Leadership Lab

Part 1: Commitment

Building an outbound culture is a long-game. You need to own the culture shift. It won't work unless everyone is bought in, and it won't work overnight.

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Brian Michael: CEO Budburst, former Medallia, Snapdocs

Are you in or out? 

The number one reason companies fail to build an outbound motion is a lack of commitment.

"If you're only gonna talk about PG once a quarter or once a month, then you're gonna get a half baked attempt at generating pipeline. "

Doug May
SVP Productivity

A lot of people flirt with the idea of building a culture, but only dedicate a limited amount of time, resources, energy, etc. Without proper resourcing, no initiative will succeed.

Before you lean in, make sure everyone is on the same page with the expectations, timeline, resources and changes you will need to make to the status quo. 

Time to results

Be ready to commit to at least double your deal cycle to give yourself time to build the muscle, start building some pipeline, and see that pipeline through to closed won. 

"It takes two quarters minimum before you are going to see the ship start to turn and [outbound] pay dividends "

Brian Michael
CEO Budburst

Resources

Moving the needle on culture is a team effort. In the interview, these three were called out repeatedly.

Operations: leading teams had at least 1 person dedicated to PG support to ensure metric visibility, rules of engagement, and any technical support and enablement.

Enablement: all teams had at a minimum a monthly enablement session dedicated to PG.

Rep/Manager time: Reps need to be consistently spending time on PG, managers need to be enabled on managing the right behaviors, and spend time supporting their team on PG — not just closing deals and forecasting.

Team profile

You have to have a team that fits the system. Your best “sellers” might not be a good fit in the new culture. You might need to find a new profile to bring onboard. You have to be committed to changing the DNA of your team. 

maya connet
Maya Connet
VP of Inside Sales

"It's in the hiring blueprint. It's continuously pressure testing across the interview that they are not kind of the old school sales culture of just wanting to work meaty deals towards the end of the cycle. That they actually are invigorated by and enjoy the hunt."

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