E64: Execution is the Key to Results with Ned Arick

Amy: 00:00:07

What's up human. Welcome to the revenue real hotline. I'm Amy UFF check. More importantly. I'm excited. You decided to join us today. I know you've got a ton of options and I appreciate you. This is a show about all the hard and uncomfortable conversations that arise while generating revenue and how to think. Or rethink what you're doing, why you're doing it. And then of course, how to execute differently. And like I said, I'm happy you decided to come along for the ride. Don't forget to follow the show wherever you listen. So you can be notified each time a new episode drops. And do me a favor friend. Don't tell anybody about the show. Let's keep it our little secret. I'm Amy UFF check. This is the revenue real hotline. Enjoy Ned Eric, welcome to the revenue, real hotline, um, new friend that I am like pretty obsessed with. Welcome. Thank you for making time for us. Yeah.

Ned: 00:01:08

Thanks so much for having me Amy.

Amy: 00:01:10

All right. So why don't you share with our listeners a little bit about who you are and what you do, and then we'll dive right

Ned: 00:01:15

into it. Yeah. So my name is net Eric. I am the head of growth. At close loop. Head coach at our new founder sales accelerator, as well as our new small business accelerator close loop. Um, and I also run all of our trainings at close loop as well. So I wear quite a few hats and I can honestly say I love every single one of those hats mm-hmm and, uh, it's been a, an absolute blast to, to be with Corey and Hillman. I, I actually hired Corey to be my individual sales coach. Okay. Two and a half, three years ago now. And, uh, Then, you know, finally got to the place where Cory gave me a call and said, how about you come do this for, uh, for a bunch of companies instead of just trying to grow your own company. I said, got it. And I, the rest is history.

Amy: 00:01:57

That's amazing. That's amazing. So listeners, I thought I, when I was looking at my calendar yesterday and preparing for the day, I, I, I thought Ned was somebody else like that. I met at a conference last week and so. When I got into prepping for the episode, like everything, I'm gonna play this Ned, I'm gonna play the audio from that, that social proof video on the website. Yeah. So listeners just listened to this.

undefined: 00:02:20

So we evaluated all the big names. It. A sales training and enablement and closed loop quickly became the unanimous partner for us. And one of the big reasons why is because they actually use what they teach. Um, and it actually works. And so originally. Uh, discovery was our biggest known gap across our sales process. Our reps were really struggling with discovery and closed loop by far ran the best discovery session with us. And so I'm happy to happy to report that since January of 2019 and with the help of closed loop, just two quarters later, uh, we decreased our sales cycle by 35%, which was massive. Right. And that was all about using the velocity plan health frameworks. We increased our close rate for 17% to 25%. And that is a significant amount of ARR add to our business. And we're looking at ARR all up, which is, you know, the ultimate metric that we use to evaluate success. Uh, we increased ARR by 160%. Since engaging with closed loop, so phenomenal, phenomenal results. They then came back on site. In January of 2020 to run a demo session. So we found a new muscle with discovery, and now it was really about identifying and you know, that the next challenge, and that was all about demos. And we were losing the majority of our opportunities after demo. We increased our close rate from that original 25% now to 31%. Uh, and that was only a quarter later. After the second time they came onsite. Um, we also were able to let less opportunities into our funnel. One of our big challenges that we're letting too much in, who we're just demoing for the sake of demoing. And so we were able to create a lot more focus. We, we, um, brought that number from 33% to 44% of our opportunities being disqualified from the start, which I actually think is a, is a really good stat for letting less garbage. And so to speak. Um, and then in competitive situations, When there's a known competitor. Uh, in our sales cycle, we increase our close rate. 15% to 25% so strongly differentiating ourselves. And then now, since. Since COVID sorry. Uh, and with the help of closed loop. Um, you know, we went back to our original playbook. At closing, closing, help us with. And we were able to pit a quickly. To to to position ourselves as really being able to help our customers for short term costs and business runway extension. Right? And because of that sort of pivot in messaging that to pivot in our stance we were able to put up just recently in q3 of this year the best quarter in company history which is amazing. Uh, In september was our best month and company history That's been truly an amazing result here With the help of our friends over at the closed loop and so all in all Uh, Couldn't be more happy with our partnership You know they came in they leveled up our entire Salesforce. you see it in the numbers Uh and they continue to be a real true partner to us right they send us beta products all the time and programs like closed-loop university Um you know they take on feedback our feedback into their roadmap We're about to include a lot of their frameworks into our crm to create more consistencies Through our system and so overall can not be happier with the closers over at closed.

