I'm Still Pulling Inspiration From SaaStr & Women In Sales Summit

It has been over a month since I had the pleasure of hopping over to the West coast with a few fellow Closed Loop, Inc colleagues to attend SaaStr and Outreach 's Women In Sales Summit.

And while there were easily hundreds of takeaways and collective learnings shared, I've recently found myself still feeling particularly inspired by a handful of sessions I attended or speakers I was able to connect with at those events.

Here's what's resonating for me as we wrap up 2022 and head quickly toward a new year:

• As we actively experience an epic TSwift moment, I've been embracing the vibe of all things Midnights and reminding myself of Liz Walton Egan 's notes on why Taylor's album releases are so successful. She uses the one major event as an anchor (album release), but then you can't turn a channel or click on a new website more than twice without seeing something else Swiftie-oriented for at least a few weeks (new music video, fan video contest, merch releases, etc.). And the 'end' of that few weeks will likely be a new anchor (Miss Americana, please let it be a tour announcement). My obvious love for Taylor aside, the major theme of this part of the SaaStr session from Sprig was to use momentum and content from one big 'event' to spin off smaller doses of the same message but in ways that may grab a different audience's attention. Expert marketing teams won't be creating net-new assets or resources for their audiences every week or month moving forward - they'll be distributing customized versions of content across owned, paid, and earned media channels and let the quality of the work do the heaviest lifting.
• Not only is zo? hartsfield a phenomenal presenter, but at SaaStr she also shared an important reminder for anyone in a client service field - testimonials and positive client feedback are the lifeblood of a pipeline that always includes healthy inbound and referral opportunities. The team at Spekit ?? are big proponents of asking clients to share positive feedback 'on paper' in the moment, and they do so by building playbooks clients can follow for how/where to share and with a reward system for helping build the good word about their brand. It can be hard to take a beat and collect that input without feeling a little self-serving, but if you make the effort less intensive, show appreciation, and use what's provided in a meaningful way, you'll be surprised how many folks get it and are willing to assist (especially if you're doing great work!).
• This one is for my agency folks! I firmly believe there's enough business out there for all of us (shout out to the theory of abundance...thanks Blind Zebra !) and one way we can keep the entire industry growing is to build better sales processes so that the right brands end up with the right firms. Amber Picotte from Thoropass shared a bit of knowledge at SaaStr about managing expectations as you expand your media mix, with the understanding that many of us are looking for speedy growth. She spoke about using sales team size and customer retention as strong indicators of how a target account may fit in your pipeline. Why? There is such a thing as too many leads if there aren't people to work them, and if you have a large sales force to support - a much wider net for new leads would of course be beneficial. You'll notice this isn't to say that you should only look at these two aspects, or, for example, only target brands with giant sales teams. But these are excellent additional indicators to fold into your algorithm of determining which customers are a good fit for you, or for the clients whose accounts you're managing!
• The role of moderating or emceeing an event can be an overlooked responsibility, but let me tell you...it would have been impossible not to notice the sheer professionalism and amazing personality of the one and only Eva Saha . She had my attention from the jump when she mentioned her mother frequently donned a shirt with a saying I hold dear and wear proudly on a sweater, myself: A Woman's Place is in the House AND the Senate. From there, she continued to inspire almost 300 women (with a small group of male allies who were beyond supportive) and kept us energized through a day and a half of emotional, but fulfilling, sessions from so many powerful forces at the Women In Sales Summit. I made sure to find her during one of our networking sessions to applaud her obvious attention to studying the speakers and agenda prior to the show, which felt like somewhat of a lost art. Her illustration of what makes for a truly engaging conversation, even in a room that large, reminded me that taking time prior to a new discovery process getting rolling to learn about who I'll be connecting with can make all the difference.
• Last but not least, I'd be remiss not to mention the data-driven mic-drop of a session from Mary Shea, PhD from the Women In Sales Summit host team of Outreach . Here are just a few points she shared about how B2B selling is continuing to change, meaning our approach needs to evolve with it. So much research is completed prior to a discovery call, and a lot more engagement is nearly certain to cross the finish line. B2B sales reps need to be prepared by continually helping educate their marketing teams on challenges & objections they're hearing from prospects to tailor content that answers capability questions early and incorporates meaningful takeaways for a variety of roles on the client side who need to feel confident in the decision:

The 'dark funnel' is widening - around 70% of the buying decision is complete before an initial call takes place.

Recent years have seen a 62% increase in interactions required to complete a B2B sale.

There is now an average of 11-20 stakeholders involved in B2B decisions.

So as you can tell, I'm still reeling with excitement about what's to come in the next year, and this barely scratched the surface of the 8 pages of front-and-back notes I took from other stellar experts.

Maybe a part 2 in a few weeks?

Are any other attendees from Women In Sales or SaaStr pondering other notions from the shows? Let's share with each other and keep refining our skills!