Amplify Group

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If you're a founder, and you have 𝘯𝘰𝘵 hired your first sales or marketing person yet, here are two really simple things you should do ASAP to prepare for that v impt day - #1 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 These are GOLD for training and ramping a new hire. It allows them to hear how you pitch AND pause / rewind / re-listen to it as many times as they need to. AND they will hear the most common questions and objections...and how you answered them. This also gives your marketer amazing ammo for content creation. Bonus pro tip: Store these recordings in your freaking CRM. AND keep track of which ones led to closed won and closed lost deals. My favorite tool for this is Fireflies.ai which has a direct integration with HubSpot, so the calls go straight in there without me lifting a finger.👌 #2 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗖𝗥𝗠 Again, amazing ammo for training and ramping new reps PLUS it gives them breadcrumbs to follow to start jumping in and helping you with the pipeline ASAP. How can anyone help you without any visibility? They can't. Every CRM I've seen allows you to sync your inbox with it and auto-log your emails. Do it - now. Bonus pro tip: If you use HubSpot, check out Threads in the app exchange. It allows you to retroactively import all of your historical emails (all the way back to inception) for a $200 one-off expense. 100% worth it if you've been a slacker before now. There are a bunch of other things you 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 do before you hire someone full-time, but we'll save that for another day. Or you can schedule time with me 😎 But do these two small things, and I promise you'll be better off than 80% of the founders I speak to. You're welcome. ________________________ If you don't know me well, I'm Jess 👋 . Fractional CRO + CMO and #FounderLedSales Transition expert. Making go-to-market simple(r) and scalable for founders and sales reps, one startup at a time.

If the Algorithm doesn't concern you...Carry on. 🚶♂️➡️ However... The new report is out. Changes are (have been) happening on LinkedIn. We’re all looking for some guidance on this stuff.  The data may be the key. 🗝️ Here are some key takeaways (there's some themes 📉): → Overall Reach Decline - this one's pretty obvious. Potential reasons? More competition LinkedIn’s algorithm tweaks Shifting of the content preferences → Promoted Content is Up 34% Pay to play performs best (shocker? not at all) Why? LI wants the bag💰. Can't blame them. → Document Posts Down 43% - Also, not too surprising. Carousels only down 14%, though. Keep them tight: 6-12 slides, < 50 words per slide. Sharp designs that keep people scrolling though. 🖼️ People don’t have time for long reads anymore—brevity is key. → Short Text Wins - 12-20 lines with a punchy hook. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. Make them click on "show more..." The hook is always going to be the first (and most important) domino to fall. 🪝 🐠 → Engagement spikes 📈 40% of reach happens in the first 4 hours. 75% the first 24 hours. 95% by 48 hours. → Collaboration Boosts Reach - Multi-author posts are performing better. It’s simple 👉 Get more eyes on content. Teamwork makes the dream work 🤠 🛑 Make sure the tagged are commenting...Or you're just viewed as spam in LI's eyes. → Polls Effectiveness Drops - Polls’ reach is down. 👎 LinkedIn users want deeper engagement, not quick answers. I think we're all sick of polls (at least I am)...So good riddance. ✌ → New to LinkedIn? (or coming back from the dead?) Initial posts will have priority, but then the drop. 👉 You 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗 consistent engagement with other peoples content. Reciprocity is rewarded, especially early on. 🤝 → AI Content is Booming - Up 130%! Who's surprised? 🤣 Use AI, but don’t overdo it—people can tell when content lacks a human touch. (𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝙰𝙸 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍) What was cool 6 months ago, screams AI today. → Hashtags? Pretty much irrelevant at this point. Focus on good content, not keywords. ######## → 𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 - Short videos (60-90 seconds) are dominating. 25% increase in performance 🎥 Quick, vertical clips are outperforming traditional formats. Video is simply more engaging. And LI knows where their bread will be buttered. 🤑 🤳 My Take? We can all complain, but LinkedIn isn’t going anywhere—it is 𝗧𝗛𝗘 B2B social media platform. The algorithm will keep changing, and it’s our job to adapt. At the end of the day, video is thriving, overall reach is shrinking, and AI is here to stay. Authentic, value-driven content is still your best bet for cutting through the noise. 🗣️ So, focus on what works, ditch what doesn't, and stay ahead of the curve. Yes, things are harder—but that’s the challenge. The reward is still there for those who commit. If you made it this far, give it a reshare to help your network.

Every blog, every case study, and every #marketing deliverable is like a cup of sand.  The world sees 1 full cup, but the marketers see the 1,000 tiny steps that went into filling that cup. Today is a big day. I hit 'publish' on two case studies and a press release for a client. 5 months (!!) of work for ~1500 words that will hopefully have a 100x impact on their pipeline. Let's examine what goes into capturing and launching your first case studies 👀 • Website placement & development - where should they live from a hierarchy standpoint on the site? What should the case study landing page look like? What should it say? What content tags should we use? Ideate > write the copy > design the page > build the landing page and the CMS. • Client selection - Which clients should we talk to? What is the headline for each? We want diversity here, maybe 1 client from each ICP segment, each with a different and unique value prop to highlight. • Client engagement & approval - Now we need to contact them, schedule the calls (maybe reschedule them 3x lol), capture their story, and transform their words into compelling copy with measurable results. Then, chase them down to get final approval..... • Publish & promote - Once you get approval, you still need to publish the pieces with thoughtful design and photography choices. Then you need to decide when and how to promote the pieces through your social media channels, email, and other media outlets. More design decisions, more copywriting. • Maintain consistency - Getting the first few live is HUGE. But then it's important publish 𝘯𝘦𝘸 case studies every quarter because recency and consistency matter a lot in marketing. How can we continue to make this repeatable and scalable for maximum and continued impact? Phew. See what I mean? You need to consider, organize, and execute so many little but very important details for one baby case study. Moral of the story? Appreciate your marketers! And props to all of you out there managing 𝘢𝘭𝘭 of the little details that make the big impact. It ain't easy! I see you. I get it.   ________________________ If you don't know me well, I'm Jess 👋 . Fractional CRO + CMO and #FounderLedSales Transition expert. Making go-to-market simple(r) and scalable for #founders and sales reps, one #startup at a time.

