Michael Wilcox

The 4 biggest mistakes new leaders make when leading sales teams: Your team's success depends on your leadership - yet most sales leaders are making costly mistakes that burn out both themselves and their teams. Here's what to avoid: 1. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 What it looks like: inability to delegate, doing tasks that others could handle. Why it happens: fear of losing control and perfectionist tendencies The fix: implement the 70% rule - if someone can do it 70% as well as you, delegate it. ----- 2. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀-𝗢𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿     What it looks like: 60+ hour weeks, constant email checking, missing family events, working through vacations Why it happens: Blurred work-life boundaries and false belief that constant availability = good leadership The fix: Implement boundaries like a daily shutdown ritual and a weekly review. ------ 3. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿     What it looks like: Living in constant crisis mode, unable to plan beyond current quarter, drowning in back-to-back meetings Why it happens: Survival mode thinking crowds out strategic capacity and time for deep work The fix: Block 90-minute Deep Work sessions daily for strategic thinking and planning ----- 4. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗼     What it looks like: Taking on every challenge alone, refusing help, shouldering all responsibility Why it happens: Misguided belief that asking for help shows weakness The fix: Adopt the mantra "Never Win Alone, Never Lose Alone" and actively involve team members in both successes and challenges Your team's success depends on avoiding these common pitfalls. ----- What mistakes did I miss?

34

25 Comments

ZoomInfo spent months studying what’s working and not working across hundreds of GTM orgs. My takeaway: If your systems can’t see what’s happening, your teams can’t act on it. That sounds obvious, but most GTM workflows are a patchwork of disconnected dashboards, lead scores, and manual handoffs. We’re still chasing precision, but in all the wrong places. The best #RevOps teams are orchestrating pipeline, not just tracking it. They’re activating real-time plays based on live buying signals, shared context, and aligned metrics. GTM Intelligence is how we go from fragmented systems to frictionless execution. See what great looks like in our GTM Intelligence Report: https://lnkd.in/gHYgDcpu

59

3 Comments

⁉️ Are your CSMs closer to the Boardroom or the Help Desk? Let’s stop pretending CSMs are here to hold hands and host check-ins. That chapter is over. 📕❌ The future of CSMs as a core role and component of customer success is not soft. It’s not reactive. It’s strategic, commercial, and accountable to growth. 💰📈 If you’re a CSM reading this, you are not “post-sale.” You are core-impact and "next-sale." If you’re a CS leader, your job isn’t to shield your team from change. It’s to equip them to lead it. Onboarding managers, Support analysts, and Implementation/Services specialists are all embracing new technologies and ways of working. 🚀 But what does the future CSM look like? It's more than just discovering new ways of working. There are fundamental shifts in the role definition that are available to create a powerful future. 1️⃣ Business Acumen > Product Knowledge They speak in customer outcomes, not platform features. They understand how their customers make money and how they lose it. 💡💸 2️⃣ Revenue Ownership They don’t just renew. They expand. They create opportunities by delivering real, measurable value. 3️⃣ Executive Presence They can sit across from a C-suite buyer and talk growth, risk, and ROI. No slide decks. No fluff. Just clarity and confidence. 🧠🎯 4️⃣ Customer-Led Innovation They bring the frontlines to the strategy table. The best CSMs don’t just listen to feedback, they shape roadmaps. 🛠️🚀 5️⃣ Courage They don’t wait to be told what to do. They challenge their customers (and their company) to move faster, smarter, better. 💥🔥 💡 Here’s the hard truth: If you’re still treating CSMs like support reps and retention managers, you’re already behind. Some parts of CS will always be counted towards COGs. It's a simple reality of proper financial reality and financial modeling. But CSMs? Why shouldn't they be part of SG&A, given they are often the most under-leveraged growth engine in the company? This isn’t about retention anymore. It’s about expansion, innovation, and category leadership, powered by customer value. 👊 Let’s build the future of CS by developing the kind of CSMs who will own it. #CustomerSuccess #NextGenCSM #CustomerGrowth #RetentionIsRevenue #CSLeadership #GrowthMindset #CustomerLedGrowth #ExecutivePerspective #FutureOfWork #CSRevolution #CreatetheFuture

201

39 Comments

Here’s the real difference between SMB, mid-market, and enterprise sales reps. It’s not just about company size. It’s about how they sell, who they sell to, and what skills they need to win. 1. SMB Sales Reps: Fast, High-Volume, Transactional SMB reps move fast. They handle lots of deals at once, often with short sales cycles. Their buyers are usually business owners or small teams. Decisions happen quickly. The focus is on volume. Reps need to be great at prospecting, qualifying, and closing fast. They use simple demos, clear pricing, and quick follow-ups. There’s little room for custom solutions. Success comes from hustle, speed, and the ability to handle rejection. 2. Mid-Market Sales Reps: Consultative, Relationship-Driven Mid-market reps work with larger companies, but not the giants. Sales cycles are longer. There are more stakeholders and more complex needs. These reps must balance volume with depth. They build relationships and tailor solutions. They need to understand the customer’s business, map out decision-makers, and manage multiple conversations. Success comes from being consultative, organized, and persistent. 3. Enterprise Sales Reps: Strategic, Multi-Layered, High-Stakes Enterprise reps sell to the biggest companies. Think Fortune 1000. Sales cycles can last months or even years. Deals are large and complex. They work with many stakeholders: legal, finance, IT, and executives. The process is strategic. Reps must build trust, navigate politics, and create business cases. Customization is key. Every deal is unique, with tailored solutions and pricing. Success comes from patience, deep industry knowledge, and strong negotiation skills. The Real Divide SMB reps win with speed and volume. Mid-market reps win with relationships and consultative selling. Enterprise reps win with strategy, patience, and deep customization. The best salespeople know where they fit and master the skills that matter most at their level. If you want to move up, start learning the next level’s skills now.

42

5 Comments

95% 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐈. But most sales teams are still stuck in manual mode. BetterCloud's 2025 𝐒𝐚𝐚𝐒 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐮𝐩 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥: 𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐥 → But automation isn’t.  → Most GTM teams are still buried in repetitive tasks like prospecting, enrichment, follow-ups. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 → 60% of IT teams say manual ops limit their strategic focus.  → Sales teams feel it too: context-switching, data clean-up, scattered systems. 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 → 70% prefer unified SaaS platforms over cobbled-together point tools.  → Seamless AI workflows are the future. 𝐀𝐩𝐩 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 → Teams use ~106 SaaS apps on average.  → That’s fewer than last year, but still messy for GTM workflows. 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚 “𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞-𝐭𝐨-𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞” → It’s table stakes.  → Sales teams who automate early get compounding returns in pipeline, precision, and productivity. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧. 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

212

70 Comments