Cassie Young

If you are responsible for enablement at your company, your #1 job beyond all others is to get a strong executive sponsor. It might be the CRO, it might be the COO, it might be the CEO, maybe by some miracle it is the CFO. Maybe it's a strong SVP. Title doesn't matter - organizational respect and resource gathering does. Trying to do ANYTHING in enablement without a strong exec sponsor to: 1. Get resources (people, money, attention) 2. Align teams (sales, success, marketing, product....not necessarily in that order) 3. Create priority (over the zillion other things that a company could do) Is a huge waste of time and energy. If you don't have it, create it. If you can't create it, find somewhere you can or accept that your results will be greatly diminished and your work will be generally uninteresting/frustrating.

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Tired of losing hard-earned deals? Solve for Revenue Leak. In Clari’s 2024 Revenue Leak Report, RevOps leaders said leak happens at every stage of the funnel. - Creating: Poor and slow upsell pipeline tracking - Converting: Unsure where pipeline is dropping off - Closing: Slipped deals Don’t let Revenue Leak drag down another quarter – or another year. Download the Revenue Leak Report for more: https://lnkd.in/g9gnGrdz  

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As CS is getting increasingly aligned with the revenue function, this conversation is happening a lot... CRO: "I just took over customer success, can someone explain to me what our CSMs do?" VP CS: "We make sure that our customers are getting value from the product..." CRO: "OK, what does that mean?" VP CS: "We answer all of their questions and log support cases." CRO: "Isn't that support?" VP CS: "Well no, because we have QBRs" CRO: "OK, well what do we talk about in the QBRs?" VP CS: "All the tickets we fixed and the features that we rolled out" CRO: "Ok, what other things do our CSMs do?" VP CS: "We help with implementations and continuous improvement!" CRO: "Isn't that professional services?" VP CS: "Well we read an article that says that we shouldn't charge for services, so our CSMs just do it." CRO: " 🤯 " VP CS: " 🤯 "

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If you're hiring for revops, here are top traits to look for. It's not pure analytics or tool knowledge. 😀 IC Focused/Exec Aligned RevOps is about helping the front line. The reps. Its not about decks, execs or the CRM. I was at my best when I had this. And my worst when I didn't. The company hits their number when the reps do. Look for servant leaders. They become reps best friends and execs right hand. 🤝 They can rally the wagons RevOps must drive impact through multiple stages of the customer journey. The RevOps pro has to work WITH those teams and not around. 👍 Good Communicator Being able to communicate key findings and implement changes is critical. The right answer stuck on tab 9 doesnt do anyone any good if revops can action it. 📗 High FIFO Factor Figure it the f*ck out. People go to revops to solve problems. New tool? Learn it. Don't know the answer? Find it. Leads broken? Fix it. ⬆ Student of the Game: This person is always learning. Podcasts, books, new tools they learned, etc. RevOps isn't for the static. The game changes too fast. Combine those with a good grasp of data analytics, tools, systems, and process. And you're likely to make a good revops hire.

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The buyers journey isn’t sales led anymore. Let’s repeat that: THE BUYERS JOURNEY ISN’T SALES LED ANYMORE! SaaS made things look easy when budgets were flush and customers were trying to grow at all costs. Now your marketing needs to carry the customer more than 3/4 of the way to the closed sale. If you think that’s crazy or ridiculous, your marketing team probably isn’t staffed or resourced for success. Great post David Kirkdorffer (he/him)!

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For anyone who needs to hear it… mainly sales, revops, finance, customer success and marketing leaders… 👏 Work on your pipeline 👏 and bookings modeling/forecast 👏 together. 👏 A pipeline model is a shared goal. It should be tied to headcount capacity, win rates, conversion through the funnel, and budget considerations/constraints. It’s not all on finance or sales or marketing. Argue about it. Agree to disagree. Push to be as accurate as possible, but take some bets. Do it together. 🙏 Oh and don't forget... works towards a model that includes Stage 2 or Stage 3 ($ & #) as part of the model. And doubly don't forget... to build expansion into your model as it becomes more repeatable and you introduce more products. Cheers!

