E190 - Go-To-Market Practices from the CEO featuring Dave Donatelli, Riverbed

In this episode of Tech Sales Insights, Randy Seidl is joined by Dave Donatelli, CEO of Riverbed. They discuss go-to-market best practices from a CEO's perspective and delve into Dave's extensive career across various technology companies, including EMC, HP, and Oracle. Sponsored by ZoomInfo, the episode also touches upon sales strategies, leadership, and the importance of building strong relationships and delivering consistent value. Additionally, personal anecdotes and career advice underscore the importance of perseverance, focus, and ethical leadership in the tech sales industry.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Importance of Relentless Customer Focus: Dave emphasized the critical need for maintaining strong customer relationships and how showing up consistently can make a significant difference.
• Value of Simplifying Sales Processes: Having straightforward and achievable comp plans can drive better sales performance.
• Impact of Organizational Changes: Dave's experience shows the importance of focusing on fewer accounts for deeper engagement and better results. Consistency and pushing through initial resistance are crucial.
• Leveraging Analytics: The role of sales ops and tools like Clary to provide actionable insights and guide decision-making was stressed.
• Career Growth Tips: Delivering consistent results in your current role is the gateway to more significant opportunities. Self-assessment and honesty about one's performance are key.
• Power of Long-term Relationships: Building and maintaining relationships over the years is invaluable both personally and professionally.

QUOTES

• "Do an incredibly good job at the job you have. That gives you the right to the next job."
• "If you execute well all the time, then you free up all these selling hours because one of the customers is happy with what you've done, which gives you the right to then sell them the next thing."
• "Focus always wins in the end."
• "Your best performing reps, the really smart ones, figure it out early and they go do it. And everybody else literally, it takes at least six months, half a year is a long time, sometimes nine months."

Find out more about Dave Donatelli through the link/s below:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-donatelli-29854825b/

This episode is sponsored by ZoomInfo, the GTM Platform sponsor of the Sales Community. ZoomInfo is the go-to-market platform that helps businesses find, acquire and grow their customers. Businesses use ZoomInfo data and platform to increase efficiency, align sales and marketing teams, and consolidate technology stacks.