GTM News by Taylor Wells

Taylor Wells interviews Howard Dover, director at the Center for Professional Sales at the University of Texas at Dallas. They discuss Howard's new book "The Sales Innovation Paradox", the future of sales, and how to optimize sales teams in a changing landscape with new technologies like AI. Main Discussion Points: - The impetus behind Howard's book "The Sales Innovation Paradox" and why sales has not seen efficiency gains despite new technologies (00:02:18) - Why sales leaders hired more salespeople despite technology gains (00:04:25) - Platform consolidation and the impact of generative AI like Copilot (00:17:15) - Using frameworks like Jobs To Be Done to understand where buyers are in the decision process (00:23:40) - Being relevant, contextual, precise, and potent to provide value to buyers (00:29:03) - Reimagining sales workflows instead of just making incremental changes (00:44:59) Guest Bio: Howard Dover is the Director at the Center for Professional Sales and a sales coach at the University of Texas at Dallas. He has a technology background and a PhD in quantitative methodologies focused on sales. Key Quotes: "We deployed technology, which was giving us the capacity to have one person do the job of five to ten, even up to 100 salespeople. And at the same time, we increased the number of people doing outbound by 13x." (00:02:43) "When I contact you, am I hacking you or am I delivering value?" (00:21:01) "If we keep on doing what we've always done, we're going to survive to 2025. But if we really think about pivoting completely...reimagine where the puck's going to be, reimagine the skills that are going to be needed, reimagine the way the work gets done." (00:44:07)

ABM? PLG? Community? Outbound? Inbound? What GTM motion is right for your organization, and at what stage? In this insightful conversation, Taylor Wells engages with Beth Yehaskel with Winning By Design, an expert in go-to-market strategy and revenue architecture. They dive deep into the importance of developing the right go-to-market motion for organizations and how it impacts sustainable growth. From understanding revenue architecture to aligning marketing, sales, and customer success, they discuss practical strategies for B2B go-to-market leaders. Gain valuable insights, learn best practices, and optimize your go-to-market approach to drive lasting success in the ever-evolving market. This recording is a must-watch for B2B go-to-market leaders seeking to leverage data-driven strategies and cross-functional collaboration. Discover how to navigate different growth stages, hone your revenue model, and achieve meaningful impact for your customers. Don't miss out on the expert advice and actionable insights shared by Beth Yehaskel from Winning by Design. #B2BGoToMarketStrategy #RevenueArchitecture #SustainableGrowth Video Section Headlines [00:00:00] Understanding Go-to-Market Motions and Finding the Right Strategy for Your Organization [00:01:26] The Concept of Revenue Architecture [00:02:55] The Importance of Sustainable Growth in the SaaS Market [00:05:18] The Importance of Impact in Recurring Revenue Businesses [00:09:55] The Importance of Go-To-Market Strategy in Different Growth Stages [00:13:33] The Importance of a Cohesive Go-to-Market Strategy [00:16:40] Ownership and Responsibility in the Revenue Architecture [00:19:21] Creating a Revenue Architecture for Sustainable Growth [00:24:09] Aligning Go-to-Market Strategies for Success [00:26:22] The Importance of Focusing on One Go-to-Market Motion at a Time [00:28:56] Finding the Right Go-To-Market Motion for Early Stage Startups [00:35:58] Beth Yehaskel discusses the growth model and activities for startups [00:38:27] Data Model Best Practices for Early-Stage Companies [00:42:05] Understanding and Implementing Revenue Architecture for Recurring Revenue Companies [00:43:50] The Future of Go-to-Market Strategy in 2024 [00:45:46] Interview with Beth Yehaskel from Winning by Design

45 episodes. 3,000 subscribers. Thousands of hours of GTM content were consumed. I am super grateful for your attention and excited for 2024 and the new things I have planned for this show. But before that, let's review seven things I have learned from starting this show and how they apply to your business.

It's been a weird ride for go-to-market teams, specifically around demand generation and driving new revenue for your organization in 2023. With AI, stiff competition, and increased channel saturation, we are in for a real treat in 2024. Thankfully, I see a few handfuls of hope in 2024 through 16 different predictions (& actionable strategies) your organization can leverage to drive more revenue in 2024. I hope you enjoy my soap box and analysis on the current state of demand gen affairs and what I expect to work in 2024. :)

In this insightful discussion, guests Casey Hill, a Senior Growth Manager at ActiveCampaign, Dennis Yu, a digital marketing expert known for his dollar-a-day strategy, and Brendan Hufford, a B2B marketing specialist, share their top go-to-market strategies for 2024. They delve into harnessing thought leadership in advertising, the importance of building trust through valuable content, and innovative community engagement tactics. The trio emphasizes the shift towards authentic relationships and content-driven marketing, ultimately advocating for a more empathetic approach in navigating today’s digital landscape.

