Gong Labs Archive - Gong

4 data-backed ways to increase your email reply rate (and book that meeting)

Dan Morgese — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 12:45:24 +0000

Gong Labs 4 data-backed ways to increase your email reply rate (and book that meeting) By Dan Morgese July 7, 2023 This article is part of the Gong Labs series, where we publish findings from our data research team. We analyze sales conversations and deals using the Gong Revenue Intelligence Platform’s proprietary AI, then share the results to help you win more deals. Subscribe here to read upcoming research. You did your homework and wrote the “perfect” email to your prospect. You crafted an attention-getting subject line. Congratulated them on their company’s new product release. Shared how your offering has helped other leaders in their role. But still no reply… Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Earlier this year we surveyed hundreds of sellers. A whopping 97% told us they weren’t happy with their email reply rate. We also asked them for the most effective way to increase their reply rate. Their number one answer was better personalization. These are the top 4 approaches to email personalization To bring science back to the art of email personalization, we analyzed more than 30,000 prospecting emails from more than 250 companies. We wanted to truly understand which approaches increase response rates. The Gong Labs team used Smart Trackers to create more than 2,300 distinct classifiers and determine the type(s) of personalization sellers used in each email. These are the four most popular approaches sellers use: Individual-based: This involves personalizing an email based on a single contact, which might include addressing their experience, personal life, hobbies, interests, etc. Company-based: These emails reference the contact’s organization by mentioning company news updates, new product releases, milestones, earnings reports, etc. Activity-based: Such emails use intent or marketing data to reference web activity, content consumption, event attendance, conversations with other stakeholders, etc. (These leads are often already “warmer”) Industry-based: These emails reference how you’ve helped similar companies. They might include social proof, customer case studies, etc. Each of these approaches impacts reps’ success in different scenarios with different buyers. Below we reveal the right time to use each one. Use individual-based personalization in a bottom-up sales strategy If you’re trying to secure a foothold into an account at the individual contributor or manager level, personalize your email based on the individual to increase your chance of success. One-to-one personalization (i.e. addressing a recent promotion, specific interest, hobby, life event, etc.) more than doubles the reply rate of non-managerial buyer personas. That said, when sellers engage a director or above using this strategy, we only see a 50% lift in replies. There’s no doubt that this level of personalization often piques the recipient’s curiosity when it reaches their inbox, but the real test is if it gets them to act on your offer. Though it’s effective, individual-based personalization is typically the most time-consuming approach to emails as it requires research before every send. Use it tactically to ensure you spend your prospecting time efficiently. Lean into a company-based approach when engaging execs Company-based personalization boosts replies from people who are higher up the org chart. Engaging executive buyers (directors and above) using a company-specific topic triples prospecting email reply rates. Interestingly, we found little correlation between higher reply rates and company mentions with lower-level buyers. That makes sense though when we think about why this works so well with leaders. Consider what’s top of mind for them: They’re responsible for delivering on the business’s strategic priorities. By doing your research on company websites, press releases, and financial reports, you can zero in on their organization’s big bets. This shows you’ve taken the time to truly understand their needs, which gives you credibility and allows you to showcase how your offering can help them deliver and exceed their business goals. Land meetings using an activity-based approach Want to 3X your replies AND scheduled meetings? Use insights into which activities the account has already completed in the buying journey. Multi-threading is critical to closing any large deal. If you want to get deeper into accounts and show familiarity and understanding of the prospective buyer’s organization, you can reference previous conversations with colleagues, downloaded content, attended events, or a relevant social post with which the prospect engaged. Our data shows that this approach is highly effective in getting the prospect to not only reply but ultimately take a meeting. Gong’s Revenue Intelligence Platform offers teams complete visibility into account activity. Leverage its insights to identify intent, establish interest, and tee up next steps where you can add value as a subject matter expert. It’s all in the name of alleviating their pain and shifting them away from the status quo! Scale your personalization with industry-specific social proof Looking for an effective approach you can use with multiple contacts? Use an industry-specific personalization strategy. Create a list of people who operate in the same vertical, then tailor your messaging based on industry insights and trends. This approach correlates with an 88% increase in prospect reply rates. Use examples or case studies that resonate with your prospect’s industry or pain points. By showcasing how your product or service has benefited similar businesses, you provide tangible evidence of the value you offer. Including snippets of positive feedback or success stories in your emails builds trust and credibility. It reassures prospects that others have had a positive experience with your offering, making it more compelling for them to consider. (Pssst: If you need some help with your next prospecting email we put together these 7 tried and true templates after analyzing 304,174 emails. Use them to start booking more meetings from your outbound prospecting emails.) Before you hit send, ask yourself: Is this relevant? Generative AI makes personalization easier than ever. As a seller, you can ask these technologies to craft prospecting emails based on any of the criteria above to streamline your research efforts and craft hyper-personalized emails in seconds. But so can your competitors… The bigger issue? Irrelevant personalization still falls flat. No matter who (or what) crafts the email, it must be backed by the right context, intent, and activity data. The alarming truth is that even though these approaches are used today, 87% of buyers say the sales emails they receive don’t address a relevant challenge facing their organization. In other words, these approaches are nothing without a true understanding of how you’ll help solve the prospect’s pain. If you’re still not convinced, Dan Smith, industry expert and Chief Learning Officer at Winning By Design had this to say: To stand out from your competition, it’s more important than ever to make sure all your customer-facing teams can access the insights and data they need to create a highly personalized experience. That means giving them access to a solution like Gong Engage, sales engagement powered by a comprehensive view of every customer interaction. Boost replies and book more meetings with tried and true templates Not sure where to start? Check out these cold email templates using Gong data and the best-performing emails we’ve ever sent. Give them a try for yourself (and thank us later). Sign up to receive sales stats, data, and insights Thank you for your submission. Follow LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter

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This small-talk topic builds rapport and boosts win rates

Dan Morgese — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 14:00:00 +0000

