Each week, Chorus CEO Jim Benton is joined by GTM leaders to uncover the insights behind the data of sales calls to inform the decisions that leaders like you make every day.
In this week’s Weekly Briefing, Jim was joined by Karan Singh, the VP of Revenue Ops at Procore Tech.
Karan shared that his large team consists of multiple centers of excellence and field operations, the magic happens in specialization.
“Specialization in Ops is super important. It allows us to be more efficient across the organization. We have to take care of our sellers and our CS organization to ultimately create the best customer experience as possible. That’s the name of the game for us.”
Starting broadly with overall meeting volume, Karan and Jim explored what has surprised them and what they’re continuing to look into.
“We’re looking under every rock to find every opportunity,” joked Karan. With Q3’s meeting volume down 13% from Q1, there is still some optimism.
“In the beginning - March Q1 - we saw a spike,” said Karan. “What we found was that a lot of our customers and prospects - who are in construction - were off job sites, but they still had to drive efficiencies and their business forward. Our opportunities to get in touch with people increased, so our meeting volume increased at that time.”
Even so, the meeting itself isn’t enough. The trick is to turn those meetings into revenue.
The Data Behind Outbound Productivity #
We can see that cold call dials are down 14% since January, but Connect Rates are maintaining a relatively steady state. Cold emails, however… those are up 60% since January.
“Warm outbound is the key,” said Karan. “When I say warm, it’s about providing our sellers with the info and guidance they need to have a warm interaction. We have a ton of great data that we’re able to share with our customers and prospects. We’re not trying to get them to buy at the beginning, we’re sharing at the beginning.”
To Karan, cold calls or emails are not in isolation, and they shouldn’t be seen as mutually exclusive.
“Not overly surprised that emails are spiking. The way that I look at it is that while I do care about emails and calls, I care about touchpoints overall.
Calls and emails are part of a touchpoint strategy. It’s not about one over the other, it’s how you mix those together. It’s about how many touchpoints you need to get the result you want.”
Whether you use dials or emails to reach out to prospects, it’s the way you do it that matters.
“How we go from cold to warm,” said Karan, “is the name of the game for how we go from prospects to customers.”
Do Cold Emails Work?
Ultimately, we’re building a partnership with these folks. We have to maintain our relationship with our customers. Empathy first.
Outbound Strategy Shifts to Empathy #
Empathy is still the leading strategy for outbound messaging.
“We believe in empathy. All of our customers are going through a journey just like we are. The conversation we’re starting with is, ‘How are you doing? How can we help? How can we be better partners in the construction space?’” Karan added, “Ultimately, we’re building a partnership with these folks. We have to maintain our relationship with our customers. Empathy first.”
Some Industries are Weathering the Storm. Some are Taking a Hit. #
We’re seeing progress and challenges across industries. Knowing what industries are thriving can help sales orgs focus their efforts on those, and provide support to those who need more time to weather the storm.
“Ultimately, if we know where there’s opportunity or know where people are struggling,” said Karan, “we’re able to be nimble and orient ourselves towards a target market. We’re able to mobilize our forces towards a market that’s ready for them.”
His Motto: “Iteration over perfection.”
How should sales teams support those industries who are struggling? Karan says: Empathetic support.
“We’ve been listening,” said Karan. “Sitting and listening to our customers and understanding their position. Then we can figure out what we can do to support them in this troublesome time.”
Procore developed creative offerings and flexibility for their customers.
“We had a specific product that was around safety,” he said. “We determined if there’s a possibility to offer a freemium service for the time being, especially for these industries or companies that are particularly challenged.”
Which Markets Are Most Active?
You have to think about your wellness and health. And that ultimately is a driver of productivity.
Team Wellbeing IS Productivity #
Jim showed data that we have reported on in the past: Sales teams are working harder and longer than ever.
We can see that meetings are starting earlier in the mornings and starting later in the afternoons. The most significant behavior change is the latter. Afternoon meetings starting after 4 pm are up 137%.
Knowing this, leaders have to do what they can to prioritize the wellness of their teams while they are also driving productivity forward. It’s a delicate balance, but Karan believes they are not mutually exclusive.
“The compartmentalization I had between work and family has completely disappeared,” said Karan. “My daughter is sending emails with me late at night. And I think people are starting to see there is a lot of fatigue that comes from that too.
Awareness is all-important to Karan and Procore. He said that they are big advocates of rest days, and are mindful of their teams’ mental health.
“I know I’m a Rev Ops person who talks about numbers,” he said lightly, “but it is super important to address how we take care of our people. Yes, the days are longer. But you have to think about yourself first.
You have to think about your wellness and health. And that ultimately is a driver of productivity. Focusing on that is super important.”
Predictions for Q3 #
The key to winning Q3 and beyond? Optimism and productivity.
“Post pandemic,” said Karan, “everything is uncertain. Predictability is what I built my career on - it’s out the window. What we need now is Optimism and Productivity, and we have to lead by example. Through optimism, persistence of effort will continue.
There’s no magic bullet, we have to keep problem-solving and persisting.”
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