CyberCrunch’s Post

Our CEO will share his journey in founder sales & scaling b2b sales teams

Jen Abel is one of the greatest - a top expert in founder-led sales, and an infinite source of hard truths: * Warm intros tend to lead to false positives * The zero-to-one sales stage is a different sales stage * The product is the founder * Product/market fit is found in adjacent markets * The mid-market is a trap And when you discuss them in detail, it makes total sense. Jen is an experienced sales leader ex General Assembly, Muse, and has 10 years of experience advising startups on sales. We really enjoyed this conversation - article in comments, enjoy!

Story time. When my VP of Sales fought with the CEO: Not only that, he fought with investors. Fought is a harsh term but he stuck his neck out. He had our backs. We had just finished raising a Series C. Investors and the CEO wanted to double the sales team from 8 reps to 16 reps. He knew it made no sense. No reps would be hitting quota. He was very clear with his goal: he wants his reps to hit quota and make money. So he fought against the idea of doubling the team. This "fight" lasted a couple of months. After it was all said and done, he only brought on 2 more sales reps. Just the perfect amount. Needless to say.. Sales reps were successful that year. They were happy. They made money. Growth happened at the rate investors had hoped. And all parties got a win. If only more startups worked this way. It's rare to see something like this. --------------- PS - I'm hosting a Sales Tech Demo Day. It's for Sales Leaders to see new tech without being forced into a sales cycle. We have 4 incredible technologies demoing their solution. Register here: https://lnkd.in/d7pXVS9S

2024 was the year FERMÀT hit true growth and transformed our company's approach to solving the right problems. Here are 3 wins that defined our year: 1️⃣ Series A + CMO When Rabah joined FERMÀT as our new CMO, and we announced our Series A fundraise in March, we discovered an ability to add new business rapidly. This was the ignition of our marketing engine—and we've hit high growth rates consistently. 2️⃣ New sales lead After hiring Steve Hult, he completely overhauled our approach to partnerships (how we sell deals, our customer experience, etc.). ➝ Before: Solely chasing top-line revenue ➝ Now: Prioritizing long-term customer success His sales process shift improved the quality and sustainability of our client relationships. 3️⃣ Empowering user autonomy At the start of the year, most customers relied heavily on our team for product functionality. Why? Because we hadn't exposed all the functionality into UI for the customer yet. Fast forward to today and we've completely flipped the script. ✅ New customers expect and embrace self-service in our platform ✅ 40% surge in weekly active users in November alone Investing in user-friendly interfaces and accessible features pays off. The common thread in all these wins? Hire great people who never lose sight of what actually helps your customers in the long run. Can't wait to see what FERMÀT accomplishes in 2025. 🚀

EMEA Expansion: An Afterthought or a Game Changer? Last week, I had a great conversation with two experienced sales leaders in the AI space. Both worked for aggressive US-headquartered start ups, and they shared a common story: Their founders were initially hesitant to give EMEA a real chance. The region was seen as a secondary priority—something they pursued only to expand their customer base and strengthen their position ahead of an IPO. But once they committed to expanding into EMEA, they realized its massive potential and haven’t looked back. I am interested to hear if this is common push back sales leaders are facing when dealing with US led businesses? #saassales #techsales #sales #salesleaders

Tech Week Adventure I was just totally awed by how fast people of the same vibes clique! 📸 Photo descriptions below from top left clockwise: I introduced Halid from Ricoh to Teddy from Neo4J, Sales veteran and Hartono from Handshakes, Tech-turned-Sales. The sessions turned into learning of how to engage C-Suite, potential collaboration and new idea generation! Everyone is so positive, authentic and generous to share! Both Hartono and Teddy are my clients-turned-friends where we continue to exchange sales and business ideas on market expansion and share trends. Great seeing how Handshakes' high potential relationship mapping application can help businesses link up and expand, and greeting Ivan Seah, the Chief Commercial Officer. Bumped into IT Director, Xiang Hua, whom I met before at a Gen AI event! She is a solid tech lady who is there not only to get updated on latest technology but also attempts to source potential leads who may be interested in her company’s data centre liquid cooling solutions. Lastly, Weng Him, 8ccentrix Holding, whom I met 3 years back, is an experienced Startup Leader now turned advisor to help open markets for other startups. May Tech be your passion that lasts a lifetime. For me, Tech Sales does! 👍🏻💪🏻🙌🏻🥰❤️ I have yet decided if I should continue the adventure today, but if you ping to meet me there, maybe that will help in my decision! 😉😉 If you want to learn more about Sales or seek breakthrough, then DM for my 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿ᵀᴹ Mastermind Workshop details. Please click the Link to Register Interest : https://lnkd.in/gjdHDQ2R Like to connect with the Chief Sales Orchestrator? Christina TAN Min Shyan @ Sales Symphonyᵀᴹ Please see LinkedIn Recommendations on how many have benefitted! #sales #coaching #training #advisor #success #LBFALUMNI #skyhightower

