Meeting Title: Brainforge <> Keyan-Yassini—B2B-Sales-Fundamentals Date: 2024-06-20 Meeting participants: Nicolas Sucari, Keyan Yassini, Uttam Kumaran, Jared Patterson
WEBVTT
1 00:02:41.920 ⇒ 00:02:42.290 Uttam Kumaran: Guys.
2 00:02:45.780 ⇒ 00:02:46.550 Nicolas Sucari: Hey! Adam!
3 00:02:48.140 ⇒ 00:02:48.935 Uttam Kumaran: I.
4 00:02:49.730 ⇒ 00:02:50.460 JARED PATTERSON: Hello!
5 00:02:51.040 ⇒ 00:02:51.800 Uttam Kumaran: Ed
6 00:02:54.560 ⇒ 00:02:55.520 Uttam Kumaran: Lindsey
7 00:02:59.860 ⇒ 00:03:00.779 Uttam Kumaran: to look
8 00:03:32.560 ⇒ 00:03:35.089 Uttam Kumaran: fiance will be here in like 5 min.
9 00:03:42.390 ⇒ 00:03:43.529 JARED PATTERSON: No worries.
10 00:03:48.070 ⇒ 00:03:49.760 JARED PATTERSON: You have like a coffee shop with them.
11 00:03:52.250 ⇒ 00:03:53.450 Uttam Kumaran: Yes, I am
12 00:03:53.520 ⇒ 00:03:54.840 Uttam Kumaran: the usual
13 00:03:55.570 ⇒ 00:03:57.750 Uttam Kumaran: usual digs. There’s like
14 00:03:57.890 ⇒ 00:04:02.940 Uttam Kumaran: mix between house this place, because my, the gym I go to is like right over there
15 00:04:03.150 ⇒ 00:04:06.909 Uttam Kumaran: and then. There’s a coffee shop that’s like walking distance from my house.
16 00:04:07.350 ⇒ 00:04:13.380 Uttam Kumaran: And I basically switch between all 3 every 3 days. It’s the equal schedule
17 00:04:13.870 ⇒ 00:04:16.010 Uttam Kumaran: cause. I can’t stay in the house too long.
18 00:04:18.200 ⇒ 00:04:20.940 Uttam Kumaran: cause I just get tired, and then I get annoyed.
19 00:04:21.300 ⇒ 00:04:25.029 Uttam Kumaran: and then, if if I come out here. At least I get some coffee, and then I go to the gym.
20 00:04:25.510 ⇒ 00:04:26.065 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah,
21 00:04:27.450 ⇒ 00:04:32.049 Uttam Kumaran: So yeah, I’ve spent. So I like out the last like, 4 years been so much time inside
22 00:04:32.420 ⇒ 00:04:37.560 Uttam Kumaran: that I would much rather just work out here if I could do it, you know.
23 00:04:37.950 ⇒ 00:04:38.800 Uttam Kumaran: Now.
24 00:04:40.060 ⇒ 00:04:40.500 Keyan Yassini: I hear.
25 00:04:40.500 ⇒ 00:04:40.840 Uttam Kumaran: Wow!
26 00:04:42.610 ⇒ 00:04:43.730 Uttam Kumaran: What’s up, man?
27 00:04:44.240 ⇒ 00:04:47.590 Keyan Yassini: It’s good to see you good to see you outside. You see you in, Austin.
28 00:04:47.914 ⇒ 00:04:48.240 Uttam Kumaran: Did.
29 00:04:48.390 ⇒ 00:04:49.530 Uttam Kumaran: Yes.
30 00:04:49.950 ⇒ 00:04:50.990 Keyan Yassini: Hell, yeah.
31 00:04:51.960 ⇒ 00:04:52.500 Keyan Yassini: Thanks. Aye.
32 00:04:52.760 ⇒ 00:04:54.059 Uttam Kumaran: For you to visit later.
33 00:04:54.360 ⇒ 00:05:03.250 Keyan Yassini: Yeah dude. I’m excited to come over. Check it out. I’ve I mean, I’ve heard that it’s all sorts of things so excited to finally see it in person. Dude.
34 00:05:03.250 ⇒ 00:05:03.980 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I don’t think.
35 00:05:03.980 ⇒ 00:05:05.889 Keyan Yassini: I see you. I haven’t seen you in a while.
36 00:05:05.890 ⇒ 00:05:08.940 Uttam Kumaran: I haven’t seen you in a while, either. I know I haven’t been back.
37 00:05:09.050 ⇒ 00:05:12.419 Uttam Kumaran: I’m home in a bit dude. I gotta come back and like the next
38 00:05:12.640 ⇒ 00:05:14.688 Uttam Kumaran: 2 months at some point so.
39 00:05:15.400 ⇒ 00:05:19.646 Keyan Yassini: Yeah. Come out here. We’ll rip some some bars out in the city.
40 00:05:19.950 ⇒ 00:05:22.880 Uttam Kumaran: Yes, yes, how’s the new place? And what’s up.
41 00:05:23.210 ⇒ 00:05:37.480 Keyan Yassini: It’s it’s pretty good dude. I’m really happy with it. I’m probably gonna get a new spot. Come October, November. Get a little bit of a bigger place. But yeah, living in the city is is really nice.
42 00:05:38.120 ⇒ 00:05:39.945 Uttam Kumaran: Nice. Yeah. No more driving in.
43 00:05:40.250 ⇒ 00:05:44.112 Keyan Yassini: No, no more no more crazy people on a bar or anything.
44 00:05:45.784 ⇒ 00:05:51.719 Uttam Kumaran: So well, this is Jared. Jared is an intern with us this summer.
45 00:05:52.050 ⇒ 00:05:55.249 Uttam Kumaran: And Nico, maybe I’ll let you guys give brief intros.
46 00:05:55.685 ⇒ 00:05:57.890 Uttam Kumaran: Hey, Jared, if you wanna go ahead.
47 00:05:58.900 ⇒ 00:06:03.710 JARED PATTERSON: Hey? Yeah. So I’m Jared, I just recently started. But it have kind of been
48 00:06:03.770 ⇒ 00:06:06.464 JARED PATTERSON: in talks with, do them all year.
49 00:06:07.530 ⇒ 00:06:14.079 JARED PATTERSON: yeah, just, kinda I guess a little background on me. And I’m an Econ major just graduate from Hobart and upstate New York.
50 00:06:14.300 ⇒ 00:06:15.650 JARED PATTERSON: And
51 00:06:15.920 ⇒ 00:06:21.239 JARED PATTERSON: although I’m an Ecom major, I’m a data analytics minor. So I’ve been really trying to get my footing in like
52 00:06:21.520 ⇒ 00:06:23.699 JARED PATTERSON: my foot in the door of the data industry.
53 00:06:23.730 ⇒ 00:06:24.930 JARED PATTERSON: And
54 00:06:25.820 ⇒ 00:06:33.450 JARED PATTERSON: honestly, it’s it’s been pretty awesome being able to like. See the sales side of data. The management side and kind of just getting
55 00:06:33.820 ⇒ 00:06:38.149 JARED PATTERSON: soaking up all the knowledge I can. I’m actually moving to New York City for a
56 00:06:39.090 ⇒ 00:06:48.020 JARED PATTERSON: a job at like a kind of like sales consulting it’s expert knowledge. It’s not really what I want to do. But it’s I’m Canadians. What’s a way to kinda
57 00:06:48.910 ⇒ 00:06:51.790 JARED PATTERSON: be there and network around on there, too.
58 00:06:54.190 ⇒ 00:06:55.869 Keyan Yassini: Definitely pleasure to meet you, Jared.
59 00:06:58.540 ⇒ 00:07:25.160 Nicolas Sucari: Okay, I’ll go now. I’m Nicolas. I’m from Argentina. I live in Buenos Aires. Everybody call me Nico. So that’s fine. I also studied kind of a business administration degree here in Argentina a couple of years ago. Now, I’ve been working in it software development in different companies for kind of 6, 7 years now. I joined Brain Forge kind of
60 00:07:25.160 ⇒ 00:07:41.700 Nicolas Sucari: one month ago, I think. Now, and yeah, I’m taking the role of project manager and helping Lutam to build up some processes to help the team to deliver faster and better, and again trying to manage communications with clients to be
61 00:07:42.115 ⇒ 00:07:49.600 Nicolas Sucari: closer to them to understand requirements. And yeah, translate to our team to to get working. So yeah, nice to meet you.