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Churn rates in SaaS are often taken for granted. A 5% churn rate? Sounds manageable until you unpack the numbers. If you're losing customers at that rate every month, you're left with less than half of your original users by the end of the year. The average B2B churn rate might be lower due to the methodical decision-making process, but there's no getting around the fact that B2C companies are more susceptible to quicker exits. Voluntary churn is where the real battle lies, as buyers pull the trigger on cancellations for reasons ranging from budget cuts to outright dissatisfaction. So, what's the play? You need to visualize your churn as a strategic battleground. Whether it's by tightening your onboarding processes, identifying churn indicators early, or even tailoring your cancellation offers, the aim is simple: keep the customers you’ve worked hard to acquire. Churn isn’t just a metric—it's a mindset. Let's debate: Is it smarter to accept a higher churn as a given in a rapidly changing market, or is the focus on reducing churn at all costs a more sustainable strategy? Keep it civil, folks. https://lnkd.in/ehMpvWed

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A wave of consolidation is sweeping through the sales tech industry. I recently listened to a brilliant episode from the Topline podcast, featuring Salesloft CEO David Obrand, that shed light on the current state of the GTM tech landscape. As highlighted in the episode, key players like Clari, Gong and Outreach are expanding their offering to boost their TAM and offer more comprehensive solutions. Whilst the trend is understandable, the danger is long-standing partnerships start to fray as overlapping functionalities emerge - partnerships that were once the lifeblood of the sales tech ecosystem. For us, it begs the question. In a world of all-encompassing GTM suites, is there still a place for specialized, best-in-breed solutions? I believe the answer is a resounding yes - but only if they can offer extraordinary value. To thrive in this new era, point solutions must not only deliver great results but also seamlessly integrate into a company’s core tech stack and existing workflows. At MultiplyGTM, we’re laser-focused on providing planning intelligence that complements rather than competes with the everyday solutions revenue teams rely on, and goes deep in addressing a critical need - empowering revenue leaders with the confidence and clarity to achieve their goals. Whilst we may lack the resources of larger players, our goal is to provide unparalleled planning intelligence and insights that drive revenue, while growing sustainably and delivering immense value to our customers with our domain expertise. We're on the cusp of announcing some game-changing partnerships too that will extend our reach and impact, while maintaining our focus on delivering the revenue planning capabilities that drive profitable efficient growth. Stay tuned! 🚀

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RevOps under the CFO? PROBLEM: RevOps should be solving for seamless alignment across Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success to optimize rev generation, drive efficiency, and deliver predictable, scalable growth. BACKGROUND: I've seen RevOps under both Sales and Marketing. Neither seemed optimal (as both have a functional bias), so at Base64 we placed RevOps under the CFO / Head of Finance. WHY THE CFO: 1) COMPANY HEALTH & ALIGNMENT: Modern AI / SaaS CFO’s have evolved from accounting leaders to strategic architects of company health. I work very closely with my CFO to optimize the entire revenue lifecycle...balancing growth with efficiency...unlike Sales, where I primarily focus on quarterly new license bookings and renewal targets, or Marketing where I primarily focus on top-of-funnel demand gen, positioning and brand equity. 2) DATA-DRIVEN OPTIMIZATION: RevOps thrives on cross-departmental data, and I work with my CFO to integrate insights to minimize inefficiencies and maximize ROI for the company and within each function. 3) LONG-TERM VALUE CREATION FOCUS: While Sales and Marketing prioritize short-term wins (absolutely critical), the CFO aligns RevOps with the company’s broader financial strategy for scalable, sustainable growth (i.e. preparing the business for funding rounds, identifying levers to hit annual growth targets). By placing RevOps under the CFO, I believe companies unlock a metrics-driven approach where every dollar fuels Profitable Efficient Growth (PEG). In AI-SaaS where commercial models are being disrupted (i.e. usage vs. consumption)...having a modern CFO that owns RevOps is proving to be a game-changer at Base64. The primary risk leaders need to look out for is 1) if you have a risk-averse or fixed mindset CFO that prioritizes expense mgmt over PEG 2) they do not value CX (1st class product experience is table-stakes, but the overall experience with your company needs to be 1st class...from buying to servicing to renewing). Thoughts? #CFO #RevOps #StrategicLeadership #RevenueOptimization #SaaSLeadership

