Real Outcomes from Sales Process Improvements

Last quarter, we spent $1,404,619 on AI tokens - an all-time high - and the ROI wasn’t what we expected… Most of the ROI didn’t come from “flashy AI”, it came from boring AI doing boring work at scale. Here’s where our spend went and what actually moved the needle: 1. Telling reps who to call today (and why) We’re using AI to sift through millions of signals and tell reps who to talk to today and why. The signals that we’ve found matter: Job changes (new decision makers = new opportunities), buying committee changes and intent signals (active web research and pricing page visits). The big ROI driver is helping our customers with daily prioritization so they don’t have to go fishing for actionable info. At ZoomInfo, We’ve seen a 25-33% increase in meeting quality and opp creation when AEs are sourcing using our AI tools. Win rates also jump from 16-20% to 30%. 2. Writing outreach that doesn’t sound automated We’re moving from “20 segments of 1,000” to 20,000 segments of 1. Not “VP IT at enterprise insurance” messaging… but John at State Farm, who we talked to last year, who competes with three of our customers, with context pulled in automatically. Customer ROI here ultimately comes from better response rates and higher close rates by being more relevant. Buyers care when you show you care. 3. Turning sales calls into usable data Every sales call (ours and customers) is recorded using @Chorus and becomes structured data: objection patterns, competitor mentions, deal risk, coaching moments. We’ve found the benefits of this are huge - 25-30% faster ramp time for new reps, and 10-15% larger deal sizes through better discovery and value articulation. The average rep sells more like the best rep. 4. Speeding up low-value engineering work Every engineer at Zoominfo has Intellij and VS Code w/ Cline. AI handles the unglamorous stuff: Boilerplate code, refactors, test coverage. We’ve seen ~25–30% faster execution on these routine tasks, which frees senior engineers to focus on system design and real product innovation. Our biggest lesson so far has been that if your data foundation is garbage, AI just helps you move faster in the wrong direction. You won’t get AI “working” until you have contextual customer/prospect data centralized, and you can actually build on top of it. We’re still early and we’re trying a lot of things but these have been the highest ROI drivers by a mile. If you’re testing AI in your GTM stack, drop a comment with what’s actually working for you - I’m all ears.

"We're moving forward with another vendor." Every rep's nightmare sentence. I pressed for details. "Their approach felt more open. We actually knew what we were buying into." That stung. I'd shared: ••• Exhaustive feature documentation ••• Dozens of success stories   ••• Complete pricing breakdowns Where'd I go wrong? Days later, I got access to our competitor's sales process. The difference hit instantly: They didn't preach transparency. They lived it. Their follow-up wasn't an email avalanche. It was one collaborative hub where buyers could: ••• Monitor which stakeholders engaged with what ••• See their exact position in the evaluation journey ••• Find materials curated for their unique pain points ••• Manage internal distribution seamlessly My revelation: I was buried in PDFs. They were cultivating partnership. Next prospect, new approach: I built a shared workspace exposing EVERYTHING: → Which team members on our side viewed their data → Critical docs they'd missed → Realistic implementation expectations → Where we excel AND where we don't The buyer's response: "Finally, someone not playing games." Ink on paper in 10 days. Here's what's real: Today's buyers aren't starved for data. They're starved for authenticity. Yesterday's strategy: Bombard with polished assets that sidestep weaknesses. Tomorrow's strategy: Build transparent environments that tackle doubts directly. Your buyers know when something's off. Even when nothing is. Quit running sales like a shell game. Start running it like a glass house. You with me?

𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘴. ✝️ 𝗥𝗜𝗣 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀: 𝟭𝟵𝟱𝟬𝘀 - 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 ✝️ If your team is still using word-for-word scripts, you're likely seeing: • Prospects who "need to think about it" • Increasingly shorter calls • Objections you can't overcome • Reps who sound robotic and inauthentic Today's buyers can smell a script from a mile away. And they hate it. What's replacing scripts? Conversation frameworks. Working with a B2B services client, we replaced their scripts with flexible frameworks: • Core problem statements (not feature pitches) • Story libraries (not memorized anecdotes) • Question flows (not interrogation lists) • Objection pathways (not canned responses) Results after 60 days: • Average call time increased by 38% • Prospect engagement (measured by questions asked) up 45% • Conversion to next steps improved by 31% The best part? Reps reported feeling "human again" and actually enjoying their calls. Does your team sound like real humans having valuable conversations, or robots reciting memorized lines? If it's the latter, let's talk about building frameworks that actually work. #SalesScripts  #AuthenticSelling  #SalesTraining