62 00:07:50.400 ⇒ 00:07:50.959 Keyan Yassini: Yeah. Pleasure.
63 00:07:50.960 ⇒ 00:07:51.560 Uttam Kumaran: So, yeah.
64 00:07:51.560 ⇒ 00:07:52.730 Keyan Yassini: Well, nico.
65 00:07:53.060 ⇒ 00:07:57.229 Uttam Kumaran: Nico’s getting like the full circle of like everything
66 00:07:57.270 ⇒ 00:08:04.180 Uttam Kumaran: kind of involved in the business, and you know I want him to kind of get acquainted with how we do the sales process as well, cause I think.
67 00:08:04.606 ⇒ 00:08:10.729 Uttam Kumaran: It’s really a lot closer to, you know. Nico’s probably apart from me. The main person that communicates with clients.
68 00:08:10.820 ⇒ 00:08:17.269 Uttam Kumaran: And then Jared jared came in, also, interested in like kind of entrepreneurship and the business side of things.
69 00:08:17.350 ⇒ 00:08:27.928 Uttam Kumaran: And so I, of course, you know, need a bunch of help on the sales side, and we’ve been running. Keon Keon actually was helping us a little bit for a bit. And then
70 00:08:28.510 ⇒ 00:08:36.150 Uttam Kumaran: Since then I we’ve like gotten a bunch of clients and we’ve been. It’s been going well. And just now I think we’re gonna go on another big like sales
71 00:08:36.280 ⇒ 00:08:40.469 Uttam Kumaran: push, basically because Nico came on. And I’m getting some free time.
72 00:08:40.500 ⇒ 00:08:45.220 Uttam Kumaran: So we’re working on a bunch of different sales materials. Right now.
73 00:08:45.330 ⇒ 00:08:51.530 Uttam Kumaran: I’m kind of putting together a little bit of like a content kind of pipeline, and then
74 00:08:51.670 ⇒ 00:08:56.380 Uttam Kumaran: just going to like Rip the phones, basically, for a few months.
75 00:08:56.675 ⇒ 00:09:00.350 Uttam Kumaran: So I thought you’d be a good person to call and kind of just like.
76 00:09:00.510 ⇒ 00:09:06.210 Uttam Kumaran: mainly this could be casual, just like QA. I guess, for everybody’s context. I’ve known Keyon.
77 00:09:06.530 ⇒ 00:09:08.569 Uttam Kumaran: I don’t know. That’s like 10 years, or
78 00:09:08.610 ⇒ 00:09:13.398 Uttam Kumaran: I. I knew Kean when he was like I knew Kean when he was in middle school.
79 00:09:14.780 ⇒ 00:09:28.450 Uttam Kumaran: so it’s been a long time. But I’m I’m really excited that we get to do something in business together, and Dion’s been jumping around a different bunch of different companies doing sales. And now is that work day
80 00:09:28.490 ⇒ 00:09:30.630 Uttam Kumaran: seemingly crushing it, which is great
81 00:09:31.043 ⇒ 00:09:35.120 Uttam Kumaran: but I I want to kind of like hear from your perspective, like
82 00:09:35.500 ⇒ 00:09:41.629 Uttam Kumaran: what like, how the process has been, and like kind of maybe even give an overview of from your side like what
83 00:09:41.870 ⇒ 00:09:44.440 Uttam Kumaran: the end to end sales processes for
84 00:09:44.510 ⇒ 00:09:48.880 Uttam Kumaran: what you close. And it’s nice because you’re in the b 2 b world as well.
85 00:09:49.090 ⇒ 00:09:54.039 Uttam Kumaran: so interested to hear that. And I have some questions. I think mainly we could just like bounce off
86 00:09:54.720 ⇒ 00:09:59.239 Uttam Kumaran: but for Jared and Nico feel free to ask like anything
87 00:09:59.740 ⇒ 00:10:01.950 Uttam Kumaran: cause. Otherwise I’m gonna hog up all the time.
88 00:10:03.320 ⇒ 00:10:16.992 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, I’ll I’ll also just give like a quick quick backstory. Been in B Twob sales for about 2 years now, a little over 2 years I worked at Docusign, straight out of college. I went to San Francisco State.
89 00:10:17.593 ⇒ 00:10:36.016 Keyan Yassini: back in 2022 I graduated so worked at Docusign for a brief time. Then I worked in an AI startup and then landed a gig at work day and then kind of in between. There was kind of helping with Tom out from here and there from just kind of like a building out. His sales process sort of side.
90 00:10:36.653 ⇒ 00:10:38.776 Keyan Yassini: But yeah, I’ve seen, you know
91 00:10:39.240 ⇒ 00:10:56.829 Keyan Yassini: pretty good breadth of kind of the the Sas game. I kind of understand it quite well at this point hopefully, in the next couple of months, I’m gonna be able to promote to an account executive role and start actually closing some deals. But where I’m at right now, you know. From my understanding, like
92 00:10:56.830 ⇒ 00:11:26.060 Keyan Yassini: cold calling is kind of the way to go just like the easiest way to kind of get in touch with people and communicate with people. You guys are in a very unique situation, and that at least for my understanding. When I was working with Tom, that a lot of these leads are from people that he knows in his past and kind of in his network. So it’s a lot easier to drum up these sort of conversations than complete cold, outbound u, Tom, are you guys doing kind of just cold? Are you guys kind of doing a little mix of both.
93 00:11:26.360 ⇒ 00:11:29.999 Uttam Kumaran: It’s gonna be a mix of both, I think, for this for this next push.
94 00:11:30.334 ⇒ 00:11:36.689 Uttam Kumaran: And I’m not, Jared. We’ll talk about this a little bit next week, but we’re focusing on like a couple of industries instead of like
95 00:11:36.710 ⇒ 00:11:49.339 Uttam Kumaran: everything writ large meaning. We’ll probably go after like a couple of key things where basically, we’ll exhaust my network, and then also try to use things like Apollo, like do Linkedin outreach and things like that. So.
96 00:11:49.340 ⇒ 00:11:50.160 Keyan Yassini: But this time.
97 00:11:50.160 ⇒ 00:11:56.979 Uttam Kumaran: We’re trying to be much more focused on industry. And then also make sure that we have, like content set up for that.
98 00:11:57.050 ⇒ 00:12:02.629 Uttam Kumaran: People get loaded into like some sort of like, like a Apollo type campaign system.
99 00:12:03.880 ⇒ 00:12:17.550 Keyan Yassini: Cool. Yeah, I just actually started using Apollo last week. So I’m still kind of enabling myself on that. But it’s a seems like it’s pretty legit and pretty robust tool for for sales. So excited that you guys are using that as well.
100 00:12:17.828 ⇒ 00:12:42.319 Keyan Yassini: But cool. Yeah. So if if the name of the game is kind of leveraging both sort of circles, then when it comes to cold, outbound from my perspective. I hate it, you know I I did. No one likes to talk to someone cold. No one likes to get a cold call, and especially not nice to be giving cold calls. So what I always do in the front end is try to load in information or emails that make it a warmer call. Right? So
101 00:12:42.320 ⇒ 00:13:07.199 Keyan Yassini: if there are contacts that you see that you know, might find certain information relevant. I’ll send them an article beforehand or send them like a, you know, a link to something beforehand, either on Linkedin or just via email. And then when I call them, I kind of reference that information so like, hey? Not sure, if you remember me, but I was the person that you know sent you this link, you know. Do you have time to take a look at it.
102 00:13:07.200 ⇒ 00:13:25.135 Keyan Yassini: And just by doing some basic stuff like that in the front end, you are kind of taking them out of this. Who is this guy like, why is this guy calling me to? Oh, this is someone. Maybe I should be talking to someone that is should be like a little bit more of like a warmer conversation.
103 00:13:25.440 ⇒ 00:13:49.209 Keyan Yassini: I’m fortunate that you know all the companies that I’ve sort of worked at before. They have like a pretty big name. So I’m able to just be like, Hey, just take a meeting with us, because, you know, you’re you’re we’re like a big company. But in in this situation, you know, I think the key would be for you guys, especially for the cold people, is to send them resources, or really do that sort of reserve on the front end of show me you know me.
