Léo Dupont

Break Down Your Prospects into 4 Categories-> 1️⃣ 3% : 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐨𝐰 (𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝) - They’ve done their homework and know your competitors well; maybe even better than you. - Focus on differentiation; Why is your solution different? How does it create a positive business impact? - Skip the basics and get straight to the value proposition. 2️⃣ 6-7% : 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐭 (𝐈𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝/𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭) - They acknowledge a need but may not fully understand why your solution is the best fit. - First, educate them on why they need a solution. Then, show them why they need YOUR solution. - Once convinced, move into the differentiation phase (same as above). 3️⃣ 60% : 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐈𝐭 / 𝐔𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 (𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 7-11 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬) - They don’t realize they have a problem or don’t know there’s a solution. - Start by teaching them how companies in their industry use solutions like yours to improve operations, revenue, or efficiency. - Once they see the value, transition into education about your specific offering, then differentiate. 4️⃣ 30% : 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 (𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠) - They clearly state they don’t need a solution; respect that. - Don’t waste time chasing uninterested buyers. - Pass them to marketing for long-term nurturing. **Regardless of which category a prospect falls into, center every conversation around their problems and aspirations. Not all customers are the same, so neither should your approach be.

50

6 commentaires

Cold calling in 2025 isn’t dead. But it has evolved. And in our latest live training, we had one of the biggest turnouts to date. Why? Because SDRs, AEs and even seasoned sales leaders are realising something: Email is drowning in noise. But voice? It still cuts through. → You can sound confident → Build trust → And go from “stranger” to “solution” in a few mins But most cold calls still fail. Not always because of a weak opener. But because the rep didn’t prepare. → No research. → No customer story. → No clear value. That’s why we broke it down, step-by-step, in this article: https://lnkd.in/eDFhK_yQ The 5-part cold call framework that’s driving 10X more meetings (literally): 1. Permission-Based Opener 2. Plant the Problem 3. Short Discovery 4. Tell a Customer Story 5. Soft Close Simple. High-converting. Here’s the other thing: → Most reps don’t practice. → They wing it. And wonder why they’re stuck. The truth: Sales teams don’t have a tech problem. They have a skills problem. ❌ 70% of reps never receive formal sales training ❌ 65% say they’ve never been coached on cold calls ❌ 84% miss quota That’s why we built Sales University, 400+ lessons combined with 1:1 sales coaching Not just scripts. Not just theory. A system that builds sellers. Want the script? DM me “SCRIPT” and I’ll send you access.

60

6 commentaires

Bad deal management from SMB AEs looks like this: → prospect says “send me info” and you do—without any context → next step is “follow up next week” with no date, no calendar, no agenda → CRM says “75%” but you don’t know who signs the deal → AE disappears until end-of-month begging for updates Great deal management from SMB AEs looks like this: → recap email goes out within 15 minutes, including pain, impact, and aligned next step → next call is booked on the call, not “later” → AE knows the decision-maker, the process, and the potholes → follow-ups aren’t reminders—they’re value drops tied to what the buyer said Deals don’t close because you had a good call. They close because you managed the process well.

162

13 commentaires

I've reviewed thousands of sales calls. The most common mistake I see? Sales reps who can't stop talking. → they get excited and thoroughly explain features → they interrupt prospects to correct them → they feel pressure to fill moments of silence On the contrary, the best salespeople know that silence is where the magic happens. → they ask a great question, then shut up → they let the prospect think → they let them work through their own objections Every time you monologue, you lose dialogue.

