Standardize the sales process, map next steps to the customer's go-live, and shorten cycles without new tools
Mark Fershteyn · Recapped
Published September 6, 2024Explore the lesson. Sign in to access the slide download.
Mark Fershteyn shares a sales-process approach to shortening sales cycles without adding tools. He focuses on standardizing manager guidance for reps and mapping next steps through the customer’s go-live outcome.
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“my name is Mark Fain I'm the co-founder and CEO of recap and today we are going to talk about accelerating your sales cycle by 30% in 90 days without any new Investments or any new tools which I think is a really key part and these are all things that you can do with your current text Tac and it's from revenue that we have managed through our platform over the last 5 years and so like every other presenter uh everything I show you can be”
“easy for them to do it and the third one a little bit of a hot take but show a hands who here has a lot of sales tools yeah so again sorry but if you actually think about it I have the belief that none of those tools actually help reps close deals and that's why we haven't seen Clos rates improve that much in 20 years right we”
“sales team what what would my really great manager ask my rep to nudge them in the right direction as they're executing these deals what questions would they ask what um how would they qualify this deal what would they give recommendations for reps to do make that a part of your process in standardize it all right so try and be try and use the process as a way to be a manager on the shoulder of reps every single given”
“I'll give you guys afterwards but it's really I don't know how to point but essentially you're just building out all of the next steps that need to happen on both sides of the table to get this deal across the Finish Line really important here you don't want to stop at just the deal being signed you'll notice it's about halfway through you want to stop when the customer sees success with whatever solution you're sing which is the go live plan or the go live date in most cases all right so we tal”
“1. Standardize Your Process so it’s Brain-Dead Easy to Follow SIMPLE BUYER-CENTRIC ACTIONABLE Remove all friction Step-by-step of requirements Rethink from buyer journey Sales process -> Buyer Journey Make it visible Give it to sellers in deals Cut down on tools “Manager on shoulder””
“Champions armed with a tailored business case increase win rates by up to 50% - CSO Insights 2) Enable Champions to Sell Internally for You”
““The single biggest challenge of selling today isn’t selling, it’s actually our customers’ struggle to buy” - Gartner”
“#1 predictor of forecast accuracy is sales process adherence#2 predictor is buyer engagement- Recapped.io 3) Forecast Based on Execution not Hopes and Prayers 🤞🙏 😢”
“Automation examples Create a Slack channel Late-stage deal missing Economic Buyer No engagement for 7 days New engagement”
Video
Accelerate Sales Cycles by 30% in 90 Days With Proven Tactics from $5B Revenue - Slide Deck
CEO of Recapped, offering a sales collaboration platform designed to improve communication and tracking for deal progress.
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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
21 passages
SaaSOpen, September 2024 Accelerate Sales Cycles by 30% in 90 Days With Proven Tactics from $5B Revenue Mark Fershteyn CEO, Recapped
Revenue managed through Recapped deals rises each year, from $289 million across 13k deals in 2020 to $5 billion across 69k deals in 2024. The chart’s steady climb highlights the scale of deal activity represented.
The charts report improving average close rates and shorter sales cycles after using Recapped. The close-rate line rises from 16% at Day 0 to 22% at Day 150, while cycle reductions range from -18% for SMB to -29% for ENT.
The proposed 90-day approach combines a simpler standardized process, buyer enablement, and forecasting based on sales process and buyer intent data. The supporting actions are to simplify, build a business case and mutual action plan, then automate.
How to Accelerate Your Sales Cycle by 30% In 90 days without investing in any new tools STANDARDIZE YOUR PROCESS Simplify Buyer-centric Actionable ENABLE BUYERS TO BUY FORECAST WITH FEELINGS DATA Consolidate Business Case MAP Sales Process Buyer Intent Automate it all
Sales progress depends on managing a buyer through a sequence of stages, so more top-of-funnel leads or sales tools alone will not close deals. The funnel illustrates how prospects narrow from lead to onboarded customer, with example conversion rates and deal values.
Top of Funnel won’t save you Sales is Project Management Your tools don’t actually help close deals (sorry) Important to Internalize
This section focuses on making the sales process easy to follow. The slide cites that only 13% of organizations adopt a well-defined sales process.
Only 13% of organizations adopt a “well defined sales process” - CSO Insights 1) Standardize Your Process so it’s Brain-Dead Easy to Follow
A useful sales process removes friction, follows the buyer journey, and gives sellers visible next steps inside their deals. The slide recommends cutting down on tools and making the steps clear enough to follow consistently.