Amy: 00:05:27

Okay. So Ned, when we were, we were just talking right before I pressed or record. And I asked you the question, like, what's the topic that's like firing you up right now and you started to share it. And then I was like, okay, wait, stop, stop. But like, let's just talk about it. You were about to tell me what it is that is getting you all riled up. So do share with the class

Ned: 00:05:50

friend. So there's, there's two things right now. They're both pretty controversial topics in the LinkedIn space. The first one is side hustles and the second one is morning routines or routines under themselves. And any of your listeners that have heard me before, if you are in sales, I believe that side hustles are not good. And I also believe that morning routines are a crutch, not something that actually help 99.9% of people. Those are my things. Yeah.

Amy: 00:06:22

okay. So those are, those are very you're right. They are inflammatory, um, things, but has, is the way, and that you were just telling me about the Laurie done episode that you heard. So you know how I feel about defining some terms? Yes. Why don't we start with that? Like when you say routine, what does a routine or specifically, what does a morning routine mean? Yeah,

Ned: 00:06:41

so I think. When I hear routine, I typically hear something that was built by someone else. And what I mean by that is it is typically a list of activities that need to be done in order for your day to be successful. And when I say that it's built by someone else it's because it was probably by reading, uh, you know, a book. Or looking at someone's LinkedIn post or a blog or, you know, miracle morning, right? Hey, I'm gonna wake up meditate for 10 minutes, journal, work out, do these things. And then my day can start.

Amy: 00:07:17

So my definition of a routine or my experience with routines, um, as someone that has clocked a lot of hours with cognitive behavioral therapy, which is the proven to be the most effective form of therapy. And I'm a big. Practicing Stok for anybody that's been around me for like 0.2 seconds. What I love about cognitive behavioral therapy though, is it's, it's like a performance coach, right? It teaches you how to think, but you work with a professional who helps you to identify and iterate on the the tools and techniques that work best for you. And so there is absolutely nothing standard or turnkey about a routine for me personally, or the way that I talk about routines or teach about routines. But one of the biggest benefits in, in my life with the routine, at least for my routine, like I've got it iterated on and it is completely me. Yeah, right. There was nothing like, I'm gonna look at what works for somebody else or we, your works yet, the hustle culture or the filter fucking bubble. Yeah. Which is just in many ways, like just trying to get to a big circle jerk, you ask me.

Ned: 00:08:23

Those are the exact words I would use by the way. So

Amy: 00:08:28

so what I think that we should talk more about is that we all fuck up. We all relapse, we all veer off track and there is no such thing as zero to 60 anyway. And. The establishment of a routine for me means that it's a safe place to return back to when I need to get myself back on. Yeah. And I can even add the night to that too. Yeah. So it's like, I used to struggle with sleeping. It's still my Achilles co like I have to close the computer at a certain time or I'll never sleep. And so even we can add it on that end. Okay. That said, now let's talk.

Ned: 00:09:00

So I agree with everything that you just said. Right. And I can tell you, I don't think there's such thing as bad advice or wrong advice. I think the context of the advice is the. Or the wrong. And so with what you're saying is if someone has spent time has spent a lot of times, years.

Amy: 00:09:22

Yeah. Iterating energy to identify you're literally test just like you would with a product launch. You're trying to find product market fit or iterating on a go to market strategy. There is effort required.

