Chris Orlob
@Chris_Orlob
Followers
4,755
Following
1,379
Media
1,455
Statuses
5,037
Helped grow Gong from $200k ARR to $7B valuation | CEO at - #1 skill transformation platform for revenue teams.
San Francisco, CA
Joined November 2011
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
#HouseOfTheDragon
• 377565 Tweets
#LaCasaDeLosFamososMx
• 228733 Tweets
フワちゃん
• 226821 Tweets
#LCDLFMX2
• 195871 Tweets
Gala
• 106436 Tweets
Rhaenyra
• 105957 Tweets
日経平均
• 95763 Tweets
Ricardo
• 90159 Tweets
Daemon
• 89485 Tweets
Daenerys
• 86597 Tweets
Karime
• 82821 Tweets
Shanik
• 69626 Tweets
NISA
• 59578 Tweets
Alicent
• 51738 Tweets
Arath
• 44235 Tweets
ニコニコ復活
• 42562 Tweets
ブラックマンデー
• 32677 Tweets
Black Monday
• 28533 Tweets
Adrián Marcelo
• 25767 Tweets
ビットコイン
• 23092 Tweets
Chivas
• 22529 Tweets
株価暴落
• 19866 Tweets
ストップ安
• 17835 Tweets
PRABOWOkerja TanpaLELAH
• 15473 Tweets
KitaTANGGUH KitaDISEGANI
• 14841 Tweets
サーキットブレーカー
• 13404 Tweets
#stockmarketcrash
• 13344 Tweets
仮想通貨
• 13290 Tweets
リーマンショック
• 12481 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
I helped grow Gong from $200k to $200M ARR in 5 yrs.
Customers routinely told us our sales demos were 2nd to none.
9 lessons I learned about sales demos I'll never forget:
(no one does
#5
, yet it's the easiest)
9
12
230
Hey salespeople:
I talk to 3-5 Chief Revenue Officers every week.
Guess what we talk about?
What separates their best reps from others.
Here’s 4 patterns I hear every week:
12
9
129
20 years old: $8.50/hr at Sears.
21 years old: First child (surprise!).
22 years old: $40,000 as an SDR.
22 years old: promoted to AE. $142,000 W2.
23 years old: Started 1st business. 18 mos no pay.
24 years old: 1st business closes. $60k savings gone.
25 years old: Join Gong
8
3
82
95% of the questions salespeople ask are worthless.
They don't help you sell.
They annoy buyers.
They burn precious meeting time.
If you could only ask 4 questions in a discovery call?
Here they are.
//thread//
4
4
87
The two worst questions to ask during sales demos:
- what questions do you have?
- does that make sense?
That's what 90% of salespeople ask.
Want to join the top 10% of income earners?
Try these 10 questions that make demos sell:
2
5
76
Between 2016 and 2021, Gong grew from a tiny startup with $200k ARR, to a staggering $7.2 billion valuation and half a billion in the bank.
Customers routinely told us our sales demos were 2nd to none.
Here's 9 lessons I learned about SaaS sales demos I'll never forget:
👇
4
3
62
20 sales cheat codes I wish I knew when I started out:
1. Buyers will spend more to relieve pain than to achieve gain. Stop obsessing about product benefits. Start obsessing about customer problems.
2. The biggest opportunity your competition is probably not leveraging is deep
5
4
47
"You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate."
3
11
42
2
37
40
The worst salespeople look to the buyer for next steps.
They don't take a leadership position.
They don't know what to do next.
They hope the buyer does.
Their deals stall and die.
GOOD salespeople *recommend* next steps.
They know that selling is an act of leadership.
2
1
41
The worst salespeople, chase.
When a buyer has no problem?
They try to convince them that they do.
The best salespeople never do this.
The best salespeople attract, not chase.
When a buyer doesn't have a problem?
They say things like this:
"Sounds like things are going
2
3
40
Hot take: Hiring an enterprise AE at your startup is a mistake 95% of the time.
If they fail, it's rarely their fault. It's yours.
You set them up to fail. Here's why:
Selling to the enterprise is not an individual effort.
