competing at the highest strategic level
He then outlines how to answer the three questions all enterprise customers want answered:
Why do anything? This is about uncovering a company’s key initiatives and positioning your product accordingly.
Why you? This part is about winning the criteria-setting battle.
Why now? This is about quantifying ROI and showing how your solution will impact the most important business metrics.
3. 5 Keys to Becoming a Sales Leader
In a short LinkedIn post, Scott Leese shared these tips:
1) Keep doing well in the role you are in.
2) Support the sales process currently in place.
3) Be a source of positivity and professionalism.
4) Give your time to folks who could use some help.
5) Work on building strong positive relationships with the other leadership team members in the company.
4. How to Sell to Experienced Execs When You’re Still New
Here’s a common scenario: you’re a new SDR tasked with calling VPs or the C-Suite, and are somehow expected to add value or teach them something about their business.
What do you do?
David Premier knows! In this post, he outlines three ways to overcome this experience gap, including:
Know your buyer’s pain points and describe them as specifically as possible
Lean on the credibility of others (Our customers… Studies show… We’ve seen…)
Tell your story with conviction. Strong emotions and first-hand stories when possible
Check out the article for good examples and videos.
One (or Two) Tactics to Try
Two tactics from Morgan J Ingram this week, who’s been lighting it up on Twitter lately.
“Use video during your sales cycle to overcome objections so you can show your body language and address the objection with confidence in your voice.”
“Study other industries to get better at your job. I’ve been consistently studying movie trailers and film so I can make better videos in my sales cycle. Don’t lean on your own industry knowledge. Branch out.”
7 Freshly Picked Postings From the Past 7 Days
One Quote to Live By
“Sometimes the most influential thing we can do is listen.” - Bob Burg
Now you know,
Steele