Gong Labs This small-talk topic builds rapport and boosts win rates By Dan Morgese July 7, 2023 This article is part of the Gong Labs series, where we publish findings from our data research team. We analyze sales conversations and deals using the Gong Reality Platform’s proprietary AI, then share the results to help you win more deals. Subscribe here to read upcoming research. Zig Ziglar. Don Draper. Mary Kay Ash. Jordan Belfort. Joe Girard (google him). All incredible sales people. Some of which had some serious, ah, issues (looking at you, Belfort)… but all of them could sure sell.And no “best-of-the-best salesperson” list is complete without The Office’s Michael G. Scott. But the true #1? Andy Bernard. Why? Well, he went to Cornell. Have you ever heard of it? What can we learn from Andy “I went to Cornell” Bernard? As it turns out, a lot. Did we mention where Andy went to college? CORNELL. Turns out mentioning your school is a winning strategy when it comes to the essential sales tactic of building rapport. According to our data pulled from 800k deals, talking about your alma mater increases win rates by 8%, on average. Why talking about your alma mater… matters If you’re anything like me, you fondly look back at the “glory days” of college. Even if you’re not like me, it pays to remember that others do look back at their own glory days. It’s a transformative time in most young adults’ lives where we gain independence, build strong relationships with new friends, and is a pivotal time to explore, discover, and pursue our passions. I completed my undergraduate studies at the (very) small state university of Geneseo in Western New York, and unlike Andy’s alma mater Cornell, you actually may have never heard of it. But when I find myself talking with someone who has, I immediately lean in and become more engaged in the conversation. Me: Where did you live senior year? Stranger: Right off Court Street. Me: NO KIDDING!? What was your favorite pizza spot? Stranger: Mama Mia’s of course!Me: Oh man, a slice of heaven! Stranger: I was on the rugby team, did you know Tim? Me: Tim! Yes! Great guy! Terrible at rugby though. We laugh. Deals are made. This deep connection goes well beyond reliving the past and sharing stories of late nights at my favorite off-campus watering hole…or library! (hi, Mom) Maybe a buyer just took their child on a college tour at your old school or maybe they’re dialing in from a city near your old stomping grounds. As we analyzed the data, this topic organically worked its way into small talk in a countless number of ways. This common bond with one’s alma mater is less about your university and more about finding that topic that builds familiarity and trust, creating (and often strengthening) a common connection. In today’s digital sales environment, this trust and connection between buyer and seller is everything. In fact, it’s scientifically proven to work. That’s because it plays into two of the seven principles outlined in Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence: Science and Practice: Liking and Unity. Liking: We are more likely to agree with what we like. Unity: We value being part of a team or group through a shared identity. When talking about your alma mater works One could argue it’s always important to build rapport. However, building trust and finding common ground (aka, “liking and unity”) are more important in large and complex deals. While possibly helpful, the impact is not as great when talking about a short or highly transactional sale. School mentions actually correlate with increased win rates significantly more as deal size increases. But mentioning the school you attended for 2, 4, (7!) years is not the only way to win over buyers (and increase win rates). Other ways to build rapport with buyers Discussing your alma matter certainly moves the needle on win rates, but what about other ways to build rapport? Don’t confuse small talk with building rapport: Again, think about the weather example. Or “how was your weekend?” or “Anything fun planned for this weekend?” That’s small talk… which is discovery for rapport building. Turn your video camera on!: Visual appearance can be a positive means of building better relationships with your buyers. Delight buyers with the unexpected: Think gifts … even something as simple as a $5 coffee gift card. Aside from the nice gesture, the gift also triggers the law of reciprocity. We detail these 3 powerful tactics here. Now, some more data. While college mentions move the needle for sellers, NCAA Football is the most popular sport mentioned on sales calls. This makes sense. After all, college football is one of the most popular sports (at least in the United States). Football (American soccer) and Cricket take the cake internationally. However, more niche sports like skiing and golf actually have a larger impact. What does this all mean? Alma mater … favorite sports team … even the weather – shhhh … What really matters? Finding common ground. Uncovering topics where we can develop and strengthen our personal connection. Build that rapport A recent LinkedIn poll we conducted asked sellers what the hardest thing was about selling virtually. Not surprising? Of the nearly 2,000 responses, the overwhelming majority (57%), said building true rapport. Want more ways to build rapport? Check out the 7 habits of master rapport builders. Over the next several months we’ll be identifying new topics that are backed by data and proven to work to build connections with your buyers no matter where you are. Be sure to subscribe to Gong Labs so you don’t miss them! Sign up to receive sales stats, data, and insights Thank you for your submission. 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Data shows these 3 seller mistakes are costing you time and money

Dan Morgese — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 00:01:07 +0000

Gong Labs Data shows these 3 seller mistakes are costing you time and money By Dan Morgese July 7, 2023 This article is part of the Gong Labs series, where we publish findings from our data research team. We analyze sales conversations and deals using the Gong Reality Platform’s proprietary AI, then share the results to help you win more deals. Subscribe here to read upcoming research. “Do more, with less.” “Boost productivity.” “Increase efficiency.” Those phrases are overused, but in an economic downturn, they’re all that’s on sales leaders’ minds. Companies regularly look for ways to maximize the time they spend with customers. Because making the most of every potential sale is what matters. No one can afford deal slippage right now. So we’re all agreed: Freeing up time to spend selling is important. So is avoiding seller mistakes. But when new leads are hard to come by, how do you maximize the potential of your existing pipeline? We analyzed more than a million interactions across 103,600 sales deals to understand just that. Which seller activities and behaviors move the needle the most on win rates and deal duration? Use our findings to prioritize your efforts and close the year crushing quota. Our team studied six types of interactions that occur across deals, from prospecting to closure: Sellers made three major mistakes across these interactions. Avoid all three and you’ll win more deals in a shorter amount of time. Mistake #1: You forgot to send that email Hey, it happens. As a sales rep, it can be difficult to keep track of everything on your plate. Hundreds of interactions across multiple channels, with numerous contacts at each account, creates overwhelming complexity for modern sellers. Things slip through the cracks and you forget to send that follow-up email or circle back with that prospect. In fact, 45% of sellers recently told us they have “one or more critical action item” fall through the cracks each week. Dropped actions cause them — and you — to leave serious money on the table. That prompted us to compare opportunities with incomplete action items against those with100% completed actions. The deals in which action items were 100% completed had 20% higher win rates: That’s no joke. Imagine what a 20% boost would mean to your numbers! Making sure you NEVER drop the ball on a critical action item is everything in today’s market. You can’t make President’s Club with a leaky pipeline. Mistake #2: You didn’t proactively engage your prospect Haven’t heard back? Buyer didn’t accept your meeting invite? Rejection can be discouraging, but our data shows it’s still worth your time to send a follow-up email to nudge a prospect or confirm that your buyer will join a call. In fact, after analyzing several types of follow-up actions sellers can take, we found that communication that is not a direct response to a buyer’s communication has the highest potential to increase win rates: For example, when sellers sent an additional email to prospects who hadn’t responded, win rates more than doubled, compared to not sending anything further. Prospect didn’t accept a meeting invitation? Confirm their attendance and send them an agenda of what you’ll cover on the call. Need help crafting these types of emails? We’ve got you covered! Use these tried-and-true templates that work for any situation you find yourself in, from prospecting to proposal. They’re all there, in our 11 Hyper-Persuasive Sales Email Templates: Mistake #3: You waited 24+ hours to send that email Closing out for the day? Not so fast. Did you remember to send ALL your follow-ups? Timing is critical when it comes to buyer engagement. Our data shows that 32% of the time, reps don’t follow up within 24 hours. But when they do, they see a 14% increase in win rate and an 11% decrease in deal duration: In fact, a closer look at the data suggests that you should action items within the same business day. The chart below shows the correlation between response times and win rates. Five to 10 hours is your “sweet spot” in terms of follow up, with the highest average win rate of 49%: It’s not surprising that the top reps have great time management skills. And it pays to be quick on the draw. Make that part of your MO by blocking off one or two time slots each day when you action your follow ups and emails. Having dedicated points in the day just for follow-ups ensures that you provide timely and valuable responses to prospects and customers. Deals are already competitive. Don’t make matters worse by being unresponsive to your buyers. Close more deals, faster Your buyers are being bombarded with emails on a daily basis. In fact, 86% of all the interactions we analyzed for this analysis were emails. That means the quality and content of what you send matters. Stand out from the crowd more easily than ever, with our 11 Hyper-Persuasive Sales Email Templates. You’ll get a how-to for every kind of sales email you need. Just copy, paste, and personalize. (It’s like Mad Libs for making money.) Download your 11 Hyper-Persuasive Sales Email Templates for free, here: Subscribe to Gong Labs here so you never miss a new insight and data filled edition. Sign up to receive sales stats, data, and insights Thank you for your submission. Follow LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter

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Here’s how the economic downturn really impacts your deals

Dan Morgese — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 15:00:00 +0000

Gong Labs Here’s how the economic downturn really impacts your deals By Dan Morgese July 7, 2023 This article is part of the Gong Labs series, where we publish findings from our data research team. We analyze sales conversations and deals using the Gong Reality Platform’s proprietary AI, then share the results to help you win more deals. Subscribe here to read upcoming research. “Look, I’ve got bad news…” “It’s got nothing to do with you as a rep, your product, or anything like that. It’s COVID, its impact on our pipeline and budget, and we had to make a quick decision on where to make a cut right now.” The rep looked stunned. After a successful pilot, the green light from his buyer’s finance team, he was getting “broken up” with. It was March 25th, 2020, barely one week after shelter-in-place orders were put in place and he hadn’t fully recognized the impact the economic uncertainty of the pandemic would have on his deal. His enablement team had put together a COVID-19 talk track to handle this objection, but he was too late. After doing everything right, factors outside of his control ultimately lost him the deal right as it was crossing the finish line. True story. If only he saw it coming. Today, we find ourselves in a time of continued uncertainty. You see it in the news daily. Headlines addressing supply chain issues, political turmoil, layoffs, rising inflation, and interest rates. Whether you’re a sales leader driving GTM strategy or an SDR prospecting, what does it actually mean? What impact is the economy having on prospects? Your current customers? Fortunately, we’ve got some answers. We analyzed over 486,600 sales calls to understand how prevalent macroeconomic factors were in recent conversations and the impact they have on deals. Use these insights to adjust your selling strategy and turn challenges and obstacles into closed-won opportunities. To run this analysis we used Economic Pulse, new functionality within Gong’s Reality Platform that identifies, tracks, and alerts revenue teams when economic triggers are mentioned in customer conversations. Economic Pulse detects common references related to economic uncertainty. (Think of phrases like: “changes in market conditions, cost increases, crazy market, until things are back to normal, inflation, etc.”) Here’s what we found… CUSTOMER MENTIONS OF MACROECONOMIC FACTORS HAVE INCREASED 55% IN ACTIVE DEALS Mentions of the macroeconomic environment have increased substantially: 55% in active deals since October 2021. That means you’re not alone when you hear these objections in your sales cycles. Even with this increase, only 5% of active deals have been impacted. Of the industries and buying centers you’re selling into, many of your customers may not yet be feeling the pressure of an uncertain economic climate. So what determines the likelihood of macroeconomic factors being mentioned? Who you’re talking to. THE MORE SENIOR THE CONTACT AT THE ACCOUNT, THE MORE LIKELY THEY ARE TO BRING UP THE IMPACT THE ECONOMY HAS ON THEIR BUSINESS This makes total sense. When selling to higher-level execs be prepared to handle objections pertaining to cutting costs or shrinking budgets to weather economic uncertainty. Be honest with yourself. Have you clearly positioned yourself as a partner to help customers thrive through turbulent times? What is the cost if they stick with the status quo? If you’re unable to answer these questions, research how your customer’s industries are being impacted and tailor talk-tracks and messaging to proactively address their likely concerns. Not only will this show an intimate knowledge of their business, but can actually help you frame the conversation. As new spend is put under more scrutiny, CFOs will be involved in more of your deals. It’s important that you and your champion use words and language that will resonate when making their business case to finance. Here’s a ready-to-use template you can leverage with customers to win over their CFO and get your deal inked. Speaking of customers… RENEWALS AND UPSELLS ARE IMPACTED THE MOST BY ECONOMIC MENTIONS Keeping existing customers is usually easier and less costly than acquiring new ones. But when faced with economic headwinds, the stakes are raised even higher. Rising churn rates have serious consequences for your organization’s growth goals. Looking at the data, the economic pulse tracker popped up more frequently in renewal and upsell conversations within existing accounts. Not only was the tracker more prevalent in these types of opportunities, but we also saw the largest influence on their win rates when the current state of the economy was mentioned. The impact? A decrease in upsell win rate by nearly 7 percentage points. To increase retention of valuable customers when budgets tighten because of economic uncertainty, proactively address challenges during your QBRs or even update terms to better benefit the customer. If you’re a revenue leader, find this and more tips to adapt and win in Gong’s Economic Downturn Checklist. WHEN MARKET CONDITIONS ARE TOP OF MIND FOR CUSTOMERS YOUR SALES CYCLE LENGTH INCREASES While most frequently brought up during prequalification, we found that mentions of the economy actually occur more frequently after contracts are sent. However, the impact to win rate is less severe. When looking into the context of these mentions, many customers leverage the economic environment during pricing negotiations. (Typical!) This back and forth can prolong sales cycles, as we see an increase in overall deal duration by an average of 14% when market conditions are mentioned. In addition to taking longer to close, deals identified by the economic pulse tracker were twice as likely to decrease in dollar amount. Time kills deals. Don’t let the added pressure of an uncertain market make matters worse. Once you get your “yes,” set clear expectations at the beginning of the contract process and confidently send across paperwork with firm deadlines. CHANGE IS HERE, BUT YOU’RE READY FOR IT Unpredictable market conditions can be scary, but by developing a deep understanding of how it impacts your prospects, customers, and deals will allow you to continue to thrive. We’ve got your back. We’ve put together a checklist for revenue leaders with 9 questions to ask today to take a proactive approach to thrive through change. Sign up to receive sales stats, data, and insights Thank you for your submission. Follow LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter

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These are the 5 best data-backed sales tips of 2021