1. Standardize Your Process so it’s Brain-Dead Easy to Follow SIMPLE BUYER-CENTRIC ACTIONABLE Remove all friction Step-by-step of requirements Rethink from buyer journey Sales process -> Buyer Journey Make it visible Give it to sellers in deals Cut down on tools “Manager on shoulder”
A sales process should track what the buyer is trying to accomplish at each stage, from examining a need to negotiating a purchase. The table aligns seller stages with buyer focus, the three “why” questions, and MEDDICC qualification elements.
Go from Sales Process -> Buyer Journey
This section explains how to help a buyer champion make the case inside their organization. The slide cites that a tailored business case can increase win rates by up to 50%.
Champions armed with a tailored business case increase win rates by up to 50% - CSO Insights 2) Enable Champions to Sell Internally for You
The central challenge is helping customers navigate their own buying process, rather than focusing only on the act of selling. A complex journey from problem identification to purchase decision reinforces the need to guide buyers through each step.
“The single biggest challenge of selling today isn’t selling, it’s actually our customers’ struggle to buy” - Gartner
Champions need concise materials and a clear path to make the case because they are not professional sellers. The slide recommends a single-page business case grounded in business outcomes and a mutual action plan with clear success timelines.
2) Enable Champions to Sell Internally for You CONSOLIDATE BUSINESS CASE MAP They’re not sellers Let process & content speak Single page GPT your calls Business outcomes Clear timelines from success Embed your process & qualification
The example business case organizes a purchase argument around an objective, the problem, and a solution overview. Its single document format gives a champion structured material to share with other decision-makers.
Business Case Template
A mutual action plan turns a deal into a shared sequence of tasks, with completion status, owners, dates, and descriptions. The example progresses from discovery and demonstrations through evaluation, contracting, implementation, and go-live.
Mutual Action Plan Template
This section bases forecasts on observable deal execution rather than optimism. The slide identifies sales process adherence as the top predictor of forecast accuracy and buyer engagement as the second.
#1 predictor of forecast accuracy is sales process adherence#2 predictor is buyer engagement- Recapped.io 3) Forecast Based on Execution not Hopes and Prayers 🤞🙏 😢
Forecast quality improves when teams combine a mutual action plan and qualification in the CRM with signals of buyer engagement. The slide points to content use, stakeholder count, and automations as inputs for tracking deal progress.
3) Forecast Based on Execution not Hopes and Prayers PROCESS ENGAGEMENT AUTOMATION Incorporate MAP CRM formula with qualification Content assets # of stakeholders 80% on 10 vs 100% on 2 Zapier to the moon
The report template puts opportunities, amounts, close dates, mutual action plans, engagement, and MEDDPICC scores into one view. Its summary metrics and deal rows let a team compare progress and qualification across a pipeline.
Deal Review Report Template
Automations can open a shared deal channel, flag a late-stage opportunity missing an economic buyer, and alert the team when engagement stops or resumes. The examples also connect workspace activity with CRM updates and customer handoffs.
Automation examples Create a Slack channel Late-stage deal missing Economic Buyer No engagement for 7 days New engagement
This section recommends using a platform to understand buyer engagement after email tracking becomes less dependable. Engagement signals can help teams see whether buyers are interacting with shared materials.
4) Google Killed Email Tracking, Invest In A Platform to Track Buyer Engagement
The recap brings together a standardized process, buyer enablement, and forecasting based on buyer intent and execution data. Its checklist returns to simplifying the process, consolidating buyer materials, and automating signals.
How to Accelerate Your Sales Cycle by 30% Simplify Buyer-centric Actionable Consolidate Business Case MAP Sales Process Buyer Intent Automate it all In 90 days without investing in any new tools STANDARDIZE YOUR PROCESS ENABLE BUYERS TO BUY FORECAST WITH FEELINGS DATA
The closing product message presents Recapped as a shared workspace that brings seller and buyer teams, next steps, content, call recordings, CRM data, and sales process together. It then connects that workspace to CRM, forecasting, sales tools, Slack, and Zapier.
Recapped is the easiest way to standardize your process, enable your buyers, and forecast accurately
Mark Fershteyn thanks the audience and leaves a QR code for follow-up. The closing card identifies him as Recapped’s CEO.
Thank you! SaaSOpen, September 2024 Mark Fershteyn CEO, Recapped