104 00:13:49.462 ⇒ 00:14:14.169 Keyan Yassini: and that way, you know, when you’re on the call with these people. It’s a lot easier to kind of get that meeting, and really show them the value of having a meeting. And then when it comes to kind of these sort of warmer calls with tom ones that are in his kind of network and stuff like those are super easy kind of just call them hey? You know, I know you worked with Bhutom back at, you know so and so company, you know. He’s got his own thing going
105 00:14:14.170 ⇒ 00:14:26.349 Keyan Yassini: now, and the conversation is a lot easier. It’s a lot smoother. It’s not as sort of challenging in that sense. But yeah, what what specific questions you guys have happy to answer anything you got.
106 00:14:28.770 ⇒ 00:14:32.547 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah. My 1st question was, gonna be about
107 00:14:33.220 ⇒ 00:14:35.040 Uttam Kumaran: like, follow ups
108 00:14:35.100 ⇒ 00:14:40.420 Uttam Kumaran: like, let’s say you have a 1st call. It’s kind of like about momentum and follow ups like.
109 00:14:40.550 ⇒ 00:14:46.369 Uttam Kumaran: what do you do? Cause there’s times where I can get people to like. Acknowledge that. Okay, this is something they need.
110 00:14:46.420 ⇒ 00:14:52.270 Uttam Kumaran: But then it kind of dies between that and like closing so like, what are some things that you do?
111 00:14:52.855 ⇒ 00:14:56.419 Uttam Kumaran: In that moment that, like work really well.
112 00:14:56.860 ⇒ 00:15:21.829 Keyan Yassini: So what I do is kind of a combination of things. 1st off, I always like to really lock in next steps on the on the call. I mean, that’s kind of a given right. But you know, you really wanna make sure that you’re hammering like, okay, like, now that we’ve had this 1st initial discovery. Call, what what can we do next? Steps wise? And that’s it might be something that you hear in the conversation. Maybe they’re like, Hey, we’re not really in a spot to kind of move forward. But we’re interested in looking
113 00:15:21.830 ⇒ 00:15:39.590 Keyan Yassini: looking at some resources interested in kind of taking it up to chain internally to see if this is a need, making sure that you’re kind of there for them, and sending them the appropriate resources that they need, and arming them so that they can go up to their supervisors and kind of give them good cover. Have a good conversation around. You know what you’re trying to offer
114 00:15:40.177 ⇒ 00:15:41.730 Keyan Yassini: and then also.
115 00:15:41.760 ⇒ 00:15:58.499 Keyan Yassini: it’s really just about. And it’s not the greatest answer. But it’s really about pestering them and just calling them, and kind of checking in like setting up, you know, weekly or bi-weekly check-ins with with the prospects and being like, Hey, where are you at sending them little like
116 00:15:58.520 ⇒ 00:16:10.339 Keyan Yassini: what I do at at work. Days like I send people like gift cards sometimes like doesn’t have to be a lot like 10. Hey? Thanks for taking the call. Here’s a coffee on us, and then, like, let’s chat.
117 00:16:10.340 ⇒ 00:16:10.830 Uttam Kumaran: Good idea.
118 00:16:10.830 ⇒ 00:16:15.059 Keyan Yassini: Next week or the week after, and you know something along those lines right.
119 00:16:16.520 ⇒ 00:16:17.719 Uttam Kumaran: That’s a great idea.
120 00:16:18.370 ⇒ 00:16:42.149 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, so, stuff like that, just little like minor stuff to keep them kind of engaged. But yeah, having like, kind of like, a long drip sort of campaign through while you’re talking to them. Arming them with different resources. And then I think the I mean the the most obvious answer is, you really wanna anchor what you’re selling and what we’re talking about in the value and
121 00:16:42.150 ⇒ 00:16:49.759 Keyan Yassini: show them that by continuing this conversation it’s not just a waste of your my time, you know. It’s not just a 30 min. Invite on the calendar. It’s
122 00:16:49.790 ⇒ 00:17:03.259 Keyan Yassini: this is what we’re able to do for you this. This is all the roi that you get by speaking with us and anchoring in that every time you have that conversation so again. But they don’t see it as kind of just a waste. And you can kind of continue that conversation.
123 00:17:05.319 ⇒ 00:17:06.249 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, cool.
124 00:17:07.214 ⇒ 00:17:09.879 Uttam Kumaran: Jared. Ufc, you have a question.
125 00:17:12.540 ⇒ 00:17:16.190 JARED PATTERSON: Yeah, I was gonna ask. And I I don’t even know I haven’t spoken to
126 00:17:16.960 ⇒ 00:17:18.551 JARED PATTERSON: you about this. But
127 00:17:19.369 ⇒ 00:17:32.085 JARED PATTERSON: I’m assuming I just did a quick Linkedin look on your profile, and I know you have like the premium are you using like Linkedin sales navigator a lot or so? I’ve used that in the past, and it’s really helpful, and I don’t even know if you’ve used that
128 00:17:32.340 ⇒ 00:17:44.769 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, yeah, I use that tool extensively. I think it’s 1 of the best sales tools out there. Lot of companies, you know, they use salesforce, or just like a Crm as a general repository for contacts.
129 00:17:44.810 ⇒ 00:18:09.650 Keyan Yassini: I am almost completely against that. I think a lot of the times that, like the contacts that you get in there. They’re stale. They might not be at the company anymore. So I really leverage Linkedin as the single source of truth like if I wanna reach out to a company. My 1st step is always to look at Linkedin. You don’t have to have sales, navigator. It makes it a lot easier definitely to kind of filter and look through some of the accounts. Also.
130 00:18:09.650 ⇒ 00:18:32.420 Keyan Yassini: it allows you to really filter it based off titles. That you’re kind of looking at and then they also give you kind of good information on sales navigator, like news of what’s going on with the company, and just sort of little tidbits that you can do. That they have that you can kind of use that to front end the show. Me. You know me information. But to answer your question. Yeah, sales navigator
131 00:18:32.640 ⇒ 00:18:36.809 Keyan Yassini: Linkedin, as a whole, that’s like that’s a bread and butter as a salesperson.
132 00:18:37.290 ⇒ 00:18:43.960 JARED PATTERSON: Yeah, cause, I also think it’s helpful like, especially if you’re like emailing someone, because I’ve used it in the past for an internship. And
133 00:18:44.210 ⇒ 00:18:54.700 JARED PATTERSON: just like the emailing. And then being able to see your profile and kind of see your background without having to do that like search after kind of you hit them with a cold call or an email.
134 00:18:54.700 ⇒ 00:18:55.520 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, is it?
135 00:18:55.840 ⇒ 00:19:00.060 JARED PATTERSON: A lot easier to deal with. I find, like if if people know the face on the other end of the
136 00:19:00.090 ⇒ 00:19:01.879 JARED PATTERSON: of the message, or whatever it is.
137 00:19:01.880 ⇒ 00:19:14.439 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You wanna put a face to the name. Kind of the way I do it is. If I have an account that I really wanna reach out to look through Linkedin, find about 10 or 15 contacts
138 00:19:14.440 ⇒ 00:19:39.030 Keyan Yassini: from there, send out connection requests to all 10 or 15 people. Then I send them an email like a cold email with, you know, some relevant information, or just like a quick hey? I’m so and so person would. I think it’d make sense for us to connect, based on, you know. XY, and Z. Do you have 15 min either later this week or next week for us to connect.
139 00:19:39.210 ⇒ 00:20:08.890 Keyan Yassini: Then I give them a phone call right after I send that email. And the the talk track is, basically, hey? Just send if they don’t pick up the talk track is, hey? Like, leave up a voicemail and say, Hey, I just sent you a Linkedin connection request was hoping to connect with you here today. See if we could set some times for introductions. Please give me a call back or feel free to respond to the email I had just sent you. So you’re not only directing them to the email so that they can kind of view that see
140 00:20:08.890 ⇒ 00:20:14.130 Keyan Yassini: what the heck you’re even talking about in the 1st place. But also they can see your face on Linkedin. You’re not above.