44

21 commentaires

Your data provider is killing your cold calling success. Here’s why: If you want to cold call 1,000 prospects, you need a list of 2,500 to find enough valid mobile phone numbers. Last week, we evaluated over 3M mobile phone number enrichments. The result: The average data provider only finds 25-40% valid numbers. That's a *big* GTM problem: In an effort to reach your targets, you are forced to to expand your TAM. You go broader than your ICP definition and end up prospecting accounts who aren't your target market. On top of that: You waste time calling invalid mobile phones. Sounds familiar? This is the reality for 95% of B2B cold calling teams today. Only finding 25–40% *valid* mobile phone numbers means: You're leaving 60–75% of your ICP prospects untouched. There’s got to be a better way, right? Introducing: Waterfall Enrichment A method we brought to market in 2022 with BetterContact. This method : ↳ Aggregates 20+ data providers into one platform. ↳ Verifies and scores the mobile phone numbers. ↳ Only charges you for the *actually* valid ones. Here’s how it works: 1️⃣ The system analyzes your lead list and builds an optimized provider sequence. 2️⃣ Each provider is queried in sequence until valid data is found. 3️⃣ The results are verified through multiple layers for accuracy. 4️⃣ You only pay for validated numbers - invalid ones cost you nothing. And here’s the kicker: 95% of your competitors aren’t using this method. They’re stuck with single providers, missing leads you’ll now have access to. Did you ever try it out? 👇

40

16 commentaires

10 Things NOT to Say in Sales Calls (And what TO say instead): Sales calls are like first impressions— You only get one shot. In just 30 minutes, you need to: ✅ Build trust ✅ Understand your prospect’s needs ✅ Position your solution But too often, reps say the wrong thing and instantly kill the deal. Here are 10 things NOT to say on a sales call: (And what to say instead) 1/ “What’s your budget?” ↳ Why: It makes it all about the price, not the value ↳ Instead: “What outcomes are you hoping to achieve?” 2/ “Are you the decision-maker?” ↳ Why: Comes off as dismissive to other stakeholders ↳ Instead: “Who else should be involved in this conversation?” 3/ “We’re the best in the market.” ↳ Why: Empty sales fluff that prospects tune out ↳ Instead: “Here’s how we’ve helped companies like yours succeed.” 4/ “When can you sign?” ↳ Why: Feels pushy and ignores readiness ↳ Instead: “What’s your ideal timeline for moving forward?” 5/ “Let me know if you’re interested.” ↳ Why: Puts the follow-up responsibility on the prospect ↳ Instead: “I’ll follow up next week—does that work for you?” 6/ “You’re wrong about that.” ↳ Why: Creates friction and shuts down conversation ↳ Instead: “I see where you’re coming from—can I offer a different perspective?” 7/ “That’s not possible.” ↳ Why: Kills the conversation and trust instantly ↳ Instead: “Here’s what we can do, and how it aligns with your needs.” 8/ “What’s stopping you from buying today?” ↳ Why: Feels aggressive and puts the prospect on the defensive ↳ Instead: “Is there anything holding you back that we haven’t covered?” 9/ “Our product has tons of features.” ↳ Why: Overwhelms prospects with irrelevant info ↳ Instead: “Here’s the feature that solves your specific challenge.” 10/ “I’ll wait for your response.” ↳ Why: Makes the sales process passive ↳ Instead: “I’ll check in [day/time]—will that work for you?” 💡 Remember: Sales is about connection, not just closing. It’s about understanding, not hard selling. ♻ Repost this to help your network close more deals. ➕ Follow me for more sales tips, frameworks, and tools. Join over 30,000 sellers getting my best resources and the latest sales advice from top performers💯: https://lnkd.in/etTWrtwY