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When it comes to your #ABM strategy, feel like you're barely surviving instead of thriving? 😅 At RevOps Co-op, we recently got a few CMOs and a CEO together to share tips and tricks for fueling your ABM engine, and they absolutely brought the 🔥 My favorite part of this was Eric Westerkamp, CEO at CaliberMind sharing specifics on their ABM journey, like: How they started with 125 accounts, expanded to 250, and cracked the code by focusing on engagement metrics. Here’s the secret sauce 🍝 Narrowing Down the Field They used firmographics and technographics to identify target sub-industries. Basically, they found their tribe! 🏹 Engagement is Everything By leveraging Google AI Gemini, they discovered that the most engaged accounts were the ones most likely to convert. Engagement became their North Star. 🌟 Scaling Like a Pro 📈 When do you know it’s time to scale your ABM efforts? When your orchestration (fancy word for coordination) across all channels is on point. Ensure you have 10-30 touchpoints per account. Think of these as little love notes across all platforms. 💌 Consistent Messaging Your message should be like your favorite song on repeat—consistent and catchy. 🎶 High-Value Offers Don’t just talk; give them something they can’t refuse. 🍫 It Takes a Village 🏘️ ABM isn’t a one-person show. It’s a full-on team sport. It’s like planning a surprise party; everyone needs to be in on the secret to pull it off successfully. 🎉 ABM can be your ticket to a lean, mean marketing machine that scales efficiently and effectively. Remember, it’s not for the faint of heart, but if you’re ready to take the plunge, the rewards are well worth it. Curious if any of y'all have any ABM success stories? What's worked for you? What hasn't worked? Drop your feedback in the comments below. 👇 Keep hustling y'all 💪 PS - see the full recording and write-up on our website revopscoop(dot)com 🔗 #ABM #MarketingStrategy #RevOps #Sales #BusinessGrowth #MarketingTips

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Don't be afraid to let your manager know your career goals. If you want to be the next VP of Customer Success, the next CCO, the next whatever, let them know. Even if that is the title that they currently hold. If you don't speak up, they will never know. Learning to advocate for yourself is a huge part of your growth journey. The reason I am sharing this? I have had multiple conversations with folks who have left or are considering leaving their current company due to a lack of growth opportunities. When I asked them if they communicated their desires with their managers or someone in leadership, overwhelmingly, the response was generally "no." How does that saying go? You miss 100% of the shots you don't take? Or something like that. And leaders, make sure you create a safe environment for these conversations to happen. Without that safety, your team will not speak up and the odds of losing your top performers increases significantly.

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The most underrated role on Go-To-Market teams: Revenue Operations A great Rev Ops leader gives your revenue team leverage. I waited too long to hire for this role, instead choosing to do the job off the side of my desk. I was being lazy. I didn’t fully understand what “sales operations” or “revenue operations” meant. I hadn’t taken the time to sit down and write out the job description. But once I found the right person, it was like the world opened before my eyes. Our Rev Ops leader was my partner in running the revenue team. They were involved at the strategic level and at the tactical level. They knew where all the bodies were buried. So what does Rev Ops do? I’ll do my best to list some of the key responsibilities: - build the revenue model - weekly sales forecast - select, implement, and maintain the tech stack (CRM, sales engagement tools, etc) - design sales compensation plan - run the sales compensation report monthly - own the TAM data in the CRM (super important!!) - analyze sales team performance - manage lead distribution The list goes on. If you have 3 or more sales people on your team and you are planning to scale, hire a Rev ops leader ASAP. Who is your favorite Rev ops leader? Tag them!