Ned: 00:09:34

Yeah. What I'll tell you is this, is that where the reason that I am so gung ho like get rid of your routine is because of what I have sort of coined as preparation purgatory is what a lot of people. Experience. Yeah, I need that one more.

Amy: 00:09:50

Yeah, yeah. Right. Or like, how about, let's talk about like, what do they say about the best laid

Ned: 00:09:54

plans? Yeah.

Amy: 00:09:56

Oh, absolutely. Right. So it's like all that energy that you put into it, not to mention. Oh, it's getting so I'm sorry. It's like, I changed something very recently and how I operate the day and it's been insane. It, it had to do something about Navy seals, net, and it was like the two types. How they attacked work or how they approached their complete task rest, complete task, rest, complete task rest. And then the other one was like plan execute. And it's like, okay, who had better results? And the way that the article was framed, it was, or maybe it was just my own biases and like beliefs and experiences that wanted it to be like the right answer. Yeah. But it was the task rest, task rest. And so it's like when you spend too much time planning. You forget the rest

Ned: 00:10:40

piece and, and I'll tell you this. And what I love about what you just said is completing a task means that you have taken action and execution is the key for any sort of result. Right? And I think that when I talk about this preparation, purgatory is I hope that you have to have a morning routine for you to get on your first meeting. Why? Because by the time you've gotten on your first meeting, I've had. I'm running circles around you, right. If you're not iterated. Right. And what I find is that a lot of people use these routines or these crutches of, I need to meditate. I need to do this. I need to do that. I need to go and, you know, get 10 minutes of sunshine, whatever it may be before that they can be at like 10 out of 10 level, right. When all you have to do is go take action and you can iterate on that action. Complete the task rest. During that rest period iterate based on the success or lack of success you just saw mm-hmm and then move forward in your day. The key though, in my mind is the actual action that is taken. And I'll tell you, this is that shitty action beats. No action. Any day. Right.

Amy: 00:11:54

So I agree with it E every word. You understand though, how someone could hear you saying, like, I don't love routines and interpret that really poorly

Ned: 00:12:04

oh, a hundred. And, and I have gotten so much shit for it because they don't understand the fact that what I'm saying is by the way I have routines. Mm-hmm right. But like you said, it's routines that have been iterated upon and I also don't need. Oh, that's,

Amy: 00:12:22

that's a, yeah. That's who you've been at it for a hot second. So like, okay. So I'm listeners, everyone's on a fucking journey, right? Do you have everything all figured out? Hell no.

Ned: 00:12:32

okay. Good. Ask anyone most to me, I've got less 1% figured out. I

Amy: 00:12:38

don't have fucking shit figured out either. And so. Like you don't need them because you've gotta your muscles to a certain point and there's muscle memory there. Yeah. I still support them while you're learning how to develop those muscles. But I hear what you're saying. I also

Ned: 00:12:52

support people that have a routine and need to meditate and need to work. I mean, I've got good friends that wake up before am and meditate and journal and work out and, you know, drink a apple cider vinegar, because for some reason they wanna vomit in the morning. Yeah. Like, I have really good friends that are very, very successful at do that. Mm-hmm mm-hmm And I can tell you though, for me as an individual, and I can tell you if you're not building your own routine, if your routine is based on 75 hard, that's a good starting place. The problem that I see is this is that routines are typically tied to goals. Mm-hmm right. And the problem is that life happens, right? We're not all single, right. A lot of people listening to your podcast probably have children. And they're probably sitting there when they hear this going well yeah. When my kid wakes up sick, like I can't meditate. Right. If my kid wants breakfast at 6:00 AM, I can't read 10 pages of that book. Right. I might not be able to go to the gym first thing in the morning. There are certain things that I do that get done every single day. They're just not precursors to my day. Right. And that's really where, when I talk about this, a lot of times is like, figure yourself out and it it's gonna take trial and error. Right? I've done the morning routine, right? I've done the evening routine. I've done the dough routine. Mm-hmm 90% of the people that I talked to. Because their routine is tied to a goal. The problem is that when life happens and routine can't happen, guess what? The goal goes out the window with that routine. A lot of people have trouble coming back. And, and you said this earlier, I don't wanna overlook this. A lot of people have trouble coming back to center in having something that brings them back to center. They think that they need certain things in order to do other things. As opposed to let's be present here in this moment now, and let's actually figure out, you know, what action needs to be taken.

