Value Coffee Talk

In this episode, Tom Pisello and April Morley discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of AI in sales with Dr. Stefanie Boyer. They explore examples of successful sales AI tools, such as conversational intelligence. 

They also discuss the challenges of AI implementation, including the need for authenticity and the risk of automation at scale. The conversation highlights the importance of solving specific problems and considering how salespeople learn when implementing AI tools. 

The episode concludes with advice to focus on high-quality tools and avoid distractions.

• Successful sales AI tools include conversational intelligence and Quillbot.
• Authenticity is crucial in AI implementation to maintain trust with customers.
• Automation at scale can lead to generic and inauthentic interactions.
• Solving specific problems and considering how salespeople learn are key to successful AI implementation.
• High-quality AI tools should be built on a foundation of knowledge and expertise.

• "I'm really excited about building a foundation using AI on learning, on science."
• "Another tool that I like a lot that really helps to be able to get your messages to sound on point is Quillbot."
• "We use conversational intelligence to record every one of our calls."

In this episode, Tom Pisello and April Morley interview Jim Schattin, the Senior Vice President of Customer Success at Placer.ai. They discuss the importance of the handoff from pre-sales to customer success post-sales and the challenges customers face during the onboarding process. Jim emphasizes the need for clear communication, setting expectations, and establishing a mutual success plan with the customer.

He also highlights the importance of listening to customers and understanding their business problems in order to provide effective solutions. Jim provides valuable insights for customer success professionals and emphasizes the need for continuous onboarding and value delivery throughout the customer lifecycle.

• The handoff from pre-sales to customer success post-sales is crucial for a smooth customer onboarding experience.
• Clear communication, setting expectations, and establishing a mutual success plan are key elements of successful customer onboarding.
• Listening to customers and understanding their business problems is essential for providing effective solutions.
• Continuous onboarding and value delivery throughout the customer lifecycle are important for building trust and driving customer success.

• "It's like a big game of telephone out there, right?"
• "The whole name of the game is how do you get to value quickly?"
• "We're gonna have you drive the system and I'm gonna coach you through it."

In this episode of the Value Coffee Talk podcast, Tom Pisello and April Morley interview Mary Shea, the Global Chief Evangelist for HR AI firm HireQuotient. 

They discuss the importance of recruiting in today's business landscape, particularly in go-to-market and sales roles. Mary explains how Higher Quotient uses generative AI and automation to transform the talent recruiting process, automating the initial stages and allowing recruiters to focus on the human elements. 

They also explore the challenges faced by sales teams and the need for strategic talent management and enablement. Mary emphasizes the importance of building connections and personalizing conversations with prospects, as well as the need for continuous learning and curiosity in the ever-changing business world.

• Recruiting is crucial for success in today's business landscape, especially in go-to-market and sales roles.
• Higher Quotient uses generative AI and automation to transform the talent recruiting process, automating the initial stages and allowing recruiters to focus on the human elements.
• Sales teams are facing challenges, and strategic talent management and enablement are essential for success.
• Building connections and personalizing conversations with prospects is key to overcoming hurdles and driving successful sales.
• Continuous learning and curiosity are vital in staying relevant and bringing value to every conversation.

• "Recruiting 3.0 is here"
• "Sales teams are relying on less and less sellers to do more and more of the heavy lifting"
• "People are willing to share if you're not catching their interest, if you're not personalizing the message"

In this episode of the Value Coffee Talk podcast, hosts Tom Pisello (the ROI Guy) and April Morley interview Kathryn Landis, CEO and founder of Kathryn Landis Consulting, about the importance of building and cultivating great teams. 

Kathryn emphasizes that effective teams are crucial for driving commercial success and shares statistics that highlight the impact of ineffective teams on the bottom line. She introduces her framework, the six dimensions of success, which includes elements such as interdependent work, compelling purpose, diverse perspectives, sound structure, supportive context, and coaching. 

Kathryn also discusses the barriers that leaders face in building great teams and provides advice on how to develop a sense of purpose within a team.

In this episode of the Value Coffee Talk podcast, Greg Peters, an accomplished senior go-to-market (GTM) software and tech executive, discusses the challenges organizations face in building cohesion and vision. 

