Collin Cadmus

Instagram and TikTok influencers earn millions but LinkedIn influencers earn nothing.

Why?

LinkedIn is early in the game and big brands haven't yet realized the power of the reach LI influencers have. Here are a couple of my thoughts:

1. You can reach 1M views on LinkedIn in a single post with less than 100k followers. That's impossible on Instagram or TikTok. So it appears LI influencers are less powerful with their reach, but really that's not the case. Big brands haven't noticed this yet.

2. LI is still generally viewed as a business networking site, but really it's evolved into a full-fledged content distribution platform. It'll take some time for big brands to recognize the value of getting in front of the LinkedIn audience. I predict it'll be more powerful than a bikini instagram account or a 17 year old dancing on TikTok.

Why? Because the LI audience has more money to spend than the average Instagram or TikTok user. The demographics are older with a higher average income AND it's hyper targeted. It'll become an entirely different brand endorsement strategy than you see on those other platforms, but the ROI for advertisers will destroy what Bang Energy Drink gets by having an IG model post a picture holding their beverage.

Mark my words, it's coming.

Thoughts?

Best sales advice ever in 4 letters:

STFU

Amateurs think sales is about being a smooth talker. It’s much more about being an incredible listener.

Don’t ask questions just to run down the list your manager scripted. Ask them to listen deeply to the details of the responses your prospect gives. Then follow up to dig deeper.

The best salespeople are like detectives, they’re searching for evidence proving why the prospect needs to buy, then they’re pushing for the confession (aka the close).

#sales

When a CEO wants a VP Sales to build, scale, and lead a team.

In addition to carrying their own quota...

What they're actually saying is they want you to pay your own salary.

They want someone to takeover all the hard work but don't want to pay them for it.

I strongly advise against hybrid closer/leader roles.

Very few exceptions to this rule.

Usually you're signing up for two jobs in one.

Which means at best you can deliver 50% quality to each.

Don't get tricked by a VP title if the job description also includes being an AE.

VP Sales should be helping their team close deals.

Not competing against their team for their own deals.

You'll hear many excuses to the contrary.

But they're always coming from a CEO who's looking for cheap labor.

Massive ego is something I fell guilty of at the end of my first VP Sales role circa December 2017.

I was coming off of 3 years leading a sales team that doubled revenue YoY. We grew from 4 to 50 reps and raised a Series A. I thought I was the sh*t.

Cocky, full of blind confidence, and impulsive. I went on to start my own company. I had an idea and assumed I could do the rest it would require.

I spent 8 long months pitching potential technical co-founders and angel investors. I was so confident this would be a walk in the park.

It wasn’t.

It turns out convincing engineers to quit their job, give up their salary and vesting equity, all to build and chase MY dream... is a hard sell.

Roughly 100 angel investor pitches... literally every single one said they love me, love my idea, but said to call them when I have my first ~10 customers. Too bad I needed their money to get to that point.

——

Lesson learned.
Ego checked.
But time well spent because I grew.

——

It’s easy to think founders are idiots and that you can do it better. It’s easy to think you can do it. But go spend 8 months living off savings and trying to convince engineers to build your idea and angels to fund it.

You’ll have a whole new perspective and appreciation for your founders.

How to build a sales career:

1. Spend 1-2 years in an SDR role making hundreds of cold calls

2. Have a military mindset, daily discipline, no expectations of a joyride

3. Never complain, every complaint sets you back with your manager

4. Don't expect fairness, life isn't fair, neither are sales careers

5. Be the best on every metric, especially those in your full control

6. Don't ask for a promotion, let your performance do the talking

7. Stay at one company for multiple years, consistency compounds

8. Educate yourself, don't rely on company provided training only

9. Make sales your lifestyle, it's not just a job, it has to be your life

10. When you become a closer, do everything here 10x harder

What did i miss?

Most AE roles start something like this:

1. Get promised lots of leads
2. Get promised lots of training
3. Get promised lots of commission

Then you start, and:

1. Have to build your own pipeline
2. Get very little training
3. Aren't earning anywhere near your OTE

This is why AEs are job hopping and begging to move into manager positions, but it isn't like that everywhere.

When you finally land a real AE gig where your company spends millions on marketing and sales development to keep your pipeline full, they invest heavily in building a sales leadership team to train and enable you, and you're hitting or exceeding your OTE...

That's when it's time to settle in and become a lifer at that company. Become a top performer and stay in that role for 5-10 years and earn a fortune.

A true AE role selling an amazing product with incredible marketing, sales training, and compensation... that's where you get the chance to live a very comfortable lifestyle.

Hang onto that job for as long as you can. Ride the gravy train and build up your nest egg.

There is no shame in being a lifer AE... it's a darn smart move when you're earning big.

Cheers to all of the lifer AEs out there earning big and living low stress lives with powerful job security.

I'm unclear on the usage of the BDR title for Sales Development roles.

1: Sales and Business Development are two entirely different things
2: Sales is nothing to be ashamed of, it's something to be proud of
3: There's tons of data proving the SDR title achieves better results in outreach

We've made so much progress over the last 10 years in changing the perception of salespeople. We've become ethical, we've become honest, we've become empathetic, we've become consultative, and we've made great strides towards equality. With all of these improvements, why still continue the lack of transparency with titles?

You should be proud that you're in sales and you should accept the reality that using an incognito title is not helping you achieve better results. It's just weird.

Call a spade a spade, and call an SDR an SDR.

#SALES

Salespeople:

Instead of binge watching Netflix this weekend try binge listening to your call recordings from last week.

Guarantee it’ll make you a better salesperson next week.

Want to make it even more interesting? Have one of your friends or significant other or family member listen to a demo call with you. Get an outsider’s point of view. You’ll be surprised the things they’ll point out.

#sales