True Data Driven Sales Performance to Boost Growth, Johanna Korhonen Dear Lucy

Wilma Eriksson: [00:00:00] Hi there you have tuned Into Fail and Grow. It's an opix. There is to say operational excellent podcast show. So fail and grow is for you who wanna increase your revenue and become more profitable. I mean, who doesn't? This is actually season seven and you the one who listening are fortunate enough to learn and laugh and listen to world class leaders within operational excellence who are not just full of knowledge, but also humble enough to share their fuck up and what they learn from it.

And your host is. I'm one of the co-founders and the CEO of Vox Q configure price quote. So what we do that is we, uh, increases the user adoption of your CRM. We take away all unnecessary spreadsheets where you do your pricing and quoting as of today, and we ensure. That is an error free process, and that will lead to, of course, an increased revenue and profitability.

That's enough about me and Vox Q. Today we're gonna talk about a really superstar within sales. [00:01:00] She works at a company called Dear Lucy. They are a sales performance management platform. They help, uh, over 150 clients globally in 20 countries to crush their targets on a monthly basis, ensuring the sales performance is really high.

So, Johanna, Nan, I hope I pronounce your name correctly, and I always ask a little bit about bragging before house, and you were like. No worries. I'm working within sales and you said, and I just love this, I'm a sales powerhouse lady. I've been working in mostly, uh, sauce sales for 10 years, selling to 140 countries directly from Helsinki, and you also led global teams.

So, uh, it's a, it's a true pleasure meeting another old, uh, uh, outreach superstar. Uh. Afraid or taking like that cold call. Uh, and that, thank you to you that you're here today because like Wilma, should we schedule that call? And you are so, so [00:02:00] welcome Johanna. Thank you for being that persistent.

Johana dear Lucy: Well, thank you Wilma.

And that was such an incredible introduction. Uh, it makes me humble, but uh, you know, we working sales and we're here to crush Target, so we shouldn't be too humble because.

For inviting me here and, uh, yeah, it's all about being persistent, whether that is, uh, connecting with new potential clients or podcast shows.

Wilma Eriksson: I totally agree. And with, with your words, what do Dear Lucy do and why did you decide to join them as a team?

Johana dear Lucy: Yeah, absolutely. So, um, I think you gave a really good introduction.

You could work for us in our sales, uh, as, as well, I dunno that, yes. So essentially what we do, we, uh, provide a sales performance management platform. That integrates with, um, the mainstream CRM. So we're talking about Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, [00:03:00] it enhances the, uh, analytics and reporting capabilities, so you can essentially track any KPI that you have, that, that then again, helps you to increase your sales and your performance and.

Data geek myself. I've always been data driven, and especially when it comes to sales, it's a very binary function. So sales is, uh, a numbers led function overall. It's all about hitting your quota. Counting how many Activ activities you've, you've done for the day. And I think, uh, sales teams overall could really, really focus on maximizing the performance and time spent on the correct tasks.

It's, it's a lot that sales teams usually [00:04:00] have to do on a daily basis. There's the admins.

With data analysis, you can really allocate where you focus your time on which activities you need to focus on, which accounts and, and deals and opportunities you need to focus on. And that, that is what we do. So we take, uh, the performance management to next level so every individual in the sales organization can have dashboard and.

What actions they need to do on a daily basis, whether that it's an S-D-R-B-D-R, inbound, outbound ae, um, a team lead manager management board. You, you know exactly where you are today and you know exactly what you need to do by utilizing your own data. And on your own, uh, sales anatomy. Really the ways that you, you close deals and do [00:05:00] business.

Wilma Eriksson: Very interesting. I always said that if you work with, with sales, my background is with the sales, and you don't know your numbers, then you don't know the strengths. Uh, and you don't know. I mean, your weakest links either. So if you are like stressed, I'm not gonna take my quota or will I, uh, you know, back and forth having that, uh, I mean, I, I assume everyone worked in sales have had that feeling.