Selling to the enterprise is not a sales team
4
1
35
If you “fell into sales,” do yourself a favor: either commit to it, or get out.
Sales is a performance career.
If you’re half in, half out, you’ll suffer a mediocre existence.
Either choice is fine.
Choose.
5
3
34
difference between
#market
-driven and
#marketing
-driven: spending time IN the field vs. sending materials/promotions OUT into the field.
0
0
5
I've reviewed over 2,500 SaaS sales discovery calls in the last few years.
There's one thing I'm convinced of:
Top salespeople get to the "heart of the problem" FASTER than their peers. SPEED to uncovering the 'real' issue matters.
Here's why:
1
2
26
8 ways to build more urgency in sales:
1. Ask a filtering question.
“What challenge are you facing that you’d regret not solving in 6-12 mos?”
Filters out “nice to solve” answers.
“Must solves” only.
Here's 7 more ways to build urgency:
1
2
26
Last week, a struggling sales rep shared that she wanted to earn $350,000 a year in sales.
"Best advice on how to get there?" she asked.
Here's the answer I gave:
Me: "Can I tell you a story?"
Her: "Sure can."
Me: "Six years ago I went to dinner with the CEO of Gong. I
0
4
25
Two years ago I left Gong at a $7.2B valuation.
5 years earlier when I joined? 20 customers.
During those 5 years, I worked with dozens of $1B unicorns.
9 things I noticed about SaaS companies that go onto become unicorns:
1
1
36
Cold email hack:
Make the call to action EASY to say ‘YES’ to.
None of this “got 30 minutes tomorrow?” Execs live in time and attention poverty.
Just ask “Interested in hearing more?”
6 more
#coldemail
hacks:
3
3
23
Opinion: 97% of SaaS AEs give terrible sales demos.
At best, you bore your buyers. At worst, you irritate them.
Want to be in the 3%?
Use this 8-step framework to run shockingly-great SaaS demos that sell:
The F.A.V.O.R.I.T.E. acronym:
[Continued...]
1
1
22
Biggest crock of bullshit sales advice being hawked today:
Asking your buyer, with a fake concerned tone:
"Omg... sorry to hear that. How is this going to impact you personally?"
"Omg... what are the consequences of doing nothing here???"
News flash:
If you sell B2B?
Your
0
0
23
Salespeople: Normalize disqualifying buyers who aren’t serious, don’t have pain, don’t have power.
Plenty of deals out there.
Stop chasing bad ones.
4
1
22
Life hack for salespeople.
Add a P.S. to every cold email.
The P.S. is the most-read part of every email.
8 other underrated sales hacks:
3
1
21
The best salespeople I know are short-term pessimists and long-term optimists.
5
2
21
A LinkedIn Editor Reveals How to Get Featured and Go Viral on the Site - by
@juanblanco76
#linkedin
#b2b
0
12
19
Unsolicited financial advice to salespeople:
If you work for a company that's CRUSHING it through hypergrowth, and you're making a ton of money:
Don't go buy a home at the upper end of your affordability limit.
Why?
Because hypergrowth companies OVERPAY during the hypergrowth
5
0
20
I have a friend who made $300,000 in tech sales by age 25.
I have a friend who made $350,000 in tech sales by age 26.
I have friend who made $500,000 in tech sales by age 28.
I know several friends who made $1,000,000 in their early 30s.
Here's the commonality every time:
👇
3
1
16
0
2
18
If I could only ask 4 discovery questions in
#Sales
to build pain (the kind that money follows), here they are:
(the order here matters intensely):
2
2
18
1. Show the most powerful feature FIRST.
Most SaaS sellers don't do this. They 'build up' in a 'ramp up' demo.
Wrong.
Flip it upside down and show the top feature upfront.
Let your buyer's head spin (in a good way).
Unpack from there.
2
0
21
1. Business acumen.
I hate to say this.
But AEs with business acumen are becoming rare.
Most can talk about their product.
Most can talk about their competitors.
But start talking about financial statements?
Deer in the headlights.
3
1
18
Here's my all-time best sales hiring advice:
You can teach the brake.