Something remarkable happened when we started bringing Customer Success leaders into our sales conversations. The traditional sales process transformed into a strategic partnership discussion that benefited everyone involved. After implementing this approach across hundreds of deals, we discovered benefits that went far beyond our initial expectations. Sales teams gained a deeper understanding of post-implementation challenges, which helped them qualify opportunities more effectively. Instead of focusing solely on closing deals, they began asking questions about operational readiness, internal champions, and resource allocation. Prospects received authentic insights into what successful implementation truly requires. Our CS leaders shared real examples of customers who thrived and openly discussed common obstacles they might face. This transparency built trust and helped prospects make informed decisions. Better aligned customer expectations from day one. When CS leaders joined these conversations, they highlighted potential roadblocks and success metrics based on similar customer profiles. This practical guidance helped prospects understand the work required to achieve their desired outcomes. This early involvement proved invaluable for our CS team. They gained visibility into the customer's vision before contracts were signed, allowing them to proactively plan resources and create tailored onboarding strategies. A surprising result was the reduction in "rescue" situations during implementation. We eliminated many issues that typically surfaced months into the relationship by addressing potential challenges during sales discussions. The data supported our approach. Deals that included CS leaders showed 40% higher implementation success rates and 25% faster time-to-value. More importantly, these customers renewed at significantly higher rates. For those considering this approach, start small. Choose strategic opportunities where CS insights could substantially impact the prospect's decision-making process. Document the outcomes and refine your strategy based on that feedback. Great customer relationships begin with the very first conversation.

We ran an AI-analysis on hundreds of our sales calls to understand why we win and lose deals, and this tells a lot about what matter in Sales. We used Claap to analyze conversations and score each one on 5 qualification dimensions from the SPICED methodology we use: Situation, Pain, Impact, Critical Event, and Decision. Here's my analysis: → Decision is the #1 differentiator between won and lost deals. Deals we win almost always have a strong decision-making process identified early. Deals we lose have a lower score. → Critical Event is a close second. Knowing why a prospect needs to act now makes a massive difference. → Situation scores high for both won and lost deals. Most reps already qualify it well, so it doesn't separate winners from losers. → Pain matters less than expected. Won deals do not necessarily always surface pain very well, but this might be linked to what we sell, because the pain point is already well known and not knew. → Impact is the surprise. Won and lost deals score almost the same. At first glance it looks not important to Sales, but it's not what it means. For me the real reading is that the team never qualifies impact well, period. So we have no idea how much better our win rate could be if we nailed it. This is an important nuance. The chart shows where won and lost deals differ, not what would happen if we improved on a specific dimension. A dimension that scores low everywhere isn't necessarily unimportant, it might be a big untapped opportunity. This scoring will allow us to better score deals earlier in the process, and potentially fix poorly qualified deals to improve chances of closing. Data doesn't give all the answers, but it definitely helps.