Devin Reed — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 20:08:39 +0000

Gong Labs These are the 5 best data-backed sales tips of 2021 By Devin Reed July 7, 2023 This article is part of the Gong Labs series, where I publish findings from our data research team. We analyze sales conversations and deals using AI, then share the results to help you close more revenue. Subscribe here and follow me to read upcoming research. This year Gong Labs uncovered… secrets. Like the deadly simple negotiation mistake preventing you from winning deals. And a discovery call “best practice” that actually tanks your success rates. And the (counter intuitive) ideal length for a follow-up prospecting email. How did we do it? By analyzing MILLIONS of sales data points. Why did we do it? To give you a competitive edge and boost your earning potential. To help you get the most out of your year end, I pulled together the 5 best data-backed tips of 2021. Read ‘em. Use ‘em. Share ‘em. (I hear they make great stocking stuffers.) From sales leaders and frontline managers to sales reps, here’s everything you need to know if you want to land every deal left in your pipeline. Tip #1: Never negotiate over email Negotiating is one of the most important skills in sales. Unfortunately, it’s also the skill in which reps are the least trained. Even if you’ve read Never Split the Difference, it’s a black hole of knowledge for most. As a result, sellers (unknowingly) rely on tactics that do more harm than good. Case in point: negotiating over email. You’ve been told that it’s a bad call — but how bad, exactly? We analyzed 37,671 sales opportunities, specifically looking at how emailing price impacted deal success. First, the good news. Win rates spike once pricing is shared over email: If you emailed price recently — or, erm, today — take a big sigh of relief. All good. But beware: Win rates dramatically decrease as soon as you start negotiating over email: It’s important to know that once you introduce pricing into the conversation, it will inevitably evolve into a negotiation. It might be obvious, like your buyer asking for a lower price. Or they might ask a (seemingly) innocent question like “Does your finance team allow net 60?” It’s tempting to reply with a “Yeah, no problem” to keep the deal moving. Don’t bite. Because here’s the thing: Once your buyer asks for anything, negotiations have begun. Once your buyer asks for anything, negotiations have begun. Instead, move the conversation back to where you’ll win — in a live conversation, either in person or over the phone. Negotiate over email and you risk being misunderstood (tone is tough to interpret in emails) or having your written offer used against you to negotiate with a competitor. You also lose control of the timing of your buyer’s response, unlike on the phone. Make an initial offer, then suggest connecting to talk about it. (PS: There are 9 more pricing pitfalls to avoid. Use our 10 Golden Rules of Pricing Conversations to overcome even the most grueling pricing objections. Plus there’s a copy/paste template to move negotiations from email to a phone call.) Tip #2: Beware of selling with slides They’re shiny. They’re polished. They’re presentation-ready. But slides can easily become your enemy if you use them on a discovery call. According to our analysis of 803,402 recorded sales meetings from deals made on web conferencing platforms, win rates drop by 17% when reps use slides on discovery calls: So why don’t slides work in discovery calls? Because slides denote a presentation, not a conversation, and the best discovery calls are a real back and forth in terms of information exchange. In other words, when you use slides, you end up talking to the slides instead of to your buyer. Using slides during discovery has three unintended (and problematic) consequences: Sellers ask 21% fewer questions when they use slides. You can’t learn about your buyer’s pain points, business challenges and attempts at solutions if you’re focused on your speaking notes. Seller monologues are 25% longer when they use slides. Your buyer stopped listening to your speech 5 minutes ago. Swap ‘show and tell’ for ‘ask-and-learn.’ Seller talk time jumps 15% during your call. Know what you can’t do when you’re talking ad nauseam? LISTEN. It’s definitely time to drop slides from your discovery call lineup. Stop talking and start listening so you can learn enough to position your product as the buyer’s dream solution. Don’t leave your next discovery call to chance (especially with C-level execs). Before your next call, check out our Discovery Call Cheat Sheet. You’ll get a list of deal-making discovery questions you can use immediately. Tip #3: Write longer prospecting emails You might’ve made this face when reading cold emails: I mean, attention spans aren’t getting longer and decision makers aren’t getting less busy. So it’s easy to think “the shorter the better” when it comes to prospecting emails. Turns out, that’s not true. After analyzing 300k+ follow up emails, we learned that longer emails are significantly more effective at booking a meeting: You can’t fit much value into a 30-word email. In something that short, your messaging is so broad, it loses the buyer’s attention. You’re better off crafting something substantial and personalized that comes in at around 130 words. A valuable 10-second read is more effective than a meh four-second read. Make it concise. Make sure it’s well-crafted. Make sure every word adds value. And whatever you do, make it solid, because the effectiveness of cold emails decreases over time: Take a page from the book of closed-won and put your best move forward right off the bat. That means NEVER using the phrases below in a cold email. If you do, your reader will hit delete faster than you can say “How’s next Thursday?”: “Thoughts?” “I never heard back from you…” “Just following up…” “I just called you…” Reps use those phrases all the time, but they’re a disaster for your booking rates (and win rates… and commission…). Before you hit Send on your next email, steal these 11 Hyper-persuasive Sales Email Templates. You’ll find every kind of sales email, from prospecting to proposal, and everything in between. It’s crazy-simple: All you have to do is fill in the blanks. Tip #4: Stop selling solo. Start team selling. Got a $50k deal lined up? Good. Multi-thread it to boost your chances of winning. Got a $500k deal lined up? Better get your crew involved. That’s not just true for enterprise sales these days. It applies to every major deal in your pipeline. Big deals require big teams of people on both sides to get to signature. Get them all engaged and you’ll see a boost in your deal sizes*: *According to our analysis of 10,332 sales deals On the buyer’s side, you’ll want to get several types of people involved: End users and influencers: People who will use the product/service Decisions makers: Senior leaders and executives who care about how the purchase affects their budget, strategic goals, and org alignment The due diligence crowd: Budget approvers, legal/contract reviewers, and procurement analysts Think one lone rep can handle all those folks on their own? Not so fast… They need support from others in their org to get the deal done. And that’s a good thing. Sell as a team and you’ll win more often: Creating alignment on both sides of the deal means involving everyone from the technical folks who can validate what’s in the weeds, to big-picture alignment between executives at a strategic level. Put simply, if you want to close 6-figure deals, you need a team selling strategy. If you want to close 6-figure deals, you need a team selling strategy. And that’s important because high-stakes deals can make or break your quarter. To reduce risk, sales leaders need total visibility into what’s happening inside these types of deals — who’s involved, who’s engaged, whose enthusiasm is lagging on the buyer’s side, etc.: Only then can a sales org adequately support the lead rep in a major deal. “Never lose alone” isn’t just a saying in sales, it’s a strategy for winning BIG. Want to know who to pull into your deals and when? Snag this Team Selling Cheat Sheet. It shows you exactly when and why to involve each persona, plus how to align them for maximum impact. Tip #5: Avoid holiday “dead zones” When the holidays approach, the foundation of every deal starts shaking. When you try to close deals in certain holiday zones, meetings will slip, deals will stall, and you’ll waste time chasing traveling execs for signatures that never materialize. How do we know that’s true? We analyzed more than 400k sales interactions for holiday trends. We found that prospects are much less likely to sign contracts during the week of major holidays: During Christmas week, sign rates drop by 78% (!) If you’ve forecasted a deal to close on Christmas Eve, you’re more likely to get a lump of coal. Instead of aiming to close on holiday weeks, get agreement from buyers on a closing plan for the week before the holiday. Sales leaders, if you want to bring your reps through the holidays unscathed, keep an eye out for deals that are scheduled to close on the worst days for signing at year’s end: Why are those dates so risky? Because that’s when reps are ~2x more likely to get stood up for a sales meeting, and that will stall everything: Buyers who agreed to meet during the last weeks of the year will feel no remorse when they bail at the last minute, and their attendance rate will drop by 78% during Christmas week. They’re tired. They’re depleted. And there’s holiday fun to be had if they skip your meeting. Instead, hold your meetings on days when buyers are the most likely to show over the holidays: Last thing: Avoid the holiday slow down with our 10 Golden Rules of Pricing Conversations. It has heat maps, insights, and talk tracks so you can coach reps to close more deals and book more meetings. PS: Best answer wins That’s a wrap! But ‘Tis the season for giving, so let’s pay it forward. Drop your EOQ sales tip in the comments. This way we ALL level up. Sign up to receive sales stats, data, and insights Thank you for your submission. Follow LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter

