GTM Weekly - Volume 5
The Game Plan Partners Weekly – The Role of Reps as Mini-Marketers: Why Your Time is Now
So it turns out it is kind of hard to do a newsletter each week, post each week, comment each week and run the other business you are doing while traveling.
So yeah - I keep preaching but it is hard so while no one is losing sleep that I missed a week it bothered me. Ok - who cares.
However, over the past two weeks, I’ve had 15 deep conversations with CEO’s across various stages of companies (including 2 public). One theme keeps rising to the top is pipeline is hard, productivity is hard and guess what? The whole game is hard and that is why we play to win!
One start up founder said literally “How do I know if I have the right rep as they have not closed anything in 8 months and are selling to banks. We figured it was a 6 month sales cycle because we are a new category and there is no budget for this.”.
My reply:
“I have a hot take for you and I will be very direct.
It sounds like you hired a rep and sent them on a fishing expedition to go find PMF. That is not their job. You also should not be selling to banks to start with.”
This stuff makes me ??
I don’t know if I would be a good rep or a bad rep right now at my old age. I could argue it either way but we have a job to do in GTM right now and that is to make sure we do all we can to drive productivity.
This means we must actually work at it and that does not mean just hire the VP of Sales and put them in this same position.
I was on an awesome podcast with Kyle Coleman talking about how reps today can’t afford to just be salespeople — they need to be mini-marketers, content creators, and connectors.
Yes. Cold email is dead but you still have to do it but you need the right infrastructure or else don’t even try. If you don’t know what that means - it means don’t even bother.
Hint - using Apollo is not it.
I said to one founder I believe there’s an 18-month window to leverage this shift, using LinkedIn video to build trust, influence, and pipeline.
One very astute founder said she agreed this needs to be done but the window might close sooner. She could be right but I don’t think so because too many just don’t do it, don’t want to do it, are afraid to do it or even worse - are frowned upon for doing it (I once had a boss do this to me who is def not reading this but……..)
It’s becoming clear that content, community, and conversion (the 3 Cs) are the tools that will differentiate top-performing reps from the rest. Whether you’re selling product-led growth tools, SaaS, or AI solutions, mastering the 3 Cs isn’t optional anymore — it’s your new playbook.
I don’t know Sara Uy personally but she went viral with her content. She has 66k followers on LI - and 150k + on TikTok. I am not advocating TikTok because well I am too old to know but sure some will say IYKYK. I don’t but also don’t think my buyers in B2B Enterprise are there. I am sure I am wrong on something here but for now - not my worry which probably means good whitespace. Anyway, she left to create her own company and got a 12k deal her first week.
Was that staged? Don’t know and don’t care as it was fantastic content if it was and I am sure created urgency for others. Is her particular style what YOU need to do for YOUR buyers? Not at all. Is the playbook there - I would pay attention.
The Role of Reps as Mini-Marketers
The best reps I’ve seen are no longer waiting for marketing teams to hand over leads — they’re creating influence on their own. Every interaction on LinkedIn, every video post, every insightful comment in a community forum is part of their personal brand and pipeline-building strategy.
I actually had a very similar chat with the CEO of Clay this week but more on that later.
As buyers engage more through “dark social” channels, where trust and insight are exchanged outside traditional funnels, your ability to show up as a thought leader matters more than ever. The reps who build relationships today through content and community will convert tomorrow.
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Founders and CEO's, This is Your Window as We Need YOU Also :)
? YOU need to ALSO dominate LinkedIn and video. If you don’t start building now, your competitors will. This shift is real, and the advantage goes to those who act early and often. I had one founder say to me this could take them 2 days of work to do. I said well, that is what is required right now but I don’t think it needs to be two days but 1-2 hours a day for sure (comment, like, engage, post, connect). The bigger the CEO of course this goes down.
? The war on talent is brutal. You can’t just rely on equity to attract top talent anymore. The funding landscape has shifted, and people want more than promises of future value — they want opportunities that feel real today.
In fact - some companies believe they are in control and don’t have to sell as their poster of “culture” says it all. Trust them - they have $1M in ARR. I saw recently a rep bow out as they didn’t think they would learn from the leader and this was with massive inbound 20% + commission rates and someone from the space! More on this later.
I had a rant this week on being Entitled and the Importance of Nothing so will stop there :). I also spoke about how to leverage the 3 Cs today.
Did I mention hiring a junior, inexperienced leader who knows nothing about your space and has never done this before will not attract the right talent for you? Do you honestly look in the mirror and think this person will get you the top rep in the world you would want? If so - well done! If not…well……
If you are still reading - just keeping it real folks as this also drives me ??
You know my drill:
1?? Community
2?? Content
3?? Conversion
I have spoken at length about this and here is my favorite and I will sum this up as “Hustle beats talent all day long……especially when talent does not hustle”
I had a rep call me this week to thank me for inspiration. Literally never spoke with them in my life. Here is what they did:
Let’s get to the Math……cue up the Good Will Hunting scene.
??????????????????????????♂?????♂? - beats a sharp stick in the eye huh?
Why This Matters More Than Ever
There’s a reason I’m pushing hard on this now — timing matters. The market, the talent crunch, and the rise of new channels for influence are all converging. This isn’t just a shift; it’s a moment.
You either build influence today, or you’ll be chasing it tomorrow.
Let’s get after it. There’s no time to waste — the window is open, but it won’t stay open long.
If you can’t run - then walk. If you can’t walk - then crawl but whatever you do please don’t stand still or you will be passed by.
Thanks for reading (assuming you did and if not - it saved me $500 in therapy so all good as I find this therapeutic so if you are still reading hopefully you got a laugh)
?? #GTM #Leadership #SalesStrategy #3Cs #ContentCommunityConversion #TalentWar #Pipeline #SalesExecution
The #1 B2B LinkedIn Trainer - 15 years of experience selling on this platform.
4 个月Andrew Ettinger- Great read. Last sentence made me laugh. ??
Transforming customers + partners into product experts ??
4 个月Great article, Andrew, on the evolving sales landscape. Thanks for sharing!
Phenomenal insights and council!
Senior Sales Director @ Cohesity | We protect, secure and provide insights into the world's data.
4 个月First time reading and learned a few things and especially agree with the “Hustle beats talent all day long...... especially when talent does not hustle". Other thing I would say is “half of life is just showing up”. You gotta try some of these things. You have to modernize. You have to get out of your comfort zone. Have a plan.
Vice President at Acme Paper and Supply Company
4 个月Great stuff. I’m excited to read next weeks post. Get to work!!!