The One Thing Most Sales Team Miss When Going Upstream | Alison Disken - 2024

Every sales leader wants to go upstream. Bigger logos, bigger checks, bigger deals. But most of what determines whether that move actually works has nothing to do with the sales team. I sat down with Alison Disken, an expert in executive alignment, to talk about the one thing most companies miss when they decide to go upmarket.Why Going Upmarket Takes More Than A New Sales PitchEveryone wants to go upstream because that's where the bigger checks are.But most of what determines success in that move has nothing to do with the sales team specifically.The nuance that gets missed is making sure the entire company is aligned before sales even starts prospecting.Get The Full C-Suite Aligned On What Upmarket MeansExecutive alignment is one of the most overlooked pieces of any strategic pivot.Allie shared an example of a European tech company acquired by a US private equity firm. They were winning in mid market, but got pushed to chase enterprise names without ever redefining their tech stack, competitive positioning, or pricing for that new buyer.Alignment starts with reassessing the ideal customer profile, setting clear timelines, and agreeing on sales goals across the entire executive team, not just sales and marketing.How To Start The Alignment ConversationSit down with every executive individually and ask them to walk through their view of the strategy, the priorities, and what they'd sacrifice to hit the top priority.Comparing those individual answers is what surfaces the alignment gaps.These gaps aren't a sign that someone doesn't understand the business. They show up naturally as a company grows.Build The Internal Narrative Before You MoveOnce the executive team is aligned, someone needs to pull all of that input together into a clear story: why now, what this means for the business, and where the company expects to be in six, twelve, and eighteen months.Every function needs a clear answer to what they will start doing, stop doing, and continue doing to support the shift.What Changes Across The Company When You Go UpmarketOperations often need a new delivery and onboarding model, since enterprise buyers expect dedicated implementation, service level agreements, and stronger security and compliance.HR has to rethink hiring and compensation to attract account executives with enterprise level experience.Finance has to shift pricing from mid market volume discounts to value based enterprise pricing, and plan for margin drag from longer sales cycles and bigger discounts.Why Passive Agreement Kills The ShiftLeaders often nod along when a strategy shift gets presented, but never work out the specific details for their own function.Allie calls this passive agreement. Everyone agrees at the 30,000 foot level, but nobody has actually mapped out their piece of the work.Companies without full alignment still make progress. It just takes longer and feels less cohesive.Build The Roadmap And Reinforce It ConstantlyThe roadmap breaks the strategy down into specific actions for each function, plus a communication plan for cascading the message through every level of the company.One message or one town hall is not enough. Allie points to research showing it can take twenty to twenty five repetitions for people to grasp a more complex concept.Consistency is what keeps people on track. The message people hear today should be the same message they hear next week and two months from now.How To Spot An Alignment Gap On Your Own TeamAsk your team what the strategy is and what goals you're working toward.If everyone gives close to the same answer, your team is aligned.If the answers are vague or different, you've found your alignment gap, and that's exactly where to focus next."If everybody gives you the exact same answer, you have your alignment. If you're getting vague or varied answers, you've unearthed your alignment gap." — Allie DiskenResourcesConnect with Allie Disken on LinkedIn. She shares her free alignment diagnostic and productivity drag calculator there.Keep track of your sales activity and boost your results with the Prospect Pro sales tool.Step up your sales game with Sales Mastermind. Get accountability, stay motivated, and tackle the blockers keeping you from hitting your goals.Visit Blue Mango Studios for help creating podcast production content.Join our LinkedIn cohort and learn to prospect the right way.Sponsorship OffersThis episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.CreditsAs one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and produced by Brightseed and Hill.