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Avoid these selling ‘dead zones’ and you’ll win BIG this holiday season

Devin Reed — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 18:51:23 +0000

Gong Labs Avoid these selling ‘dead zones’ and you’ll win BIG this holiday season By Devin Reed July 7, 2023 This article is part of the Gong Labs series, where I publish findings from our data research team. We analyze sales conversations and deals using AI, then share the results to help you close more revenue. Subscribe here and follow me to read upcoming research. Mention ‘the holiday season,’ and people picture turkey legs, decorative lights, and New Year’s parties. But mention that time of year to us sales pros, and we’ll add high stress to that list. That’s because the holiday season is the most challenging time of year to close business. Meetings push. Deals slip. Forecasts fall. And chasing CFO signatures mid-travel becomes a (miserable) full-time job. It’s a nightmare for sales teams because quota never sleeps. To prevent you from getting stung by the ghost of holiday present, we analyzed over 400k sales interactions to see when your forecast, deals, and meetings are at risk. The result? The ultimate holiday selling guide. More specifically, it’s a holiday selling calendar, with hot spots and cold dates for scheduling meetings and collecting signatures. Use these insights to unbox your Q4 quota and get peace of mind so you can shatter revenue records AND enjoy your holiday break. Side bar: About Gong Labs We get our insights by analyzing sales interactions from our product users (anonymized of course). That includes everything captured by Gong’s revenue intelligence platform – web conference meetings, phone calls, and emails. Then we analyze how seller and buyer behaviors impact success rates. For this report we analyzed booked meetings and final deal outcomes to learn when sellers are most (and least) likely to get a deal signed during the holiday season and which dates have the best (and worst) ‘held meeting’ rate. We looked at November and December, which include holidays such as Diwali, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas. Thanksgiving and Christmas had the most statistically significant outcomes because of office-wide shutdowns. Buyers don’t sign during the holidays The winter holiday is real: Prospects sign 27% FEWER contracts during the week of Thanksgiving. And you can forget about a signed contract in your stocking. Sign rates drop off by an excruciating 78% during Christmas week. It may seem obvious that people are distracted during the holidays, but it’s easy to think our own deals are an exception. The reality is, you care more about your deals than your buyers do. Instead of stressing your buyer (and yourself) over the holidays, get agreement from buyers on a closing plan for the week before the holiday. (Pssst: Avoid holiday heartbreak with our Holiday Selling Guide. It has heat maps, insights, and talk tracks so you can coach reps to close more deals and book more meetings. Download it for free here.) Sales leaders, here’s how to protect your forecast “My forecast should be a hope-free place.” – Shep Maher, CRO, Betterworks Strong forecasts are built on reality. And that requires visibility into every customer interaction. If you have that visibility, you can look for every type of risk in your pipeline and protect your forecast. For the holidays, you want to check the scheduled sign date for every forecasted deal. Because if they’re in holiday dead zones, your forecast is at risk. Watch out for deals with close dates within the lowest ‘signed contract’ rates: If you see a deal at risk, connect with your rep or managers and talk about a more productive close date. Deal momentum is key when it’s crunch time, but end of year success for reps means spending time where they can win. More below on where that time is best spent… Meeting no-shows skyrocket around major holidays No one likes getting stood up. It’s even more crushing when it’s a C-level closing call — especially if it’s a must-win deal to hit quota. But that’s just part of the game, right? Not necessarily. It’s tempting to sneak in an important meeting with a decision maker on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or on December 23rd. I mean, we know that time kills deals, so we often keep pushing deals forward by any means necessary. But scheduling meetings during these dates is a losing strategy. On average, reps are ~2x more likely to get stood up for a sales meeting in the week of major holidays: Buyers who initially said yes to a meeting will bail once the vacation mindset sets in. For most buyers, hanging by the fire with eggnog is an easy choice over another web conferencing call. So that full calendar leading up to the holidays doesn’t guarantee a filled Zoom room. That’s why it’s critical to book meetings outside the holiday danger zone. Prospects are 13% less likely to show up to a sales meeting the week of Thanksgiving. And it’s even worse during Christmas week, when attendance rates drop by 78%. Missed meetings means chasing buyers for reschedules, and that leads to delayed deals and an increased risk of missing close dates and forecasts. Want meetings that stick? Use this heat map to see when buyers are most likely to attend a meeting. It’ll help you pick the right dates and reduce no-shows before they send out calendar invites. How to win BIG during the holiday season There are three things you need if you’re going to shatter records this season: Bulletproof closing plans Forecast confidence Talk tracks that motivate buyers to move You’ll find all three in our Holiday Selling Guide. This is how you turn slow months into a sprint across the finish line. Without it, you risk last-minute forecast fumbles. Download your Holiday Selling Guide here for free. It’s the only stocking stuffer that’ll help you hit quota. PS: Want to avoid 3 other deadly EOQ deal mistakes? End of year is almost tied up in a bow. Let’s keep it that way. I’m unveiling 3 data-backed signals on why deals get pushed out at Celebrate: The Revenue Intelligence Summit. You’ll learn how to avoid mistakes, keep deals on track, and use data-driven signals to protect your forecast. It’s happening on December 2nd. Claim your ticket here. Sign up to receive sales stats, data, and insights Thank you for your submission. 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How to close more 6-figure deals, according to data

