Will Aitken

A Sales Growth Company

Heading up outbound sales & GAP Prospecting training

General Manager Prospecting Practice

WillAitken.com

I provide training, coaching, courses, keynotes, and merch for sellers and sales teams! Check out my offerings on willaitken.com

Chief Vice Directing President of Managing Things

Sales Feed

B2B Sales Media company Sales Feed

We make content that helps sellers sell and brings a big ol'd smile to their face when they need it most

Co-Founder

Sell Better 

I'm one of the hosts of SellBetter's epic daily sales shows

Host

Lavender

Head of Social

Head of Content

Evangelist

Proposify

Senior Account Executive

Account Executive

HR.com

Preacta

Recruitment Consultant

Search It Local

Sales Representative

Trust Me, I'm a Salesperson | Sales Trainer, Keynote Speaker, Author, and Pisstaker | Fluent in English, Memes, & Sarcasm 🇬🇧🇨🇦

Just another LinkedIn sales influencer... but funnier and better looking than most.

Born in 1994 in the roundabout filled town of Milton Keynes I was always the odd child at school. 

After getting the worlds most pointless degree at University of Brighton I decided to go “find myself” by working in a French Ski Resort, backpacking through south-east Asia, before temporarily settling down in Sydney Australia where I got work as a recruiter and then moving to Canada. 

Now in North America I was determined to work in SaaS sales because I saw on Reddit that you can make BANK selling software.

Just a couple of years later after trying to find my footing I was the top rep on my team.

This gave me time to open up TikTok and on April of 2021 I made my first video, then I made one everyday for 6-months. 

This opened up my love for content creation and led me to my current career in marketing, keynotes, book writing, and sales training. 

Expertise include: New Business Development, Account Management, Cold Calling, Sales Proposals/Presentations, Marketing Product Knowledge (SEO, EDM, Retargeting), Recruitment Services, Headhunting, Email Prospecting, Vice President (SEO purposes), VP, CEO, LinkedIn Recruiter/Sales Navigator, Boolean Blackbelt, Training, Sales Kick Offs, Speaker, Speech, Sales Management, and Fixing Up to Look Sharp.

🔥 ROAST my Discovery Call 🔥 

I judged a "Discovery Competition" at Salman Mohiuddin's Sales Sprint event this week

6 Sellers had 7-minutes to complete a discovery call with the bot that the team at Hyperbound uses as part of their Account Executive hiring process

Myself, Jen Allen-Knuth, and Eddy Bahnam then gave each seller feedback on what they did well with and how they could improve

I HATE giving feedback to strangers 😂

Coaching is intimate, and without knowing someone, their style, and how they like to be coached, you can end up sounding like a critical w@nker

As Babe Ruth said “The loudest boos always come from the cheapest seats.”

So I thought it'd only be fair if I also gave the challenge a spin and let strangers (that's you folks on LinkedIn) judge my performance

Naturally, I'm using GAP Selling so Keenan can judge me hardest 😉 

*note I went over the 7-minute time limit*

5 ideas to help you sell on LinkedIn (without paying for Sales Nav)

Sat in on a workshop presented by Eddy Bahnam at Salman Mohiuddin's Sales Sprint event earlier this month

(Follow Eddy for LinkedIn tips, he's the GOAT)

In that talk, Eddy shared a few creative ways to make use of LinkedIn's main site to find new leads

Including a few things I didn't know, like the job ad URL second timer 🤯 I wish i'd known that one when I was an agency recruiter

What creative ways have you found to find leads on LinkedIn?

Drop 'em below as this one will likely need a part 2

(I work with Hansel Alvarez for all my long-form YouTube content like this, hit him up if you want to grow on YouTube)

Todd Clouser 🧙‍♂️💜

Aligned

Sales content creators ➡️ shoot me a connection request to partner.

Head of Social and Partnerships

Clay

Content Creator

Easy Mode

Consulting for B2B SaaS marketing teams that want to create a media engine through in-house creators. 

Framework Overview: https://audienceplus.com/discover/easy-mode-framework

Co-founder

AudiencePlus

Head of Audience Marketing

Advisor

Everlast Welders

- Built and managed team of 15+ influencers
- Grew YouTube channel to 50,000 subscribers
- Organic and paid content creation

Fractional Head of Content

Marketing

HockeyStack (YC S23)

I create a terrible (but original) series for The Flow, A Streaming Platform by HockeyStack.

Cognism

Helped Cognism transform their content strategy by implementing the Easy Mode Framework.

