SaaSy Talk S01.15: The Future of Sales: Embracing Technology and Human Connection

About The Guest(s): Richard Lane is the co-founder and chief commercial officer of durhamlane, a B2B revenue acceleration agency established in 2011, which focuses on sales opportunity creation in the UK, EMEA and North America, bridging the gap between marketing outputs and the inputs that sales teams need to be successful. Richard is a true thought-leader, entrepreneur, business coach, and a sought-after Sales 2.0 practitioner, trainer and consultant. A regular speaker at conferences, roundtables and panel contributor, Richard co-hosts durhamlane’s podcast; “The Insiders” Summary: Richard Lane shares his journey into the tech industry, from aspiring to be a rockstar to finding his passion in sales. He discusses the challenges he faced when starting his own business and the importance of creating a long-term plan. Richard also highlights the common challenges businesses face in their sales efforts, such as lack of pipeline, and how durhamlane helps address these challenges through their methodology and tools like Magic35. He emphasises the importance of being interested in others and having meaningful conversations in sales. Richard also discusses the future of sales, including the role of AI and the alignment of sales and marketing under RevOps. Key Takeaways: Lack of pipeline is a common challenge in sales, and consistent effort in pipeline creation is crucial. Being interested in others and having meaningful conversations is essential in sales. Technology, such as AI, can augment sales efforts and improve efficiency. The alignment of sales and marketing under RevOps can lead to better results and scalability. Quotes: "No one recommends sales to anyone." "You need to make your first hundred calls. You need to speak with people. You need to understand how to have a conversation." "The more interested you become in other people, amazingly, you become more interesting to them." "The human is at the center.” "There won't be sales or marketing, there'll just be a RevOps team." "You've got to find the right person who is the right fit for your business." "Have fun in what you do and get to know people. Business will happen." Chapters:  00:00:00 Introduction and background of Richard's journey into the tech industry 00:01:00 Richard's transition into sales and founding Durham Lane 00:09:00 Common challenges faced by businesses in their sales arm 00:10:00 The importance of consistent levels of well-qualified pipeline 00:11:00 Introduction to Magic 35 and its role in creating qualified opportunities 00:19:00 Importance of making mistakes and learning from them 00:21:00 Technology's role in practicing and coaching sales skills 00:32:00 The future of durhamLane 00:34:00 Expanding into new markets and establishing a global footprint 00:35:00 Quick Fire Round Subscribe on Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZVkJ12FIqD39oqgj7Kcjq  Subscribe on Apple:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/saasy-talk-unfiltered/id1709426070 Subscribe on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@SaaSyTalkUnfiltered   Subscribe on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/saasy-talk-unfiltered Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://substack.com/@saasytalkunfiltered Visit our Website:  https://saasytalkunfiltered.transistor.fm/    Follow Ricky Sevta on Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickysevta/   Follow Sean Diljore on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seandiljore/