Devin Reed — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Gong Labs How to close more 6-figure deals, according to data Selling Skills By Devin Reed July 7, 2023 This article is part of the Gong Labs series, where I publish findings from our data research team. We analyze sales conversations and deals using AI, then share the results to help you win more deals. Subscribe here and follow me to read upcoming research. “It’s about stakeholders. You have to get wide when you sell into organizations with 2,000+ employees.” I was getting coffee with a friend of mine who’s an Enterprise Account Director at a Fortune 500 company. I’d asked him what the biggest difference is between $50k and $500k deals. “Stakeholders are crucial, and so is your team. Selling is a team sport once you’re talking quarter million dollar deals. I don’t just sell — I coach and direct a go-to-market team.” I finished my overpriced coffee and went home. This guy has been to more president’s clubs than Alaska Airlines, but I couldn’t help but wonder… is team selling really that important? And what effect does multi-threading have on deals? So I had the Gong Labs team run the numbers. Here’s what you need to know if you want to close six-figure deals: Bigger deals need more multi-threading My friend was right: We know that multi-threading — aka building relationships with multiple buyers in an account — boosts win rates. But does it relate to deal size? We analyzed 10,332 sales deals and uncovered a strong correlation between deal value and the number of buyers involved in closed-won deals: Complex deals take longer, involve more people, and require building multiple use cases. The good news is that all that work pays off (literally) in the form of much larger deals. The larger the purchase, the more eyeballs (read: scrutiny) the deal requires. Here’s who’s typically involved in the evaluation process: End users and influencers: People who will use the product/service Decisions makers: Senior leaders and executives who care about how the purchase affects their budget, strategic goals, and org alignment Those who dwell in due diligence: Budget approvers, legal/contract reviewers, and procurement analysts Each of those groups can easily include five or more people. But here’s the thing: It’s impossible for an AE to build and foster relationships with all these people on their own. If you sell to ~20 people in each account, and you have ~15 accounts at any given time, that’s 300 contacts you’re expected to manage at once. Not happening … unless you’re multi-threading. Visibility into who you’re working with and how engaged they are is critical for closing complex, six-figure deals. (Or any deals, really. But particularly for complex ones.) Here’s why that visibility matters: Beyond understanding who your main champions and blockers are, you want to see whether the whole pack in any given deal is coming along with you, or whether their enthusiasm is concentrated in just a few people. When you know that, you can more easily get others from your organization involved in your deal. Without this level of visibility, you can only hope you’re wide enough in your deal to forecast accurately. And hope has no place in your pipeline or forecast. So it looks like my friend was right about multi-threading… except for one thing. Team selling isn’t just for the enterprise anymore My Enterprise AE friend relied on team selling for high-stakes deals, but he also said selling solo works perfectly for mid-sized and smaller deals. While that was once seen as true, sales organizations can now mobilize team selling to win more deals across the board. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. -African proverb We analyzed how team selling affects deal success and it has a HUGE impact on win rates, no matter the deal size: Say your engagement stats point to one group that’s not coming along with the rest of the team in the deal. It’s time to figure out how to bring them back to the table. The right person to do that might be you, but it might be a sales engineer or someone from customer success. Depends on the scenario. And how many people should you involve? The numbers really say it all: Win rates DOUBLE if you add just one colleague from the seller’s side to the mix. Having three or more people from the seller’s side involved gets you more than 3x the win rate. If you’re selling alone, you’re leaving money on the table. If you’re selling alone, you’re leaving money on the table. (PS: Want to turn these insights into revenue? Download the Team Selling Cheat Sheet. It outlines who you should bring into your deals, when, and why — so you can increase your win rates.) Why team selling is your secret weapon Team selling works with buyers across all segments. Here’s why: It builds trust: When a rep invests time in a deal, it signals that they care about more than a fast sale. They care about the customer relationship and solving pain points. Experts build credibility: You know your offering inside out. But your engineers? They’re experts. There’s no one more credible when it comes to technical questions, so have them help you out. Investing gives you a competitive edge: Not every sales org invests the resources (time and experts) you put in. As long as you do it efficiently, you can go deeper with customers, using team-selling as your differentiator. How to win as a team Each person on your GTM team has unique skills that can add value to the sales cycle, especially if uncertainty pops up in the buyer’s journey. In fact, with a bit of research, we found four categories of people who you can pull into any deal: Use them intentionally, otherwise you’ll add unnecessary roadblocks to your sales cycle and overcomplicate their evaluation process. Here’s the high-level view of who you should pull into your deals: Looks like sales is a team sport. Because every single persona helps boost win rates. Worth noting: CxOs are the least-used of the four personas, but they correlate to the highest win rate. Time to get your senior execs involved. So long as you know how. Before you invite them to your next call… It’s easy to read this post and think that adding people to your next call will help you seal the deal. Not so fast. If you want to do team selling effectively, you have to know WHEN and WHY to bring each of the four personas into a deal. Otherwise you’ll confuse your buyers and add unnecessary complexity (and length) to your sales cycle. But if you get it right, your buyers will see you as the clear vendor of choice. That’s why I created the Team Selling Cheat Sheet. It shows you exactly when and why you should involve each of the four personas. It also explains what they should offer during the call (plus pitfalls to watch out for when they’re involved). Invite the right people in at the right time and your win rates will soar — just in time for EOQ. Download your Team Selling Cheat Sheet here. Sign up to receive sales stats, data, and insights Thank you for your submission. Follow LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter

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7 Tips for writing the perfect follow-up sales email (according to science)

