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)

AudienceLed

112 experts interviewed and counting. 1082 pieces of content created and counting. 10 brands helped and counting. Building networks of trust for our. clients. We help teams go-to-market WITH their market. No one wants another AI-slop SEO blog post written by non-experts. Buyers want to hear from the exact people they trust. That's the brands, people, and places they listen to, transact and engage with daily. 

Our offer? A done-for-you service to generate demand and build fast-converting pipeline. We execute multiple expert-led campaigns deployed into your existing marketing systems, with additional distribution with and through third-parties.

We also help scale community & user generated content and throw events with the ecosystem.

DM me to learn more. 

And watch me change the way the industry looks at go-to-market in a paradigm shift, all while doing it ourselves.

Co-Founder & Chief Partner Officer

BD Paths

I help companies orchestrate their ecosystems with better partner operations. But... not all partners are made the same.

"We are hitting target but don't know how to scale" is too common. Become profitable by aligning partner types to the core revenue metrics within your business.

I am only taking on one other client, so DM me to see if there is availability.

Partnership Leaders

Member

nearbound.com

Getting Nearbound into the dictionary and distributing through network effects like no tomorrow. Nearbound sales + marketing will revolutionize the way you do business.

This section was post-acquisition of www.partnerhacker.com by www.Reveal.co where we rebranded to www.nearbound.com.

Director of Strategic Partnerships

*First hire as Head of Partnerships

- Supported key relationships that resulted in an acquisition in record time for a media company.
- Executed on ~$1million in sponsorship programs including communications, debriefs, reporting, engaging key stakeholders, and relationship management.
- Lead all project management for sponsorship programs resulting in over 1,000,000 impressions and 10,829 leads for our partners.
- Created a category for technology through marketing strategies related to brand, media, social, networking, partnerships, nearbound, and guerrilla tactics.
- Coordinated multiple internal stakeholders with clear tasks of who does what and by when, following DARCI models.
- Evangelized the nearbound category, partnerships, brands, our partners and sponsors all through content creation including social, long-form, short-form, video, audio, and event related content.

nearbound.com is the #1 source of clarity & guidance, news & journalism, opinion, and connection during the paradigm shift in B2B.

I made this a reality alongside our partners and peers. They all deserve a BIG thank you in these efforts.

Subscribe to the Nearbound Daily to get your PhD in partnerships :)

It's time to PartnerUp.

Director of Partnerships

Reveal

At Reveal I manage ISV partner relationships, as well as using nearbound strategies to get what matters most done: delivering value to the clients to ultimately drive more revenue.

I work with other tech vendors, consultants, and influencers in order to deploy partnerships expertise and value to our clients. We run referral, co-sell, and influence campaigns focused on educating and enabling the ecosystem.

Reach me at wtaylor@reveal.co if you'd like to partner with Reveal or want to learn more about nearbound.

Head of Partnerships

RevGenius

Uvaro

*First guest instructor, helped build the process for effective external instructor contracting and communications.

I believe in life-long learning and empowering others to become their best self - I am proud to participate in, and present during, internal + external events for Uvaro students. These events include demo days, in-class speaking engagements, and instructional sessions.

Some background on Uvaro:

The technology sector needs 250,000 new sales professionals, and our colleges and universities aren’t training them on all practical pieces. Uvaro is building a different type of education system - one that is focused on the objective of preparing students for a career in the talent-hungry tech industry. Simply put, Uvaro has created a better way to grow sales careers in tech.

Guest Instructor

Mailshake

*First and only partnerships hire

At Mailshake, I built the partnership program from the ground up. Here's a list of all things accomplished during my time with the team:

Partnerships:
- Engaged elite brands to get Mailshake a "seat at the cool kids' table"
- Achieved 135% of partner sourced revenue quota for Q1 2022
- Started strategic partnerships that filled gaps in client needs
- Guided integration partners in a "big fish:small fish" dynamic
- Aligned upsell initiatives with partner efforts
- Spent $0 on sponsorships