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RevOps is a special breed. They have to remain calm in the chaos. Likely the most underrated attribute of all their skills. We’re the ones who keep our cool when things break. Whether it’s a disconnected tool, a workflow that’s gone rogue, or data that just doesn’t make sense, we step in to solve the puzzle. Our job is to figure it out—quickly, calmly, and effectively—because the business doesn’t stop for problems. 🔧 We troubleshoot. 🧩 We connect the dots. 🚀 And we make sure the operations keep running smoothly so the team can stay focused on what they do best. It’s not just about fixing things; it’s about creating scalable solutions that prevent the same issues from happening again. That’s the real magic of RevOps—turning chaos into clarity and ensuring the engine is always running at full speed. #RevOps

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At Vena our CORE and that's the C in our core values starts with Customer Trust. What does this mean? It means you deliver on your promise, every promise. You operate from a customer-first point of view. Every action is taken with an empathetic lens through your customers eyes. You prioritize your customer and future customers first. It doesn't always mean they are right but it does mean their needs are the right priority, and the first priority. So many companies say they are customer-centric, but when brands and companies are called to task, they often start with what's easiest, best, most convenient for them or of concern for them. It starts with their goals, their teams and their challenges. Things go wrong, s*it happens but how you show up when it does go astray is what matters. And as a consumer, buyer and leader, I experience the failures of customer-centricity everyday. As a professional, I aim to start and finish with empathy in service of those we set out to help; our customer. It's that simple. Where do you start from? Make sure it's not yourself. 🌱 #customerfirst #values #leadership

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When CEOs crush hard on their new product, they can easily lose objectivity. Hearing excitement from a few early adopters doesn't necessarily mean you have a hit for mainstream customers. You need to detach and view your product as the market does, warts and all. Listening (really listening) to direct feedback from target prospects and your front-line employees is crucial for getting it right. See link to my full article in comments below.

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“Customer Success looks different at every company.” Everyone nods their heads in agreement, but then… why do most companies have the same generic health score in their CS platform? 👀 This tells us something BIG: many leaders aren’t crystal clear on what a “healthy” customer really looks like at their company. They’re flying blind—without the right data, unable to truly predict business impact, and when things go sideways, they blame the tech stack. Here’s the reality: The tech is only as good as the insight behind it. If you want a health score that actually drives retention and expansion, start here: 📊 Define YOUR Customer Health Signals: Go beyond usage. What signals matter most to your customers’ success with your product? Is it feature adoption? Operational efficiency? ROI? Map the milestones that are unique to your customer journey. 🧩 Leverage Cross-Functional Data: Customer health isn’t just a CS thing. Pull in data from Sales, Product, and Support to get a 360° view. If your health score isn’t cross-functional, you’re missing the full picture. 🔄 Evolve Constantly: A true health score isn’t set-and-forget. Your customer needs change, market dynamics shift, and so should your metrics. Schedule quarterly reviews to recalibrate and keep it relevant. I'm currently working with my team to analyze all of the customers who RENEWED in the past 12 months to find behaviors and patterns that will help us establish our low watermark for each customer segment as we move into the new year. This is something we've done for the past few years but this year we have access to even more data so I am pumped to measure the effectiveness as we move into 2025 - We will be able to see how this aligns with our forecast. Building a health score that actually means something takes work. But a custom-built score is the difference between surviving and thriving in Customer Success. So what does your "score" look like?

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Some excellent insights to consider if you are trying to determine your optimal GTM revenue team structure. Given the technology-based saturation of the market with both Inbound & SDR/BDR based Outbound GTM motions leading to declining effectiveness and results, many seem to be pulling back from Specialization and putting more on the plate of a full-cycle AE again. In some ways it feels like we are moving back to how things were done earlier in my career...