141 00:20:14.130 ⇒ 00:20:14.920 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
142 00:20:14.920 ⇒ 00:20:17.930 Keyan Yassini: Like, regular sort of schmock. Yeah.
143 00:20:19.860 ⇒ 00:20:21.019 Uttam Kumaran: Oh, that’s great! And then.
144 00:20:21.020 ⇒ 00:20:21.730 Nicolas Sucari: Coat.
145 00:20:21.730 ⇒ 00:20:22.310 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah. Go ahead. Nick.
146 00:20:22.310 ⇒ 00:20:45.980 Nicolas Sucari: Sorry. Yeah, no, I was gonna ask, like, how do you track like? Or that steps like Linkedin gives you kind of this tool to to track all of what you’re doing, or let’s say you send like 10 requests you receive like 5 confirmations and 5 rejections. And how do you know like when to push again? Or do you keep track on your own on a different tool? About all of these.
147 00:20:46.300 ⇒ 00:21:05.190 Keyan Yassini: Yeah. So there are tools out there that you can use outreach being one of them. That’s the main one that I use. They have automated sequences that have steps for you to send out a connection request they have another follow up step for Linkedin at what does it call the the mail the inmail request.
148 00:21:06.120 ⇒ 00:21:31.019 Keyan Yassini: Oh, yeah. So they have all those things as well. But you don’t need that. I, where you guys are at, I would say, just leverage a Google drive like spreadsheet come up with a couple of different, you know. Columns either, like the prospects name their title company phone number, email, a notes, maybe what partners they’re working with, currently, you know, information that you can surface very easily.
149 00:21:31.020 ⇒ 00:21:46.729 Keyan Yassini: Then I just kind of use that as my guide, and use that as like. Okay, this person connected with me, you know. I’ll put them as a green on my spreadsheet. So I know that they’re engaged. I can continue to contact them so on and so forth. However, you want to do that.
150 00:21:48.010 ⇒ 00:21:49.530 Nicolas Sucari: Yeah, okay, perfect.
151 00:21:49.900 ⇒ 00:21:53.299 Nicolas Sucari: I was wondering if you were using kind of a nice
152 00:21:53.400 ⇒ 00:21:55.540 Nicolas Sucari: tool. But yeah, that’s fine. We can do it.
153 00:21:55.540 ⇒ 00:21:55.990 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, I mean.
154 00:21:55.990 ⇒ 00:22:03.690 Uttam Kumaran: Maybe we could do something like that in pipe like we we have. I have pipe drive, or I could do something in Apollo, and maybe just do everything in Apollo.
155 00:22:03.700 ⇒ 00:22:05.330 Uttam Kumaran: Yes, blanks, I think.
156 00:22:05.330 ⇒ 00:22:16.389 Keyan Yassini: I think at this point, yeah, you probably could like it seem I haven’t used it too much. But from what I’ve seen so far like you can use it for a lot of different things, and that actually might be one of them, for sure.
157 00:22:16.620 ⇒ 00:22:26.519 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I think the overall problem is is like, I pro I probably on a good day, have, like 4 h for everything sales which which is like.
158 00:22:26.600 ⇒ 00:22:30.110 Uttam Kumaran: which is like everything. It’s not only just like
159 00:22:30.270 ⇒ 00:22:53.349 Uttam Kumaran: calling. And then basically like just calling for 4 h straight. It’s like, so the things that it really matters for me is one. Make sure we’re organized on like who we’re calling. And then, second, the biggest thing is going to be like follow ups and reminders. So if a tool like Apollo, you’re basically just like leaning in on that for basically tracking, that’s the thing is going to be the toughest part, because we don’t have.
160 00:22:53.500 ⇒ 00:22:57.909 Uttam Kumaran: you know, 8 HA day for weeks. It’ll be like, Okay, cool. I can dedicate like
161 00:22:57.990 ⇒ 00:22:59.320 Uttam Kumaran: here and there.
162 00:22:59.330 ⇒ 00:23:01.774 Uttam Kumaran: But then I want everything kind of organized.
163 00:23:02.080 ⇒ 00:23:02.650 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
164 00:23:02.650 ⇒ 00:23:11.840 Uttam Kumaran: But I I think what you mentioned about like attacking a company and doing it that way was like really helpful. Because I think we’re gonna have like a sector focus. And then also
165 00:23:11.880 ⇒ 00:23:14.500 Uttam Kumaran: using that focus will basically narrow in on like.
166 00:23:14.510 ⇒ 00:23:18.409 Uttam Kumaran: here’s like a hundred companies we’re gonna go after. And then just like
167 00:23:18.530 ⇒ 00:23:20.700 Uttam Kumaran: one by one, by one, by one by one.
168 00:23:20.750 ⇒ 00:23:23.120 Uttam Kumaran: I think the biggest thing is like
169 00:23:23.430 ⇒ 00:23:25.470 Uttam Kumaran: understood. I just, I
170 00:23:25.570 ⇒ 00:23:32.130 Uttam Kumaran: expect, like, if we get a bunch of responses, then just becomes like chaos of like follow ups and stuff like that. So that’s what I want to avoid.
171 00:23:32.510 ⇒ 00:23:32.930 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
172 00:23:32.930 ⇒ 00:23:33.760 Uttam Kumaran: Service, about.
173 00:23:33.920 ⇒ 00:23:55.740 Keyan Yassini: Yeah. And I think just the leaning on the spreadsheet or Apollo is kind of would be the best thing to do in those situations for me with the way I look at things. It’s like, Yeah, I have a hundred accounts. But do I really want to send out messaging to all 100 accounts like, maybe I do, because I want to get it, you know. Generate some pipeline, but more likely than not the best way to kind of approach. That is
174 00:23:55.740 ⇒ 00:24:08.210 Keyan Yassini: alright. I’m gonna I have a hundred accounts. I’m gonna pick out 5 this week, and from those 5 I’m gonna probably be able to surface at least 10 to 15 contacts from each of those accounts.
175 00:24:08.210 ⇒ 00:24:18.809 Keyan Yassini: Then, you know, you got a good number of people to be reaching out to you got a good number of call steps that you’ve got email steps that you can kind of continue out through the week. And eventually what will happen is
176 00:24:18.810 ⇒ 00:24:42.669 Keyan Yassini: you’ll be able to. You’ll send out messaging to. Maybe, you know, like those 15 people, one of those guys in the 1st day or 2 will pick up and say, actually, Hey, we don’t really need a need for this, or they give you some objective objection or real reasoning for being like, hey, this is actually not a good thing for us right now and then you can just kind of disqualify that account, and then, you know, add another one and kind of move on, but
177 00:24:43.050 ⇒ 00:25:07.260 Keyan Yassini: keeping it sort of bite size sort of outreach, so that a you’re not losing track of who you’re reaching out to B, you’re not just spamming a bunch of people. And then your your email domain kind of goes into that like sort of spam section, and then 3, just making sure that you’re doing that. Show me you know me. You’re reaching out to them for a purpose, and not just because I, hey? I want to take a meeting. It’s
178 00:25:07.440 ⇒ 00:25:19.560 Keyan Yassini: I want a meeting. But let me show you why it’s worth your time, and you can’t do that. If you’re doing 100, you gotta really do that with like very much more granular, like 5 to 10 accounts at Max.
179 00:25:22.243 ⇒ 00:25:22.830 Uttam Kumaran: Thank Chris!
180 00:25:23.030 ⇒ 00:25:23.760 Nicolas Sucari: Perfect.
181 00:25:24.210 ⇒ 00:25:31.489 Nicolas Sucari: I have one more question. When you do your research. On which? Yeah, which person are you gonna like
182 00:25:31.900 ⇒ 00:25:35.459 Nicolas Sucari: attack on on sending everything like, do you?
183 00:25:35.930 ⇒ 00:25:51.559 Nicolas Sucari: i i i think. Yes. But do you like search for a specific role of that person in in the company like, do you go directly for people on product, for example, or something like that, and not directly to the CEO, but like a Vp or something like that.
184 00:25:52.030 ⇒ 00:25:54.910 Keyan Yassini: Yeah. So what I tend to do is
185 00:25:55.000 ⇒ 00:26:18.699 Keyan Yassini: for me where I’m at and so far, like in just generally in my experience, the people that are more likely to engage with you are going to be the director. Level contacts. Sometimes Vps are open and willing to have that conversation. Those C-level guys. They’re not really going to be interested in having a conversation until you prove it out with their directors, with their Vp. They’ll when the time is right, right, they’ll bring it up to them.