Business enrichment:
- Built the process for webinars + events from the ground up
- Created a sales playbook for marketing <> sales webinar handoff 
- Trained sales team to adopt and utilize video
- Coached sales team on how to capitalize on prospects warmed by marketing efforts
- Developed first iteration of ICP that aided in direction setting

Became a marketer:
- Executed on various marketing functions with no prior experience:
-- Drip campaigns, webinars, landing page development, social branding, a large summit event, affiliate marketing, SEO + backlink fundamentals, & creative content ideas

Director of Partner Marketing

Vidyard

*First Partner Enablement hire

Milestones:
- Increased partner retention by 70%
- Doubled total agency program revenue over 6 months through enablement initiatives
--- Revenue from partner program flipped from 20% partner-sourced clients and 80% partners to 80% clients and 20% partners.
- Partners are ready to sell services in 60-120 days

Day-to-day:
- Managed 120+ partner accounts ranging from co-sell agencies, referral partners, and technical partners
- Created training resources & co-sell models for partners, partner managers, and internal team
- Established end-to-end partner launch for more successful onboarding + enablement
- Developed a new certification that fast-tracked partner adoption, go-to-market readiness, and aligned better with overall company growth goals
- Built a partner directory for continued refer-back opportunities
- Launched PRM software + integrated into existing systems

Partner Enablement Manager

Bonfire Interactive

- "Municipal Rep of the Year, 2019" - closed highest ARR on immediate team during my first year of ever being an Account Executive
- Closed largest major city (by population) in company history
- Managed the largest multi-year contract upsell in company history, resulting in 2x ARR and a 12x TCV
- Oversaw 20 States in my territory, responsible for fully-operating my own opportunity generation
- Engaged with multiple C-Level executive roles to build relationships and ensure a strong business case to close business

- Maintained relationships with influencers in industry, ranging from large accounts, presidents of associations, educational experts, and those with a loud voice in the market
- Partnered with a BDR and was responsible to set prospecting strategies and provide ongoing mentorship as we prospected this patch together
- Regularly met with marketing to collaborate on national programs, local programs, travel programs, conference programs, and provide feedback
- Coordinated new approaches in selling to different personas, fast-tracking and increasing the success rate of sales cycles
- Pioneered cross-selling initiatives with sister companies to not only leverage relationships, but create strategic plans on how to facilitate an even stronger business case

*First BDR hire

- Developed 102 new opportunities worth $1,836,000 USD in pipeline, leading the BDR team in pipe and opportunity generation 
- Overachieved on quota (115%) and was thus moved from supporting a single rep on the commercial team, to three on the public team 
- Engaged with multiple different C-Level executives (CFOs, CIOs, CPOs) in both the private and public sectors 
- Trained and managed ongoing performance of team members, helping to onboard, create training materials, and conducting interviews to qualify potential hires

Business Development Representative

I make partnerships profitable with RevOps, sales signals & tactical playbooks • Advisor • Buyer alignment, signal selling, and partnerships • Tech stack recommendations • Stop selling on hard mode

I help SaaS revenue teams integrate third party expertise (the people, brands, and places) that influence their buyer to surround them (instead of spam them)  👉 where buyers already transact and spend their dwindling attention credits 👇

Buyers don’t believe brands as much as they believe the people, brands, and places they already work with and listen to.

That’s why your sales and marketing team need a network of trusted people in your ecosystem.

When you activate that network, you get:
👉Warmer doors opening faster
👉Higher win rates
👉Deals that close sooner
👉Bigger deal sizes

Proof I’ve lived this:
✅Built enablement programs that boosted partner retention by 70%
✅Created a partner motion that matched sales revenue with 1/3 of the headcount
✅Outperformed a full SDR + AE team using ecosystem plays
✅Scaled a business to $1M in 12 months → acquired

(And yes — I’m in the room developing relationships with the influential people your buyers already listen to.)