If you know your numbers, then you can like drill it down and say, ah, okay, but they, if I focus on this now or these two things, then my chances will rapidly increase that nervous feeling, you know, getting lower E

Johana dear Lucy: Exactly. And, and, uh, utilizing. Intelligent algorithms, predictive analytics, sales reps don't really need to focus on on being data analysts.

They are not, and they shouldn't be, but they can use these intelligent algorithms to kind of map out, okay, so how much pipe do I really need to have? What are the [00:06:00] deals that I need to focus on? So we have all this AI emerging and data science that. Tell us. Okay, so these are the deals that I, I need to focus on.

This is how many more calls I need to place in order to hit my quota. I think, um, leading sales teams and, and being a salesperson myself, I, I want to crush my target the shortest way I can. So I, I want to hit my goals. And, and, and, and kind of be as lazy as I can without doing the extra work, so to say, because I, I think in sales, you, you have to take so many kind of missteps in order to hit your quota.

'cause you don't really know the way to, to succession. But, um, you can utilize data and kind of use that as your roadmap. Okay, so what do I need to do exactly? Uh. [00:07:00] Get this quarterly target

Wilma Eriksson: and we are almost entered today's topic, data-driven sales to have a really, really, uh, slick sales management performance.

But we are gonna do some, maybe not so relevant questions beforehand, but, uh, I think they're joyful. Mm-hmm. So, so here, here they comes. So your, uh, your favorite off the work drink. I don't know if you drink alcohol, but if you do, and you are maybe close that dream deal. Mm-hmm. Your current, uh, top target customer, you have closed it and you're gonna celebrate what you would pour in your glass then.

Johana dear Lucy: Well, I am a gin lover, so I, I always love a gin drink, but my ultimate favorite after work drink is an espresso martini. Mm. That is, is the one that gives you a little pick me up with the caffeine, especially five o'clock. And if it's a sunny day or if it's a rainy day and you need, you need a little extra energy.

That is [00:08:00] always my go to drink. But the um, uh, the importance is not to have too many because then you'll stay up. Very late with all that espresso after hours.

Wilma Eriksson: Yeah, it's an efficient, uh, drink in many ways. Yeah, I couldn't agree more with you. And uh, then I'm gonna ask you about something more maybe personal, but you of course decide where you wanna put the level.

So you funniest work related fuck up that you wanna share with us. What is that?

Johana dear Lucy: Well, I'm very accustomed to, uh, doing and saying a lot of wrong things at the wrong time because I work in sales and I have a lot of social interaction, and I think even with working in sales for over 10 years, I still somehow always mix up people's names.

And I think that's kind of. Like the dyslexic me, just can't get those names right. And that, that doesn't only apply to sales, but also Tinder. And I [00:09:00] always use the wrong first names when approaching the different people. Uh, but that's not my biggest thing that I could think of, but that's something that I do on a, on a weekly basis.

Uh, I think something that, uh, uh, I, I'm really not probably the most. Rigid when it comes to details. So I do a lot of contracts and obviously you need to get the, uh, data, uh, correct in them so the, the right addresses, the right amount, the right values, and uh, yes, I've, I've had my few mishaps with entering wrong information into official contracts, but I think the biggest one I remember this was years ago.

Uh, I. Big contract out that it was one of my biggest deals. And, uh, the delivery number, uh, was supposed to be a hundred K. So that was kind of what we were supposed to deliver as a company. And [00:10:00] the proposal, the official proposal I sent out with the paperwork to every stakeholder had 1 million, and it was late at night.

I was going through the contract and I realized, oh my goodness gracious. I have given them 10 times more than what we agreed on, and obviously that would've made us as a company in a very bad position. So I stayed up the entire night. I sent the messages late at night, like, I'm really sorry. I need to, I need to abort this mission.

I've, I've made such a big mistake with the contract, like, we need to pull this back. Please do not agree. Luckily, uh, my client, uh, sent me a message in the morning, yes, I noticed that you made a mistake and, uh, you weren't supposed to deliver, uh, a quantity of million with this, um, uh, deal [00:11:00] size and, and this value is, well, that was very nice of that

Wilma Eriksson: customer to like, we know that this is wrong.

