When I left LinkedIn and boldly decided that I would take the rest of the year off, I was elated about what lay ahead. There was nothing but time ahead of me – time to read the 1546 articles I had been saving up to nerd-out on, time to get to the gym every day, time to volunteer more and time to catch up with all the friends I hadn’t seen in far too long. However, when I told my friends and colleagues what my plan was, the proclamation immediately spurred the question, “Who is running the betting pool that you won’t last more than a month off?” Alas, my friends know me better than I know myself, and while some of the above absolutely happened, I still barely lasted three weeks.
As we each advance through our career paths, we gain valuable experience that allows us to fine tune what we love to do professionally. What consistently rises to the top of that list for me has been, and forever will be, that my heart beats for making a positive impact in this world, in any way that I can. It’s what is behind so many of the decisions I have made in my life, is entirely why I started #samsales and it is finally what leads me to excitedly announce the formal launch of #samsales Consulting.
When I announced my recent departure from LinkedIn, I was surprised and humbled by the substantial number of friends and former clients who approached me with two very similar messages:
“We’ve been able to scale our company to a degree, but we keep running into hurdles and I find myself thinking, ‘What would Sam do?’ So, now I’m formally asking for your help.”
“Less than 50% of our sales team hit quota last year, and our leaders either don’t have enough time devoted to coaching or aren’t quite there in terms of how to guide their account executives (AEs). Come straighten us out.”
Many of these common problems were ones I knew I could genuinely impact if given the time to dig in to the issues and lend my experience. In addition, I started to examine the data I had amassed from four years of posting #samsales content, which revealed the same themes – sales professionals at every level asking for advice and guidance for themselves or their teams. I recognized these patterns and realized that by capitalizing on my years of repeated sales and leadership success, at some of the most recognizable names in SaaS sales, I could make an impact that would be felt across a variety of companies as opposed to a singular team or set of teams that I managed within one organization. The possibility of helping sales leaders, marketing leaders, executives, and business owners elevate their game to reach their goals and achieve even more success was too inspiring to ignore, and the path forward became crystal clear.
#samsales Consulting provides analysis of business practices, sales, marketing, financials and everything in between. It brings together my years of experience and strategy to operationalize and coach across the most important areas of one’s business, and leads to improved performance in AEs, fresh methodologies for marketing and a better grasp on predictable revenue and spend.
Together, with my first clients, I’m proud to say that we’ve achieved some truly amazing results in just the first few months of engagement. AEs have refined their processes and seen the value in doing so. Attorneys have adopted and used LinkedIn Sales Navigator in new and innovative ways and have tied its use back to their business development plans and revenue goals. Enterprise sales teams have refined their messaging and increased their meeting booking rates by anywhere from 70 – 300% (one client even set a record for most meetings booked since they started their business several years ago!). And of all our results, the most impactful news to report so far is that we are nearing the finish line on getting one of our first companies acquired.
I can’t wait to see what happens next and, as many of you know, the enthusiasm that I bring to this space will be never-ending. Thank you for the endless amount of support and encouragement you have all already given me! Now, wish me luck!
– Sam