186 00:26:19.003 ⇒ 00:26:43.000 Keyan Yassini: But then managers are always great as well. They’re a little bit lower. They don’t have authority, but you do get a good understanding of what challenges they’re facing on a day to day what you can. Then, if you speak with the manager, you can then build a business case internally to present to their leadership and say, Hey, we spoke to so and so they said, You’re dealing with XY, and Z problem right? And then
187 00:26:43.000 ⇒ 00:27:11.050 Keyan Yassini: I think it’s worth us having a conversation around that as well as like, oh, you spoke to this person like, Sure, yeah, like, let’s have that sort of conversation. So there are the thing about sales, and I love it. I also hate it. There’s no silver bullet, right? You just gotta play around. Sometimes you call an analyst, and that guy is the guy who brings it all the way up the chain somehow and gets you in the door. Sometimes it’s the manager, sometimes it’s director, sometimes it’s the Vp, it always it’s evolving. It’s constantly changing.
188 00:27:12.410 ⇒ 00:27:21.830 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I think that’s like what we we’ve noticed, too. And that’s the problem we’re having is sometimes the person that’s we’re going to be inter like our stakeholder, and data is not often the person that makes the buying decision.
189 00:27:21.830 ⇒ 00:27:22.230 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
190 00:27:22.230 ⇒ 00:27:38.249 Uttam Kumaran: And so like, how do you handle that? Like our, our kind of focus is like, go as high as possible, because if we can get the CEO or the Vps like buy in on this, then actually makes the implementation stuff like, Go way smoother. You sell to the bottom. Then, like
191 00:27:38.470 ⇒ 00:27:45.429 Uttam Kumaran: everything becomes like suspect all the time. And so that’s what we’ve been focused on. But the some at the same time, like
192 00:27:45.580 ⇒ 00:28:00.679 Uttam Kumaran: we, if the if we’re going. And you know, if we’re going to enterprise something you get stuck at like it. And they’re like, What is this, you know? And then it’s like, well, some business guy really wants this. But then there’s someone here who’s actually like needs to write the check that like needs a whole. Another pitch.
193 00:28:00.700 ⇒ 00:28:06.040 Uttam Kumaran: So in that motion is that like, just you just sell another person, basically, or do you have stuff prepared
194 00:28:06.110 ⇒ 00:28:07.420 Uttam Kumaran: for those guys.
195 00:28:07.420 ⇒ 00:28:32.340 Keyan Yassini: For what I for those situations, typically what I do is I put the responsibility or authority back onto them. So I say, like, say, the the person you’re speaking to isn’t the one qualified to actually make those decisions? Then the the question you should be asking on those calls is like. All right. Well, then, who would be the person signing that? And would you be open to making those introductions with
196 00:28:32.340 ⇒ 00:28:56.969 Keyan Yassini: that person? And if the answer is no. Then, most likely either, there are 2 things are possible. A. The deal is not as real as you probably thought it was, or B. There’s gonna be a lot more obstacles than you probably initially thought when you when you took this meeting. But then that’s kind of where it gets into. Okay, I spoke to this person. I understand the challenges they’re facing. I kind of get an understanding of their organization.
197 00:28:56.990 ⇒ 00:29:22.580 Keyan Yassini: They’re not willing to make that introduction. If they are, then great, you have a champion. It’s like that’s goal. That’s what you would want, right. But if they’re not exactly willing to make introductions with more people and kind of have that, you know, multi-threading approach going on. Then it’s on you to basically bring your findings to their upper management and say, Hey, I spoke to this person. This is what they told me. I think it makes sense for us to connect.
198 00:29:22.580 ⇒ 00:29:35.940 Keyan Yassini: It’s not always that you’re not always gonna get, you know, a meeting from that. It’s not always gonna go anywhere. But likely if you’re speaking to someone, and they’re not willing to make those introductions to other people. It’s most likely not a real deal, anyways.
199 00:29:36.160 ⇒ 00:29:37.659 Keyan Yassini: from my experience, at least.
200 00:29:37.660 ⇒ 00:29:38.250 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
201 00:29:38.440 ⇒ 00:29:39.250 Uttam Kumaran: okay?
202 00:29:39.770 ⇒ 00:29:49.190 Uttam Kumaran: And then do you work with other like service partners, like other consultancies that are work day and like, what is, how does that work. So give you example.
203 00:29:49.250 ⇒ 00:30:01.480 Uttam Kumaran: We implement like a bunch of different tools. And some of them are smaller. Some of them are bigger. And I have relationships with, like all of them in some capacity or another. The difficulty I’ve I’ve had is like how to best
204 00:30:01.620 ⇒ 00:30:19.529 Uttam Kumaran: like, get their attention and get them to open their book up so we can like do something but like interested cause. Now you’re you’re you’re at like the the big voice side of that equation like, how do you work with other service partners? And then also, how do you work with other like vendors that may be adjacent or like complimentary.
205 00:30:19.910 ⇒ 00:30:30.420 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, it’s tricky, right? Cause it’s I mean, especially where your guys are at. It’s like, kind of hard for you guys to really break into the partner network to like a bigger extent.
206 00:30:30.500 ⇒ 00:30:55.119 Keyan Yassini: So for for you guys, I would say, the main thing is bringing them business to right. It’s like, I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine right, I’ll bring you guys. Deals that we know are in pipeline, we know are real and like we’ll loop you into these conversations if we can. And hope that you know they would kind of do the same. Another way you can go about it is just that. Well, I’m sure you have ton of
207 00:30:55.120 ⇒ 00:31:09.750 Keyan Yassini: connections like you just said it, Tom, but like reaching out to those people and just explaining the value of what you’re working on, and how you can make their prospects life a lot easier, and W. Ways that you differentiate from other partners and such
208 00:31:09.750 ⇒ 00:31:13.710 Keyan Yassini: then like th. Those would be kind of like the 2 key ways to go about it. But
209 00:31:13.710 ⇒ 00:31:30.450 Keyan Yassini: a lot of the times these partners are so ingrained with the people that they’re working with, that it’s so hard to even like expand their head to to look at literally anything else. But I, from my experience. If you scratch their back, they’re 100 willing to scratch yours. That’s kind of the way I I’ve seen it so far.
210 00:31:31.410 ⇒ 00:31:41.150 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, that’s what we found, too. And the other thing is that we’re doing is like, we’re basically creating like service pages for all the major vendors, and like, how we do with stuff with them. And then.
211 00:31:41.190 ⇒ 00:32:07.250 Uttam Kumaran: yeah, for some of them who are smaller startups, they’re like more willing to be like, we’re only looking for new logo. So and if you guys can come in and they’re asking them for like service help. And these guys are like we don’t do. We don’t have a services arm, and I’m like you should toss that to us right? But it’s like getting that into motion and making sure that if they are to loop us in, then, like everything, looks like hunky dory on our side. Right? So okay, makes sense.
212 00:32:07.650 ⇒ 00:32:16.084 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, it’s tricky. The partner side. It definitely gets into a lot more of a tricky game like finding prospects to call and get them to have meetings. That’s easy, that’s cake, but.
213 00:32:16.340 ⇒ 00:32:17.400 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
214 00:32:17.400 ⇒ 00:32:23.159 Keyan Yassini: Developing and expanding those relationships on the other side is is definitely, very, very, very challenging.
215 00:32:24.270 ⇒ 00:32:29.080 Uttam Kumaran: And then like, how quickly do you talk like pricing
216 00:32:29.250 ⇒ 00:32:30.859 Uttam Kumaran: and like.
217 00:32:31.110 ⇒ 00:32:32.332 Uttam Kumaran: like, I guess,
218 00:32:33.800 ⇒ 00:32:50.319 Uttam Kumaran: the sometimes I’ve had the problem where like this has been the worst, like people just string me along to like 5, 6 meetings because they like want. They don’t want. They want to see a proposal. They never comment on the price. And finally, they’re like, either they’ve they’ve like gone to upwork and like, compare us to upwork.