Johana dear Lucy: Yes. So that, that was probably the biggest, uh, biggest fuck up. I can still remember even today, I, I literally stayed up the entire night.

Wilma Eriksson: Oh, oh, I'm, I'm good at this. Sold, I should say that it was sold. Yeah. And, uh, the first, uh, the first of the daily base, you know, that I wouldn't name, uh, my, uh, ex-boyfriend.

We were together for like 10 years. So he is still one of my best friends. Thank you God for that. Uh, when we dated like two. 20 years ago or something. Uh, he didn't even, he didn't recall names either. So we all, it was like, hi, dear, hi dear. And I thought that was very cute. And when we had been together for like four years or something, I don't know why we start talking about this.

Probably someone was dating someone, you know, back in the days, and it was like, yeah, yeah. But I did it to everyone just because I didn't recall the names and I was like. Huh. Well, okay. [00:12:00] So maybe if you're seeing using Tinder, you can apply Tim's way of approaching people, uh, or just,

Johana dear Lucy: well, I think in, in the English language it works.

You can call like, hello mate. Hello. Love to almost everyone, but I think in, in, in Finnish and Swedish is, is not the same. My dear love, but I can say everyone, but can say in Swedish, you can say,

Wilma Eriksson: uh, that, that you can say in Swedish. Okay. Like, hi, high Heart. That is, yeah. High heart. So un Finnish. I wouldn't, uh, I wouldn't dare, you know, to, to say anything, but maybe you have an idea.

Now we are gonna maybe continuously, uh, deep down here into the data-driven sales and sales management performance. Uh, and I know this isn't supposed to sell their loosely, but I'm also curious about your ICP. So, mm-hmm. Uh, I would be really interesting to hear the data-driven [00:13:00] approach also. From like, um, if you see the sales team in whole, uh, divided into different, like, I don't know, tiers, like 10 people or 50 people, or 500 people, if it differs, uh, and if they're Lucy matches, one of them better, then.

I mean, please shout it out here. We work with sales. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So data-driven sales and sales management performance. Uh, what's your take on that and what do, why do you think this is important?

Johana dear Lucy: Well, I think overall being data-driven and utilizing data is, is been a hot topic probably more than 10 years.

And by now every company should, uh, be utilizing data to. Drive business performance and operational excellence overall. Uh, but when it comes to sales as, as I said previously, it's so numbers led and very binary. At its core, it's, it's a measurable function. [00:14:00] So. Data analysis should be essential, uh, in, in leading sales teams and sales performance overall.

Wilma Eriksson: And do you think it, just like a side question there. Mm-hmm. Isn't it that for everyone now or do you still see that people are struggling with this?

Johana dear Lucy: Yes, absolutely. For sure. When it comes to like overall business strategic data analysis and, and the majority of utilizing data analytics, uh, it varies a lot.

I've been working in the field of analytics for seven years myself. So prior to Dear Lucy, I was working in another, uh, company called Super Metrics, uh, which, mm-hmm. Uh, provides marketing data analytics, so moving from marketing data analytics to sales analytics. And that was kind of, that was seven years ago when I joined that company.

And, um, and, and definitely of, I've been working with different data teams for quite a while now. The [00:15:00] maturity, uh, level, uh, differentiates a lot from one company to another. And I think when it comes to utilizing data. It's, it's a journey. Data analytics is a journey and you have to start somewhere. And obviously with, with all the tech and, and, and AE and, and the data science scene overall, taking a lot of bleeps ahead.

Uh, you can do a lot nowadays and sometimes that is also the. The downside of it. 'cause it can seem then very overwhelming. Companies don't really know where to start their journey and, and, and they feel like they, they could be like so many steps behind already that they don't even know where to start and how, how to, how to take the first step.

But, uh, I always encourage that, uh, just take the first even, even.[00:16:00]

In intelligence, uh, intelligent data science team and, and, and, and utilize data analytics to kind of like next level. Even there, it's important that, uh, you don't drown in in dashboards and reports 'cause then they don't serve you any purpose. Right, right. With Dear Lucy, the idea is that every role has.