Activate an ecosystem-oriented modern go-to-market system that focuses on QUALITY and CONVERSION by:
1) Following me here for weekly systems sharing
2) Or DM me if you want me to show you how to:
- Map who your buyers already trust
- Layer partners into your GTM to build pipeline with less spend (without building any new systems)

Oh, I'm also writing a book on rewiring your mindset, which incorporates psychological, sociological, and philosophical concepts. Go-to-market with your market at www.audienceled.com

Will Taylor 🤝

Just got a verbal commit to the biggest deal of my life...

okay okay I HAD to do that hook. This is LinkedIn after all.

She told me Italy is her favorite place in the world.

So, I thought it was fitting to do it on an Italian hillside in Taormina, Sicily.

I was a bit worried because I didn't think the custom ring would be ready in time for this trip...

But luckily, her and I have focused on building and maintaining quality friendships. Community is so important to us. It's one of the pillars of living a long, healthy, happy life.

Her friends showed up and helped me plan this, I couldn't have done it without them.

So, I made sure some of her closest people were around when I did it.

Did I say everything I wanted to in that moment?

No. I was terrified.

Did she realize something was up because my heart was racing and she could feel it?

Yes.

Was my heart racing because we took the wrong ferry and then our bus didnt take us all the way to where we needed to and then the next bus didnt come and we were almost late?

Also yes.

Did she also have no clue the whole time in lead up?

Yes 😏

But in the "imperfect" execution against the plan... I'll forever be reminded that even if it doesn't go as planned, it can still be perfect.

Anyways, she said yes!!!

The bond we have built feels even more unbreakable than the diamond she'll wear on her finger.

I am one lucky guy and I'll never forget this moment.

No business lesson here.

Have a wonderful end to the week ❤️.

Will Taylor

Helping marketing leaders convert more with less • CPO @ AudienceLed • Run better demand gen with those your buyer already trusts: The people, brands, and places that have their attention.

GTM silos are breaking down because of AI and a crazy macroeconomic climate. Here's why it's just as good as it is bad...

👍🟢The Good

1) Partnerships are seeing a rise.

Not because of anything other than "it works."

Your buyers buy from people they trust. That's the people, brand, and places they already spend their attention credits. 

This is as much of an opportunity as it is a paradigm shift for executive teams.

2) Efficiency is skyrocketing.

Workers (at large) can produce 130-140% MORE than what they did 20 years ago.

Software has continued to become democratized... but also commoditized. What once was a $50k contract with ZoomInfo is now a Clay subscription of $149/mo.

That means individuals and new businesses can excel, if this is harnessed appropriately.

3) Buyers will be reached more authentically.

Good for the buyer... but good for the business?

Quality > quantity for sure, however this will only constantly stress the "growth at all costs" mentality that investors and boards may still have.

Treating buyers like real humans, reducing spam, and delivering 1+1=3 value will always take precedent in the world of good business.

👎🔴 The Bad

1) Incentives are misaligned.

We're operating on an old model still.

Incentives are what created silos. Marketing wanted their MQL checkbox, then blamed sales (who blamed them back) that the leads aren't properly closing.

If we keep these incentives model going, then we won't break the mold and innovate.

(but bonuses worth millions of dollars are on the line... would YOU give that up?)

2) Talent has been trained in the wrong direction.

All of those BDRs trained to spray volume cold calls and emails? Not the metric that matters anymore...

Not to mention, the CMOs and CROs being pressured by boards to either "figure it out" or implement the old playbook.

This leaves incumbents advising in the wrong direction, but also hiring is absolute chaos to find a unicorn that can help you break through the noise.

3) Incumbent vendors won't want to give up their grasp.

And they have the money to invest in pushing their narrative.

With diminishing returns, sure, but they won't care and will continue to spend to take up your mindshare.

This makes it harder for competition to break through, but will also further enable the above 2 challenges... Unless they innovate (let's hope they do).

----------
The industry needed a shake up.

Unfortunately, it will cost people their hair, a lot of jobs, and a lot of confusion.

Focusing on what feels right, that delivers the most value, and allows you to stay agile is a surefire way to stay afloat.

We are the ultimate adaptation machines, after all!

We're helping companies innovate without reinventing here at AudienceLed by helping you go-to-market WITH your market. Keeping things authentic and focusing on value while maintaining scale.

Sharing it as we go. Follow along! 