Devin Reed — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 15:30:00 +0000

Gong Labs 7 Tips for writing the perfect follow-up sales email (according to science) By Devin Reed July 7, 2023 This article is part of the Gong Labs series, where I publish findings from our data research team. We analyze sales conversations and deals using AI, then share the results to help you win more deals. Subscribe here and follow me to read upcoming research. Three days ago, I sent a flawless cold prospecting email. It was personalized, to-the-point, and had a highly effective CTA. I knew I’d get a reply. But… none came. Just crickets. Now I’m staring at my laptop screen wondering what to send next… Should I send another hyper-personalized email? (Those take a long time to write.) Or maybe just a quick “bubbling this up” email. (But is that too lazy?) No idea. After an eternity of going back and forth, I decide to go with a quick, “Hey Meg – Did you see my previous email?” But, is that REALLY the right move? That’s why the Gong data team analyzed 304,174 emails to learn which prospecting follow-up email leads to more booked meetings. Get ready to update your cadences. And book A LOT more meetings. Sidebar: What Is Gong Labs? Before we dive into some next-level number crunching, here’s a quick explanation of how we get our data at Gong Labs. We analyze sales interactions from our product users (anonymized of course). That includes everything captured by Gong’s Revenue Intelligence platform from web conference meetings, phone calls, and emails. Then we analyze how seller and buyer behavior impacts success rates. For this report we analyzed 304,174 emails — specifically, follow-up prospecting emails — to learn two things: their ideal length and which phrases help/hurt success rates. We wanted the most effective formula for setting meetings. Now that we’ve set the table, let’s eat – AKA book some meetings. (PS: Want a list of money-making email templates? Snag the 11 Hyper-persuasive Sales Email Templates.) The best length for follow-up prospecting emails “To read or not to read, THAT is the question.” -Every prospect ever. Attention spans aren’t getting longer and decision makers aren’t getting less busy. So it’s easy to think “the shorter the better” when it comes to prospecting emails. Turns out, that’s not true. Longer emails are significantly more effective in booking a meeting: How can this be? There’s a fundamental difference between “short” and “concise.” Short is about length. A short email is maybe 30 words or less. Concise is about length and meaning. It’s brief, yes. But more importantly, the message is valuable while still being tight, compact, and clear. You can have an email that runs to 150-words or more, that contains important information and that’s succinct and well-crafted. Longer emails (30-150 words) work well if they’re packed with value. That means you include information that connects the prospect or their company to your offer. You can afford a longer email if your email is personalized, direct, and intentional in every sentence. Why “bubble-up emails” don’t work “Bubble-up emails” are short, general, follow-up emails. They point to the previous (usually customized and value-driven) email you recently sent, in the hopes of putting in minimal effort to get the maximum result (booking a meeting). Example: Hey Devin, just bubbling this up. Did you see my previous email? While this makes sense in theory, in practice, shorter emails are 15x LESS likely to help you book a meeting. (Blew my mind too.) The data suggests that you haven’t earned the right to be this lax. Put another way, this approach creates a significant amount of work for your recipient. This approach assumes your prospect (1) read and (2) remembers the value in your last email. That’s unrealistic. And it creates a lot of extra work for your prospect: Your prospect has to remember whether or not they read your last email. Then they have to decide Yes/No to going back and re-reading it. Then Yes/No to replying or taking action. Whew. I’m tired just typing this. And buyers make all these decisions in seconds. As a result, it’s much easier to ignore the bubble-up email or say “no thanks” than it is to do all that work for a stranger when no immediate value is present. Your buyers have meetings, priorities, projects, budgets, families, and hobbies. So even if they read your email and chose not to reply the first time, you’ve given them no reason to reply with that second touchpoint. As Eilon, Gong’s CTO told me, “All it does is remind me that I already decided not to respond. Delete.” Want proven email techniques before you write your next email? Join the 8,344 sales pros using the 7 Laws of Highly Effective Sales Emails to add meetings to their calendar faster than you can say, “Does 4 pm work for you?” Avoid these phrases in your follow-up emails Winning — and keeping — a prospect’s attention is paramount to setting up meetings over email. But today’s common practices aren’t necessarily best practices. We dug into common sales phrases to see how they help (or hurt) your chances of booking meetings. Beware if you or your team uses them in sales outreach. 1. Thoughts? This is a seemingly engaging (but sneaky) way of asking for a reply. It plays on people’s need to be heard; their desire to be asked their opinion. But when it’s used to get a reply from a prospect who’s hard to get a hold of, it’s just a gimmick. And it turns out prospects can’t be fooled into engaging with sales people. That’s why this is another phrase that helps reply rates, but decreases your chances of booking a meeting by 20%: What do you think about that? 2. Never heard back Never say never (heard back). This phrase increases reply rates, BUT it decreases meetings booked by 14%. That means sellers get a reply, but not the one they’re hoping for. When sellers tell prospects, “I never heard back from you,” it triggers one of two responses: It incites guilt, which isn’t an emotion you want to stir up in prospects you’re hoping to win over. I get that you’ve spent time and effort researching, emailing, and calling them, and you have nothing to show for it (yet). But buyers aren’t are interested in their own results vs your effort. It confirms their previous decision not to reply to you. This approach will continue that pattern OR prompt them to brush you off with a quick “no thanks.” 3. Following up It’s a follow-up email, so I should tell them I’m following up, right? Sellers unconsciously include this phrase as a nod to their invested efforts. It’s a not-so-subtle way of saying “It’s me again…” Seems harmless, right? Not quite. This phrase increases response rates, but decreases your odds of booking a meeting by 5%: Why? Because it’s empty. It does nothing to engage the buyer, it simply points out that you haven’t gotten the attention you wanted. Swap “Following up on my previous note” with something that builds credibility — like research on their company or industry trends they might not know. Remember, the first line of your email shows up in the email preview. It’s like a second subject line that can entice prospects to open your email. Don’t just leave it to hope that they’ll take a second chance on you. Make an offer. Say something substantial. Speaking of hope… 4. Hope all is well I’ve been pretty clear about this phrase in the past — I hate it. I see it as wasted real estate. Just tell me why you’re emailing me. But that’s why we look at the data: because opinions don’t always align with reality. And although I’m cringing while I type this, “Hope all is well” actually increases reply rates AND it boosts meetings booked by an impressive 24%: If you’re going to keep using (or consider adding) this phrase in your emails, make it less generic. “Devin, I hope all is well since Gong made the Forbes Cloud 100 list, though I imagine things are pretty busy over there!” That small addition does two things: It implies familiarity, even if you don’t actually know each other, and the fact that you’re paying attention goes a long way in quickly building trust. (And it’s slightly less cringe-worthy, IMO.) It passes the “email Turing test” because it’s too personal and too relevant to be an automated sequence. 5. Just called It’s common practice to mention that you called or left a voice message. Because if you point to the effort you’re putting in to get a conversation started, that’ll help your odds, right? Not so much. In fact it does nothing for your meetings booked. No increase or decrease. That’s the definition of “meh”. Spoiler alert: Buyers don’t care how much effort you’ve put in. They care about themselves. It’s nothing personal, we all operate from a place of self-interest. So instead of saying what you’ve done (e.g., called a dozen times), focus on what they’ll get from a meeting. (You know, value.) BONUS: Put your best foot forward early … Cause it’s only gonna get worse from there. The reality is that response rates simply don’t increase after the first interaction. They decline steadily with every subsequent point of contact: Yes, effort counts for something after that first email. So does creativity, because you’ll need to work even harder to impress a tough client and stand out after their first refusal. But remember, the returns diminish with every next move you make. So front load your outreach with your best messaging and creativity. Book WAY more meetings with these email templates We just covered a lot of what NOT to do. And if you’ve read this far, you believe in adding the power of science to your sales approach. Since building pipeline today is more important (and harder) than ever, why not give yourself the upper hand? I’ll look the other way while you steal these 11 Hyper-persuasive Sales Email Templates. You’ll get a how-to for every kind of sales email, from prospecting to proposal, and everything in between. Take ‘em. It’s as easy as copy/paste/win. Download your 11 Hyper-persuasive Sales Email Templates for free here. Sign up to receive sales stats, data, and insights Thank you for your submission. Follow LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter

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“Driving next steps” isn’t enough. This is what REALLY moves deals forward.

