AMA: Hedra Head of Sales-Led Growth, Justin Offermann on Influencing the C-Suite

Internally: I figure out where I'm uniquely positioned to provide outsized value to the company. That informs who I need to align with in order to gain momentum. Do I have unique insights on the market that product could benefit from? Do I have previous experience at a similar company and can provide insights into internal things that worked/didn't work (RevOps, pricing/packaging, etc)? Externally: champions --> key stakeholders --> decision makersUltimately you are selling to the decision ...Read More

Lead with the core points: Communicate directly with the core point/ask up front, not the backstory/context. Bring solutions: When flagging issues come with options or a plan (and make sure it's been thought out). Be prepared / Respect Time: Come to meetings with a clear understanding of agenda and goals. Respond to asks promptly and concisely - everyone is busy, don't take more time than you have to.Be decisive: When making decisions don't flounder. You already have the trust that you're the ri ...Read More

There's actually a lot of overlap here between my early music industry career (music agent - negotiating show deals for artist tours) and tech sales career. I believe comprehensive market understanding was my #1 value add in both cases. In music that was having a deep understanding of music trends / direction and communicating that to leadership in deciding what artists to sign.In tech sales that came from taking a ton of customer calls, living+breathing the market/category, and spending real ti ...Read More

I try to treat it like any other strategic sale: Ground it in outcomes: Tie the resource ask to specific outcomes (revenue, strategy, etc) and conversely what happens if we don't get the requested resources. Be efficient in your messaging here: “With X investment, here are the realistic Y and Z outcomes, plus the assumptions and risks.” Align to current initiatives: Frame the request in a way that ties it to things they already care about and are prioritizing. This shifts the perceived scope of ...Read More

Externally (with prospects): Early in a cycle, my C-suite conversations are about strategic discovery both for the deal at hand and for understanding the vertical more holistically as it relates to my category.  Those meetings are gold, even if there’s no immediate deal, because they help inform PMF, use cases, and how they think about the category. They are free focus group sessions, so come prepared to take advantage of that. As deals progress, this shifts to short, focused check-ins at a regu ...Read More

In general figuring out how to provide real value will get you exposure - a couple things that have worked for me in the past: Become the expert on something: Likely the best way to demonstrate value and get visibility with the c-suite. You can be an expert on product, a market segment, a workflow, or something else that the c-suite cares about. If you demonstrate expertise then they will lean on you for feedback, which gives you real value at the company and increased exposure with leadership.O ...Read More

Recently I had the opportunity to see a company grow from 10 to ~130 employees. Here's what I saw change: 10-50 employees: ICP / PMF investigation + discovery. Key partners internally are founders, product, and marketing. You're all trying to figure things out on the GTM side of things at this stage and there is a lot of cross-functional collaboration.50+ employees: Processes have been fleshed out and there's clear direction for PMF. There are defined leaders for marketing + product that you wil ...Read More

Customer / Market Insights: data-backed intel from sales calls to synthesize patterns on why deals are won/lost, how companies in various verticals are thinking about the category (and how that may be shifting), and general feedback on product to better inform PMF + ICP. Intel gathering is a critical aspect of the business and something that should be seen as a core responsibility of any sales person. Revenue Forecasting / Risk / Opportunity: Forecasting is an obvious part of the job as it's cri ...Read More

Common mistakes are largely the same both internally and externally (prospects): Not tying feedback/communication to clear outcomes. This is often more than just "if you do X, you'll get Y" there's a necessary understanding of the "unsaid/unknown" pain points. What happens if X doesn't happen? What does that mean for the company? Understanding things holistically is key to effective communication. Leaning on anecdotal evidence or opinions instead of data. Internally, if we need ISO compliance to ...Read More