Get after it 💪

Did my first breath work session yesterday. Thought it was woo-woo. Nope. That sh*t works.

My legs began to hurt.
My hands felt all tingly.
My eyes continued to water.
I couldn't stop sweating...
Thoughts were racing.
I wanted carbs!!!

It was a whirlwind of experience.

Coming out of it, I not only felt euphoric (because my body probably thought I was dying), but grateful.

Grateful for every person in my life.
Grateful for betting on myself.
Grateful for giving this a try.
Grateful for my friends.
Grateful for my fiancé.

It was overwhelming, in a good way.

Lately I've been bottling the "good" emotions.

Some days I don't have time, nor do I give myself the space, to feel them.

My love for my partner, friends, and family, sometimes can't be contained.

And all of it brings me a certain comfort. I'm learning to find balance in comfort <> discomfort.

I need to get to work. 
I need to stay intentional. 
I need to push myself further than I ever have before.

Each and every day.

But I'm a human, after all.

Grateful to have Arcadia, Sam Yarborough, Jason Yarborough 🐻, and everyone in the constellation.

Breath work is not woo-woo.
It felt like a cold plunge.

It's very real. It induces fight or flight. Pumps your heart. Moves your blood. Oxygenates your body.

The sensations alone will shock you to your core and make you more aware.

The business utility of this is:
- more energy
- more motivation
- clearing the mind clutter
- reducing stress
- aligning focus

Already feeling more productive. 10/10 will do again.

Be great 🐻. Finish out the week strong.

Consulting with 83 partner pros and 52 companies told me this is the biggest miss in programs:

"It takes 12-18 months to generate value in partnerships."

So I set out to change that.

It lead to figuring out WHY people say that:
1) Conventional knowledge comes from the channel.

Lots of bureaucracy. Slow moving big corporations. Much different from the Series A startup.

2) "Partnerships" is too widely defined.

With #1, it misses including affiliates, influencers, community sponsorships, etc.

3) It's a safety net to keep your job.

Real talk. That was a good strategy... but most companies can't wait that long for value.

Imagine if marketing said that...

The CFO would laugh them out of the room and never approve budget.

So what did marketing do 10+ years ago?

They started to prove it.

They integrated marketing into more parts of the buyer's journey.

Now they get the largest budget in the business.

I created a model that looked at reality (check the comments for the resource) and where partners can actually drive impact.

This exercise told me most partnerships are built for co-marketing (not all, but most).

For marketing, "brand" is valuable... but brand alone doesn't convert. Systems of demand gen and alignment with sales does.

That's why I co-founded AudienceLed. To PROVE that partnerships can be integrated into the business as a strategic overlay.

Not a bolt on that "might" work.

We KNOW marketing is better with partners and third parties...

So why does the community struggle to show that?

I flipped the script, and now 10+ marketing teams are seeing the benefit of leveraging third party expertise (partners) in their marketing.

Not all partnerships are made the same.

We're proving value CAN be generated in less than 90 days.

That includes LEADS and PIPELINE.

I'm moving the needle for businesses and their core revenue metrics. Want to learn how? I post weekly about this.
----------
👋I'm Will Taylor - helping brands reach buyers through scalable, authentic third party trust that converts to tangible impact. 

📸 taken at PartnerStack's Toronto meetup this past summer.

🚨Stop shouting at buyers 👉 surround them with influence that converts • CPO @ AudienceLed • Building to $3MM so I can work with Alex Hormozi • Build pipe with & through existing trusted people, brands, and places

Renato V. said founders don't stay fit. 10 strict pullups for $100? It's not even pull day...

Physical activity has been one of the only things to help me keep my sanity.

More early mornings.
More early sleeps.

Focus. Overcome myself. Progress. Repeat.

1 year into building a business and I have never felt so anxious or stressed.

But I'm mission driven. That means not losing sight of what makes me feel alive.

That also means mastering that stress and anxiety. 

You only get one chance to live.