219 00:32:50.630 ⇒ 00:32:57.789 Uttam Kumaran: which is like makes you want to throw up. And then or they’re just like they just like, don’t they? Just like, don’t like the price. And I’m like dude.
220 00:32:57.820 ⇒ 00:33:03.269 Uttam Kumaran: I don’t think you have any idea what you’re talking about, because we’re cheap in terms of
221 00:33:03.310 ⇒ 00:33:05.470 Uttam Kumaran: data consultancy. So like, how do you
222 00:33:05.960 ⇒ 00:33:07.167 Uttam Kumaran: think about that?
223 00:33:07.570 ⇒ 00:33:08.230 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
224 00:33:08.230 ⇒ 00:33:09.460 Uttam Kumaran: And yeah.
225 00:33:09.770 ⇒ 00:33:35.139 Keyan Yassini: So I would say 1st off like th. The issue with budget is kind of always challenging, for like anyone who’s selling anything right like the when it comes down to the money they’re they’re always willing to have a conversation with you, but when it comes down to the money they’re like well, I don’t really, wanna, you know, spend that much. So I think the key thing for you right now is in those 1st one to 2 meetings like, when you guys are doing the initial discovery and introductions
226 00:33:35.140 ⇒ 00:33:59.369 Keyan Yassini: basically just front end those questions of like, Hey, so what does your budget look like, what’s your general idea of how much you’re willing to spend? And then kind of if they’re giving you an answer that’s like super low ball. Then you wanna be like, okay, well, I just wanna, you know, realign. Your expectations like this is typically, obviously you don’t wanna say the exact number. You give them a low end. You give them a high end. And you say this is kind of the range that we’re at.
227 00:33:59.654 ⇒ 00:34:21.859 Keyan Yassini: So you know, if you don’t think that you can spend that money. If you guys don’t have the budget. Then, like, yeah, it doesn’t make sense to continue this conversation, because it’s a waste of time on kind of both ends. But on on the other side of you know, you kind of have this conversation with them. You give them a proposal, and then they kind of go cold. That’s when you really have to
228 00:34:21.860 ⇒ 00:34:31.440 Keyan Yassini: have a meeting with them. What like before you even give them pricing, and really, hone in on the Roi, and the value that they’re getting from your service.
229 00:34:31.560 ⇒ 00:35:01.409 Keyan Yassini: If you can anchor it into their service, you can anchor it an roi. They see the numbers of like, okay, we’re spending a lot here to get this going. But on you know, this side, we’re gonna save a lot of money. Our customers are going to be happy, or whatever that kind of looks like. If you’re able to. You know, anchor it in that Roi. They shouldn’t be too upset, or they wouldn’t, you know. Be ghost you when you’re having those conversations. Then, hopefully, the idea is alright. We’re anchoring in an roi.
230 00:35:01.580 ⇒ 00:35:15.490 Keyan Yassini: I’m not the the, and I’m talking it from a prospects mentality like, yeah, I’m not really happy with the pricing. The Roi is great. Let me counter and like. Then you can kind of work on the redlining and kind of going back and forth in the negotiation part.
231 00:35:16.760 ⇒ 00:35:17.870 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, okay, cool.
232 00:35:17.910 ⇒ 00:35:20.837 Uttam Kumaran: And then, like, last question on the pricing side is,
233 00:35:23.810 ⇒ 00:35:32.220 Uttam Kumaran: I guess it’s like for work day itself. Like, how do you guys make? How do you guys just do you guys just throw any sort of roi like, how do you do Roi for software? You just like
234 00:35:32.410 ⇒ 00:35:33.570 Uttam Kumaran: making it up.
235 00:35:33.800 ⇒ 00:35:51.611 Keyan Yassini: For me. It’s it’s unique in that I’m working in the I don’t sell workday. Hr, software. I sell work day workdays, adaptive planning software, which is like a standalone software within the workday umbrella that’s mainly for financial planning
236 00:35:52.460 ⇒ 00:35:52.800 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah.
237 00:35:52.800 ⇒ 00:35:54.340 Keyan Yassini: Training operational, so.
238 00:35:54.340 ⇒ 00:35:55.470 Uttam Kumaran: Like Anna plan.
239 00:35:55.710 ⇒ 00:36:07.049 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, like, Anna plan. Exactly. So we’re able to really anchor our Roi. And like, all right, you guys are spending like hours time in excel. This is how we can, you know, justify, you know, this price.
240 00:36:07.340 ⇒ 00:36:12.430 Uttam Kumaran: So we would say, too, that’s exactly what we would try to say, too, is like, either you’re spending all this time in excel.
241 00:36:12.470 ⇒ 00:36:18.010 Uttam Kumaran: or it’s like you’re missing out on all of this revenue because you can’t segment your customers
242 00:36:18.510 ⇒ 00:36:19.740 Uttam Kumaran: stuff like that. Okay.
243 00:36:19.740 ⇒ 00:36:21.510 Keyan Yassini: Exactly. Yeah.
244 00:36:22.400 ⇒ 00:36:40.094 Keyan Yassini: I I mean, time is like the biggest thing for prospects. I think if you’re able to make their life easier by even just a couple of hours, either a day or a week. They’re so much more willing to have that conversation with you. They’re way more willing to spend the money, because no one wants to do extra Bs work.
245 00:36:40.380 ⇒ 00:36:43.800 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah. Okay, okay, cool.
246 00:36:44.660 ⇒ 00:36:53.300 Uttam Kumaran: Alright. I saw probably all the questions like I had. I mean, I think we basically cover like a whole bunch of tools, and I know we’re a little bit over. I guess Jared or Nico, if you guys have any questions.
247 00:36:55.250 ⇒ 00:37:00.350 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, I mean, I’ve got time. I’m still I I got an open book for the rest of the day. So whatever questions you got.
248 00:37:00.930 ⇒ 00:37:02.212 Keyan Yassini: yeah, I do.
249 00:37:04.490 ⇒ 00:37:07.510 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I’m I’m I think, on our side, like we’re
250 00:37:07.810 ⇒ 00:37:14.870 Uttam Kumaran: that kind of the process. And I’ve been working through it this weekend last week and kind of thinking through it all is basically, we’re gonna start to like warm up Linkedin, a bit more.
251 00:37:15.080 ⇒ 00:37:20.360 Uttam Kumaran: Do like a bigger push. We’re getting all of our like case studies and services and materials kind of ready.
252 00:37:20.550 ⇒ 00:37:28.620 Uttam Kumaran: and then gonna start to like warm up Linkedin. And then basically, that will lead to some work and we’ll we’ll kind of hook into Apollo. Basically.
253 00:37:28.630 ⇒ 00:37:46.250 Uttam Kumaran: the idea is that, like my Kpi is just getting meeting book initially, I’m not worried. I’m not worried too much about like the qualification just off everything actually like. Well, it’s helpful to know it. But the 1st thing is like top of top. Most of funnel, like nail.
254 00:37:46.830 ⇒ 00:37:47.190 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
255 00:37:47.190 ⇒ 00:37:53.590 Uttam Kumaran: You know, and a lot of our audience is going to be on Linkedin and some of the audience, though we’re dealing with like really like boomer type companies.
256 00:37:54.134 ⇒ 00:37:58.799 Uttam Kumaran: Where like, I’ll have to go to like conferences or like kind of scheme my way in
257 00:37:59.387 ⇒ 00:38:05.929 Uttam Kumaran: but all those people, when they interact with their online presence. I want them to be like, okay, these guys are legit, like, let’s go have a conversation.
258 00:38:07.550 ⇒ 00:38:10.870 Uttam Kumaran: so that’s like, kind of like our plan for the next like few weeks, basically.
259 00:38:11.410 ⇒ 00:38:40.839 Keyan Yassini: Definitely. I think that’s great. I think you got you gotta lock down. I would say Linkedin is going to be the easiest for you guys for those conversations that are in Utam’s network like that’s going to be cake. If they see you’re already connected with Tom, and you’re reaching out, they’ll see that on Linkedin that you’re connected with them, you have that mutual connection. They’re going to be way more willing to have that conversation for some of those cold, outbound motions that you guys want to do. That’s like cold calling is the bread and butter
260 00:38:40.840 ⇒ 00:39:08.839 Keyan Yassini: that they can view like an email, or like, I was saying, Linkedin message. But cold calling is the way to go for that. And there are definitely several different, you know, tools that you guys can use either. Zoom info. Then you have to pay for that. But lead IQ. They have a free version. There’s a trial it can show all their business emails, shows their direct line, their mobile line, use all that to basically just reach out to them and kind of hammer them to get a meeting.
