In today’s data-driven world, executives are flooded with information, but raw data alone doesn’t guarantee better decision-making. To truly harness the power of data, it’s essential to focus on operationalizing insights that drive efficiency, growth, and customer satisfaction. Michael Pollack, CEO of Intricately, shares critical advice for leaders in cloud and SaaS industries on how to build more efficient sales and marketing strategies by moving beyond raw data. Quickly read the five key takeaways that every CEO and COO should consider:

1. Stop Overloading with Data, Focus on Decisions:

• Data is everywhere. You don’t need more data, but smarter ways to utilize it.
• Focus on context over contacts. Instead of just getting more leads, concentrate on how to engage the right ones with relevant insights.

2. Disqualify Early, Qualify Better:

• Disqualify prospects that aren’t a fit. This strategy saves time and resources, ensuring your sales team focuses on high-value opportunities. Disqualifying early also allows your team to move on quickly, leading to more wins in the long run.

3. Align Metrics Across Teams:

• Sales, marketing, and product teams should have unified goals. They should focus on shared KPIs like customer acquisition cost and retention, not vanity metrics like the number of leads. It’s up to the CEO to ensure these objectives are communicated and integrated across the organization.

4. Build the Right Culture:

• Passion and curiosity matter. Hire people who are passionate about what they do and encourage a culture of curiosity. This drives innovation and keeps your team engaged with solving real customer problems.
• Operationalize metrics. Success comes from having a disciplined focus on metrics that matter. Use these to incentivize and guide teams toward meaningful outcomes.

5. Leverage Product Marketing:

• Product marketing should educate. Instead of inundating prospects with information, focus on educating them about how your product will solve their problems and why it’s the best choice.
• Enablement is key. Product marketing plays a critical role in enabling your sales force with the right messaging and positioning.

For CEOs and COOs looking to optimize their revenue generation strategy, now is the time to evaluate how your teams are using data. Reach out to Accelerant Growth Solutions for a deeper discussion or to connect with Michael Pollack for more insights on scaling cloud businesses effectively. For more insights and to stay updated with the latest in sales strategies, subscribe to the Selling the Cloud podcast.

Podcast Transcript:

Introduction

Mark: Hello, I'm Mark Petruzzi, host of Selling the Cloud podcast.
Ray: And I'm Ray Reich, your co-host. On this show, we talk to a wide variety of cloud and SaaS industry thought leaders and revenue generation experts who share their insights into building and growing great businesses in the cloud.
Mark: Now on to today's show!

Guest Introduction: Michael Pollack, CEO and Founder of Intricately

Mark: Welcome to today's episode of Selling the Cloud. We are joined by Michael Pollack, CEO and founder of Intricately. Today, we’ll be covering four main areas:

1. Why Michael created and founded Intricately.
2. How to build a data company that truly serves marketers and sellers.
3. Selling cloud products to enterprise companies.
4. Aligning product marketing with revenue organizations.

Mark: Mike, welcome! Could you tell us a bit about your background and what brought you to Selling the Cloud today?

Michael: Absolutely. Thanks, Mark and Ray! To answer the first question, I didn’t set out alone—my co-founder played a huge role in building Intricately. We aimed to solve a problem I personally faced as a salesperson and sales leader. The core issue was often having incorrect data, leading to inefficiencies like talking to the wrong prospects or misallocating resources. So, we built Intricately to make the lives of sales and marketing teams more efficient, helping them make better decisions.

Building a Data Company from Scratch

Ray: Michael, can you share more about how your background influenced your journey to founding Intricately?

Michael: Sure! I have an eclectic background, starting with writing software and building hardware. Early in my career, I got into sales—everything from selling knives door to door to managing large enterprise deals. My career has spanned from sales roles to product roles and even management consulting, where I learned about the importance of process. This diverse experience set me up to identify problems I could solve, ultimately leading me to build Intricately.

Why Another Data Company?

Ray: 2020 saw the validation of the need for high-quality data with the ZoomInfo IPO. Why do we need another data company, especially for marketers and sellers?

Michael: Well, we don’t need just another data company. Data is like water—it’s everywhere. But it’s only valuable when it’s properly processed, like turning water into coffee or champagne. We don’t focus on just giving more data, but on helping people make better decisions. The challenge is not about more data; it’s about better decision-making. For example, ZoomInfo helps people find contacts. We focus more on providing the context—what to say, when to say it, and how to say it.

Data Overload and Decision-Making

Mark: That brings up a great point, Mike. Sales teams are overloaded with data, so how do you help them put it to work?

Michael: Exactly! The real problem isn’t the lack of data, it’s operationalizing it. Sales teams often don’t know how to use the data in their CRM effectively. Instead of giving more data, we focus on highlighting the right data that can actually make an impact. Ray, you’ve probably seen this too with revenue operations.

Ray: Absolutely. Our research shows that sales ops teams spend 48% of their time on data quality and hygiene. That’s a huge amount of time spent on cleaning up data instead of focusing on driving pipeline and accelerating revenue growth.

The Importance of Disqualification in Sales

Mark: I love your focus on disqualification, Mike. Can you tell us more about your approach to disqualifying early?

Michael: Sure! I’m a big believer in building an efficient disqualification engine. Marketing shouldn’t aim to create as many leads as possible, but rather focus on fewer, higher-quality leads. Our goal is to help sales teams disqualify the thousands of prospects they shouldn’t talk to, so they can focus on the ones they should. This leads to better conversations and, ultimately, better customer relationships.

Passion and Curiosity in Sales

Ray: What traits do you think made you successful in sales, and how can sales leaders identify those traits in their teams?

Michael: For me, being an extrovert and naturally curious were key traits. Passion is also a big one—if you believe in the product, selling becomes much easier. As a leader, I focus on finding passionate people. I always ask candidates, “What’s something you’ve created or owned?” It shows if they have a passion for something. Passion and curiosity are often overlapping traits, and they can be game-changers in sales.

Aligning Product Marketing with Revenue

Mark: Let’s shift gears and talk about product marketing. How do you think product marketing should fit within an organization?

Michael: Product marketing evolves as the company grows. In the early stages, it might live within customer success or product, but as you scale, it shifts more into marketing. Ultimately, product marketing should amplify the product’s strengths and educate both customers and internal teams. In larger companies, it becomes more about competitive differentiation—comparing products and helping the sales team communicate why your solution is better.

Closing Thoughts

Mark: Michael, this has been an amazing conversation. Thank you for joining us!
Ray: For our listeners, if you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe to Selling the Cloud on your favorite podcast app and leave a review. Thanks for listening!