Global Business Development Association (GBDA)

"Facts tell. Stories sell." We can all nod our heads to this, but how many stories do we tell in our discovery? Demos? Pricing calls? Do we prep for meetings by pre-planning some stories to share, based on what we've learned about the Buyers in our research? Do we spend time each week learning at least 1 new customer story, and quizzing ourselves with flashcards until we can tell them by heart? If we want to get better at this, there's good news. Lou Adler's S.T.A.R. framework is an easy way to learn and then tell customer stories. S = Situation T = Trouble A = Action R = Result How do you use stories in your sales process? ps- If you're a seller who'd like more simple breakdowns you can use instantly, you might like the workshop I'm doing on 12/4. We'll cover 3 ways to Bulletproof Your Q4 Deals. You can save a seat here: https://bit.ly/3UUpXDi

Key questions every partnership leader should be able to answer in their organization: 1. What’s the goal of partnerships at your company? 2. How do other execs view partnerships, and what experience do they have in this area? 3. How will AEs and CSMs collaborate with partners, and how do you ensure alignment? 4. What budget and resources are allocated to partnerships? What's the planned headcount? 5. What goals are you aiming to achieve, which KPIs do you track, and by when? 6. How do you currently work with partners, and why should partners want to work with you? 7. How do your customers engage with partners, and will the partnership team have access to them? 8. Can you share some metrics around current success (revenue growth, ACVs, churn, etc.)? 9. What’s the history of partnerships in your company, and what challenges have you faced? If you are looking for a new role: Ask tough questions upfront—don’t hold back! Avoid surprises later on.

Our largest deal this year was opened through a LinkedIn voice message. So yeah, LinkedIn still works for outreach as well. But all the really really badly automated messages make it harder. And no-shows were much higher than with calls or emails. Here are few tips on how you can use LinkedIn more effectively: 1?? Send connection requests before you add prospects to your sequences. Don't send it with the start of the sequence. What people hate the most is a pitch-slap 2-3 days after an accepted connection. 2?? Don't send a message in an automated connection request. Connection requests WITHOUT a message are accepted at a 34% higher rate. Probably because most automated messages are really really bad. 3?? Only use automated LinkedIn messages at the very end of your sequences, or not at all. As I said, it is just so awkward to get pitch-slapped right after accepting. 4?? Download the LinkedIn app on your phone so that you can use voice and video messages. I listen to most voice or video message. I only receive very few anyway. I listen to them because I know they are personalized. 5?? Don't focus on messaging. Interact with posts and comments of your prospects primarily. That is perceived as "giving". Wanting a meeting is perceived as taking. Give and then ask for something 6?? In case you start to write content for your target audience, after about 3 - 6 months, LinkedIn messages will become more effective than emails and cold calls. LinkedIn is your long-term strategy. 7?? Send people a connection request a few days/weeks before you meet them (in case you have not done it before): "Hey Patrick, looking forward to chatting in a few days" As soon as they accepted: Research 3 people you want an intro and are connected with the person you are going to meet At the end of the meeting, you ask the person: "I saw you are connected to X, Y and Z. From my point of view, they could also be very interested to learn about us. Do you mind if I send them a message and send your greetings?" 8?? Reach out to your real LinkedIn connections with the following message: "I saw you are connected to person X. Would you be opposed if I send that person your best wishes? I plan to reach out and discuss?Unique?with them." 9?? Install the Twain chrome extension. The tool will write LinkedIn messages tailored to the person's profile and the pains you solve. Samir books 1-2 meetings every two weeks with this approach. 1??0?? What you say in a LinkedIn voice message resembles with what you say in a cold call: "Hey Thomas, we are working with a lot of Universities who struggle with the correction of free-text exams because it can take up to 30 days. We can save more than 75% of that time by automating that process. Is that interesting for you?" Any other tips?