The top KPIs that they need to manage their own daily performance. So for example, you look at the sales organization, not every individual have the same targets nor the same KPIs or, or Kio. So if you look at SDRs, they're most likely looking at activity metrics and, and maybe generated revenue that. And they had an impact on.

And then you have your outbound inbound expansion. Success reps. Everyone has a different, uh, target. So you have [00:17:00] your, uh, net new revenue, you have your churn, you have your upsell, uh, you have your new customer acquisition targets. So you really need to have. The data that serves your role, not the overall sales organization.

Then you have your sales managers, your territory leads. They're not really interested in individual level performance or how many calls have this individual, um, placed today, and then you go. Uh, into, into a kind of higher on the hierarchy. You have your whole management, you have your board, you have your investors, your other stakeholders.

So you need the data that. Important to that specific, uh, individual or team?

Wilma Eriksson: Yeah. Correctly Start somewhere. Uh, you have to start like [00:18:00] doing it and then Okay. Look into like, set a number of KPIs for each. Role that you have currently in your organization, uh, to get started in the next step, really to make it relevant for that person and really drive, uh, yeah.

Performance and ultimately revenue by looking at the right KPIs. So make it. Is it, uh, yeah. Is this to summarize correctly?

Johana dear Lucy: Yeah, exactly. So quite often the first step is to start to track data, first of all, and collect your own data. Uh, and then after you have some data, you can start to look at the historical data.

Okay, so what has happened? How did we come to this, uh, current situation that we're in? So. First step, uh, collect data. Second, look at your historical data. Then, uh, the third step is to, uh, utilize that historical data to guide your next best, best step. Okay, so how [00:19:00] can we then, uh, kind of define what to do next?

What, how should we make. Different choices, different moves in order to either replicate the success that we already did or aim high higher. And obviously after that, uh, we get the, uh, prescriptive analytics. So essentially. Using analytics to describe what you should do next. For example, uh, having a look at your entire pipeline analytics and then using different algorithms to, uh, have a predictive pipeline for costs, which then shows if you are.

Your activities, your pipeline generation, and then it can map out, okay, so how much more do you actually need to generate in order to hit certain levels? So [00:20:00] it's, it's a journey. Data analytics is, is a journey and. And you can be at, at an any step in your maturity journey, and the El Lucy can help with that.

We can help you with, with anywhere you are in your data journey, whether it is that you are just setting up your reporting and, and having your first report, or you've gathered some data and you want to do some historical analysis, or you want to take the next steps into predictive and prescriptive, uh, analysis.

Wilma Eriksson: Okay. Interesting. And what, how do you handle, uh, like when, when companies feel that their historical data isn't of the highest, uh, quality, uh mm-hmm. What is your recommendation then? What can, what cannot, should one go back in time? And, you know, what, what do you do when the historical data isn't? The highest quality, highest?

Johana dear Lucy: Well, obviously there's a lot of, uh, things that you can do to clean up that data, and there's different [00:21:00] tech for that. Uh, we don't really do, um, uh, data cleanup, but uh, what we do is, is, uh, we help the SA sales team to. Keep the data quality high from here onwards, obviously. So we have different, uh, CRM hygiene checks, uh, check reports, for example.

So I think that's probably one of the, uh, uh, most common issues in sales teams that the sales team, sales reps can be quite, uh, slow, let's say, let's put it politically that way, to update CRMs so we can help with that. So. Data culture, and I. Uh, kind of the perspective that data analysis has to be beneficial for the individual sales rep.

'cause I know, uh, in mo in most companies and in most teams updating [00:22:00] CRMs, that's kind of like the most tedious jobs that you have. And usually it's, it's perceived in a way that, okay, it serves the management so they get their reports and whatnot. And this is kind of like the, the. The thing I need to do without.

Without it giving back anything back to me. But I really want to reverse that thinking and, and, and kind of turn the tables, is that I want to challenge that every individual sales rep should know the anatomy of how they sell in order to sell more is in sales. It's. Perform, perform really well all the time.

