Werner Schmidt

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.

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⁉️ 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

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I’m fanatical about pipeline generation and I think the phone is the best way to generate pipeline. But I still think “org-wide call targets” are stupid for 3 simple reasons: 1) Some reps have high connect rates, some are lower 2) Some reps set meetings with 20% of prospects they talk to, some are lower 3) Some reps convert most of their meetings to opportunities, some convert fewer So how would I set a call target relevant to everyone? Set it too low, and the low-converting reps have no chance to find success while they work on improving conversion. Set it too high, and the high-converting reps are annoyed AND their conversion likely decreases, making them less efficient. So I don’t set org-wide call targets. Instead, we set org-wide outcome targets (e.g., opportunities created), and then use data to inform individual input goals to reach out those outcomes. Some of my favorite “outcomes” to track: - Initial meetings set - Number of conversations - Discovery meetings converting to opportunities My favorite way to track priority outcomes is my “Good Day Framework.” It’s my most popular framework for improving pipeline generation, and you start generating more pipeline with it today here: https://lnkd.in/g879yrCK

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When quotas are hit, most leadership teams take that as proof their system works. But what if hitting quota is actually a red flag? In Varicent's 2025 SPM Market Spotlight, we surveyed over 1,400 revenue and operations leaders and uncovered a surprising contradiction: 90% of sellers say they expect to hit their quotas.  But only 31% of sellers believe those quotas are realistic. Why does this gap matter? When teams consistently hit unrealistic quotas, it doesn’t mean the plan is working. It means something else is compensating.  Often, that looks like a few top reps pulling most of the weight, rushed deals at quarter-end, or margin-eroding discounts.  It’s not a sign of sustainable growth. It's a sign of friction. High-performing organizations approach quotas differently: ● They align targets with actual market opportunity, using territory data, account potential, and realistic benchmarks.  ● They measure median attainment, not just the average, to see whether success is spread across the team or carried by a few.  ● They monitor the ratio of activity to outcomes to make sure seller effort translates into sustainable pipeline and revenue. Real growth is not about whether the number is hit. It’s about how it’s hit. If you're using quota attainment as proof of strategic alignment, it might be time to take a closer look. Access the research here: https://hubs.ly/Q03sG4kD0 The 2025 SPM Market Spotlight unpacks how top-performing companies are redesigning quota models to drive scalable, equitable growth. 

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