To name drop or not to?

TL;DR-- The burning question in my head: "To name drop or not to?"


So I noticed a few threads simming the top but they were tied in with more specific details, hence starting a new one for my peace of mind: To name drop or not to?


I've been dabbling with Enterprise Sales over the last year (dabbling fr, coz pandemic!) and there was a key peace of advice from most folks out there - always name drop at every possible orifice!


I tried understanding the scenarios & reasons that went into their one-size-fits-all suggestions, mostly coz they're putting out content for followers across job roles but I still haven't been able to strike a balance on understanding where this works as a definite thing.


I used to handle mostly SMBs (sub-200ish) before making the jump and during my time there, I'd witnessed that most prospects don't really resonate with enterprise firms being name dropped even if they're in the same vertical.


On the other hand, there's been a few enterprise demos where the name dropping didn't really have the gravitas I'd expected. Now, assuming that I'm pulling out a friggin' Jordan Belfort with my product demonstrations (stay with me here :P), would love to hear what other avenues I might be missing at an enterprise scale vs an SMB scale. Thoughts...


For context: I sell a saas-helpdesk like Freshdesk, Zendesk, and so on.

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7
iSell
Opinionated
4
ADR
Reference selling is huge for anyone. Reference companies in the same geographic area, and industry that are utilizing your product. Be specific on how they are seeing benefits. In my experience this works well to establish legitimacy.  
refucilthemonk
Executive
0
Account Executive Enterprise Sales
Thanks for that @iSell😁
Chep
WR Officer
2
Bitcoin Adoption Specialist
Always worth a name drop if you can back it up
refucilthemonk
Executive
1
Account Executive Enterprise Sales
I hear ya @Chep🤘
Prizrak
Politicker
1
Disruptor of worlds
Name drop always. If Facebook just bought from you, Google probably wants to as well.
paddy
WR Officer
1
Director of Business Development
"hey I spoke with your uncle's massage therapist's cousin's grandma"
StringerBell
Politicker
1
Account Executive
I always name drop. I demo my product by showing examples of clients using our product and how they do it. I try to make those examples as relevant as possible. I’ve had the feedback of like “oh you work with a fortune 100 brand that’s not relevant to me” and I sort of get it but when I’m showing logos I’m trying to show ones they might have heard of. Like if we can handle their business and all these other big logos then I can probably handle yours. 
refucilthemonk
Executive
0
Account Executive Enterprise Sales
@StringerBell the only gray area that gets to me, tbvh is, "When do you sound a lil preachy and overbearing". I understand the allure and I've been on the receiving end (shamelessly!) of many of those too, but, at a business scale - is it good to start with it or work it in as the conversation builds up?. I've personally seen huge success if I work it in the conversation during the demo. This also gives me the advantage to throw out a few feelers around the logos that generally garner better reaction. I've always got video on & the reactions definitely help... how do you do it?.
StringerBell
Politicker
2
Account Executive
Based case studies and stories I know about some of our best customers, I tell stories about how the customers are leveraging the tool to some specific end. 
SADNES5
Politicker
1
down voters are marketing spies
No one wants to feel like they're behind. It's a great way to generate interest of it solves a problem. If they know a competitor is using it, they may buy. 
refucilthemonk
Executive
0
Account Executive Enterprise Sales
Thanks for that @SADNES5 :D
stanrym
Valued Contributor
1
CEO
Learn how you can name drop with our bragging too much. Works wonders for me!
refucilthemonk
Executive
0
Account Executive Enterprise Sales
The thin line between being too much or too little.. gets me a few times but thanks for that @stanrym :D
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