The Low Down: “How the F*ck Am I Going to Hit My Number This Year?”
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
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This week we hosted the first of our intimate sales networking events.
Picture this, a room full of sales leaders, keen to answer the very conundrum of “How the f*ck am I going to hit my number this year?” We were joined alongside our friends at SalesLoft, Nesti and MySalesCoach.
The End of Predictable Revenue
Richard Lane, our Co-Founder, kicked off the session with a sobering reality check. Gone are the days of predictable revenue. The sales landscape has shifted dramatically, and while AI and new technologies have brought value, they’ve also ushered in an era of information overload for prospects.
Imagine your ideal customer’s inbox – a sea of AI-generated emails, each claiming to be “game-changing.” It’s no wonder that much of this outreach is now classified as spam. So, where do we go from here?
Human Endeavour Powered by Technology
The answer, it seems, lies in finding the perfect balance between human touch and technological prowess. “We can’t just rely on tech. We need to invest in our teams, from onboarding to continuous learning and development.”
Reclaiming Selling Time
James Peacock, RVP of MidMarket Sales, and Zack Lipton, Director of Sales Engineering at SalesLoft, introduced us to the “2080 problem.”
With only 2,080 selling hours in a year and over half of that time spent on admin, how can sales teams reclaim their precious selling time?
Salesloft’s AI Research Agent.
Imagine being able to conduct account planning sessions in seconds, not hours.
With just one click, you can crawl the web and analyse past account history to get not only a summary but also recommended next actions. It’s like having a tireless assistant working around the clock to make your job easier.
The Coaching Conundrum
Kevin Beales, CEO & Founder of MySalesCoach, dropped a nugget that had everyone in the room nodding in agreement. While 74% of organisations prioritise coaching, the reality is far from ideal.
Picture this: managers spending less than 5% of their time on coaching, and reps receiving far less guidance than leaders assume.
The disconnect is stark. Only 19% of reps rate their coaching highly, yet 70% of leaders believe their approach is effective. It’s a classic case of perception vs. reality.
AI-Powered Personalisation
As the session drew to a close, Morgan Edmondson, Founder & CEO at Nesti, painted a picture of the future – one where AI-powered video prospecting could be the key to standing out in a sea of sameness.
Imagine being able to create an AI clone of yourself with just two minutes of video footage. Now envisage that clone, equipped with CRM data and account information, delivering personalised messages to prospects at scale.
So, how are you going to do it?
The answer lies in embracing the human-technology blend, reclaiming your selling time, investing in meaningful coaching, and leveraging AI for personalisation at scale.
“It’s not about replacing the human touch. It’s about amplifying it with technology.” And in today’s sales landscape, that might just be the secret sauce to hitting those elusive numbers. Remember, in the world of sales, adaptation isn’t just an option – it’s a necessity.
Let’s talk about optimising your sales process.