Driving impact at entry-level
I can’t make an impact unless I’m in a director or above role. So many professionals have this mindset early on and mid-career. I’ll admit, I still feel that way on occasion. Here’s the simple formula I use, and you can follow: problem, solution, and strategy.
Joining a healthcare technology company that’s been around for 20+ years came with plenty of pros like a long client list, recurring revenue, and proven methodologies. A few cons? When things work well for an extended period of time it can be challenging to propose new solutions, ideas, or approaches. That’s when you take a step back to identify a gap, process, or a problem to solve.
Problem: Extremely manual outbound process. After completing onboarding, I could identify the outbound process had opportunity to improve and introduce automation.
Solution: Outreach. Sales engagement platforms have been around for some time now and the one I always come back to is Outreach for its ease of use and functionality.
Strategy: Build relationships with decision makers internally. Pitch what you’re selling and why it’s valuable to your audience (more meetings, more at bats and opportunities, and more money in your pocket). Ideally you want to meet with decision makers cross functionally in a 1-1 setting, then once you have support, you can bring everyone together to propose your change/improvement for a unilateral go-ahead. The most critical piece to strategy is execution.
Net New Pipeline Results - After evaluating existing outbound processes and finding a few advocates internally I began championing Outreach.io. Previously, one SDR booked meetings via cold calls (80%), emails (10%), and conferences (10%). Building a business case for launching a sales engagement tool was straightforward and upon implementation, I worked directly with our salesforce admin to map custom fields and create a new way of booking meetings.
80+ sequences later, we knew what message resonated with which personas and when to send them. Meetings increased more than 160% in 6 months and in 12 months our sequences generated more than $10M in pipeline. By implementing a Content Committee and formalized sequence review process, we capitalized on the best writers in the org and it paid off.
Current Customer Pipeline Results – Once the sequencing playbook paid off and showcased closed pipeline, account managers wanted in on the revenue. Our Content Committee began generating sequences for existing customers to spotlight new features, schedule upgrades to the cloud, and initiate quarterly reviews. We built out expansion plays too, which resulted in the quickest sales cycles historically.
To sum it up, identify a problem, introduce a solution, strategically implement, report on results, and iterate in the future. Still, none of the above would have been possible without building cross functional relationships, compromise, and collaboration. Questions on how to do this at your organization? Feel free to reach out for a brainstorming session.