Ironically, leading a sales team allowed me to truly understand the full impact a marketing leader has on revenue. Prior to taking over sales - the #1 topic of conversation fell to pipeline. There was never enough. It always felt like the biggest issue. Cut to me stepping into the sales org … and it was the last thing on my mind to worry about. My focus was simple - finding the highest leverage issues to fix: 1️⃣ How do we convert more of our highest intent deals? Aka… the competitive ones. A strategy that could drive our competitive win rate from 45 - 55% would have a massive impact on end of quarter results. 2️⃣ How do we increase the density of our best-fit ICP? Forget more pipeline, let’s keep the same amount, but make them higher quality. Ones that have have 2x close rates from the average. 3️⃣ How do we double the throughput of our sellers? I noticed that the end of quarter sprint, AEs got hyper-focused on their most likely deals. We could have all the AI efficiency gains in the world, but the true issue with EOQ would become mental capacity limits. So how could I set up a system that allows a seller to apply their hyper-focus to a higher number of total deals effectively within a quarter? The solutions to these questions came from areas a Marketing leader owns. 🎯 Competitive win rate —> - Product marketing refreshed our positioning, competitive differentiators, and enabled sellers to build their confidence in competitive tactics. - We revamped our pricing & packaging strategy to work to our advantage. - We revamped our trial experience to play to our strengths, not weaknesses as it had been. 🎯 Increasing Pipeline Quality —> - Restructured SDR comp to incentivize bringing in the right fit buyers - Updated our metrics systems and targets to drive weekly accountability to pipeline density of Tier 1 ICP. - Re-oriented our outbound programs to leverage intent signal tracking on our best fit accounts. 🎯 Doubling AE Throughput —> - Buyer and seller incentives to increase the number of mid-quarter closed deals. (we doubled mid-quarter ARR performance with this strategy) - AI Ops team focused on cutting down time spent on account research, drafting follow-up emails and other time-consuming tasks. In the end, I do think it worked (still on a journey here). In the last two quarters we grew 54% and 75% QoQ, achieving 101% and 106% to target. But read these tactics again. They cover pricing, packaging & promotion strategy, GTM strategy, incentive and comp structure, sales enablement, channel strat, ops, and more. Almost NOTHING about pipegen. Marketing is SO much more than campaigns and pipeline. The full toolkit of a marketer is very powerful and very high leverage. And it took being responsible for revenue to help me fully realize that. So next time you get caught up being treated like a pipegen jockey, start asking questions to find the real leverage issues to fix. That’s the path to being a high impact leader. 🙏

Small tweaks in your sales script can turn “no thanks” into qualified sales calls. We reviewed a client’s outbound calls, made five key adjustments, and saw a 20% boost in engagement. Here’s what worked: 1. Start with a Permission-Based Opener Jumping straight into the pitch made prospects feel cornered, often leading to resistance. What We Changed: We switched to a permission-based opener like, “Hey, this is (name) from (company), we haven’t spoken before, I’m calling you out of the blue, but it'll take me 30 seconds to tell you why I called and then you can tell me if you even want to keep talking after that, does that sound fair” This gave prospects control and set a respectful tone. Prospects felt more comfortable and engaged when they had the option to continue, leading to smoother, more productive conversations. 2. Use “You” Instead of “We” The scripts were too brand-focused with “we” and “our” statements, making it sound impersonal. Shifting to “you” language made a huge difference. Instead of “We offer the best solution,” we said, “You deserve a solution that actually fits.” Prospects felt the call was about them, not us. 3. Add Specific Social Proof Generic claims weren’t cutting it. Instead of “We’ve helped hundreds,” we got specific: “Last quarter, we helped [X industry] achieve [result].” Specifics boosted credibility and helped prospects see the potential value for themselves. 4. Ask Open-Ended Questions Closed questions led to dead-ends. We replaced “Do you struggle with [problem]?” with “What challenges are you facing with [problem]?” This invited prospects to share more, making the conversation richer and helping us respond better. 5. Frame Price with Value Mentioning price early often scared people off. Instead, we tied price to benefits: “With an investment of $X, you can achieve [result].” Positioning price in correlation to perceived value kept the conversation moving forward. These small changes led to big improvements in qualified booked appointments. ___________________________________ Follow Dylan Rich for more tips on scaling your sales team

Last week, I heard from a super impressive customer who has cracked the code on how to give salespeople something they’ve always wanted: more selling time. Here’s how he transformed their process. This customer runs the full B2B sales motion at an awesome printing business based in the U.S. For years, his team divided their time across six key areas: 1. Task prioritization 2. Meeting prep 3. Customer responses 4. Prospecting 5. Closing deals 6. Sales strategy Like every sales leader I know, he wants his team to spend most of their time on #5 and #6 — closing deals and sales strategy. But together, those only made up about 30% of their week. (Hearing this gave me flashbacks to my time in sales…and all that admin tasks 😱) Now, his team uses AI across the sales process to compress the amount of time spent on #1-4: 1. Task prioritization → AI scores leads and organizes daily tasks 2. Meeting prep → AI surfaces insights from calls and contact records before meetings 3. Customer responses → Breeze Customer Agent instantly answers customer questions 4. Prospecting → Breeze Prospecting Agent automatically researches accounts and books meetings The result? Higher quantity of AI-powered work: More prospecting. More pipeline.  Higher quality of human-led work: More thoughtful conversations. Sharper strategy. This COO's story made my week. It's a reminder of just how big a shift we're going through – and why it’s such an exciting time to be in go-to-market right now.