The Worst eBook in the World
https://info.cognism.com/the-worst-marketer-in-the-world

Content Consultant

Refine Labs

Product Manager: Community

Lead Brand Marketing Manager

Senior Brand Marketing Manager

CustomerGauge

Global Growth Marketing Manager

I learned content growing a YouTube channel from 0 - 10M+ monthly views.
I learned social by building an audience of over 1M followers across channels.
I learned community growing two Facebook groups to 12k+ monthly active users.
I learned influencer marketing building a team of 15+ creators that drove millions in DTC revenue.


Now I help B2B companies incorporate those strategies and tactics to build their own marketing machine.

DM me to chat.

Party Wizard

https://qrco.de/be1MOp

Todd Clouser

Here's my simple 3 step framework to never get ghosted again:

1. Be more likeable:
- make sure you smile 
- if you forget to smile, gift card

2. Always be rapporting
- "Hey, did I see you went to Arizona State? No Way! Me too!" 
↳ Do your research, and remember, you went to their college. Always.

3. If They Stump You, Get Off the Call
- Nobody likes an idiot. Say you have another call and then 'just check in' later when you have the answer.

$100 says there's not a ghost story on LinkedIn that this couldn't have prevented...

Share your ghosted story with #ghostedhotline and I'll share some more winning advice.

Friday appreciation post for a guy that has saved my ass more than once.

Amir Rofoogar has been my secret weapon since my Refine Labs days, and it physically pains me to share this secret with you.

But here we are.

What I didn't know when I first met Amir was that I'd just stumbled into one of the best video producers I'd ever work with. And let me tell you something about video production...

It's stupid hard.

It takes a crazy mix of being creative and absolutely OCD-level organization.

Whatever company I've been with, if my team finds ourselves backed into a corner with some impossible video deadline, there's only one call I make.

((First time I called Amir))

"Hey man, I rented an AirBnB in Cincinnati where my SME lives. We're supposed to be filming in 2 1/2 weeks. The local camera guy just cancelled. You got any plans two Saturdays from now?"

This freakin madman drove from Austin to Cincinnati with a car packed so tight with gear it looked like my mom's Dodge Caravan in 1995 after my dad got done packing for the yearly Outer Banks vacation. iykyk 

We filmed 22 long-form videos in 2 days. TWENTY-TWO. 
And every one of them also had a GUEST.
22 videos, 22 (15 minute) guest time slots, 2 days.
I cannot stress how much of a scheduling nightmare that was.
And they all looked 👨🏻‍🍳👌


((Second time))

"Amir, we're doing this event in Brooklyn called GoldenHour. I need a music video parody of 'No Sleep til Brooklyn' and a 6-part documentary that needs to feel like Netflix produced it. And if you're up for it, can you also film all the sessions? It's in 4 months."

We filmed over 100 videos in a day at the event.
But here's where he stands out...

We had a "College GameDay-style" desk on the 21st floor overlooking Manhattan. Unfortunately, the sun decided to absolutely destroy our shot that week. The crew responsible for the stream didn't have proper lighting to compete with the sun.

The night before the event, Amir tracked down the personal cell number of someone who ran a local rental house. He got us lighting that could battle the sun. Had it all set up before our 8am start. (even though he was not responsible for that stream).

*He also shot the Easy Mode Framework series in the arcade which looked so. damn. good.


((Now))

We're creating this "Ghosted Hotline" series. (not my basement utility closet version, but the ones you can see at the Aligned company page). The team gave him the vision, the scripts, the timeline, and some direction. He handled the rest. Location scouting, casting, props. Executed the whole thing without us even being on set.

*Although I will say, our campaign manager, Surina Sandhu, is waaay more organized than I ever was, so Im sure he had an easier go this time around...Bravo Surina, another appreciation post needed. 👏

If you have a video production house you love, thank them today. Because the good ones (the ones who understand what you need before you even know you need it) are rare.

"Yo, huddle? Apparently the batman video drove a ton of enterprise pipeline."
- Slack DM

Never in my life did I think I'd read those words in that order.

And it wasn't just the Batman video.

"Aaaaannnnndddddd I just followed [company] and pinged my director of biz ops to ask how we can use this wizardry in our company. Love that I started out with no idea I was watching a sponsored post. Well played Todd Clouser, well played."

Did I immediately send this to the marketing director at said company? Why yes i did... #internalmarketing

Anotha one:

"Dear [company], I had not heard of you before, until this post. This is may be one the best sponsored post. Bravissimo. I see a very rich future, extra rich."


okay, LAST one...

