Sales

Here’s the current situation.

It looks like we’re headed toward a recession, or perhaps we’re already in one.

We’re seeing signs of it all over the place, and the tech industry seems to be impacted the most with a shocking 150,000+ layoffs in 2022.

In these uncertain times, morale is understandably low.

But this is when your leadership skills are put to the test. This is when your team needs you the most, and it’s time to rise to the occasion.

How will you motivate your sales team and keep up morale? How can you ease their fears? How will you help them reach their goals?

2022 was a rollercoaster for most businesses. 

From the tech industry losing $7.4 trillion in just 12 months to those ever-rising inflation numbers, it looks like the universe still isn’t done throwing us curveballs.    

That doesn’t mean we’re all doomed, though. 

A number of positive developments are happening in the background, such as the happy outlook for e-commerce and IT. If anything, these obstacles simply prove it’s more important than ever to stand out in the market. 

Thankfully, it looks like 2023 could provide a few opportunities to do just that.

Read on to explore some of the sales predictions that will shape how we sell in 2023 and give your team some ideas about what's coming next in your industry.

If you’re a sales leader working at a startup, your main goal is to drive revenue ASAP.

Because the longer it takes to generate revenue, the harder it is to hit targets (but you know that).

Reaching faster time to revenue for startups is an uphill battle. And here’s why.

• There’s a lot of pressure since you rely heavily on funding.
• You don’t have previous data to analyze.
• You don’t have many case studies or testimonials you can share.
• You don’t have many customers who can recommend/refer you.
• Your product is still going through major changes.
• You don’t have a ton of leads.
• And the list goes on…

Don’t be discouraged. 

You’re a sales leader, which means you have the means to make a huge difference (especially in a startup). 

There are steps you can take to help accelerate the process and start generating revenue quickly.

*Spoiler alert* One of them involves working closely with marketing. Stop it you two; it’s time to bury the hatchet.

As a B2B sales leader, your main objective is to ensure that your entire revenue team succeeds.

Aside from coaching, motivating, and honing your team’s sales skills, there’s another factor that plays a major role in determining success.

Your B2B sales tech stack.  

According to InsideSales.com, small companies spend, on average, ~$4,600 per rep annually on sales technology, followed by ~$5,200 per rep for medium-sized companies and ~$3,100 per rep for large organizations.

If your entire revenue team consists of 30 employees (including SDRs, AEs, CSRs, and RevOps), you’re looking at roughly $140,000 in sales tech stack spend annually.

That’s not nothing. That’s huge.

So how do you choose sales technology tools that are aligned with your company’s sales and growth strategy?

And how on earth do you ensure a high adoption rate of said tools?

Ah, salespeople.

The often-stereotyped driving force behind most businesses. 

The ones who are out on the front lines, trying to close deals and bring in revenue. The ones who mostly get ignored (and sometimes yelled at) for just trying to do their jobs. 

But they’re also the ones who take on the huge task of trying to maintain a high level of efficiency. And they’re good at it, too. 

Sales teams are often the most efficient departments in a company, thanks to their experience with managing leads, developing relationships, and, of course, closing deals. 

Yet, for all their efforts and all the (often expensive) tools they have access to, they’re still spending time on repetitive or lower-value work that hasn’t been automated.

The result? 

They constantly feel like they’re swimming upstream. It’s a real challenge to stay afloat and keep up the motivation when you feel like you’re constantly fighting against the current.

Time. To. Fight. Back.

Great sales leaders are constantly evolving their processes to help their team be more efficient and effective.

However, according to a study, sales reps still spend 65% of their time on tasks that don’t involve selling.

Like the dreaded CRM updates after each communication. Or manually setting up reminders to follow up. Or going back and forth to schedule meetings. Or… 

You get it. 

If this is the case for your team, it might be time to look into sales automation tools that integrate with your CRM and that encourage prospects to respond.

“Sell me this pen.”

If you’re familiar with the film The Wolf of Wall Street, you know this classic sales line. It’s where Leonardo DiCaprio, as Jordan Belfort, is trying to teach his sales team how to sell anything to anyone. 

And the answer is always the same: find out what they need and give it to them.

Now, while Jordan Belfort and his team were peddling penny stocks and taking a crazy amount of narcotics, they were on to something. 

In order to sell anything, you need to know what your prospect wants. You need to understand their needs, their desires, their intent.

Knowing what your prospect wants is essential to sales, but figuring it out is like attempting to figure out the ending to Lost. 

Were they dead the whole time? Is the island purgatory? What even is the smoke monster?!

Just like we were never going to figure out Lost without watching hundreds of YouTube explainers, without some help, we’re never going to be able to read our prospect’s minds. 

But that’s where intent data comes in.

Intent data is a crystal ball for salespeople.

It’s the difference between cold calling and warm outreach. It’s what tells you that a prospect is interested in your product before they even know they’re interested.

If you’re looking to boost your sales pipeline and close more deals, this post is for you.

Your email staying Unread in someone’s inbox is the equivalent of digital purgatory. Seriously, it's worse than being ghosted by the person you've been texting for weeks. 

At least with ghosting, you can take solace in the fact that they were probably never that interested in you to begin with. 

But being completely ignored and left for dead unread? 

That's just cold.

You've put in the effort, crafted the perfect email, and hit Send only to have it disappear into the digital abyss. 

So, what gives? Is there a best time to send cold emails?

There are a few things that can contribute to your emails being left unread (forever), but one of the most common reasons is timing. 

Sending an email at the wrong time can mean the difference between getting read and getting deleted. 

There's nothing worse than putting all your time and effort into an email campaign only to have it go to waste because you hit Send at the wrong time.

So, when is the best time to send a cold email?

The answer, unfortunately, is that it depends. It depends on your industry, your recipient's location, and a whole host of other factors.

But don't worry, we've got you covered.

We did some digging and compiled a list of the best times to send cold emails for the highest open rate.