It's been an awesome 1st year of the GTM News show. Grateful for the 42 episodes published to date, 2000 subscribers+, and 10,000+ listens. Most of all, I'm grateful for all I've learned from our expert practitioners, each pushing the boundaries in different areas of B2B go-to-market. Before I get into what's in store for 2024 (stay tuned...), I wanted to highlight the top 10 conversations I've had this year over the next two episodes. It was so hard to pick as each guest that came on the show I've learned something new from, and I recommend folks go through and listen to all the conversations as we've highlighted all the emerging GTM strategies, and each one has something relative for 2024. Today, I want to honor these five guests because of the importance of the topics they shared and the prescriptive takeaways they outlined: Shawn Li - Shawn lays out practical ways to tap into strategic partnerships Anthony Kennedy - Anthony discussed the shift from earned & rented media to owned media Jordan Crawford - Jordan is a master of creative outbound email strategies using data, research, and AI Leslie Barrett - Leslie shared tons of powerful ideas on how to get your customers to advocate for you more and drive more adoption & expansion through customer marketing. Sam Jacobs - Sam gave us an important lesson in the economics of go-to-market (this is a must-watch for every GTM leader)

You can have the best product & go-to-market strategy, but if you don't have the right people in the right seats, it doesn't matter Conversely, if you are a stellar GTM professional but you pick the wrong company, you are set-up for failure. In 2023, we have a interesting paradox we are looking at: many folks (myself included) were laid off this year or in 2022 but many companies are struggling to find the right GTM talent even with the surplus of supply. Thankfully, Graham Locklear, a stellar GTM recruiter and extremely knowledge in the fundamentals of GTM came on the show and shared his best practices for hiring the right go-to-market talent and finding your next role. Here is rundown of our conversation: [00:00:01] Strategies for Attracting Talent and Finding Your Next Gig [00:01:18] Graham Locklear Discusses the Current State of the Market in the Tech Industry [00:03:36] Challenges in Job Hiring despite Surplus Supply in the Market [00:05:51] Building High Performing Go-to-Market Teams [00:08:14] Taylor Wells Discusses Marketing and Sales Strategy Shifts for SaaS Companies [00:09:43] Graham Locklear on Successfully Scaling Your Sales Team Based on Business Stage [00:12:31] Discussion on Hiring and Compensation Strategies for Early-Stage Companies [00:16:46] Discussing Recruiting Principles and Strategies Amidst Challenging Times [00:18:58] Finding the best candidates for job positions [00:24:08] Identifying Key Aspects of a Candidate's Profile for a Job Role [00:25:16] How to Prioritize When Hiring and Evaluating Potential Candidates with Graham Locklear [00:33:36] Insights on Leadership & The Importance of Hiring the Right Employees [00:34:22] Effective Interview Process for Hiring Managers [00:36:54] Tips and Tricks to Finding Top Go-To-Market Talent [00:38:31] The Advantages of Specialized Expertise in Businesses and Employee Hiring [00:39:55] Job Hunting Best Practices for Go-to-Market Leaders with Graham Locklear [00:46:18] Graham Locklear discusses job-hunting strategies and the importance of maintaining emotional well-being

Cisco recently announced they were going to train 84,000 of their employees to become Linkedin influencers and create content on Linkedin. Employee advocacy at its finest. There are innumerable, ripple effect benefits for the employer and employee when employees build their own personal brands. But how do you get started and create a culture of employee advocacy, get over imposture syndrome and build your company's brand and your personal brand? I’ve learned a ton from interacting and watching Nick Bennett over the last few years. He generated millions in new revenue for the companies he worked for while building his own personal brand along the way. His former employer still gets brand awareness and leads from advocacy he did years ago. Spoiler alert: he’s now taken his personal brand to the next level with starting his own company from it all! Epic. A picture-perfect example of the exponential growth opportunity in employee advocacy Here are a few things we covered in our conversation this week: - How to provide leadership around employee advocacy in your organization - How employee advocacy has nothing to do with the employee-talking about the company - Simple strategies for creating content as an employee - How can employee advocacy help with recruiting - How to have to have a point of POV - And much more!

What if every advertisement you saw provided you value/impact/helped you solve a problem? Or, what if every ad gave you inspiration, encouragement, and entertained you? What if you were driving down the highway and the countless billboards you saw provided something of meaning and value to you in the advertisement; not just a weak promise to solve a problem if you give the company money? Not only have I seen this type of advertising work wonders to drive most efficient way to build brand affinity and drive revenue (especially in the B2B world), but I believe this is the future of marketing & go-to-market as consumers are tired of the same old direct-response type ads (i.e. "look at how awesome we are so buy my stuff") - Not including the fact that your buyers sees thousands of ads per day. Traditional advertising is getting less and less effective at delivering & creating trust (#1 currency in business) that is essential for large B2B purchases. This is why my conversation with Casey Hill was so great. Casey is a Senior Growth Manager at ActiveCampaign and is trailblazing all things demand creation through creating ads that leverage valuable insights from their team, customers, and partners. We talked about all things thought-leader ads, getting your customers and partners to help you create content / ads, and leverage your team to drive employee advocacy and create valuable content that can be turned into advertisements. A gold conversation and I learned a ton! We covered: Why traditional ads don't create or deliver trust What are thought-leadership ads and why are they so specials How to leverage your customers & partners to help you create content that you can turn into ads What is zero click content and why social platforms don't like links How to mobilize your internal team to create thought-leadership content Why content that is 2 or 3 degrees away from your product can drive revenue What types of thought-leadership ads work best

There is a misalignment between how buyers want to buy and how the B2B sales processes are set-up. G2 last year reported that 90% of the buyer's journey happen's before a buyer talks to a sales person. But many B2B buyer's have to sit through multiple sales conversation before they can get a demo or try a product. It's my opinion that those who provide impact the fastest (time to value ratio) will get the most customers at the most efficient cost. That's why my recent conversation with Natalie Marcotullio is so important. Natalie came on the show to chat through all things interactive product demo experiences and how they can substantially improve your buyer's experience leading to increased pipeline and higher win rates. We covered: How buyer's want to buy in 2023/2024 using dat and how B2B sales processes haven't kept up What is an interactive demo experience and how can a software or PLG focused organization use them How can a service-based company use them How can AEs use them in the sales process to get buy-in from busy executives & decision makers How to get started and what types of demo experiences you should create first What to avoid when creating a interactive demo experience