But you can't teach the gas pedal.
4
1
16
My first year in SaaS sales, I made $36,000.
8 years later, I helped grow Gong from $200k to $200M annual revenue (and made 'far' more).
Here are 8 SaaS sales tips I wish I knew when I started:
[Continued...]
3
2
17
My first year in SaaS sales, I made $36,000.
8 short years later, I made $1.6M in annual income.
Here are 5 sales tips that can help you do the same:
1
0
16
Dear aspiring entrepreneurs:
I'm BEGGING...
BEGGING... That one of you invent something so I don't have to use my email address to sign up for every piece of software I need.
Signed,
A Clusterfucked Inbox.
3
0
16
SaaS AEs:
Here's how to go from "annoying rep" to "trusted advisor"
(and close way more SaaS deals):
Offer new ways to think about the 'cause' of your customer's problem.
Example:
[Continued...]
1
4
16
As a sales professional, you are guilty until proven innocent in the eyes of your buyer.
Plan your sales calls accordingly,
1
0
16
I helped grow
@Gong_io
from $200k to over $200M in ARR.
Here are 11 SaaS sales tips I learned the hard way:
2
1
14
90% of sellers are terrible at group demos. 3+ buyers on a demo? 5 steps to running group demos that close:
STEP 1: 'What we heard'
Most often, you've only met 1-2 people on the demo.
The other on the call?
They're 'new voices' in your deal.
They're not up to speed.
Spend
1
0
14
Salespeople:
Ask these 7 questions so your June deals DON'T slip to July.
Fail to ask these? You're TOAST.
1. What's changed since last we talked?
The world is in flux right now.
If you don't stay on top of your buyer's changing situation, you'll lose.
2
0
15
7. Tell a story after every key feature.
Want your buyer to think about your demo for days?
Tell a customer story after each click path.
"Here's how X customer is using that workflow to solve Y pain"
People remember stories and forget click paths.
1
1
16
Last quarter I had a sales call with a famous SaaS CRO.
We were negotiating a contract to get his entire team on our online courses for SaaS sellers.
Here's how it went:
2
3
14
5. Orient them to the screen.
Most buyers 3 minutes into SaaS demos:
"WTF am I looking at?"
Before you click around, explain what they're seeing.
The confused mind says 'no.'
1
1
16
2. Life-threatening curiosity.
Some reps aren't curious.
Some reps are "kinda" curious.
But the best reps?
They peer into your soul.
Their curiosity is almost piercing.
1
1
15
I started at Gong in Nov 2016 at $200k ARR.
Our closest competitor?
Same: $200k ARR
Five years later:
Gong's valuation: $7.25B
Competitor's: $500M
15x difference.
How did we do it?
6 competitive selling tactics we used to win an unfair share of competitive deals:
2
1
14
Salespeople:
If you want to close BIG deals in this economy...
Creating a bullet-proof business case is a "must have" not "nice to have."
Here are 5 steps for building business cases that close an average deal size of $1.19M.
Examples included:
3
1
14
It's amazing how much work you can get done when you turn off Slack, phone, start a 60 minute timer, and commit to focusing for that window of time.
Big task I've been putting off for a week.
Done in 25 minutes.
4
0
14
The two most valuable people in the business world:
Sellers and creators.
There is no greater talent than making something people are willing to spend money for.
There is no greater talent than persuading another human to wire money from their bank to yours in exchange for
4
1
13
I wrote demo scripts that closed $100,000,000 worth of SaaS.
Here's what I've learned:
97% of salespeople give terrible demos.
They bore their buyers at best.
They annoy their buyers at worse.
Want to be in the 3%?
Use these 8-steps to run demos that sell:
🧵👇
1
1
13
5. Strategic thinking.
Deal strategy sessions are depressing.
As a leader, you might ask a rep:
"What do you think we should do next on this one?"
"Call and email boss!" is what you often hear.
Sad.
Great reps think hard about their deals.
What do we do next?
With who?
0
0
14
How to Cold Email Prospects and Turn Them Into Paying Customers:
Here's The Exact, Word-for-Word Email Template I've Used Over 100,000 Times...