The time has come for my wife and I to begin another new chapter in our life journey. She’s been at my side for 38 years, and now with an empty nest and most of our professional goals achieved, the time is here.   I know I will miss 1000s of people that have touched and helped me along the way – so please forgive me – you know who you are. However, there are a few people for whom I am eternally grateful. Dave Trotter, who introduced me to the Silicon Valley startup scene. Rob Albertson who gave me my first taste of international channel sales. Greg Reyes, who taught me how to plan, execute and turn dreams to reality with a laser focus on the customers. Theresa Caragol saw to it that I learned more about building a modern channel sales than I had learned in the previous 18 years! Larry Zulch who gave me the freedom to build an international channel sales team for a storied Silicon Valley company. Ian Whiting, whose leadership steered me into another storied tech company merging with a giant public company in need of channel sales operations. And finally, Ram Rai and Manish Agrawal for getting me back to my International Channel roots with a bold vision for a platform which seamlessly connects all channel participants.   If you have spent the time reading this to the end, the lesson I leave you with is dare to dream, however a dream without a plan is a fantasy. Trust in yourself, your family and the people around you to realize your goals. Take the time understand the goals of those around you and do your best to help them – it may or may not come back to you, but satisfaction in helping others is reward in itself. And lastly, the technology industry has the ability to change the world. Be grateful to have a small or big part in making the world a better place than you found it.   Blue Skies to Everyone and Do Something Great Today.

What’s the first sign of a successful startup? The organization treats sales as a team sport. The engineers want to know the “why” behind every deal. That means both the wins and losses. Product leaders proactively offer to join sales calls. The CS team can’t wait for the kick-off call and they always ask how they can grow the business 3-6-12 months later. Approaching sales as a team sport doesn’t just win more deals. Product can build features that customers actually want, making the product even better. CS shortens the time-to-value and helps customers realize even more ROI. Faster.  EVERYONE wins. As you get to be a larger org, this becomes tougher and tougher. At Rainforest, we report on all wins every two weeks in our company meetings. Luckily we’ve recently had a lot to share. Though we don’t hide the losses either. The losses make us better, too. Together, we’ll have ups and downs. As a team.

I've seen startups waste months, even YEARS, on enterprise sales cycles. All because they can't identify 2 key players in every negotiation: The champion and the detractor. → The champion - Your supporter within the customer's company - Sees your solution's value and knows the decision-making process - Acts as your inside helper that moves things forward How to support them: - Give them data: product details, comparisons, and case studies - Help them with advice on handling office politics - Answer their questions quickly - Work with them on a plan to win over others → The detractor - Challenges the adoption of your product - Has objections that need addressing - Can influence decision-makers against you How to handle them: - Spot them early - Learn why they object - Address their concerns with clear, factual responses - Use your champion to help influence them - Keep them out of key decisions when you can Build up your champions. Manage your detractors. They can make or break your deal.

All the highest-performing sales teams I know are doing one thing right now that sets them up for success every year👇 they’re already planning their moves for 2025. October and November aren’t just for closing deals—they’re for optimizing, strategizing, and setting up to outpace the competition next year. While most startups wait until January, the best teams know that starting now means maximizing resources and uncovering hidden opportunities that others will miss. Want to know how to do it? I follow three steps: 1️⃣ Review your 2024 strategy to see what’s worked—and what hasn’t. 2️⃣ Strategize exactly what needs to change in 2025. 3️⃣ Create a clear, actionable roadmap for your team to follow. 🔥 If this sounds like the edge you need, send me a message, and I’ll walk you through this process in just a few hours.