David Gardner

Enterpsie Account Executive, Cloud

Update: enterprise AE (SaaS) 3 months in.

Hey good to be back gentlemen, per my last post regarding jumping from an enterprise SDR to an enterprise AE. It’s going pretty damn well without any SDRs at that, pure outbound.

I started the role in January, it’s been a good few months. I’ve been able to start off with some solid pipeline in 4 of my priority accounts.

I understand enterprise sales cycles are traditionally longer so I still understand all my “deals” are very new. But I need advice on what should be my focus for Q2 and Q3.

I need some advice from you lovely degenerates. The deals are still pretty new but I have had demos completed in 3/4 accounts, and multiple conversations with technical teams throughout these accounts with use cases identified. I know that I need to keep progressing these deals but I don’t know when to start introducing partners, discuss pricing, proof of concepts, etc. I feel a little overwhelmed and not knowing where to go next, what things I need to start thinking about for the present and future, as well as what general boxes I need to be checking off week over week and on top of that building new pipeline.

Let me know what you guys think and any advice would be appreciated.

👑 Sales Strategy

9

20 comments

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Justatitle

Big Shot

6

Account Executive

Ok, so intro done demo is done. and now you are wondering what to do. At this point it should be pretty clear if there is someone internally that wants this ie.(Champion). My favorite thing to do here as a next step is an alignment call with them. Ask, have they procured software before and if it's a no then you need to figure that out if it's a yes then it comes to who else had to be involved. That's when it comes to involving other DMs and making sure there is communal buy-in so that you don't get hit out of left field with some weird requests. You can also use this alignment call to figure out if there are competitors and what headwinds you might face.

braintank

Politicker

4

Enterprise Account Executive

"Do you have budget for this?"

2

Enterpsie Account Executive, Cloud

I've heard mixed things from people around phrasing that question, do you outright say it as you typed or do you go with a more beat-around-the-bush approach?

braintank

Politicker

5

Enterprise Account Executive

I ask that direct.

No beating around the bush for the most important question.

If they don't know where the money is coming from it's all for moot.

oldcloser

Arsonist

5

💀

No bush beating. Ask it. It's the big org world. It's not money coming out of their kids' college funds. They get asked all the time, and operate within them. Then you have to lay out next steps and involve all key players. If you don't know what your next steps are, they definitely don't and you're forgotten, left screaming in their inbox with no answer.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

3

🦊

Just say no to 🌳

oldcloser

Arsonist

2

💀

☝️

braintank

Politicker

2

Enterprise Account Executive

Hey now, that's a personal preference

oldcloser

Arsonist

1

💀

I guess we've self-owned here a bit.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

1

🦊

Whatever. Better than dumps.

0PercentCloseRate

Politicker

2

Oh boy

Hey I went through a similar transition a year ago. I have deals that are around 90 to 180 days in terms of cycle length. It's tough, but here are some things I like to remember:

Pricing is a process -- never give out pricing without commitment to some sort of exercise to prove that the solution is worth the price. If they ask for price, then you trade them an indicative quote for a commitment to a value exercise

What do you mean by 'partners'? -- I have presales with me usually on call #2, and sometimes even the intro call if the prospect is ready for a deep exploration

Always know your preferred next step -- prospects usually don't know how to buy software. You, by default, are an expert in software. Recommend steps & a sequence of events as soon as you're out of 'recognize need'. If you don't know what that should be, go ask your manager. It's their job to help you understand your company's process

As to the 'build pipeline' problem -- You have an SDR's training. Ideally, you should still be able to maintain some sort of golden hours or automation on the side without too much effort. It'll feel like less than you're used to (obviously, because you're spending time closing) but you should always have some sort of prospecting motion in the background.

1

Enterpsie Account Executive, Cloud

So when you mean commitment are you referring to a proof of concept? For example "before we dive into pricing, let's first get your hands on the tech" Is that what you mean?

So partners like AWS, Microsoft Azure, GCP, etc. we utilize reps to help build criteria and speed up cycles, as well as other things. Does that make sense?

0PercentCloseRate

Politicker

1

Oh boy

Exactly. The commitment may look different depending on the deal, but I'll never release indicative pricing without asking for a meeting to walk them through some business value hypotheses. They will always ask for discounts (of course) and I will only give those if they participate in testing out said hypothesis. The price is always too high if they don't understand what processes are being changed.

Makes sense. I do something similar with my corporate structure. I will always discuss an account with my partners before I make any sort of significant moves. Sometimes you've got to connect a lot of dots, and sometimes you want to keep things simple. That's always a case-by-case basis depending on existing relationships.
The only thing that really matters is if you think they'll add value (will the prospect enjoy talking to them? Does the partner have something the prospect wants? Will the partner increase my credibility with the prospect?). I've used partners for intros, passed entire deals over to them, and run entire cycles without them. It's all team sports imo

MyAnonymousName

Opinionated

2

Sales Leader

For larger deals that involve multiple steps and several stakeholders I am a big advocate of Mutual Action Plans. It does not have to be some fancy tool you buy, Excel/Word can do the trick just fine.

I create a base template of what a typical evaluation process looks like, and once I run 1-2 calls of discovery and get the sense that this is a real opportunity, I take my champion through the Plan, which also allows me to discovery around their internal decision making, procurement, etc.. processes.

I then share this document and we never end a call without going over what exactly needs to happen next, who owns it, when it will be done by, etc...

Of course things sometimes change and push but in general it has been a great guideline to keep deals moving, a great temp check on what deals are real, and gives me insight into what is actually going on in their internal processes/convos.

0

Enterpsie Account Executive, Cloud

I like this a lot it is something that they can also look back at and work on themselves and better understand what the next steps are. Is there any way you can share a framework with me?

SalesBeast

Politicker

1

Sales Leader

Get as many partners and senior management figures in your company talking to their company asap. Also sniff out is this a real deal or just a single person or two that saw a demo of your product… watching a demo vs someone having; budgets, timeline, a project, and more elements of a deal are two completely different things.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Do you have a compelling event both parties are working toward? If so, you can work backward from that into the MAP anon posted already.

If not, they’re kicking tires or super early in a process that might actually take years. I love it when an account will tell me that up front - of course I’ll engage. Love to be filling their ears with info & sweet nothings early on, but in that case, no way in hell am I forecasting that deal.

As for what to do in the later stages of the deal - that’s when you really need a MAP and/or SOE and established cadence calls to keep things moving.

Meanwhile, you’re still building pipe. Always building.

0

Enterpsie Account Executive, Cloud

Thanks for the advice, yes there is a compelling event to be in production by EOY. I’d like to understand how to be able to do that for all my deals, what is MAP? This is a post on bravado? Also what is SOE? We’re looking to have weekly cadences to “hold their hand” through this process looking to start a proof of concept in next call next week.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

0

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

A poster before me explained the MAP - Mutual Action Plan. It’s on this very thread. SOE is Sequence Of Events. These are things that need to happen before the contract is signed. Things such as security/infosec and what that looks like; MSA redines and acceptance. What do approvals look like? Who signs? Who has to approve before signature? Do you need a PO or a PO number? DPA? All those items that have to be in place before you do business. :)

pirate

Big Shot

0

🦜☠️ Account Executive

They hired you for a reason, whom could you ask internally for help with these deals?

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