As I Grew Gong From $200k to $200M (And My Own Startup from $0 to $3M In 8 Months Flat:
0
2
11
0
1
13
The highest paid people in the world get paid on outcomes.
Not hours, rates, or salaries.
Getting paid based on outcomes takes guts.
Zero entitlement.
0
0
13
@privateinequity
You should see my calendar, Gong, recordings, and collection of contracts that are signed. This is not a course. This is an online learning platform with many courses, not unlike coursera for GTM professionals. We sell to businesses every day.
0
0
12
"The uncomfortable truth is that innovation grows out of pressure and challenge."
#innovation
#startups
#SaaS
0
1
10
I know many don’t like this, and that’s ok, I choose not to impose my views on others:
I am not here for work/life balance.
I am here for go-for-the-jugular levels of success and impact.
Priorities:
1. My family and closest friends
2. Health and fitness
3. Extraordinary
2
0
12
I helped grow Gong from $200k to $$200M in 5 years.
Gong's CEO said it best:
"Build a product so good a weak sales team could sell it. Build a sales team so good they could sell a weak product. Do both, and you've got a juggernaut." -
15 sales tips I learned along the way:
2
0
12
SaaS sales is not a numbers game.
SaaS sales is a skills game.
Here's 7 sales skills that grow your income without burning out playing the volume game:
2
0
12
2. Solve exactly.
Want an easy way to speed customer decision making?
Solve their pain on a 1:1 basis.
No more, no less.
Don't complicate it by showing all you've got.
"We can also..." leads to overwhelmed buyers.
1
0
13
PSA for salespeople regarding "next steps" -
If it's not scheduled, you don't have next steps.
You have a deal that's going to die a slow death until you get something back on the calendar.
That's not always true.
But it's a useful rule of thumb.
2
2
12
Here are the 8 best sales call tips you'll read in 2023.
But first... a disclaimer:
These aren't for beginners.
If you don't have the basics, you'll misuse these.
If you do have the basics, you'll get to the next level.
Let's get started:
2
0
12
Powerful career hack for salespeople:
Work on improving your business acumen more than improving your sales acumen.
3
1
12
Copywriting is the most underrated, undervalued skill in B2B.
1
1
12
You're not selling a product.
Your'e selling an outcome.
Old analogy:
"People don't buy drill bits. They buy holes."
Except, that's not true.
People don't buy holes.
3
0
12
9 embarrassing sales mistakes I wish I knew when I started in sales 13 years ago:
1. Pitching benefits in cold emails.
The best cold emails are devoid of the product.
Instead they agitate pain.
They look like a page out of your buyer's private journal.
Pain now. Product
1
1
11
Most salespeople get the first 5 min of a discovery call WRONG.
They either DON'T set the 'rules of engagement' at all...
Or they overcomplicate it.
Here's five steps to setup your sales calls to win (and avoid friction with your buyer):
1
1
11
Salespeople:
If you're trying to be the TOP rep in your company:
Stop hanging out with 'average' reps cold turkey.
You become like the people you spend most time with.
Spend time with the top 10% of reps.
9 other tough decisions for sales success:
2
4
11
The best salespeople have ZERO hangups when it comes to price.
They talk about big pricing numbers as casually as if they're talking about the salad they're having for lunch.
They can quote you $150,000 a year without flinching or thinking anything of it.
The worst
0
0
10
The difference between a $100,000 earner and a $350,000 earner in SaaS sales is skills.
You may say:
"No, it's the opportunity."
"No, it's product/market fit."
False.
Companies with insane product/market fit don't hire low skilled salespeople.
Skills are the "unlock" for
3
0
11
I helped grow Gong from $200k to $200M ARR.
Here are 7 things the top-producing AEs did (that others didn't).
👇
1
0
11
I sometimes fantasize about the day I delete my LinkedIn, X account, social.
Sounds freeing.
But alas, today is not that day.
5
0
11
Can we all agree everyone who works in tech says the word 'motion' WAY too much?
I recently heard a guy say 'what's your email writing motion?'