Devin Reed — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 19:32:28 +0000

Gong Labs “Driving next steps” isn’t enough. This is what REALLY moves deals forward. By Devin Reed July 7, 2023 This article is part of the Gong Labs series, where I publish findings from our data research team. We analyze sales conversations and deals using AI, then share the results to help you win more deals. Subscribe here to read upcoming research. “Devin, I need to punt this. Let’s revisit in Q4.” Nooooooo! My jaw clenched. I had poured time and energy into this account for five months. And this was NOT what I wanted to hear from the biggest deal in my pipeline. Nor was I expecting it — at all. I’d just finished a tour of demos across every business unit. There was interest. There was excitement. There was momentum. Or at least I thought there was. But in two seconds my $83k deal flatlined, going from “Most likely” to thin air. So what went wrong? The answer isn’t simple. Mostly because it was about momentum, and that’s not something you can “see.” As a result, sales teams trip into the same pitfalls over and over again, losing winnable deals along the way. That’s why our Gong Labs data team analyzed 8,382 deals to learn what REALLY drives deals forward. And the answer will completely change your buyer conversations. “Driving next steps” isn’t enough You already know that discussing next steps is good for deals. But most sellers think that locking in the next meeting is enough to keep deals moving forward. It isn’t. Yes, it’s incredibly important to the overall state of your deal, but there’s another factor that truly gets buyers to sprint like Sha’carri Richardson through the sales cycle… something that happens before next steps are set: discussing the right topics in sales calls. That has a massive impact on whether buyers continue down the buying process by setting up next steps: Sales reps typically focus on two types of topics: value-based topics and features-based topics. Value topics are things like discovery, business impact, and use cases. Product features are exactly that: all about your product and how it works. The data shows that focusing on value-based topics is far more productive. Put another way, when sellers focus on features, they are significantly less likely to earn a follow-up call. And that matters because next steps are everything: Next steps are a huge part of deal momentum. Without them, you have no deal. Value-based discussions are the fuel that helps you set next steps and maintain deal momentum. If you don’t engage in these discussions, you’ll have a much harder time setting crucial next steps. Sidebar: As a manager, you may think you’re coaching reps on booking next steps, but you’re actually coaching on topics that will lead to next steps. Same thing for you, reps: Don’t focus solely on next steps. Focus on the topics and conversations that help you book them. (Pssst – want to “wow” buyers into moving forward? These 10 value-selling prompts will help you uncover true business pain and drive deals towards closed-won.) If you’re not problem solving, you’re not selling When you sell a product by leading with features, your buyer has to figure out how those features solve problems. They have to connect your product to their goals. In other words, you’re asking them to sell the product to themselves. But when you focus on value-based topics, you do the problem solving together — causing buyers to rush you through the sales cycle. That’s why value-based topics are what really resonates with buyers. It’s why they say yes to setting next steps: they want to hear more and keep the convo going. Instead of dodging your emails and rescheduling meetings, they sprint towards signature. They’re running toward their desired state; one in which they’re more productive, can boost team performance, and help their company grow. These outcomes are significantly more motivating than “buying another tool with shiny features.” Because people don’t buy to spend, they buy to solve. “People don’t buy to spend, they buy to solve.” Problem solving in sales means understanding your buyer’s most pressing worries and needs, and showing them exactly how your product addresses their problems. A solution is what makes them believe in your product because it brings them value. It’s what makes them reach for their (corporate) credit card. You know what doesn’t get them there? Going on and on about that new thing your dev team created. That’s called feature dumping. Avoid feature-dumping at all costs It’s tempting to focus on your product. I mean, you know it’ll help your prospects. And it’s so easy to fall into that “If they see it, they’ll love it” mindset. But that isn’t true. Because they won’t really understand how those features address their biggest challenges. And when you spend too much time feature-dumping, your win rate plummets: Stick to value-based conversations and you’ll kick your sales process into 5th gear by engaging your buyer and getting them to set next steps. That’s the key to maintaining (and boosting) deal momentum. Read this before your next call Solve your buyers’ problems and they’ll ask you, “Where do I sign?” But before you can get there, you need to know how to sell value. And that means knowing how to discuss value-focused topics. Here’s your head start: There are 10 Value-selling prompts that increase deal momentum. Using these conversation-starters is like hitting fast-forward on your deal. You’ll uncover true pain, deliver value, and push deals forward (so they never go dark). Download your plug-n-play sentences here. So easy, right? Sign up to receive sales stats, data, and insights Thank you for your submission. Follow LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter

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Your CRM close date isn’t giving you the full picture. Here’s what you’re missing.

Devin Reed — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Gong Labs Your CRM close date isn’t giving you the full picture. Here’s what you’re missing. By Devin Reed July 7, 2023 This article is part of the Gong Labs series, where I publish findings from our data research team. We analyze sales conversations and outcomes using AI, then share the results to help you win more deals. Follow me to read upcoming research. A CRM forecast is no crystal ball, but it’s the closest thing you’ve got. (That and your gut, but it’s hard to tell if that’s ‘swing deal optimism’ you’re feeling or the chile verde you had for lunch.) To get that beloved forecast, everyone punches in the standard info: Reps type in their deal amount, their forecast confidence (Best Case, Most Likely, or Commit), and the expected close date. Leaders roll up those numbers—deal size and likelihood of closing—to create the team’s future truth. Now everyone is accountable for making it happen. And if your sales forecast was nearly as accurate as your local news station’s weather person, you’d be ecstatic. Because then every end of quarter would boost your confidence instead of your resilience. But you wouldn’t have clicked on this article if that were the case. You’re missing part of the story There’s a gap somewhere between what your sellers hear on the phone and what you see in your dashboard (or your sales report excel doc). That’s because what truly happens in buyer conversations rarely (if ever) makes it into your CRM, let alone your final forecast. That close date may not be telling you the full truth. So instead of focusing on the close date itself, we analyzed 13,439 B2B sales opportunities to see how changing the CRM close date affects your win rates. And we uncovered something startling. Major close date changes = poor deal health As deals progress, it’s natural that the projected sign date bounces around. Meetings are pushed, requirements change, and new points of contact are introduced into the deal. But how far and how often that bounce occurs tells a story. We uncovered a strong correlation between the average number of days close dates are extended and your likelihood of winning that deal: There are few factors to keep in mind here: Your CRM is only as good as the information you put into it.(Obvious, but true.) CRM hygiene varies from rep to rep and company to company. Some sellers update consistently, while others wait until they know a deal is closing before bothering with updates. So I’m not saying that fudging your close date will boost your win rates (though that would be sweet). Rather, the data suggests that the size of the close date change is correlated to your level of deal control. (PS: Maintain deal control through end of quarter with our (free) 7-Point Checklist for Airtight Pipeline Reviews.) Here’s how to spot loss of deal control If your buyer takes a surprise vacation, that might push your timeline out by a week. All good. Maybe an unexpected slow down in procurement adds two weeks to your sales cycle. Not a huge deal. But if your champion leaves the company—or if there’s any other serious pause that derails your deal by 3+ weeks—you’re in trouble. When sellers push the close date three weeks or more, that’s not a hiccup, it’s a hold up. And win rates decline even more when the close dates are pushed into the following month or quarter. It reflects a shift from controlling the deal to chasing the deal. Because the reality is that when deals are pushed out, it creates dead space in a sales cycle. As a result, you lose mindshare. You drop in priority, be it in your prospect’s attention or their budget. And once you’ve dropped to the bottom of the priority list, it’s exponentially more difficult to climb back up. Buyers inevitably ask themselves whether your product is really that important. If they answer no… well, that’s how cold deals turn into lost deals. Date fluctuation is actually a good thing To be clear though, changing a close date isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. It can be part of a perfectly healthy deal process. You may be surprised to learn that closed-won deals fluctuate 31% more than closed-lost deals: Stale deals have stagnant close dates. No deal movement means no close date movement. That’s why there’s nothing to update. What this means for your forecast All that glitters ain’t gold. Not every forecasted deal is as strong as it appears based on the close date alone. Say you have two $50k deals in Most Likely. If you think they have an equal chance of closing, you’d weigh them both at 85% likelihood. But what if one of those deals has previously moved its close date by six weeks? What seemed like a sure thing can turn out to be fool’s gold. Having this insight is critical to confirming that you really know what’s happening in your pipeline and that you have an accurate forecast on your hands. The good news: If you don’t have pipeline clarity, you can get it. Revenue Intelligence surfaces insights and deal warnings that can make or break a quarter before it’s too late. You’ll be able to see whether your close dates are moving, and by how much. Read this before your Monday forecast meeting There’s a good chance your quarter wraps up in the next few days. Want to know if your forecast is really on track? We created the 7-Point Checklist for Airtight Pipeline Reviews based on everything we know about forecast indicators. You’ll learn about pipeline pitfalls (and how to avoid them) and get data-backed signals that can increase your deal health—everything you need to eliminate uncertainty from your forecast. Download your 7-Point Checklist for Airtight Pipeline Reviews here. Sign up to receive sales stats, data, and insights Thank you for your submission. Follow LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter

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