Amy: 00:14:43

So I was raised by a, a sales VP and, and there's a lot of data incorporated on the show and used to say, Amy, you will never feel yourself into a better way of acting. Act first and better feelings come. And I think there's a tremendous amount of truth to that. Like you're waiting to feel better before you take action. Um, you're gonna be waiting for a long time. A long time,

Ned: 00:15:06

but I'll tell you one thing here, cuz I'm a, I'm a huge proponent of being your future self. Um, and what I mean by that is understanding where you want to go, what you want to do, but more importantly, who you want to be. And I think the cool thing about life is that nothing's stopping you from being that person right now. Nothing's stopping you. I don't care. It's not money. It's not material things. Mm-hmm, it's not, you can act as if. You are that individual right now. And what's crazy about this. And this is obviously N equals one anecdotal, uh, because it's me. But I, since I have gone from, I need X amount of dollars to be this kind of person, or I need this title to be this kind of person, or I need this, you know, role to walk into a room with this kind of confidence. Mm-hmm when I just said, oh fuck that I have this confidence. I have this, uh, ability. I have whatever I need right now. Let's step into that role. Once I stepped into that role, the things that I actually wanted and I was waiting for were already there waiting for me. And I think that's extremely important when you bring up this action piece, the action that you take is going to allow you to expedite the time to your happiness. And once you start taking those actions, you'll start to realize that shit happiness was a lot closer than you thought it was. And it had nothing to do with money or material.

Amy: 00:16:32

Or a destination it's not based on an outcome. And if you're in a, grew up in a Western society, right. Happiness is based on an outcome. Yes. When I get married, when I buy a house, when I have a child, when, when, when, when, when yep. The challenge with this, with selling though, even with a big city, even worse, our outcomes in many ways they never come. Right. Because if you hit your quarter or your month, depending. Like, what do you have a, a weekend to celebrate it? And then it starts all fucking over again. And so part of the mission to find more joy or bring more joy is to help communicate that letting go of the outcome. Yes. And letting go of the association or the definition of success. And pivoting it or changing it to be about the journey. Yeah. Or more specifically being a little bit better than yesterday's version of yourself. That is what it's about. And then this is why, when I say that, like sales is the greatest profession in the world when done properly. Right? So this is the, the big piece of it, right? Like being able to look at yesterday's version of yourself, listen to that. Call lean into that sting. Identify where you can be a little bit better. Right. And then take those steps to Ned's fabulous point and, and do something about it. And those that do get paid a lot of fucking money around here. So that's my favorite part.

Ned: 00:17:57

They sure did

Amy: 00:18:01

that wraps other installment of the revenue real hotline. I'd like to thank my guest for being so damn real and for sharing their insights and for, of course, being so much. And I'd like to thank you two, listen. It means the world. And I appreciate you. If you have any thoughts or comments or experiences, you feel inclined to share head straight over to revenue, rail.com. There's a new join. The conversation feature on the right side of the page. I am old damn ears. Final thought we are introducing a coaching aspect to the show. So anyone who's brave enough to dig into an account strategy or outbound strategy session. That's where we kick things off. Please do follow the show wherever you listen to your podcast. So you'll always have the latest episode. Download it. If you want to contact me, I'm at Amy at revenue, rail.com. If you wanna follow me on social Twitter is Amy underscore UFF check, and LinkedIn is linkedin.com/amy UFF check. This episode was produced by the fabulous Neen Feedler rock, man. And I appreciate you too friend. And of course, whatever you do, don't tell anybody about the show. Let's keep it our little secret. Until next time, all I'm Amy re hub check. This is the revenue real hotline, happy selling.