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Can Customer Success Managers please stop commiserating to build empathy. For years I’ve heard CSMs commiserate with their customers when product issues arise. It goes something like … Customer: Hi CSM, I ran into an issue this morning in the product and here is how it’s impacting me and my team. CSM: Ugh, I’m so sorry. We’ve had so many customers complain about that same issue. I’m not sure how that got through QA. We reported it last week, I’m not sure why it’s not fixed. Your customer did not NEED to hear all that. What they needed to hear was … CSM: I’m so sorry to hear that this was your experience. Can you share a bit more about this with me? I’d like to ensure I’m capturing this correctly so I can go back to my team and share this feedback in hopes to get this addressed. Once I have everything I need and start that internal dialogue I can circle back with you on the details to get this resolved. Would you mind sharing your screen and walking me through this? Maybe not those exact words but you get my point. I’m not less empathetic. In fact, I’m establishing trust and reliability with my customer. 👉 Don’t position against your product 👉 Capture all the details 👉 Establish a reasonable timeline to get back to them with details 👉 Follow up as needed to maintain communication and confidence that it’s being addressed 👉 See it through to resolution (if possible) Remember that saying, “This is on a need to know basis ….” You remember the rest. Be your brand’s biggest advocate! Its impossible to expect your customer to be when you can’t be one yourself. Happy Monday!

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I was asked what is the fasted way to win new business for sales - get warm introductions in your target accounts. Here are 7 steps that I think will help you get radically more pipeline fast:🔥📈 Inboxes are overflowing, cold outreach is losing its punch. Warm introductions are the key to breaking through the noise and accelerating your sales pipeline. 1. Define Target Accounts 🎯 Zero in on accounts that align with your ideal customer profile. Know their challenges, and understand how your solution uniquely solves them. Focus on a subset you’re confident about – don’t let analysis paralysis slow you down. Key: Don’t get stuck on the first step; just go for it! 2. Identify Connectors in Your Network 🕸️ Expand your network (or automate this with platforms like https://lnkd.in/e-XsFVmR) to match up with contacts who have trusted relationships with key players in your target accounts. Look for people with deep industry and solution experience- they’ll help boost your credibility.  3. Engage with Value First 💬 When requesting an intro, lead with value. Show why the intro matters to their connection and how it benefits them. Remember, your Trusted Advisor isn’t your sales rep – they’re a facilitator of value for their network. Offer insights, unique perspectives, and collaborate in a knowledge exchange. This will set you apart as more than “just another sales rep.” 4. Personalize Your Outreach to the New Contact 🧑‍💼 After a warm into, skip the canned pitch. Reference your mutual connection, then tailor your message to your target accounts needs. Tap into your advisor’s inside knowledge on what truly matters, from active projects to key priorities. This approach makes you relevant, aware, and genuinely interesting. 5. Nurture the Relationship, Not Just the Opportunity 🤝 Warm intros open doors, but it’s the relationships that close deals. Focus on building trust, actively listening, and providing value. Even if there’s no immediate sale. 6. Don’t Forget Your Sales Process 🚀 Whether it’s Solution Selling, MEDDICC, or MEDDPICC, stick to your process to stay on track. Use your advisor’s insights to set you apart, but also to qualify out quickly – if it’s not a fit, pivot to protect your credibility and the trust of your connection. 7. Reward Your Trusted Advisor 🏆 Recognize your advisor’s role in your success! A thoughtful gesture, creative reward, or a few percentage points on the deal can make a significant impact. It shows appreciation, strengthens the partnership, and sets the stage for future collaboration. Warm introductions are your ticket to stronger connections, faster cycles, and higher close rates. Are you tapping into them? 🔑 And if you want to make this easy, check out https://lnkd.in/e-XsFVmR – the first platform designed to automate and scale your ability to find and leverage warm introductions into all of your target accounts. 🔗 #SalesTips #Sales #SDR #SalesPipeline #WarmIntroductions #ForceEquals

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