Yeah. And, and understanding how you perform well is, should be at its core. Yeah. So I always talk a lot about taking responsibility of, [00:23:00] of knowing your own, uh. DNA of selling and, and this is what we can do, um, at Dear Lucy. And what we do is, is, is we don't just do the board and management reports, we actually do coaching dashboards for individual sales reps on their own data and their, uh, sales behavior.

And how to improve that and what to focus on in order for them to hit their quotas.

Wilma Eriksson: Right. Interesting. And when we jump into like, um, common mistakes companies do when they try to drive, they, they really, really try, they aim to be data-driven, uh, but for some reason they don't manage. Um, what would you see common mistakes that's leading to, I mean.

Not reaching the targets or being data driven. Mm-hmm.

Johana dear Lucy: I think it's probably two things. Uh, data [00:24:00] analysis isn't implemented into the daily processes when it comes to kind of sales day to day or overall company day to day. Uh. You really need to start your day with data and really make it mandatory for everyone.

Same, same as updating crn. That's a mandatory task for everyone in the sales team. And, and same should go for, uh, looking at dashboards and, and using them as, as your guidelines for your day to day. So you always open your dashboards and you see, okay, this is how many calls I need to make. This is how many meetings I need to.

I have this week. This is how much pipe I need to generate this week or this month. So really making. Uh, being data driven part of your day-to-day process, and it doesn't have to be complicated at all. And I think we come into [00:25:00] the second, uh, most common mistake, which is that a lot of the times I, I see companies over complicating the process, so they might have.

Reports and they might have 150 reports. You have your CRM reports, you have your BI tool reports, you have your spreadsheets, you have your every individual platform reports. Mm-hmm. And none of them make any sense. You don't even know what to look at, when to look at, and the data is incorrect in most of them.

So most of the time you're just looking at, uh, the discrepancies in data between different platforms and it doesn't serve you.

That's, that's where I always say, okay, start simple. Start with one dashboard or two. Don't make it overwhelming. Don't over complicate it because it's not gonna serve you any, any purpose. If you have a hundred dashboards, which no one is going to use, sales teams don't even [00:26:00] know where they'll locate.

They're let alone if they've ever opened them.

Wilma Eriksson: That's true. Sorry for laughing me just yet. Um, I've been selling CM, uh, for five years back in the days, and it was like mm-hmm. Yeah. But we start with one, uh, and we send that out to everyone, even though it's super basic. We start with that. So we you like mm-hmm.

Embrace the way you work, like always by an implementing something that has with it or SaaS with like, it's a change management, like the culture, like embrace it first and then we can. Okay. Drill down and do more reports with more dashboards and so forth. So yeah. Mm-hmm. Very interesting to hear. And uh, I have an idea, but um, of course you're the expert here, so I'm gonna ask you.

Yeah, of course. So what if, uh, effect and results could you expect when you have implemented this? You are doing it your daily, daily life. You look at reports, they are niche into roles. Uh, what could you expect in the clear numbers?

Johana dear Lucy: Well, as I [00:27:00] said previously, it needs to be beneficial for everyone and it needs to make you more effective.

Mm-hmm. So you only have a certain amount of hours in a day and in a week to do your job. And, and let's face it, we don't want to work more than those hours. And, uh, in, in sales it's, it's the same as well. So it's all about being the most efficient, but with the least amount of effort. Love that. And that is what data analysis can help you do is, is knowing where you should focus on and not to spend or waste any time on the ventures.

That will not be beneficial or fruitful to you. So let go of the opportunities, the data shows that gonna close, let go. You are never gonna, uh uh, um, you're never gonna connect with. And the [00:28:00] same goes for all your activities. So should I focus on making phone calls in Sweden or should I focus on sending emails in Sweden?

Or maybe you have a way that works in a different market that doesn't work in another market. So. Really becoming smart in the way that you do in sales, in not just different countries, but in different functions. So yeah, we talk about doing upsell and, and expansion and outbound and inbound.

Wilma Eriksson: Okay.

Johana dear Lucy: So

Wilma Eriksson: more efficient and better disqualification.