This reminds me... I need to get back to my 100 pullups in under 45 minutes #CarryTheBoats

I talk to 3+ marketers a week. Everyone is worried about what's next and here are the common trends I've heard for 2026:

1) Distribution is a priority

Owned channels are dwindling (and it's not just you).

Companies are shifting back to media outlets, public relations, influencer marketing, etc.

We now bring media opportunities to all of our clients. They can't get enough of it! (we've mapped most of the revenue-tech spend opportunities)

Throwing money at your own company or brand will no longer cut it.

2) Openness to collaborations

Pairs well with #1 (if done right).

More marketers are willing to collaborate outside of their own company.

There are 2 camps of people for this: 
- the hardcore demand gen person that will scrutinize every metric (which I love) 
- the strategic marketer that is tired of doing the same thing with declining results

Plus, who doesn't feel good about human-to-human collaboration with increased metrics in all facets?

3) AI Search

My CMO friend Tyler Calder told me "Every marketing leader is thinking about AEO/GEO for 2026."

🫡 Understood.

Backlinking is having a comeback - but not just for some checkbox for your SEO metrics. Instead, it's a strategic way to appear in more places so that AI knows the validity of your claims.

If others are referencing you AND validating your claims... then that's another trust data point AI is only more and more stressed to find.

4) Video.

AI slop can make anything...

except if you engage a third-party expert to validate your narrative. 

There are 1000x more people, brands, and places that influence your buyer more than you.

The customers, partners, complimentary tech, influencers, communities, podcasts, and so on.

The thing they ALL have in common is that their likeness and words will NOT be misrepresented... which AI can and never will be able to do. Not to the degree that those people trust it.

And this is who your buyer listens to.

Content without video in it not only performs worse, but it has a lot less authenticity.

Now let me paint you a scenario and how you can capitalize on all of the above ☝️ 

- You want to create a piece of content.
- Everything is planned, and you could probably create it alone.
- But you look at the performance of the previous content, and it seems to be declining.

This time, you think about more distribution. Simple, right?

That distribution could go through:
1) Your partners
2) Media out lets
3) More ad-spend
4) Paid influencers

All great options. So, why not do them all?

- Interview the influencer on the subject. 
- Ask your partners to help with distribution (bonus if they are directly mentioned). 
- Contact a media outlet/community and either collaborate with them or pay a sponsorship.
- Then put that ad spend you set aside to boost this, alongside the other 3 channels above ^.

You now achieved:
- More distribution channels
- More trust (better content)
- A boost in performance
- Appearing in AEO/GEO

This is not complex.

Sometimes I open LinkedIn to grab a link or send a message. Then the feed sucks me in. I close the tab. Go back to what I was doing... only to realize I needed to go to LinkedIn to do a thing.

(Now I'm writing this post and not doing what I intended to)

Y'know... for someone who tries to practice self control and have discipline, I am constantly (pleasantly) reminded that I'm only human.

Get off LinkedIn and go do that thing you needed to!!!

Marketers are missing out on the single biggest opportunity for MORE distribution, conversion, trust, and valuable content 📈. Here's a list of 14+ people your buyer trusts more than you:

Complimentary tech vendors they already transact with
Technologies your solution integrates with
Your own employees
Community owners
Media companies
Your customers
Communities
Consultants
Agencies
Analysts
Influencers
Associations
Industry courses
Education institutions

(and many, many more)

Here's an example we made for a client. We:
- Found 5 complimentary sales and mar-tech vendors (that had prolific CEOs/employees we could collaborate with)
- Engaged Mike Rizzo and the Marketing Ops Community
- Are about to secure media partnership with Sell Better
- Collaborated with the great Mason Cosby
...
and then we did this another 10+ times for that client :)

We've done the same for these communities so far:
- Sales
- RevOps
- DevOps
- Marketing
- Cybersecurity
- Chiefs of Staff
- Sales enablement
- Learning & development
- Talent & human resources
- Data Ops / Data engineering

The third-parties in these communities want to reach more of your same buyer, too. The sales-tech vendor wants to reach more sales leaders... the marketing community wants to reach more marketers... and so on.

So why not collaborate with them?

