"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." -Ignatio Montoya

We often think a good product sells itself, but in reality, it's how you tailor your message to different stakeholders.

Did you know that the same words or concepts can mean different things to different buyers or stakeholders?

This awareness plays a crucial role in effective communication, sales strategy, and, ultimately, getting deals closed!

Here's an example:

I'm in the sales tech space, and we have a suite of tools, and one of the suites is built to enhance seller productivity.

But seller productivity means completely different things to various stakeholders.

Here are some examples of how various roles within a GTM function think?about ‘productivity':

1. Revenue Operations (RevOps): Views seller productivity as a measure of overall revenue impact, focusing on integrating sales, marketing, and customer success. It's about aligning all departments to drive growth throughout the customer lifecycle.?

2. Sales Enablement: Empower salespeople with the right tools, training, and content. Productivity is about how effectively these resources are used to improve sales engagement and efficiency.?

3. Sales: This department measures productivity directly through sales performance metrics like deal closures, revenue, and customer acquisition. The emphasis is on achieving and surpassing sales targets.?

4. Sales Operations (Sales Ops): Focuses on operational efficiency and the effectiveness of the sales process. This includes sales technology optimization, process refinement, and data-driven strategic support.

So what?

Understanding these varied perspectives can foster a more cohesive approach to improving seller productivity. You need to tie t back to them.

Here's a practical example of how I would position sales engagement to two different roles while positioning the value prop of increased seller 'productivity'.

For the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

• Strategic Alignment and Revenue Growth: Emphasize how the sales engagement platform aligns with the company's strategic goals and contributes to overall revenue growth. Highlight its role in driving efficiency and effectiveness across the sales process, which is vital for achieving long-term business objectives.
• Data-Driven Insights: Focus on the platform's ability to provide comprehensive analytics and insights, enabling data-driven decision-making that aligns with broader business strategies and market opportunities.
• Cross-Departmental Integration: Discuss how the platform enhances collaboration and alignment between sales, marketing, and customer success teams, creating a more unified approach to customer engagement and revenue generation.
• Scalability and Market Adaptation: Highlight how the platform supports scalability and adaptability in sales strategies, which is essential for entering new markets or adjusting to changing market conditions.

For the Inside Sales Leader

• Day-to-Day Sales Productivity: Focus on how the platform boosts the productivity of individual sales reps and the team as a whole. Highlight features like automated workflows, lead prioritization, and efficient communication tools that save time and increase the number of successful customer interactions.
• Tactical Execution and Performance Tracking: Emphasize the platform's capabilities in tracking and analyzing the performance of sales activities. Show how it can be used for real-time coaching and improving sales tactics.
• Lead Management and Conversion Rates: Discuss how the platform helps in effectively managing leads, nurturing prospects, and improving conversion rates, which are key performance indicators for an inside sales leader.
• Team Collaboration and Efficiency: Highlight features that enhance team collaboration, like shared pipelines or communication channels, which help in maintaining team efficiency and cohesion.

When speaking with the CRO, you should emphasize strategic alignment, data-driven insights, and scalability.

For the Inside Sales Leader, the focus should be on the tactical execution of sales, productivity enhancement, and effective lead management.

By addressing each role's specific needs and goals, you can effectively demonstrate the value and relevance of the sales engagement platform to its unique responsibilities within the organization vs letting them decide how it or if it can make an impact.

You don't want to have the wrong conversation with the right people!

What do you think?