"Is that an empty peanut butter container in the dishwasher?"


That one actually has no relevance, i just really like it. 
Thanks Will Taylor

These aren't flukes. 
They're data points that don't show up in a report.

And they all point to the same thing: 
Sometimes stupid content outsells the smart content.


Here's why we're investing infleuncer $$ into entertainment in Q4:

Entertainment creates memory
Your prospect won't remember one '5 ways to yada yada yada' post. But they remembered Batman. And when they remember you at the right moment, deals happen.


Funny content gets shared internally
That director of biz ops? They booked a demo based off of a really dumb parody. Entertainment isn't just about reach.  


Unprofessional builds trust
Instead of trying to baffle your audience with bullshit, try that living rent free in their mind for a day or two.



And here's how we plan to execute:

Build brand associations faster
entertainment becomes pipeline when creators become associated with your brand. So how to you expedite taht process?

Each of the comments above came from a series I built for a brand through ongoing, monthly content. Not one-off posts. Series. 

One off content (of any sort) is fleeting and takes way longer to build brand associations.

When you create a series, you become known for that [insert memorable thing]...faster. 

And awareness without pipeline is what gets our marketing fun money reallocated to the new sdr hire.



So... we're investing in entertainment for Q4. 


But not random entertainment. 
Strategic series that create brand associations, drive sharing, and build pipeline.

Or at least that's the idea... EoQ follow up with results to come...



#stayb2bmyfriends

One of our top performing influencers last quarter generated 
   3000+ engagements
   147 direct conversions
   2x performance bonuses

(meanwhile im over here trying to crack 1000 impressions after going dark for 2 months)

Aaanyway, his posts have some common traits that create both reach and conversions. Take away what you will:


1. He builds credibility through storytelling, but he doesn't brag.

Every post starts with a real story (at least im preeeetty sure)... a person, a deal, or a specific result. He creates curiosity by revealing the end of the story first, then giving you the playbook they used to get there. 


2. You never feel like he's pumping sunshine up your skirt...

You ever read a linkedin "here's how I won the biggest deal in company history" post and think, "ya, oooook"? You never feel that way reading this creator's posts because he celebrates other's wins instead of his own. (teammates, customers, high performers) which makes the post feel non-self-promotional.


3. You get tactical tips you can implement today

Instead of preaching vague advice that leaves you thinking, "this guy just threw some weak prompt into chatgpt to put a post out today..." he weaves all the tactics and actionable plays of his story into a framework. 


4. You can skim it OR get into tons of detail in the same post

List with short titles + detailed explanation makes it easy to go through his posts and see what applies to you and skip the rest. 


5. He ties the product into the story without pitching.

Each post connects the lesson to the product in a natural way. He never forces the product into a post where it doesn't belong. Also something to note, the product is rarely the first or last thing he talks about. It's brought up wherever it naturally occurs in the framework.


6. His CTAs are an extension of the story

If you wanna scream into the void about playing the long game and brand awareness, and don't have CTAs or links in content; I will gladly lose my voice right beside you. But leadership loves seeing conversions and this creator is proving you can play the long game AND convert (he averages around 50 signups per post). 

Besides the content being so good, he also makes his CTAs a continuation of the story and framework. Rather than "Try Aligned for free" or something like that, it's typically something like, "Here's the template we used to execute this playbook is Aligned". 

It's kinda like forcing people to comment for value, but instead, he just gives it to them. It's so crazy it might just work...



P.S. Is this type of content helpful?

FoLlOw Me FoR mOrE 🔥 tIpS tO aVoId GeTtInG gHoStEd! 

#ghostedhotline

To the seller friends...
Who has the best story of being ghosted once a deal goes to procurement?

I'm looking to collect the best 'ghost stories' (starting with procurement) so:

1. I can make some really stupid skits
2. Our VP of Sales, Meredith Chandler, can build some (actually valuable) playbooks around so you never get ghosted again.

Drop em as a comment or post them yourself using #ghostedhotline

Buyer gone dark? We have a number for that. 
#GhostedHotline ☎️ 👻

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The Battle

Will Aitken

Todd Clouser

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Performance ScoreWill Aitken's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreTodd Clouser's LinkedIn Performance

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The Battle

Will Aitken

Todd Clouser

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Will Aitken's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreTodd Clouser's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreWill Aitken's LinkedIn Performance