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Aaron Ross

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Founder, Managing Partner, Predictable Revenue, Inc.

130 points

Aaron's the cofounder of Predictable Revenue, Inc, a sales teaching and coaching business that helps companies build outbound sales teams that create highly predictable revenue.

Aaron is also the founder of PebbleStorm (& UniqueGenius.com), which is helping 100 million ...

Aaron's the cofounder of Predictable Revenue, Inc, a sales teaching and coaching business that helps companies build outbound sales teams that create highly predictable revenue.

Aaron is also the founder of PebbleStorm (& UniqueGenius.com), which is helping 100 million people “make money through enjoyment”, by helping them discover their superpowers and make money saving the world.

Part of 'making money through enjoyment' includes having predictable revenue & self-managing systems and teams. Aaron is the author of two books, “CEOFlow: Turn Your Employees Into Mini-CEOs“ and “Predictable Revenue: Learn From Salesforce.com’s $1 Billion Sales Machine” (coming Fall 2010).

Aaron Ross was an EIR (Entrepreneur-in-Residence) at Alloy Ventures, a $1 billion venture capital firm. Prior to Alloy, at Salesforce.com Aaron created a revolutionary Cold Calling 2.0 inside sales process and team that helped increase Salesforce.com’s revenues by $100 million.

Aaron was CEO of LeaseExchange (now eLease.com), an online equipment leasing marketplace. As an entrepreneur, he has been in Time, Businessweek and The Red Herring. Aaron graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Environmental Civil Engineering.

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WEB: Unique Genius

July 20, 2011

Aaron Ross answered this question

What is the best way to make cold calling easier?

Hey Jason,
First I'd say stop cold calling! Either call or email executives, and instead of trying to pitch/sell them at "Hello?", contact them in a friendly manner with the intention of asking for referrals to the right person.
Also, if you are calling, always ask first ... more

July 14, 2011

Aaron Ross and 4 other people answered this question at this roundtable

B2B Lead Generation: How to Use the Phone to Drive High Quality Leads [7/13 @ 1 pm]

What are the important qualities to a salesman that make him lethal on the phone?

I know your reps can sell your stuff, but can your salespeople help your prospects improve their business?
My take: you want "business people who can sell", not "salespeople".
Here's the main reason salespeople are having a harder and harder time on the phone: few ... more

B2B Marketing Week

July 13, 2011

Aaron Ross is now following Marylou Tyler and 5 other people

July 12, 2011

Aaron Ross and 2 other people answered this question at this roundtable

B2B Lead Generation: How to Use the Phone to Drive High Quality Leads [7/13 @ 1 pm]

Is it possible to connect with VP+ type sales targets if they don't know you?

Yes, it's remarkably simple to do this. Instead of calling/emailing your decision maker directly, call/email above or to their peers...and ask for a referral! You have to do it in a simple, non-threatening, friendly way, but we've found we can easily get 8-10% email response ... more

B2B Marketing Week

July 5, 2011

Aaron Ross is speaking at this roundtable

B2B Lead Generation: How to Use the Phone to Drive High Quality Leads

B2B Marketing Week

May 27, 2011

Aaron Ross answered this question at this roundtable

Doubling Results With All-Star Outbound Sales Practices [5/27 @ 1 pm]

Aaron how would I get ahold of a copy of your book? Thanks, I appreciate it.

Here you go!
www.BuildASalesMachine.com/predictable-revenue-book-draft
All this will be moving soon to:
www.PredictableRevenue.com

Lead Management

Motivate Salespeople

Feb. 4, 2011

Aaron Ross and 11 other people answered this question

Is in person & telephone the only way to truly launch the sales process?

All the social media and Sales 2.0 apps help create the illusion of connection, rather than authentic connection (and thus trust, likability, credibility...), between reps and prospects.
Social media, email and keyboards are fantastic at helping make initial connections, and then reps need to use ... more

Buyer Decision Journey

Jan. 31, 2011

Aaron Ross and 1 other person answered this question

What are the top sales management trends to watch in 2011?

1) CREATING PREDICTABLE REVENUE
Rather than just "more revenue", now CEOs and sales executives want to figure out how to predictably generate revenue and growth. The bottleneck here in the past has always been lead generation - if you have a predictable supply of qualified leads, ... more

Sales Management

Jan. 31, 2011

Aaron Ross and 5 other people answered this question

Small Business Best Practices: What are your 3 tips for a successful annual ‘kickoff’ meeting?

After you get the hell out of the office...a team at a kickoff needs three things:
1) A crystal clear vision of where they're going, and the vales to live by along the way
2) What are the few most important things to do to get there?
3) ... more

General Management

Annual Kickoff Meeting

Nov. 11, 2010

Aaron Ross and 21 other people answered this question

Teleprospecting Best Practices: What are your 3 tips for successful teleprospecting?

1. NAIL YOUR IDEAL CLIENT PROFILE
Be a sniper rather than a shotgunner. How specific can you be on who your ideal clients are, and how you can find them?
2. DON'T MAKE COLD CALLS
a) Get referrals via email (yes, you can do this at cold ... more

Oct. 20, 2010

Aaron Ross and 14 other people answered this question

What are the 10 things sales managers should be most worried about in maximizing performance?

All the above answers are right. My one thing, assuming you've hired people with talent & skills:
1-10: Are they AUTHENTIC? That is, do clients actually trust them?
Nowadays clients sniff out inauthenticity much more easily.
Your salespeople must be SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE (actually have their shit and ... more

Sept. 20, 2010

Aaron Ross and 4 other people answered this question

What are Your Prospecting Tips for this 2.0 World?

1. Even at cold accounts, ask for referrals rather than make cold calls.
2. Write short, black-berry sized emails.
3. When you call someone, use the question, "Did I catch you at a bad time?" instead of "How are you doing?"
Free "Predictable Revenue" book preview:
http://buildasalesmachine.com/book
And...
* Consciously design ... more

Aug. 13, 2010

Aaron Ross and 10 other people answered this question

How do you motivate your telemarketing employees?

Most organizations treat sales teams as expendable, rotating resources.
1. Stop treating them (and the job) like a crap job - show some respect for the value of what they do.
2. Your team is a group of individuals...so learn about them and care for them individually. ... more

Customer Service

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Knowledgeable in 29 Topics

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