IN THIS ISSUE
Today's Driven brings you articles on 3 highly relevant, current topics. All are likely to have a long shelf life:
- Feeling clueless about enterprise sales? Here's how to step up and lead. Sometimes you find yourself responsible for building or managing a sales team, and you have no idea what to do. Well, relax. You won't find better guidance than this.
- Demand generation: Get off the hamster wheel. Win more deals faster. And stop hounding your prospects. Yeah. It sounds like hype. But it's the future of B2B sales and marketing, and it's at your doorstep.
- How not to throw more good money after bad. We all have so many ways to make poor business decisions. Don't let this be among them.
After experimenting with mind maps for a few issues, this time I'm offering a new option. The main links will take you to online web pages I created with a software application called Notion.
The articles on Notion have many of the advantages of mind maps. You can still expand and contract text. And reading a Notion page on a smartphone is probably easier than reading mind maps.
Let me know if you have a preference.
Let's go.
Dave Vranicar at Driven
MARKETING | DEMAND GENERATION
Demand generation: How to get off the creaky hamster wheel
No topic in Driven gets more consistent interest than demand generation.
Marketers responsible for demand generation work under huge pressure. For the same efforts that used to produce adequate results, many now yield only shrinking returns.
This article shares a new, more effective way to generate demand.
They're not from the familiar list of tactics or gimmicks. Instead, you'll find a holistic way to think about demand generation in ways few companies do.
Who should read this
This is for senior revenue leaders in B2B SaaS companies that sell higher-value products.
It's suitable for both sales and marketing leaders, and especially for chief marketing officers.
Don't expect quick fixes. But if you're open to a roadmap toward a better future—maybe a year or 2 down the road—this is a good place to invest time now.
You'll develop a vision of the promised land. And you'll see a high-level roadmap for how to get there.
This article may not be for you if your company is...
- Too young (that is, you're in the pre-expansion stages of your growth)
- Unwilling to undertake a big change of sales and marketing culture
Why it matters now
These ideas won't rescue a lackluster year that's half over. But they can help you stop your company from falling behind.
If you start building internal support now, you can plan and budget for execution in 2022.
More
For more about a holistic new way to think about demand generation, go to this Driven article.
It can help get your company break its toxic addiction to lead generation.
It can also enable you to stop irritating the prospects with whom you want to build trusting relationships.
The article contains links to 7 related resources.
You'll have free access to the detailed article for 2 weeks. After that, you may be asked to pay for access.
notion.site
SALES & SELLING | ENTERPRISE DEALS
How to lead enterprise sales like a pro, even if you don't know what you're doing
Plenty of founders and senior executives in B2B SaaS companies come from science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) backgrounds. They have little or no direct experience in sales or selling.
STEM background or not, you may find yourself in a new role where you're responsible for revenue. But you don't feel confident you know how sales should be managed.
This article shares useful tips specifically for you.
If you have any doubts about your company's ability to hit its number this year, this is among the smartest reads to put at the top of your summer list.
Who should read this
You're likely to get most value from this link if...
- Your B2B SaaS company sells big(ger) deals to big(ger) companies.
- You're not satisfied with your sales team's ability to forecast revenue accurately.
- In building your sales team, you're not sure you know what skills or traits to hire or train for.
Why it matters now
If your company's fiscal year is the same as the calendar year, you're at the halfway mark.
Any new sellers you hired in Q1 should be nearly ramped by now. You still have almost half the year to make up for any revenue shortfalls you've experienced so far.
More
For more, go to this Driven article. You'll also find links to 4 related resources.
You'll have free access to the detailed article for 2 weeks. After that, you may be asked to pay for access.
notion.site
MANAGING | DECISIONS
How to stop digging a deeper hole: The fallacy of 'We can't quit now.'
If a single skill can improve your performance as a leader, it's the ability to make better decisions.
Think of it: Every outcome in your life depends on just 2 factors:
- Your decisions
- Luck
Luck, by definition, happens randomly. You can't influence it. That means your decisions are all you have.
The problem is, we humans are deeply flawed at making decisions consistently well. A ton of research in the past 20 years supports this point.
One infographic cites more than 180 sources of cognitive bias that are likely to cloud our thinking.
In business, one of the common relates to sunk costs: "We can't stop. We've come too far and spent too much."
This article briefly explains the fallacy of sunk costs and why it shouldn't influence our important decisions. It shares recent research on who is most susceptible to the fallacy.
Why it matters
If we understand our biases and flawed thinking processes, we can improve our decisions.
By improving our decisions, we can often improve our outcomes—unless, that is, bad luck makes an otherwise good decision look bad.
Who should read this
This article will be useful for anyone who...
- Recognizes they sometimes make poor decisions
- Manages or knows others who sometimes fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy
- Wants to reduce the influence of sunk costs in making decisions
More
To help overcome the negative effects of sunk costs on your decision process, see this Driven article.
You'll have free access to the detailed article for 2 weeks. After that, you may be asked to pay for access.
notion.site
WRAP UP
That's it for this issue.
If you've enjoyed Driven, please share it with a friend or colleague.
They can get their own copy here.
See you next on July 31.
Best,
Dave Vranicar
Dave Vranicar at Driven
ABOUT DRIVEN
Driven is a fortnightly digest for busy revenue leaders in business-to-business (B2B) SaaS.
It's likely to be most useful if your company sells higher-ticket products that require moderate to heavy involvement of professional sellers.
Driven is here to help you:
- Achieve your revenue goals.
- Overcome your obstacles and challenges.
- Fix expensive problems.
- Be the best version of yourself.
About links, recommendations, and commissions
When I provide links to content from vendors, does it imply a recommendation or endorsement?
Not necessarily. I share links to sources I think you'll find useful or interesting.
If I recommend or endorse a product or service, it's only because I trust it to deliver good value.
If I think something I recommend may not be a good fit for some Driven readers, I'll share my caveats.
I may receive a small commission if you buy something I've recommended. My commissions cost you nothing. If your purchase could earn me a commission, I'll tell you.
Dave Vranicar at Driven