What are the most powerful, non-executive, relationships in sales departments a PMM can create?

1. Many companies have a form of President's Club. Congratulate every single awardee. Ask to join them on the next drive-by with prospects/clients. these are the best reps you company has. there is probably a reason they are good 

2. Listen in to tele conversation (be it inside our outisde sales). these are always extremely insightful and eye opening. Succinctly telling your story in 20 seconds is so hard. 

3. Get to know the sales ops / rev ops team. they are critical partners in providing you with lead / pipeline data

4. Check-in with field marketing. they hvae their feet to the ground in terms of events and campaigns and can give great insight to personality traits of individual sales department members 

When it comes to PMM core duties, typically who are the best partners in the sales org, who has the knowledge and the customer touch points to really help PMMs win?

I imagine this is specific to each organization, but for me it’s all about identifying your power players within sales and customer success. In my team’s onboarding, I actually recommend finding a “BFF” on sales and marketing in their first 90 days. It pays major dividends in their success down the road. Here are the teams and personality traits I find myself looking for:

1. Sales engineering or solutions consulting: Just make this entire team your best friend. I have never found a bad partner in my pre-sales team. They are typically super connected to buyer perspective and are more likely to be strategic thinkers that can test things on the fly for product marketing. They are also a great extension of any launch strategy and change management for things like existing demos or collateral.
2. Customer Success: I can’t say enough for finding a CS BFF. Customer success engagements are often the best leading indicator of general customer health and what to expect during renewals. Find a customer success manager or two who will allow you to ride along on calls or build things like Chorus or Gong playlists for you to listen into and commit yourself to actually listening!
3. Account Execs: This is a tricky one. If you make yourself too open, you may find yourself at the end of a never-ending request list from certain folks on your sales team. My approach to finding good partnership with specific reps comes via sales management. I typically ask managers for a rep or two to connect with on an initiative as it arises. Also, pay attention to who is proactive to your communications. Certain reps are more likely to respond to your slack messages and requests for help in team channels. That is a good signal that they are eager to partner.
4. Sales & CS Management: The last group that is important is your frontline managers. I find from an enablement perspective, any material or program you release is only as powerful as your sales management adoption. If the managers aren’t bought in and won’t reinforce with their teams, you are not going to see success. And on the flip side, they are great to get better insight into challenges and focus areas for their team that can help you prioritize what you work on at scale vs. the loudest voice in the virtual room or slack. :)

Where I've found the most valuable bi-lateral relationships within the Sales org (outside of sales leadership) has been with teams that have access to data that can help my team inform where we can lean in more to help sales.
These are sales ops type teams that have an eye on the sales funnel, and are able to provide quantative data that paints a picture of sales health. How are deal progressing through the funnel, where are they getting stuck and why? This quantative data combined with the qualatative research our PMM team drives, helps reall prioritize where we can spend our time better enabling the sales org.

Outside of that, we find it really valuable to have a handful of strong relationship with members different sales orgs (SDRs, RMs, AEs) to provide feedback and input on any projects we're working on. 

In a sales department, Product Marketing Managers (PMMs) can cultivate several powerful relationships that are not at the executive level but have a significant impact on sales effectiveness and success. These relationships help bridge the gap between marketing and sales, ensuring alignment and driving better outcomes. Some of the most impactful relationships include:

1. Sales Managers and Team Leads: Building strong connections with sales managers and team leads allows PMMs to understand the day-to-day challenges faced by sales reps. Collaborating on sales enablement strategies, messaging, and addressing specific sales needs can lead to more effective support.

2. Sales Enablement Teams: Partnering closely with sales enablement teams ensures that training, resources, and tools are aligned with the sales team's requirements. PMMs can provide insights into product positioning and messaging for better enablement content.

3. Top-performing Sales Reps: Developing relationships with top-performing sales reps allows PMMs to learn from their insights and successes. These reps often have valuable feedback on messaging effectiveness, objections, and customer preferences.

4. BDRs and SDRs: Building rapport with Business Development Representatives (BDRs) and Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) ensures that lead generation efforts are aligned with product messaging and target audience needs.

5. Customer Support and Success Teams: Collaborating with customer support and customer success teams provides PMMs with valuable customer feedback and insights, which can be used to refine messaging, address pain points, and improve product positioning.

6. Solution Consultants or Engineers: Establishing a relationship with product specialists or engineers allows PMMs to gain deeper technical knowledge about the product. This helps in creating more accurate and compelling messaging.

I recommend building relationships with the canaries in the coal mine. What I mean by this is people who may not be decision makers but will be vocal, and may not often get "heard" from other teams or leaders in the department. If you can listen to their feedback/warnings/suggestions, prioritize any real threats, and take action cross-functionally not only will you build trust and credibility with that person, but the whole sales team will trust you and want to work with you more strategically. 

There are also the obvious choices of ADRs (they are the front lines!), sales enablement, etc.