Are you on the list?? There is SO much juicy content in our newsletter. And it's all available right now....on demand. For free. Check it out. Let us know if there is something specific you'd like us to cover in a future edition. Enjoy! https://lnkd.in/eq6RaKA3 #gtm #founders #startups #founderledsales

Brad Pitt and I are not dating. And your leads are not deals. I've identified Brad as a lead...but does Brad know who I am? Has he agreed to talk to me or take me on a date? No! The same is true of your fantasy prospective customers. I absolutely encourage you to build a list of these target companies and people, but they are not 'deals' until someone responds with the intent to learn more or buy. Pipeline structure and management are two of the biggest things I see so many startups get wrong. And it's not that hard to get right. ❌ They create deals (aka opportunities) when they identify a lead....not when someone has actually expressed interest and intent to buy. ❌ Their deal stages are a mess. They have too many stages, or they have a stage for 'on hold' where deals go to die, which throws off their conversions. ❌ They have 45 pipelines 🤯 ❌ They don't consistently move deals through the funnel using objective exit criteria or put bumper rails in place to hold people accountable. ❌ They don't consistently track key data on their deals that helps inform their forecast or future refinement of positioning, targeting, marketing, and more. You don't need a big budget or 12 tools for this. You need 1 tool - a CRM. And you need to clearly document your sales stages with objective exit criteria and systematically hold people accountable to follow the process as designed. That's it. That's all you have to do to obtain meaningful pipeline metrics that should inform so many critical aspects of your go-to-market. This also should* be something you get right from the very. beginning. of. time. Starting with your founder led sales motion. You'll thank me later. This is what I'm talking about ALL month long in my newsletter. Get on da list. 👀 ________________________ If you don't know me well, I'm Jess 👋 . Fractional CRO + CMO and #FounderLedSales Transition expert. Making go-to-market simple(r) and scalable for #founders and sales reps, one #startup at a time.

We're going to Nashville 🤠 If you're a startup in #nashville, don't miss your chance to meet our founder IRL on June 11th. Jess Schultz will be presenting go-to-market fundamentals and founder led sales best practices. Her specialties! And a special thanks to Nashville Entrepreneur Center for hosting us! See ya there! We can't wait. #gtm #startups #founderledsales

Building from back to front is the move. 👀 I was a great (new) seller because I had come from onboarding and ops. I knew what it was like to get a "bad" handover from sales. I knew what it was like to deal with mismanaged expectations, misinformation, and client frustration of having to repeat themselves... AND that ops background made me a stellar project manager and relationship builder. Key qualities of successful sales reps. I am a great marketer now because I was a seller. I know what support I wanted (and needed) from my marketing teams. I understand how important full funnel* marketing efforts are. How to balance top of funnel growth with middle and bottom of funnel conversion optimization. I also have more empathy for marketers now that I've done the job. I think a lot* of the frustration of sales people comes from not truly understanding what marketing really does or why. The more you can demystify and educate your internal teams on what you are doing and why* you are doing it, the more alignment you'll see. Not in big words or theories - in simplified and direct explanations of the fundamentals. What's the moral of the story? The best of the best come from the receiving end of that role. Don't be afraid to hire sales people for marketing roles, or ops people for sales roles. Look for ways to promote people through these paths internally. My two cents, anyway! ________________________ If you don't know me well, I'm Jess 👋 . Fractional CRO + CMO and Founder Led Sales Transition expert. Making go-to-market simple(r) and scalable for founders and sales reps, one startup at a time. #gtm #founderledsales #startups #venturecapital

Have you changed jobs and implemented your former tech stack at your new org? 🙋♀️ Did these former vendors reach out to congratulate you AND help build out your 90-day checklist to be successful in your new role? 🙅♀️ If you're looking to: → Book quality meetings for sales → Build quality pipeline  → Move up-market from SMB to Enterprise This playbook might be one to steal. 👇 https://lnkd.in/evnAtDVG Thanks to the massively talented team at Cognism for highlighting how we turned old champions into new customers with this evergreen campaign.

Jess Schultz of Amplify Group says, "Your customer's voice is the strongest voice out there when it comes to sales and marketing influence." Customer reviews on sites like G2 and Capterra are great for driving leads at every stage of your sales funnel. In the latest episode of the Hot Pursuit Podcast, Jess shared best practices for earning, managing, and fully leveraging reviews. 🔍 Top of Funnel - Discovery Review sites invest heavily in driving traffic, so having a presence there helps potential customers discover your product. "You get to ride their marketing tailwinds," Jess says. 💬 Mid-Funnel - Social Proof After a discovery call, follow up by sharing your glowing reviews. This provides immediate evidence that you have happy customers and do great work, building trust early in the sales process. 📞 Bottom of Funnel - An Alternative to References In complex B2B sales, prospects often request to speak with your current customers. Reviews can satisfy this need and reduce the burden on your existing customers. A Gartner study found most people trust online reviews as much as a personal conversation. The bottom line is this: Leverage your hard-earned customer reviews throughout your sales and marketing to attract more leads and convert them to customers. How do you collect and use customer reviews? Let us know in the comments! #reviews #leadgeneration #funnel