You don’t need 78 AI tools. Just a few good ones. So I asked top sales creators: "What AI tools do you use for sales?" Here's what they answered: Jérémy Grandillon:? - Telescope - Maildoso - Lemlist? - Clay? - Instantly Giulio Segantini: - EltoAI? - TrellusAI - Close? - FullEnrich - SecondBody Alan Ruchtein:? - Malidoso? - Instantly - FullEnrich - Telescope? - Phantombuster Aaron Reeves: - Sales Navigator - Instantly - Apollo - Clay - FullEnrich Felix Frank ??:? - Make - Smartlead - Heyreach - Clay - Ocean io Noam Nisand (me):? - Crono - ZELIQ? - EasyGen - Sendler? - Attention Alex Vacca ?????:? - Common Room? - Prospeo - Unify - Clay - Attention Melissa Gaglione?:? - Sendspark - Clay - Warmly - FullEnrich - Sales Navigator PS: Thank you Charlie Hills for the template! PPS: I’m Noam Nisand, posting daily about Sales.

I see gurus confuse SDR and BDR. Usually, it's older Sales and Marketing gurus. I get it, the BDR title wasn't popular before 2011. In 2011, Aaron Ross, popularized the Business Development Representative (BDR) job title and published tactics for this role in his popular book, "Predictable Revenue." In 2022, LinkedIn reported the BDR role as the 6th fastest growing job in the United States. BDRs are the most junior person on the prospecting team typically called the Business Development (BD) team. Here's the difference between SDR and BDR... ? SDR participates in the Selling (Conversion Phase) of the buyer journey. They nurture leads who declared intent, from SAL to SQL. ? BDR's operate before the SDR in the Activation Phase of the buyer journey responsible for prospecting and nurturing leads from IQL to SAL. It's easy for some people to confuse the two roles because prospectors traditionally report to... ? 68% Sales leaders like CRO ? 24% Marketing leaders like CMO ? 8% BD leaders like CGO During the Industrial Age, prospectors traditionally belonged to Sales. The BD profession is one of the fastest growing professions and organizational structures are rapidly evolving to meet the rapidly changing buying behaviors of the highly enabled buyers in the Information Age. You can see that change with the CGO role being the #1 fastest growing title in 2024 according to LinkedIn's annual LinkedIn "Jobs on the Rise" report. That's been the trend since 2020 when LinkedIn first reported CGO as the 2nd fastest title. And here's another interesting trend that may be disturbing to those Sales and Marketing gurus... The CMO and CRO are increasingly reporting to the CGO. Why? Because BD spans the gap between Marketing and Sales and... BD integration activities span the entire customer journey. It starts when a BDR runs with that IQL. BDR or SDR, what's the difference? More and more, it's a lot. Tony Gray, BDP Author of the Business Development Body of Knowledge Get your copy on Amazon today! Click my name + Follow + ?? ?? Boost your BD career with the Business Development Professional (BDP) certification from the Global Business Development Association (GBDA). ??Subscribe to CGO Magazine, our free monthly newsletter. #BusinessDevelopment #CGO #BDR

Ever get stuck on a sales call and have no idea what to ask next? ?? It’s happened to me on cold calls and discovery calls and I’m sure it will happen again. Here’s 3 questions to have in your back pocket for when that total mind blank creeps up on you ???? ?Can you help me understand what you meant by… This will get you a tonne more information which will allow you to gather your thoughts. Sales pros are also guilty of not asking questions when they haven’t understood something. Prospects actually like to be understood so it’s such an easy way to set you apart from competition. ?Can you give me an example of when X happened? This prompts your prospect to think deeper about a challenge and they might have multiple examples. ?How long has this been going on for? This is typically best asked after the first two. This question is great for qualification and helps you to understand how big the challenge is. All of these questions are applicable to a tonne of different scenarios. They buy you time to gather your thoughts but they are also super useful with understanding a situation at a deeper level.

Probably the best LinkedIn outreach I've received. Why is it so good? Well it's simple: ? The personalisation is authentic (something I've worked hard at) ? Sharing 3 easy & actionable tips (for free) ? No pushy CTA (respecting my timelines & calendar) In summary, he is highlighting a challenge I didn't know I had & giving advice. = not sales-y but consultative. How could you apply the above structure to your messages? P.S. If you need more help with optimising your LinkedIn profile or attracting more leads then recommend having a convo with Arpit Sharma #sales