The discussion with hosts Tom Pisello, the ROI Guy, and April Morley emphasizes the importance of customer success and the need for companies to adapt to the changing market landscape in order to assure renewals and growth. 

Greg shares insights on leading with value, including how to best coach sales engineers and customer success teams to be more value-centric and build trust with customers. He encourages leaders to think differently and focus on adding value to customers.

• Building cohesion and vision is crucial for organizations to succeed in the rapidly changing market landscape.
• Customer success is more important than ever, and companies need to adapt to new ways of serving their customers.
• Coaching sales engineers and customer success teams to be more value-centric can help them build trust with customers.
• Leaders should think differently and focus on adding value to customers' businesses.
• Being honest, transparent, and setting the right expectations with customers is essential for building trust.

• "Passion, curiosity, and creativity are the three biggest traits I look for in sales engineers and customer success teams."
• "If you don't act as a strategic partner and you're not adding value, no pun intended, to the organization, then why would people see you differently?"
• "As great as Tableau was, we were also really good at saying, 'Hey, customer, we don't do that. That's not what we do well.'"

00:00   Introduction and Sponsorship

03:01   Challenges in Customer Success and Renewals

06:21   Greg's Career Path and Goals

09:17   The Role of Passion, Curiosity, and Creativity in Sales Engineering

11:58   The Importance of Trust and Transparency

20:19   Transitioning Sales Engineers to be Value-Centric

26:19   Building Trust and Setting Expectations with Customers

30:10   Final Thoughts and Advice

Why is storytelling so effective for marketing, sales and customer success?

What are the important elements you must include in your differentiating storytelling?

In this episode, Thomas Pisello and April Morley discuss the effectiveness of storytelling in marketing and customer engagement with CMO and GTM analyst expert guest Nancy Maluso.

The trio discuss and explore the elements of a great story, the role of the hero and villain, the importance of purpose, the proper-shape for the story, and the impact of storytelling throughout the customer lifecycle.

Why has value selling and success moved from a nice to have to a must have?

In this episode, Phil Mauritz, the Global Senior Director of Pre-Sales at Okta, shares insights on the importance of business value, strategic proposal management, and the impact of a value-centric approach.

He emphasizes the need for early engagement, data-driven advocacy, and the role of curiosity and empathy in customer interactions. Phil also discusses the significance of leadership, collaboration, and the agency to act within the organization.

As a Product Leader, in the face of changing buyer expectations and needs, how do you best optimize GTM?

What role should value-centric messaging and value-based pricing play?

In this Value Coffee Talk podcast, we interview Laura Fay, Technology product and Chief Product Office (CPO) expert, ex-TSIA analyst, and co-author of the book “Digital Hesitation".

The conversation explores the challenges faced by product leaders in delivering value in recurring revenue models. It delves into the shift in mindset needed for product management, the importance of value-based pricing, and the alignment of all teams on value creation. The discussion emphasizes the need for a holistic approach to the complete offer and the importance of aligning pricing with the value being created.

Why is value selling and realization so important for LAER?

In this episode of the Value Coffee Talk podcast, Thomas Pisello and April Morley interview Steve Frost, a go-to-market consultant and former vice president of TSIA. They discuss the concept of LAER (Land, Adopt, Expand, Renew), which was coined by TSIA.

LAER emphasizes the importance of customer adoption and value realization throughout the customer lifecycle, particularly in subscription-based and cloud-based offerings. 

The trio especially explore the challenges of renewals in the current market and provide recommendations for overcoming this with a value-based approach to LAER.

As a CMO, how do you best embrace and leverage business value not just for marketing, but across the buyer's journey? How do you get value into the DNA of the organization?

In this episode of the Value Coffee Talk podcast, Thomas Pisello and April Morley interview Andy De, the CMO at Verato, about the value-based approach to sales and marketing.

Andy shares his experience with value selling, starting with his time at i2 Technologies, where they measured the value delivered to customers and built a portfolio of value engineers. He also discusses how SAP took value-based selling to the next level by introducing benchmarking. This history lesson on business value engineering illustrates two key initiatives you absolutely will need in your own programs.

Andy goes on to emphasize the third key element, the importance of building a living library of customer success stories and use cases to guide customers and substantiate value claims.