Building Authentic Connections w/ Godard Abel [Episode 646]

Godard Abel, Co-founder/Executive Chairman of G2 Crowd, joins me on this episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Godard says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is breaking through the ‘noise’ of the many technologies and vendors. Salesforce AppExchange has 5,000 apps. He suggests personalization with context.
• An authentic connection can start with what you write to your prospect. Pick up the phone and call, for a better connection. Be prepared for an in-depth conversation. There’s nothing like talking to a human.
• Humanize your email communications. Putting a name in the blank is not adequate personalization. Godard uses phone calls more and emails less, once it “gets real.”
• Make quality phone calls for quality relationships. Godard also networks as much as possible. Conferences are like college reunions. He knows someone in every G2 Crowd account. This makes outreach easier.
• G2 Crowd is a review platform for business technology for all types of enterprise software and services. Godard was looking for timely third-party validation and decided to fill the niche.
• G2 Crowd reviews are all by real people, validated by their LinkedIn identity. You can see your connection to the reviewer. You can filter reviews by your first-degree LinkedIn connections to see what your trusted peers say.
• G2 Crowd gives customers a bigger voice. Entrepreneurs invite customers to give them reviews. This allows prospects to evaluate and pick software more quickly.
• Godard explains the business model. It’s free for startups with optional marketing solution upgrades. Premium listings can include embedded demo videos, marketing content, and G2 Crowd browsing analytics.
• G2 Crowd focuses on their core of enterprise business technology software and services. Technology advice is mission-critical across industries. Godard tells how G2 Crowd benefits the tech industry vendors and buyers.
• Godard cautions startups selling to the enterprise to be aware of the long sales cycle due to the consensus the buyer needs to build. At a minimum, it takes many months. You really need a specialized team.
• A rep calling into an enterprise from a startup has no name recognition or credibility. It takes time to build credibility. The rep has to be comfortable being the underdog. You can’t hire for the rep’s ‘Rolodex.’
• Godard says it is easier today than a decade ago to scale B2B SaaS company. If you use the technologies in a smart way, you can still build authentic human relationships.