The outcomes?
1) These external experts get free and easy content (in their voice), features on a vendor website + social page, a boost from ad-spend featuring them, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐄𝐎/𝐆𝐄𝐎 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬.

2) Brands get more authentic content, straight from the expert, along with more distribution.

3) Brands can now platform community members... benefit of having that association, but more importantly giving back to the community builds brand loyalty (and conversion when they are ready to buy!).

Simply put, people (outside of your company) have much more sway and influence than your own brand does.

And this trend is only continuing in that same direction.

It's not complex. 
You don't need to rethink your strategy. 
And you can do all that you already do in marketing... you just need to include the people your buyer trusts.

----------

I post regularly about how you can do this for yourself, even if you don't work with us. Here to help companies do more, with less, and in a way buyers love.

I will die on this hill: Your partnerships strategy should be directly aligned to your buyer's journey, or else...

You'll be partnering and praying.
You'll be misaligned with what the business actually cares about.
You'll miss the biggest opportunity to plug partners into the rhythm of your existing business.

Not all partners are made the same.
Not all businesses are made the same.

That means you cannot partner the same as someone else in the community.

This is made even more complex given the breadth of partner types and knowledge across industries.

My advice?

Focus where your internal teams are focusing.
Map (with a very VERY critical lens) which partners can impact which parts of the buyer's journey.

Then only activate with those partners and no one else.

Do you have a brand problem?

Agencies likely do not have enough reach to help you impact that.

Influencers and complimentary tech companies might, though.

More on this and my hot take that MOST partnerships should be co-marketing only on the Alliances Podcast -Strategic partnerships I did recently with Maxime Imbert.

Full episode 🔗 💬 👇

Lately I've been removing distractions. Social media. Algorithms... and even certain people. Have you also had enough with all of this chaos that doesn't serve you? I'm cutting:

People who twiddle their thumbs and don't take action
People waiting for opportunity to come to them
Staying up too late (for me is 1030PM LOL!)
Scrolling the feed
Carbs 😂 

I guess... I'm frustrated.

I'm frustrated with being told hyperbole. For being sold ideas instead of outcomes. For clear massive selfish (and often unethical) actions that big businesses are using to survive.

And this doesn't feel extreme to think this way... in fact it feels like exactly what everyone should be doing.

It's what I should have been doing since COVID 2020, actually.

I felt most at peace 2018+2019. Then things felt like they changed.

I'm making more and more promises to myself that I will aim to keep to get back to that state where I felt truly balanced.

I hope you find peace, too. Even if it's with carbs 😁 

I'm cutting the noise by:
- Writing and reciting a creed every morning
- Intentional focus time
- Sleeping early
- Eating right

Back to the basics. Let's go produce results.

Have a blessed mid-week 🙏

Here's everything your competitor's partner teams are NOT doing that are the absolute LOWEST hanging fruit that you can do to stand out + drive impact:

In this order:
- Set a meeting agenda
- Ask direct questions about personal and company goals
- Discuss how you can achieve that
- Re-affirm the plan maps to goals
- Set next steps
- Take action
- Send updates on progress
- Hold yourself and the other person accountable
- If they don't do it, ask why, share how it impacts the program, give feedback where applicable, and move on.

I am constantly baffled at how this world of business operates. I used to be terrified of business meetings because I thought everyone knew what they are doing.

But no one has the level of rigor I expected them to have.

And this is your very opportunity to drive impact and excel in your role.

Be the difference. Get focused. Get direct. Don't beat around the bush. And simplify everything down to core revenue metrics.

Then go take action.

Being an adult can be hard sometimes. I can't believe I have to start caring about:

- The stock market
- The political climate
- The housing market
- Exchange rates (USD <> CAD)
- Country job market stats (influencing FOREX)
- GDP growth for a country (to determine where to live...)
- Whether or not the amount of time I've left the laundry pile is reasonable or not
- Calorie intake (to a degree... I don't count calories, but I actually have to care about my weight)

And so. Much. MORE!

Unfortunately, algorithms know this too well based on your age, location, and other identifiers.