261 00:39:09.300 ⇒ 00:39:09.930 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
262 00:39:10.040 ⇒ 00:39:11.300 Uttam Kumaran: Okay. Cool.
263 00:39:11.300 ⇒ 00:39:12.040 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
264 00:39:13.920 ⇒ 00:39:15.553 Uttam Kumaran: Dude. It’s tough world dude.
265 00:39:15.880 ⇒ 00:39:40.809 Keyan Yassini: It is. It’s been hard, you know, this past like 8 months. It’s been brutal, for, like every sales organization like, I was super lucky when I joined Work day they weren’t really feeling the heat of the economy, and, like all of what’s good kind of going on. But even here, like within the past, like month or 2. Like all the senior leadership, they’re kind of tweaking out. They’re like dude people, aren’t people aren’t where they’re at. They should be for their numbers. And you know there’s all these like
266 00:39:41.000 ⇒ 00:39:51.609 Keyan Yassini: different pivots now that they’re making of like oh, like this is a lot more of a serious situation. But you know one thing that I see from sales reps across the board.
267 00:39:51.913 ⇒ 00:40:16.530 Keyan Yassini: The people who are cold calling people who are actually spending the time to do the research are the people that are successful. You’re out there just sending out emails to whoever and just being like, Hey, like, let’s meet with no real show. Me? You know me or no real value, you’re not gonna do well. So really, focusing on that value really focusing and on that show you know me, and then just don’t be afraid to get
268 00:40:16.530 ⇒ 00:40:46.340 Keyan Yassini: give these people a call, and when you’re on the call, make sure you’re not, you know, making yourself seem less than, or you know, beneath them, like you’re a professional. You’re calling them like it’s kind of nerve wracking when you call like Vps and directors. You’re like, what the heck am I even doing right now? But making sure that’s like, yeah, like, you know, I’m providing them like a legit service. What we do like works and is good. You know, it’s like having that confidence on the phone is gonna be super helpful moving forward.
269 00:40:48.240 ⇒ 00:40:53.600 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I mean, that’s what I needed to hear. I’m I’m amped up right now. But yeah, I need to call like 10 people after this.
270 00:40:53.600 ⇒ 00:40:54.440 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
271 00:40:55.280 ⇒ 00:41:01.489 Uttam Kumaran: I guess, Jared, you you you did some sales stuff like last year, like, how did were you cold calling people? Or was it all like emails or.
272 00:41:01.490 ⇒ 00:41:08.489 JARED PATTERSON: Yeah, yeah, it was a little bit different. Just because, like the nature. So the way that the company I was working for
273 00:41:08.520 ⇒ 00:41:09.920 JARED PATTERSON: our clients
274 00:41:10.080 ⇒ 00:41:16.222 JARED PATTERSON: would be people that want to speak to out experts. So then we would, based on whatever the project they were working on.
275 00:41:16.490 ⇒ 00:41:17.420 Uttam Kumaran: Glg.
276 00:41:17.590 ⇒ 00:41:22.259 JARED PATTERSON: Yeah, similar. Exactly that. So like the people I was reaching out to.
277 00:41:22.440 ⇒ 00:41:26.240 JARED PATTERSON: I would be paying them to have a conversation so like
278 00:41:26.720 ⇒ 00:41:28.080 JARED PATTERSON: as opposed to them.
279 00:41:28.310 ⇒ 00:41:30.310 JARED PATTERSON: buying something from me.
280 00:41:30.370 ⇒ 00:41:33.310 JARED PATTERSON: Yeah. Lot easier in that aspect, but
281 00:41:33.610 ⇒ 00:41:36.200 JARED PATTERSON: in saying that it’s the same kind of scenario where, like.
282 00:41:36.740 ⇒ 00:41:46.300 JARED PATTERSON: I always found it better to email someone 1st before hopping on the phone, because especially if they’ve dealt with like Glg or alpha sites before.
283 00:41:46.300 ⇒ 00:41:46.970 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
284 00:41:47.300 ⇒ 00:41:47.900 JARED PATTERSON: Like.
285 00:41:48.180 ⇒ 00:41:50.830 JARED PATTERSON: Sometimes they just don’t want to talk to someone random on the phone.
286 00:41:51.140 ⇒ 00:41:55.164 JARED PATTERSON: So having like a warmer call is a little bit easier but
287 00:41:55.630 ⇒ 00:41:58.109 JARED PATTERSON: and saying that you definitely want to be
288 00:41:59.100 ⇒ 00:42:05.399 JARED PATTERSON: like confident when you get on the phone like, establish that report immediately if you can, and then.
289 00:42:05.440 ⇒ 00:42:08.549 JARED PATTERSON: just like, have a nice conversation where they can kind of like.
290 00:42:08.650 ⇒ 00:42:11.319 JARED PATTERSON: So you’re not just a salesman. You’re actually trying to help them.
291 00:42:11.580 ⇒ 00:42:11.990 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
292 00:42:12.273 ⇒ 00:42:14.260 JARED PATTERSON: We did something where it was like.
293 00:42:14.320 ⇒ 00:42:22.349 JARED PATTERSON: you know your initial email. And then you, if they didn’t answer that email, you tap them again the next day. I kind of found it a little bit bizarre cause like
294 00:42:22.950 ⇒ 00:42:27.050 JARED PATTERSON: after the second email. If they’re not answering, chances are they don’t want to talk to me.
295 00:42:27.260 ⇒ 00:42:28.900 JARED PATTERSON: but they were pretty like
296 00:42:29.190 ⇒ 00:42:33.999 JARED PATTERSON: Alpha. Such is pretty keen on the 4 tabs, and then kind of leave it. But
297 00:42:34.230 ⇒ 00:42:37.550 JARED PATTERSON: yeah, it’s kind of fun talking to people on the phone, too. Sometimes.
298 00:42:38.172 ⇒ 00:42:39.417 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, definitely.
299 00:42:40.050 ⇒ 00:42:42.470 JARED PATTERSON: Really interesting people, and
300 00:42:42.570 ⇒ 00:42:43.800 JARED PATTERSON: you definitely
301 00:42:43.810 ⇒ 00:42:48.919 JARED PATTERSON: become better, just interacting in general, like the the soft skill of communications like.
302 00:42:49.410 ⇒ 00:42:52.120 JARED PATTERSON: I’d say, very undervalued these days.
303 00:42:53.320 ⇒ 00:43:09.329 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, it’s it’s funny. There’s been a lot of times where I’ll like, be on a call. And I’m just having like a really good conversation like I got the meeting. And then they’re just opening up about their whole life story of like, yeah, like, I got this going on this weekend. I’m taking my daughter to to band practice later on. I’m like.
304 00:43:09.490 ⇒ 00:43:31.280 Keyan Yassini: cool good for you like that’s that’s great. But one thing, actually, you kind of just reminded me of. And, Tom, I think this would be really helpful for you. You guys should focus on accounts that are in Texas. And you guys should do a campaign where I don’t know if this is like too much for you, Tom, but like try to schedule some time in person like, I think a lot.
305 00:43:31.280 ⇒ 00:43:38.440 Uttam Kumaran: No? Oh, I would 100 do it. And I like, yeah, I would 100 drive all day to go meet people.
306 00:43:38.580 ⇒ 00:43:39.500 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
307 00:43:39.580 ⇒ 00:44:04.220 Keyan Yassini: And I think there’s like a big push right now in sas where it’s like face in the places, I think what they’re calling it like, if you guys can like surface contacts in Austin, or even like Dallas, which I know there’s like a ton of, you know, accounts out there. You guys can get some meetings be like, Hey, you know. Obviously, it’s the same sort of approach, right? It’s like, here’s the value and reason why we want to meet like my my colleague
308 00:44:04.220 ⇒ 00:44:21.199 Keyan Yassini: is like located in the area. Would you be open to just getting like a quick lunch or a quick coffee, or, you know, drinks after work like whatever the the kind of ask would be. But people recently have been a lot more open to that sort of conversation than ones just over zoom.