1 507

56 commentaires

My new VP Sales just blew up how we stage our deals... ...And I love it. See, for years, we used the standard linear pipeline: Discovery → Demo → Validate → Negotiate → Close. Clean. Logical. And completely disconnected from reality. Here's what was actually happening: A deal would be in "Validate" stage, but the prospect ghosted us three weeks ago. Another deal in "Negotiate" stage? They asked for another demo. So what do we do in the CRM? Nothing. We just leave it where it is because moving it backward feels like failure. The result: Our pipeline was full of lies. We had no idea what was really happening with our deals at the executive level. See, buyers are not linear, which means sales isn't leaner. It's fluid. Prospects move forward, backward, sideways. They get excited, then go cold, then come back. Traditional CRM stages force you to pretend deals progress in a straight line. What Evan Santa changed: He replaced our linear stages with three fluid stages based on one thing - alignment with the prospect: Stage 1 - Meeting booked: Nothing stays in stage 1, it either moves to the pipeline or it goes to No show (and gets nurtured) or No opportunity (because we literally can't sell to them). Stage 2 - Still Working: Low enthusiasm, no next steps scheduled, but not dead yet. (Cold) Stage 3 - Ongoing/Progressing: Conversation is happening, but no commitment to next steps. (Warm) Stage 4 - Advancing Forward: Strong alignment, next meeting booked or clearly defined next steps. You want all of your deals here, ideally. (Hot) Deals move fluidly between these stages based on what's actually happening in a given week. The framework shift: During every interaction, you ask yourself one question: "Where is this deal going in my pipeline after this call?" If they ghost your follow-up? Move from Stage 4 to Stage 3. If they suddenly re-engage and book a meeting? Back to Stage 4. Why this works better: The CRM finally reflects reality. You know exactly where every deal stands at any given moment. No more "let me check my notes" when someone asks about a deal. One glance at your pipeline tells you: 20 deals with strong alignment, 15 that need nurturing, 8 going cold. You can actually manage high-velocity sales. When you're handling 40+ deals instead of 18, organization beats talent every time. This system lets you instantly see which deals need action this week. It fights against your archenemy, the MAYBE. When prospects lose momentum, the system forces you to acknowledge it and either reignite the conversation or close it out. No more dead deals sitting in your pipeline for months. If most of your pipeline is stuck in one stage, your staging system is broken. It's the number one indicator you've lost visibility into what's actually happening with your opportunities. Sales are fluid. Your pipeline staging should be too.

41

29 commentaires

Seller ($50k deal) vs. Consultant ($5 million deal) Sellers run ‘sales cycles.’ Consultants deliver strategic consulting engagements. Here is the MASSIVE difference: Sales Cycle: - Prospect -> SDR pitches to mid level managers - Discovery -> AE ‘does a discovery call’ - Demo -> SE leads a demo (often brought in by AE with no context or prep) - Close -> AE tries to get a second meeting, often fails Result: 15% win rate, $100k average deal size Strategic Consulting Engagement: - Insight written by experts (read by executives who then bring them in for a deeper dive) - Executive Briefing delivered by experts to executive team - Analysis (paid) executed by experts ‘to get to the root cause’ - Results read out session - delivered by experts to convey findings to execs - Project established - execs buy in and are willing to pay big bucks given analysis results and reputation of consulting firm. Result: 50% win rate, $5M average deal size So these realities leave us with a few key questions: 1. Do you want to run a traditional sales cycle or a consultative engagement? 2. Have you become an expert in your space/domain? 3. Can you hold your own in a conversation with a senior customer executive? 4. Do you have experts on your deal teams? 5. Does your company have the internal capability to generate insights? 6. Is your average deal size where you want it to be? We are in the most difficult selling reality in a generation. If you aren’t rising to more advanced selling playbooks, you will fall into the abyss of transactional sales, which is the path to failure. Rise up. EDIT: P.S. Join 200+ enterprise tech sellers following the step-by-step playbook I used to close $160M in SaaS revenue: https://lnkd.in/dUgY78_R

255

135 commentaires

Moving through the pipeline without stalling or rushing ⏱ For growth-stage companies, this is a common pain point: - Deals linger for weeks (or months) without a decision. - Multiple GTM plays underway, but not clear where leads come from - There is interest, but momentum fizzles before it closes. Pipeline Velocity helps you move opportunities forward at the right speed: 🔹 Standardizing GTM Plays – Create clear, repeatable plays (inbound cadences, outbound sequences, event follow-ups, referral asks) so everyone executes consistently 🔹 Adjusting GTM Plays – Fine-tune by stage and segment; what works at awareness may stall at negotiation if you don’t adapt the play 🔹 Velocity Metrics – Track days in stage and conversion by stage to spot friction early and keep deals moving Most companies are looking at ways to improve velocity. Following the GTM OS will give you the framework needed to work across the company. As a fractional CMO & certified partner at GTM Partners, I help growth companies with their marketing & GTM strategy and execution so opportunities don’t just enter the funnel, they close. If your pipeline feels slow or stuck, let's connect to review GTM strategies. What are your tips on pipeline velocity to share? Sangram Vajre Bryan Brown

18

5 commentaires