And I don't even have kids yet... 😭 

I know I can do it. 
I have been doing it. 
I master something then move on.
I am more focused than ever. 
I have a lot of structure. 
I cut out noise.

Lots to be proud of here (and you should be too, life isn't easy!).

No complaints here, I just had this realization though and I never really thought about most of these things before... Oh how times felt simpler.

What's been a constant throughout navigating life has been:
1) Structure
2) Knowledge
3) Stress testing beliefs (seeing the other side)
4) Building things into lifestyle, not lightning strike moments (they don't work)

To keep sanity?
Gym
Sleep
Friends
Eat well (healthy)
Eat well (delicious)

Happy Friday!!! KEEP. GROWING!!! And pat yourself on the back :)

Across the 5 organizations I've been at, there were 3 common trends for top performing sellers that I've taken to heart and implemented viciously:

1) Networking 

They balance business conversation with more personable conversation.

Not just that, but they authentically engage within buyer networks.

Better yet, they had direct experience in those markets/roles, too.

They grew their network. They nurtured that network. They cared about learning more within that network. They wanted to help that network.

Partnerships enables this.

The top performing rep at Vidyard during my time was Josh Kirkham (now a VP of Revenue). Consistently hit and exceeded his numbers and worked seamlessly with partners.

2) Value first (hitting sales quota second)

Truly digging into the problem.

Not a canned set of questions.

Intentional curiosity, focused on an outcome for both parties to move forward.

Sales only come from value (shocker)... but also majority of sales conversations I've been in told me most chase the sale than they do value.

Partnerships also play a role here - if you understand the prospect's tech stack (integration partners) and who may already be helping them, then the translation of value is FASTER and GREATER.

Knowing their world (and which partners surround them) means a better value-first approach.

3) Extreme ownership and organization

These go hand in hand IMO.

Know what you're responsible for, then hold yourself accountable to it.

Constantly face reality (the math of things) and then get to work.

Disorganized work creates no clear path to goal. For you, your prospects, or leadership.

To deliver the maximum value (in #2), organization is key.

--------

I take this forward with me and continue ti learn. It's why I follow folks like 🏄🏼‍♂️ Scott Leese that speaks on the reality of sales today.

There's also a whole group of tech helping with this:
- HiFive 🙌 for activating referral networks
- Crossbeam for partnerships data
- Centralize for organizing complex deals
- The Swarm 🔆 for personal network mapping
- HiveSight for identifying who "surrounds" buyers

and more... I'm mapping it, implementing the strategies, and seeing it play out, and the data is compelling.

The best manager and leadership training HAS to be entrepreneurship... I am learning SO much about:

- training
- onboarding
- accountability
- empowering autonomy
- repeatability and efficiency
- organization and documentation

All being fed through the fire hose...

If I ever become an employee again, it feels like nothing will be able to stop me 😂🙌

Have a great, organized start to a productive week!

The irony is... unfortunately very painful. It's tough out there folks. Not sure when this domain was set up but within 2 weeks it was shut down.

No shade to this person... but there has to be a better way, right?

The domain switching and warm up for cold email surely has an end date to it.

Not saying you shouldn't cold email... there's just a better way.

Relevancy.
Quality > quantity.
Conversion > volume.
Trust > noise and spam.

It's just exhausting at this point seeing this continue to happen.

If most people on their deathbed say they wished they didn't work so much... why does anyone think 9-9-6 is a good thing?

Soooooo everyone's LinkedIn impressions are down, right? Clients with influencer programs are seeing it. Their competitors are seeing it (slower follower growth). What's going on? Anyone know? 👇

I have so much respect for demand gen marketers. You're marketing, but you give a LOT to sales & provide great air cover (when done right). You are the bridge between content + campaigns and revenue. The best part?

It's all based in the reality you can see in front of you.

Pipeline numbers. The math of coverage for sellers to have what they need to hit their goals. Conversion rates. Theories. Testing those educated guesses.

Yet... you still need to balance this with the same reality that "mindshare" can't be hard-measured for identifying brand impact.

Demand gen marketers, take a break this weekend. You've earned it 😂

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The Battle

Will Aitken

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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

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