I hear. But do we have any numbers, some use in numbers that we are gonna share? Some customer stories, cases stuff. Uh, I mean obviously them implemented, they're Lucy, they're tracking this. They work with a data-driven sales approach. Do have any use in numbers you wanna share? I know that I'm stressing this, but I know that people like,

Johana dear Lucy: is it easy to kind of calculate the impact [00:29:00] of.

The overall, uh, revenue at the end of the day? Probably not then. And I think that goes for most of the, um, tech that is, is out there. It's not so imminent, but I think where we usually see the best result is, is, uh, in the, um, uh, time saved and kind of put into the hours of reporting and everyone. Does reporting to certain extent.

Some spend hours and hours in a week and in a month to do their monthly, weekly reports. I think that's kind of the immediate result that, um, when you automate everything and you have your role-based reports, they are ready for you. You never have to spend any time on creating those.

The impact on fine tuning all the processes. As as said, [00:30:00] data can show you and, and expose a lot of processes that are not working in your sales organization. So for example, if we look at, uh, utilizing deal scoring, right, you can then really. Which steps to make in order to map out the deals that will close and the deals that won't most likely close.

Wilma Eriksson: Hmm. Yeah. Very interesting. Okay. Your ICP then, which, uh, which sales organization could manage very well with the CRM reports? Uh, or is it everyone that should invest in another, uh, tool like Dear Lucy, or what is your experience?

Johana dear Lucy: So we serve kind of two, uh, so we have. [00:31:00] Customers who use, uh, DL Lucy for the entire sales organization, uh, management.

So for every role that you have. And then we have, uh, companies that use, uh, DL Lucy for management reporting, right? So where we really fall is in between CRM and BI tools. CRMs are great for relationship management, but they are not the greatest when it comes to data analytics or performance management.

So you can't really set targets for every KPI that you have. You can't see, uh, the progression towards those targets. It's difficult to see historical trends, map those out. Uh, utilize predictive forecast, for example. So whenever you've hit the limits of the CRM reports, that is when usually [00:32:00] people start to use and companies start to use DL Lucy.

And, and then when it comes to kind of management reports, uh, we are then used, uh, as, as a. Right. For, for management purposes, but for sales teams and individual sales reps. I said previously, I don't think sales, uh, people should focus on being data analysts or, or doing any, uh, data. Analysis or, or trying to decipher any of their data or really get that accustomed to utilizing BI tools 'cause those are very complex.

So, uh, is a very simple tool to. By the sales team. So it's aimed for sales teams to use.

Wilma Eriksson: Right? I think your dog has [00:33:00] very many important things to say here too, I think. I think so as well.

Johana dear Lucy: Uh, she also loves sales and sales performance management overall.

Wilma Eriksson: Oh, she's true passion by heart there. Uh, that's great to know.

Yeah. But, okay. Sorry for, but obviously everyone can hear the dog barking. Uh, interesting. And I can really see the value of that. Uh, as I said earlier, I mean selling c tools beforehand and now running a company and making reports mm-hmm. Everything that could ease it, uh, is, uh, yeah. Yeah. It's of course.

Very nice, uh, or a need, I would say. And also to have, uh, the correct, uh, numbers to make good analysis and ultimately take decisions on. So, of course. Mm-hmm. Very important. And, um, that little bit leads me to the last question within the topic today and. We are talking a lot about like internally [00:34:00] efficiency and so forth, but if we take the customers, like your customer's customers, why it's important for them that the organization trying to sell to them or selling to them have a data driven.

Uh, approach. You feel? So, I'm, I'm talking about our customers is, uh, no. Your customer's. Customers, really? So say you, uh, I know that you have, uh, what they are they called? Oh, no. Ingrid. Ingrid. Ingrid, qui. Yeah. I know you have Ingrid, uh, as a customer. Mm-hmm. For example. So it's important for Ingrid's customers.

That Ingrid uses their Lucy, what's the value for them that people, uh, at, at Ingrid have a very data-driven sales performance? What makes the customer experience better, if you will, or something like that?

