(163) A simple framework to get AEs self-sourcing pipeline - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92tLxxHP490

Transcript: (00:04) So Jason, when I was leading the team, the sales team at Catalyst, I had brought a new prospecting rigger to the AEES because we were pretty reliant on SDR built pipeline. And in order to hit our revenue goals, we really had to get those AES sourcing their own pipeline. And this has kind of become a trend from what I'm seeing across different SAS companies is the old way of building pipelines through inbound channels or outbound SDR channels isn't enough to hit our targets. (00:39) And we're now asking salespeople who sometimes haven't prospected in 10 years to now break into their accounts and build pipeline. And I know that you have um been working really closely with only an AE team on their outbound strategy and training. I'm curious, what are you seeing in in the AE self-sourcing pipeline that's working today? Yeah, so you're right. (01:06) This is absolutely a trend. I think outreach actually kind of popularized this. There was like an old article that came out around how they're asking their AES to self-source 30% of pipeline or or something like that. I can't remember what it was. Um, but I think there was like this challenge of this conventional way of doing things of AEES just sell uh BDRs just do outbound account managers, you know, they're they're in charge of the customer and the upsells and like that sort of stuff. (01:35) Um, the reality is that it just doesn't the math equation never works out perfectly. So to get AES to self-source though is like like if I was to use an analogy, it's like getting someone to go to the gym that doesn't go to the gym on a regular basis. Like it's it's really hard to to get AES to do this if that's not a part of your culture. (01:56) Um there was a a client um the client that you're referring to, they sell into residential construction contractors and there was like a standout sales manager during the engagement and she brought this in uh this system in that she was using to get every AE to self-source two, three, four new meetings on top of their current meetings on a weekly basis. (02:16) So I really dug in with her. This was in like a group call with the leaders and she shared her system and we started to get all the other leaders to do it and just had a lot of success. Um uh the secret here if uh if there is one is that this is a ton of work. So like this is something that I feel like a lot of managers they put the expectation on the AE but they don't actually work it into their weekly rigor. (02:40) Uh their weekly rhythm is what we call it. So there's a couple things that need to happen. Uh, so on a weekly basis, the number one thing that she will do is in the rep one-on- ons, she will actually go a step deeper than just talking about pipeline and all of that kind of stuff and think about, hey, the rep's weak. (02:59) Where are they going to fit in pipe gen? Where are they going to fit in outbound? So, she'll strategically go in and like say, hey, come to our meeting with a plan on how you're going to fit in the activity, right? um she uses the weekly team meetings as an opportunity to talk about outbound. (03:19) So when you think about the natural weekly touch points that are already happening with the rep, there's your one-on-one that happens each week and there's the team meeting. You need to dedicate portions of those meetings to talking about pipe genen. So the weekly team meeting is scoreboard. How's everyone doing? It's accountability check-in. (03:37) and she's spending the first 10-15 minutes of that meeting practicing and teaching something from an enablement standpoint that we taught in the training. I think that's like the first part. Uh the second part that's really interesting and this reminds me of like the call center days uh for me like I one of the things I did at my previous employer was implemented a call center you know with like 30 outbound reps like a couple call center managers and what we did every day was like first thing in the morning lunch break at the end of the day there was like an update sent (04:07) out here's where everyone's at for the day activity uh meeting scheduled etc. So, she sends out these updates to her team on a daily basis. In other words, she creates a lot of visibility around what's actually going on. Um, I think this is this could be a little overkill, this next one, depending on the type of team that you have. (04:29) If you have really experienced strategic reps, they might not appreciate a daily huddle in the morning. But, she does a 20 to 30 minute daily huddle where you're supposed to have made 25 cold calls coming into that huddle. And that huddle is all about just practice and reinforcement. And then she'll check in onetoone during the day with reps that haven't put in their activity yet. (04:51) I know that you were really big on that during your time at outreach. Um, so that's the rigor from a weekly and daily standpoint. It's a lot of like not letting a day or a whole week go by without activity happening. it's checking, but she's putting in a ton of work to like help reinforce practice all of that stuff. Um, that's that's what really worked really well for her. (05:17) And I think that's a huge part that goes into a cultural shift in behaviors. when we're asking reps or different teams from a goto market perspective to do something that they haven't done, it it does take time to shift that behavior and to shift the culture. And we talk so much about in our deliveries participation in cander. So if leaders can participate in the actual asks that we're putting in front of the sales team, I feel as though it's adopted at a higher rate. (05:51) I know that when I asked my teams to prospect and they were like, "Ugh, okay." And I every day I have cold calls and I have to send emails. We would actually do power hours where we would bring in the sales leadership team as well as our CMO and our CEO and they would go from station to station and we would all help them prospect. (06:13) So, when you can like be in the trenches with your reps, you usually see better results. So I love it does sound like a lot of work and it is but I do think that if you are that detailoriented in your process and you align it to your weekly rhythm as a leader it does warrant strong results with the reps. What what type of push back did she get if any or how long did it take to adopt this new motion of rigor and prospecting efforts with her team? I mean the number one thing that any rep is going to complain about is more internal meetings. So I think with the (06:51) internal meetings you have to really make sure that you know let's be honest like most most enablement sessions are not productive use of time for reps. It's presentation of material that could have been shared asynchronously for people to watch in the form of a video. And it's not a knock on my enablement people out there because there's a lot of great enablement that's happening. (07:13) I think the way in that it's delivered and expected to be consumed is not always something that reps look forward to. Um really the big thing was like hey let's make sure that the time we are spending with them is if we're not actually doing the activity together this is directly helping you get better at that activity. (07:31) Um but you mentioned something I want to double click on too where she participates like she makes calls with her reps. Uh Kyle Norton, CRO at Orner.com. We had him on a webinar and he was like, "Yeah, every sales manager like they're expected to make, you know, x amount of calls on a weekly basis." Like I we hold them to those KPIs. (07:49) Um that's one thing I always prided myself in. I mean, like I prospect, you know, we have an SDR I prospect alongside of and make calls. We're trying to get people to show up to an exec dinner right now in Chicago and I've been making cold calls, you know, for that. So it's like you have to participate in the activity with the rep for sure. (08:06) So, if you're a sales leader listening to this, what your biggest takeaway is is align the rigor you're asking your reps to do into your calendar and be in the trenches with them. If you're a rep that's listening to this and you're like, "Ugh, I would love for my manager to cold call with me. (08:25) " Opportunity to manage up. Ask them to join a 30 minute Zoom call and see who can get the most connects with cold calls. That's what I would say for this.