Darcey Harrison, Chief Revenue Officer at UJET joins us in this SalesTechStar interview to share her experiences in technology sales while also talking about some of the best ways to drive better team collaboration and coordination. Catch the rest of this QnA to uncover interesting tips on B2B Sales, SalesTech and Sales leadership:
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Tell us a bit about yourself (including hobbies) and your biggest sales and marketing learnings and experiences throughout your years in the SaaS industry?
I love to try new things and places, immersing myself in the local culture and cuisine – love an amazing street food vendor! I’m very adventurous – skydiving anyone?
When I look back throughout my career and what has helped me get to where I am today, I can’t help but think about the importance of relationships. While technologies and software are constantly evolving, and automation is everywhere, when it comes to sales and marketing, building lasting and meaningful relationships with vendors, colleagues, and partners still are the best ways to learn and grow.
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What are the top 5 revenue generation strategies you swear by?
- PEOPLE – Everything starts with your team, hire well – be picky, treat them well and retain them.
- CUSTOMERS – Don’t just understand your Target ICP, understand their business, their pain and how you can help, focus on being a long term partner.
- PARTNERS, partners, partners! Build relationships with strategic partners in the industry
- TEST everything – buyers change, environments change, don’t get stuck “doing it how you’ve always done it.”
- DATA – use it! Today, we have access to more data than we could dream of. Use it to pattern match, look for trends and to make decisions.
Can you tell us about some of your most successful sales/marketing campaigns from your professional journey so far?
During my time at Markforged, the work that we did in terms of being able to develop new channels, create new partnerships, and significantly grow the business all helped us land a spot on the Deloitte Fast 500 two years in a row. This was a great achievement and something the entire company could be proud of. It also helped us raise our brand awareness about the great work that we were doing.
According to you, what are the top 5 things that B2B/Tech sales leaders should always keep in mind when planning sales strategies for a new tool or product?
- Have a plan
- Set success criteria
- Execute
- Measure
- Adjust
What are your thoughts on the future of sales/sales tech? How do you eventually see sales tech playing a role in the future of the typical B2B sales professional?
These days there are so many tools to choose from. I believe that data is key – understand how to use it, pattern match and adjust as appropriate. Figure out which tools work for your company/industry and invest in them. This is where “work smarter, not harder” is a reality.
Can you tell us about some of the sales tech tools that you’ve used to successfully shape your initiatives and campaigns?
Zoominfo -> to be targeted and get the right contact information
Outreach -> great tool for sequences, but don’t lose site of customizing your message!
Salesforce -> no explanation needed!
What are your thoughts/best practices when it comes to integrating sales tech/martech stacks and functions?
At the end of the day, technology and tools are only as good as the people behind them! Putting the right people in place and in a position to succeed creates an environment where sales and marketing can share insights, be creative, respectfully challenge one another, and collaborate better towards achieving goals.
What’s your smartest team building or productivity hack that you’d like to share with the audience?
Lead by example. As a leader, we can sometimes find ourselves playing the role of an armchair quarterback. It is important to show your team that you are not above getting in the trenches and doing the dirty work. I’ve seen that this approach not only helps in bringing teams closer together and can provide great insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each team member and how to best go about bringing the best out of them.
Who’s one person in the industry whose answers to these questions you’d love to read?
Marc Benioff!
What’s your favorite sales-related quote?
“You must be the change you want to see in the world” – Gandhi
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzkey
Choose to win, choose your attitude!
Tell us about some of the top events you’ll be participating in, in 2020
Customer Contact Week, both in Nashville and in Las Vegas
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Darcey Harrison is the Chief Revenue Officer at UJET. Prior to this, she has served as Global Vice President of Sales, Services and Partnerships at Markforged and VP of Sales at Swiftype and indeni.