309 00:44:21.710 ⇒ 00:44:22.429 Uttam Kumaran: So, okay.
310 00:44:23.410 ⇒ 00:44:24.139 JARED PATTERSON: Yeah, out.
311 00:44:24.140 ⇒ 00:44:26.340 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, we’ll push for that. Yeah.
312 00:44:26.340 ⇒ 00:44:29.830 JARED PATTERSON: They? One thing I was doing last summer was
313 00:44:30.210 ⇒ 00:44:35.390 JARED PATTERSON: like I would look at whoever I was gonna be calling. I’d look at their Linkedin.
314 00:44:35.550 ⇒ 00:44:37.680 JARED PATTERSON: and if there’s anything that I could like.
315 00:44:38.020 ⇒ 00:44:40.670 JARED PATTERSON: establish some sort of like connection with them.
316 00:44:40.670 ⇒ 00:44:41.230 Uttam Kumaran: Action.
317 00:44:41.230 ⇒ 00:44:43.810 JARED PATTERSON: I don’t, and like
318 00:44:44.530 ⇒ 00:44:51.549 JARED PATTERSON: granted. The school I went to is pretty small, but if there was ever someone that went to school in the upstate New York area. I was hammering that point.
319 00:44:51.740 ⇒ 00:44:52.064 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
320 00:44:52.390 ⇒ 00:44:53.639 JARED PATTERSON: So much more
321 00:44:53.780 ⇒ 00:44:57.540 JARED PATTERSON: like interested in what I had to say, and giving me the time of day.
322 00:44:57.840 ⇒ 00:45:16.380 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, definitely. That’s that’s definitely what I like to do on cold calls as well. I always open it with like, Hey, this is Keon. You see me calling from work day like, How’s your day going? And sometimes they’re kind of just like, you know. Get away from me like what the hell who even are you? Other times are like? Because, you know a lot of people.
323 00:45:16.380 ⇒ 00:45:17.199 Uttam Kumaran: Nobody asked them.
324 00:45:17.200 ⇒ 00:45:17.840 Keyan Yassini: Both.
325 00:45:18.090 ⇒ 00:45:18.770 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
326 00:45:19.450 ⇒ 00:45:24.400 Uttam Kumaran: Well, nobody asked them. And yeah, people are nice out here. Do they like actually down to have a conversation.
327 00:45:24.400 ⇒ 00:45:25.814 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, the people from the Midwest.
328 00:45:26.050 ⇒ 00:45:38.800 Uttam Kumaran: Can I give? Sorry can I give you an can I give you an example like if I, if I go in and sit there, and where I buy coffee. If I was to ask, Hey, how’s your day going? I could have an hour long conversation with any of the employees in there.
329 00:45:39.000 ⇒ 00:45:39.440 Keyan Yassini: Right.
330 00:45:39.440 ⇒ 00:45:41.330 Uttam Kumaran: They wouldn’t, they would stop working.
331 00:45:41.500 ⇒ 00:45:42.030 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, Tom.
332 00:45:43.970 ⇒ 00:45:52.031 Uttam Kumaran: the problem is like, I have to get to work. And so I’m like, always like, I’m like, yeah, my days. Alright, just like, let’s let’s go.
333 00:45:52.330 ⇒ 00:45:52.780 Keyan Yassini: But yeah.
334 00:45:52.780 ⇒ 00:45:55.890 Uttam Kumaran: That’s the New York I’m like, yeah, my day is totally normal, like.
335 00:45:56.250 ⇒ 00:45:56.789 Keyan Yassini: I saw it.
336 00:45:56.790 ⇒ 00:45:57.470 Uttam Kumaran: Time.
337 00:45:58.150 ⇒ 00:46:23.000 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, no. But really, though, like on on the calls, just being like, Hey, like, how’s your day going? And sometimes they’re like, Yeah, it’s going pretty good, you know, like I got this in this going on. Then they I’m always like, Yeah, like, I’m I don’t know, like sometimes, you know where they’re based out of. Sometimes you don’t. But like, I’m like, Yeah, I don’t know where you’re really based out of. I’m based out of here, San Francisco in the Bay Area. The weather is so nice the sun is shining. Super happy like. Can’t wait to get off work going
338 00:46:23.000 ⇒ 00:46:33.259 Keyan Yassini: a nice little walk, and they they get amped up. They get so excited they’re like, Yeah, the weather is so great like I can’t wait for. Like to do this with my daughter, like whatever you know, and.
339 00:46:33.260 ⇒ 00:46:33.850 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah.
340 00:46:33.850 ⇒ 00:46:34.510 Keyan Yassini: Top of that.
341 00:46:34.510 ⇒ 00:46:34.990 Uttam Kumaran: Like Dominic.
342 00:46:34.990 ⇒ 00:46:50.859 Keyan Yassini: Any little like 5 min. Quick in the beginning. There’s so much more willing to have a conversation with you. There’s so much nicer on the phone. They’re not just like, Get away from me like I don’t want to talk to you. They’re a lot more like open to listening to what you have to say, which is what we want.
343 00:46:51.555 ⇒ 00:46:51.870 Uttam Kumaran: Back!
344 00:46:53.100 ⇒ 00:46:54.050 Keyan Yassini: Yeah.
345 00:46:55.110 ⇒ 00:46:55.690 Keyan Yassini: that’s like.
346 00:46:55.690 ⇒ 00:47:00.849 Uttam Kumaran: Cool dude. This is great. Thank you so much. I mean, we’re gonna save this to like the company archives.
347 00:47:01.810 ⇒ 00:47:07.370 Uttam Kumaran: This is man mandatory watching. But yeah, I mean, I think I’m good. I mean, ideally.
348 00:47:07.390 ⇒ 00:47:11.600 Uttam Kumaran: Jared. As soon as we get all the materials kind of going, I’m gonna kind of start pushing this, and
349 00:47:11.680 ⇒ 00:47:15.819 Uttam Kumaran: maybe we can do a couple of these and just like, get a spiel going, basically.
350 00:47:16.382 ⇒ 00:47:20.747 Uttam Kumaran: Then we’ll we’ll fuck a couple up in the beginning, and then we’ll we’ll start going.
351 00:47:22.450 ⇒ 00:47:43.620 Keyan Yassini: Yeah. And listen. I’m like a I’m resource for you, Tom, and like, obviously the rest of the team like, feel free to connect with me on Linkedin. If you guys have any other questions like message me, I’m always happy to help out. Do you guys have like something else that you’re working on that, you know. You kind of want, like a second opinion on like happy to jump on another call like this, and kind of like walk through it and kind of help out any way that I can.
352 00:47:43.950 ⇒ 00:47:44.550 Uttam Kumaran: Okay?
353 00:47:45.050 ⇒ 00:47:45.870 Uttam Kumaran: Jokes.
354 00:47:46.210 ⇒ 00:47:48.149 Keyan Yassini: Sweet, sounds, good.
355 00:47:48.490 ⇒ 00:47:51.840 Uttam Kumaran: Thank you. I’ll see you very soon. I’ll probably try to be there sometime in the next
356 00:47:52.020 ⇒ 00:47:54.849 Uttam Kumaran: month or 2, but I’m moving at the end of this month. So.
357 00:47:54.850 ⇒ 00:47:57.000 Keyan Yassini: Where are you? Are you new to your bigger spot?
358 00:47:57.000 ⇒ 00:47:58.100 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
359 00:47:58.100 ⇒ 00:48:02.160 Keyan Yassini: Nice. There you go, man is man is doing well.
360 00:48:04.732 ⇒ 00:48:07.290 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, dude. Thanks so much. Again.
361 00:48:07.440 ⇒ 00:48:10.540 Keyan Yassini: Yeah, absolutely. And it was a pleasure meeting. All of you guys dude.
362 00:48:10.740 ⇒ 00:48:11.929 JARED PATTERSON: You as well.
363 00:48:11.930 ⇒ 00:48:12.580 Keyan Yassini: And alright.
364 00:48:12.580 ⇒ 00:48:12.930 Uttam Kumaran: Aye.
365 00:48:13.520 ⇒ 00:48:13.910 Keyan Yassini: Here.
366 00:48:14.790 ⇒ 00:48:15.510 Nicolas Sucari: And rye.