Johana dear Lucy: That is a good question. What is the, um, uh, end result for the customer's customer? Um, I think it's probably from when it serves the customer [00:35:00] success.

Or the, um, expansion team. So, uh, recognizing new opportunities inside the already existing customers. Uh, from a sales perspective, I would say that's probably, um, the most beneficial. And obviously then well 'cause it's sales, revenue, um, uh, analytics, then probably those are not the numbers or the topics are really, uh.

Kind of discussed with their end customer, so to say. It serves more the internal purpose of the sales team.

Wilma Eriksson: And I think you, you mentioned one thing to disqualify like the, I mean, if you are going to enter Sweden by phone or email, if it doesn't work for something or regions, I mean. We don't have to nag customers or prospect, they're not gonna buy product X, C, or you know, so forth.

I think that [00:36:00] is, to me, at least a huge value. Mm-hmm. Like, focus on the one that's probably gonna date you or, uh, close deals with you, not the other ones, because you will just snag the. Them, to be honest. Ooh, sorry. My language. Yeah. Okay. Is there something that you would like to address that we haven't spoke about yet when it comes to data-driven sales and become really, really neat in your performance by this?

Johana dear Lucy: Um, I, I think I always kind of repeat myself. So start from somewhere. Implement data into your day to day processes. Don't leave it just. For your management to solve or for for management to.

Use it for everyone in the sales organization and make it part of your process and, and that's the best way to start really. Mm-hmm.

Wilma Eriksson: Good. Thank

Johana dear Lucy: you so

Wilma Eriksson: much and thank you for sharing. Now I'm super curious when you wanna be like [00:37:00] inspired by data-driven sales. Uh, where do you turn to? Is a book, is it someone at LinkedIn you follow?

It's a podcast show or, I dunno, where do you turn?

Johana dear Lucy: I'm a huge fan of LinkedIn. I'm very active myself over there, and I follow a lot of people, people on LinkedIn, especially sales leaders and all these new CR roles and, and revenue operation leaders that are arising and popping out everywhere. Yeah. Uh, but if I were to name one person, uh, who I've been following for quite a while is, uh, from, from here in, in Finland, uh, the co-founder of.

Does a lot of educating, um, education around being data driven and being tech driven as, as well. And he talks a lot about the, uh, benefits of having a rev AOPs function in, in a, in a company.

Wilma Eriksson: I couldn't agree more. Every time he posts, [00:38:00] he's like, I have to see, is this relevant? And then it's like, I read the whole post.

This too is relevant. So if you're not already following him, not depending if you're on SaaS or somewhere else, just it's, he's really good. Yeah. A very humble guy. Mm-hmm. And he actually recorded one of the first podcasts that now it's a couple of years old, but I think it's probably gonna be relevant. I don't recall what we talked about, but he's like an ever relevant person.

So podcast tips, if you'll, yeah. Okay, now it's your turn to wing. An answer to, uh, an earlier podcast that says some like random business question.

If you're looking to make a bigger purchase of some sort for your company, how do you get your board committed to that? How do you get them interested and how do you actually get a buy-in? This was from f Fredrich Strom, the CTO. Mm-hmm. Of advice and HubSpot Agency that I truly recommend. They're very, [00:39:00] very tech savvy.

Johana dear Lucy: Question. Um, I think I've been in a very fortunate position for both this company and my company that, uh, myself, as a sales leader, I've quite a lot of. Authority and autonomy in, in making new purchase decisions when it comes to acquiring tech for my team. And, and that could be beneficial, uh, but definitely building a business case, uh, from the user perspective.

So what is the benefit, uh, for it, for the individual user? I would say that's, that's where I've always started and, and really highlighting the importance in that. And I love tech overall. I've always used a lot of tech. So, um, and, and I think that's also drawn [00:40:00] me to, towards companies that have been tech positive.

And I just, I just encourage every. Curious and experimental with new tech.

Wilma Eriksson: I love that. Tech positive. Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna trade money to you, Johanna, and they're gonna use it. Very nice. So, uh, final three questions. Uh, what are main challenges in your business right now? Problem that you are addressing it.