Uhhh.... up and down?
4
0
11
SaaS salespeople:
Here are six discovery questions that will help you SELL your way through a tough economy.
[Thread]...
2
0
11
Two weeks ago I negotiated with a CFO to close a $50k deal.
Him: "We need a few things and then we're good to go. First, we need you to be flexible on [legal term]. Can you?"
Me: "Let's come back to that - you said there are a few things. What else is there?"
[Continued...]
1
0
11
Salespeople and entrepreneurs:
The way you do a 'demo' with an exec is 100% DIFFERENT than a typical demo.
A typical demo walks thru the product.
But here's what a deal-closing exec demo looks like (Hint: it's not really a 'demo call' at all):
1
1
11
A few weeks ago, I was negotiating a $50k SaaS deal with a first-time Head of Sales.
He wanted to move forward, but wanted a better price.
Here's how I built the 'cost of inaction,' won the deal, and kept my price.
[Continued]...
1
0
10
One year ago I left Gong.
We had $225,000,000 ARR at time.
5 years earlier when I joined? $178,000 ARR.
During those 5 years, I had the good fortune of working with dozens of $1B B2B tech unicorns.
Here are 9 things I saw SaaS companies that go onto become unicorns do:
1
0
10
We analyzed 25,537 B2B sales conversations using AI — here are the 5 things we discovered - Sales Hacker
0
7
10
I've done over 3,000 SaaS demos in my career so far.
Plus, I helped write the demo scripts that closed our first $100,000,000 ARR at Gong.
Here are my 'top three' tips for SaaS demos that sell:
1
1
10
Every sales skill is teachable.
Except the top one:
Can you sense when there's 'blood in the water' (and when there's not)?
The best sellers sense:
- a serious propensity to buy (or lack of it)
- whether a problem is true a priority
- whether priorities have shifted
3
0
9
You don't need an MBA for sales success.
You don't need a degree for sales success.
You don't need 'book smarts' for sales success.
None of these things matter when you're looking a customer in the eye and asking for $250,000.
Here's what does matter:
- discipline
- courage
2
0
10
ROI doesn't create demand.
ROI justifies demand.
Talking about the ROI of your product in a prospecting email will never (never) work.
There's no demand to justify yet.
You have to create it.
ROI ain't the way to do that.
5
0
10
0
10
10
Salespeople: 20 minutes of weekly planning every Sunday evening is one of the highest ROI time slots in your week.
0
0
10
Most $500k salespeople do not:
- Work 80 hours a week
- Think of sales as a numbers game
- Have a privileged background
They are ordinary people who acquire skills like their life depends on it.
You're not *years* away from your goals.
You're *skills* away from your goals.
2
0
9
“Laser-like focus is perhaps the most common trademark of the super successful. The most successful people in history rarely, if ever, have side occupations.”
1
2
9
The best productivity hack I’ve ever used is quitting alcohol.
2
0
10
Last year, my tech sales income crossed $1,600,000.
It took 3,285 days from when I started.
All despite:
- no bachelor's degree
- lower class upbringing
- crippling panic attack issues
Here are the 8 steps of my strange career.
Hope it helps.
[🧵 thread]
2
1
10
Pitching ROI in sales is dead.
According to data, pitching ROI and low close rates go hand in hand.
Two things happen when most salespeople sell ROI:
The best salespeople create bullet-proof business cases instead.
(ROI is only one element of this!)
Here's how they do it:
1
1
10
8. Ask a question after every key feature.
Stop and have a conversation.
Here are a few to test:
- How does that compare to how you solve this today?
- To what degree is this resonating so far?
- To what extent do you see that solving x pain?
- What benefits do you see showing
1
0
12
The last thing the world needs is more mediocre content
#marketing
. Hold out for great, or don't do it all.
0
1
9
Sales is not a numbers game.
Sales is a skills game.
7 sales skills that grow your income without burning out playing the volume game:
4
4
8
90% of salespeople are terrible at GROUP demos.
3+ buyers on a demo call?
Crickets.
5 steps to running deal-closing group demos.
👇🧵
2
0
9