8: Becoming a Sales Tech Stack Champ with Zoom's Brendan Short
Becoming a Sales Tech Stack Champ with Zoom's Brendan Short Episode Summary: Welcome to Sales Tech, the show that talks about sales technology, what’s working, what’s not, and where the industry is going. In this episode, Brendan Short joins the show to share his background in B2B Enterprise SaaS, his current role as BDR Operations & Enablement Manager at Zoom, and the major trends he’s noticed in sales tech recently. Through his role, Brendan helps sales teams do their jobs more efficiently through systems and enablement. He knows better than most the importance of having an effective sales stack that aids salespeople without taking out the human element of sales. Today, Thom and Brendan discuss Brendan’s journey to Zoom and what it was like joining a high-growth company, and the height of the pandemic. Brendan speaks to the ever-evolving digital world we’re living in and provides best practices for organizations to adopt different types of sales tech. Finally, Brendan discusses the value of asynchronous communication and what he anticipates for the future of sales tech. Clips: Three P's of a successful sales tech stack Best practices for organizations to maximize their sales tech tools The concept of 'Champ' roles How sales tech can help augment the role of a salesperson The Biggest Changes in Sales Tech What We Covered: 00:39 – Thom introduces today’s guest, Brendan Short who joins the show to discuss his eclectic background in B2B Enterprise SaaS 02:28 – Brendan recalls what it was like joining Zoom in the middle of the pandemic in June of 2020 03:55 – Major trends Brendan has noticed in the sales tech space 04:49 – Brendan breaks down the Three Ps of successful sales stack 06:26 – Best practices for organizations to maximize their sales tech tools through employee adoption 08:10 – Brendan expounds on the ‘Champ’ roles that his team at Zoom have implemented 10:26 – Brendan talks about the $100 million fund Zoom recently launched 12:01 – How sales tech can help augment the role of a salesperson, especially in today’s ever-evolving digital world 13:58 – The biggest changes in sales tech that Brendan has noticed throughout the years 16:03 – Brendan speculates on the future of sales tech and what sales professionals should be preparing for 18:51 – Final words of wisdom from Brendan 20:12 – Brendan speaks to the ascension of audio and the important role it played today 21:20 – Thom thanks Brendan for joining the show today and let’s listeners know where they can connect with him Tweetables: “It was cool to see Eric, the CEO of Zoom, supporting everything that was happening and trying to help connect folks in such a crazy and chaotic time.” (03:05) “At the end of the day, from my perspective, a sales stack that is successful is one that gets out of the way and one where it’s enabling salespeople to reach out to the right accounts with the right message at the right time.” (04:38) “We have about a dozen that we actively use in our tech stack for the BDR team. And then we also have Champ roles for other things like AE/BDR relationship. We have a Champ who owns and oversees that relationship. There’s probably about eighteen or twenty Champ roles total that we have.” (08:23) “I think there’s a big opportunity, especially as we continue in this digital world. And I think in the future it will look like some sort of blended approach because I don’t think it’s gonna stay remote forever, but I don’t think that everyone will go back to the office. So, given that reality, there is an opportunity for a lot of companies to plug into Zoom as a platform and make that experience better.” (11:17) “The biggest thing that comes to my mind is being able to do things in the background. So, what are the things that salespeople are doing that technology can augment.” (12:39) “I would say being able to communicate asynchronously within your team but also externally is key.” (19:21) “I think that audio will continue to grow. But really, at the end of the day, people have different preferences. And so being able to create multiple different types of formats is the most important thing.” (21:04) Links Mentioned: Brendan Short on LinkedIn The Revenue Engine on LinkedIn Zoom Zoom Info Sales Navigator DiscoverOrg Chili Piper Vendr Apollo Mixmax SalesLoft Outreach Clubhouse