Dear Lucy, uh,

Johana dear Lucy: I think sales has. Become more difficult in the recent years, not just due to whatever economical changes there has been going on in the world for X years now, but also due to tech and, and, uh. Kind of the volumes of products that are being [00:41:00] sold Yeah. To different buyers has increased enormously lately.

And uh, I think the problem that we solve is exactly that. So how to focus on the most. Beneficial cases for you and how to kind of stand out in the crowd, how to make your voice heard to the right crowd instead of just shouting to everyone and, and, and hoping for the best. I think that's, that's the most, um, challenging thing in sales overall is, is how to get your message heard to the right people.

Wilma Eriksson: Yeah. Couldn't agree more and make like, uh, there's so many initiatives and how should we make, uh, them prioritize UX Q above anything else that that could by solving probably other problems that they also have in their [00:42:00] organization. I. To really make it clear, both of course in our outreach, in our prospecting, in our direct customer, target customer, so forth, trying to be very, very knit.

But then when you have the dialogue, okay, why should they then prioritize you now? Because it has been so many, it's been, as you said, uh, tougher, uh, economic environment than the five year beforehand. Uh, and also there's so many different suppliers and vendors talking about like, we will do this for you, but Hmm, okay.

But that, and that, and that said so too, but from different angles, so. Prioritize. I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree more. Um, who would you like me to invite to this, uh, podcast to fail and grow?

Johana dear Lucy: I had a think about this and, uh, it's, it's, it's from, from your side of the Baltic Sea. Uh, I've, I've gotten to know this very high energy, super positive, uh, uh, sales.

Maybe you've met him already. He, uh, leads the sales in [00:43:00] Capy right now, but he has this super high energy that's just contagious.

Wilma Eriksson: And what was the company name you said? Sorry, I missed it. Capy. Capy, yeah. Capy. Okay. I don't know him. Marcus, you're so welcome. Mm-hmm. High energy. We love that. Right? Mm-hmm. And talking about, uh, high energy, um.

We are now, uh, on a bar together, drinking a very nice drink. And this favorite espresso martini. Espresso martini, and I love it too. I actually had had it, I only had it once actually first time. This summer, last summer, uh, because I don't, I don't really like favor coffee, drinks. And I'm like, oh, they're so sweet.

And my colleague was like, ah, come on. You have to try it out. You can't just disqualify. I was like, yeah, yeah, sure, sure. You have to try everything. Yeah, yeah. Once, you know, and I was thrilled. So we have a espresso martini, maybe one. Because I don't run that well[00:44:00]

come and I understand you have closed that big deal now. We are super happy now we're really gonna kick this body off, are listening to

Johana dear Lucy: uh, it's good.

Wilma Eriksson: Ooh, nice choice.

Johana dear Lucy: And this one has a story. Yeah. Because I've closed a lot of deals with this song. Uh, a long time ago I used to work in a sales organization where we had this culture of, uh, playing our victory songs.

Yeah. Through the sound system at the office. Every time we would close a deal so everyone would know each other's. Songs and that will be the best thing ever, uh, yeah, on a day-to-day basis when, when, uh, reps used to close deals and that would be, uh, my song at that time. So I have party to that song so many times and it always, uh, signals me the feeling of victory.

Wilma Eriksson: Yeah. Accomplishment, victory. I, we ha I had the same, uh, back at the serum company and [00:45:00] I mm-hmm. Uh, don't stop Believing with Journey. And that's actually the most, that's most asked for song in this podcast. I think we're three or four that, that same song. Really? Yeah.

Johana dear Lucy: That's core at, uh, uh, working in sales team.

You, you always have to believe there's a, there's a deal somewhere around the corner, even when it doesn't feel like it.

Wilma Eriksson: Yeah, look them up though. If you're data driven, you of course already know what it is. But Johanna, thank you so much for contributing, was a true pressure meeting you.

Johana dear Lucy: Likewise Oma.

Thanks. So much for having me. It was such a pleasure.

Wilma Eriksson: Cheers. Have a great weekend. Sometimes I get a good feeling,

[00:46:00] feeling.

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