Derek Regier

SFMC’s collapse (not even going to mention Oracle marketing cloud today….) is Braze's multi billion dollar opportunity While one MarTech giant was talking about "weakness," a focused competitor was busy eating their lunch. The Q2 earnings numbers don't just suggest a trend; they scream it. There's a five alarm fire happening at Salesforce Marketing Cloud. A mere 3% YoY growth in constant currency (Marketing AND Commerce combined) makes it the anchor dragging down the mothership, especially when you see their other clouds posting 8%, 12%, and even 16% growth. This isn't a blip; it's a death spiral in slow motion. The growth has cratered over six quarters, from 10% down to 3%. For at least the third quarter straight, Salesforce leadership had to explicitly name "weakness in marketing and commerce" as an offset to their success elsewhere. While they talked up AgentForce for Sales and Service, their marketing product was left to wither on the vine. Salesforce bundles Marketing and Commerce together, but let's do some back of the napkin math. Assume 75% of that revenue is Marketing, and 75% of that is the legacy Marketing Cloud (SFMC). No matter how you slice it, the core marketing product is likely flat, or EVEN shrinking. The narrative from the earnings call backs this up - all the exciting customer stories and innovation focus were on AgentForce for Sales/Service and the Data Cloud. Marketing felt like an afterthought. So where is that market share and growth going? Look no further than Braze. Their Q2 results are from a different universe. They posted 24% YoY revenue growth, smashing expectations and raising their full-year guidance. Even more telling, their largest enterprise customers (>\$500k ARR) grew by a blistering 27%. This isn't just growth; it's a hostile takeover of the enterprise marketing budget. This is The Great Unbundling in action, and it's happening faster than anyone predicted. Remember when everyone thought the all in one marketing cloud was the only way? Now, the smart money is no longer settling for the "good enough" module. Leaders are staging a quiet rebellion, keeping Salesforce for its world class core CRM but carving out the marketing budget for a best of breed platform that actually delivers ROI. As one analyst bluntly put it, the decline in Salesforce's M&C is likely a "positive read for SHOP + BRZE market share gains." Want even better news for Braze? Ed McDonnell started as CRO only two months ago. The real acceleration hasn't even begun. The market has spoken. The verdict is in. The only question is: which side of this disruption are you on, and what are you going to do about it? You already know which side Stitch is on.

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19 Comments

Over the last few months, I’ve had some fascinating conversations with CIOs, CFOs, and operations leaders across the Americas and around the world. What’s clear is that we’re entering a new phase in enterprise tech. It’s one that’s less about experimenting with innovation and more about scaling what works.    And what’s working? Systems that are connected, semantic data that’s trustworthy, and embedded AI and knows your business and can do more than just automate.    We’re seeing the early signs of something powerful: a quiet, steady shift toward embedded, operational intelligence at scale.    This is not a technology upgrade. It’s a business architecture transformation and the organizations investing in it now are building the operating model for the next decade.   Check out my new blogpost in Forbes to learn more about how SAP is delivering this for our customers: https://lnkd.in/eFaNZCHA #SAPBusinessSuite #AI #CloudERP #Productivity #EnterpriseTechnology #Leadership 

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8 Comments

Have been asked about the acquisition of Verint by Thoma Bravo. the PE firm that invested in a number of CX organisations. I will leave detailed analysis to others, here's a quick view based on my own opinion (and not that of my employer or any third party - and I have no "inside" information)  1. All companies in the "CX" space face a challenge of investment in innovation and to be in a state of accelerated constant innovation - this is challenging from a structural, cultural and financial perspective. 2. There will be others to be acquired by PE, or adjacent organisations as the CX space broadens and morphs. 3. It could be argued that Verint got in early as a long term player in a rapidly transforming market. Will valuations keep rising?, or as deployments of CX infused AI rolls out will valuations stabilise? 4. The proposition of Verint is differentiated with the breadth of their solution, arguably almost in a space of its' own. 5. I wish the team at Verint great success and congratulations. It has been my pleasure to have partnered with them over many years. #stoneism #Verint #CX

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I’ve rarely seen the highest-activity rep finish #1 on the revenue leaderboard and it’s fundamentally changed the way I measure productivity. Celebrating activity volume has one critical pitfall: What you measure increases - and it’s not always beneficial. If you focus primarily on number of calls made, a rep is better off making 100 dials and getting 0 connects than improving their list quality to make 50 dials with 3 connects. Not the behavior I want to incentivize. A good day isn’t just doing a bunch of activity - it’s doing all you can to make that activity meaningful. Over time, I’ve built a system that helps sellers balance volume of activity with quality of activity. It ensures that every day is spent on activities that drive revenue - not just check boxes. Because you don’t need to be the busiest rep on the team to be #1. You need to be the most intentional. That’s what makes a good day. And enough good days = a great year. Maybe you already know how to spend every day to ensure you hit quota. If you don’t, I’ve got my no-cost “Good Day” Framework and calculator for you here: https://lnkd.in/g879yrCK

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36 Comments

After 15+ years in GTM, these are my 2 go-to methods for coaching reps. I’ve seen too many reps not get the feedback they need, either because it came in too late or it never came at all. Feedback is best delivered quickly and in real time, right before and right after the call. These are the 2 core areas I focus on: 1) Pre-call prep: Before the call, we walk through the plan together. a) Roles and flow: Who’s leading? Who’s supporting? Who’s just listening? Say it out loud so there’s no confusion once the call starts. b) Core objective: What do we need to walk away with? Example: qualified use case, next meeting booked, or a clear blocker identified. c) Objection prep: — What happens if they push back on price? — What if they say “this isn’t a priority” or “we’re not ready” — Have we thought through those answers and who’s taking each one? d) Team clarity check: Everyone should be clear on: — Why we’re on the call — What a successful outcome looks like — What they’re responsible for The goal of this exercise is to pressure-test the thinking, so everyone goes in prepared. 2. Post-call debrief: Right after the call, we break it down while it’s still fresh. a) What changed? — What new info did we learn about the deal — timeline, budget, blockers, and internal priorities? — Did we get a clearer view of who’s involved or what matters to them? If nothing changed, that’s a flag. b) Did we move the deal forward? Do we have a confirmed next step? Did we unlock a new stakeholder, or deeper alignment? If we didn’t move, we need to ask why. 3. Where did we miss? — Was there a moment where we lost the room? — Did we miss a cue, over-talk, or default to pitch mode? — What would we do differently if we had 5 more minutes? 4. What’s the follow-up, and who owns it? — What exactly are we sending? To who? When? — Who’s responsible, and how are we tracking it? That window right before and right after the sales call is where the learning happens, and it’s too valuable to miss. Slack and email have their place. But if that’s your primary coaching loop, you’re leaving too much on the table. I don’t always get it right. When you make time for prep and debrief, I see reps take more ownership, move faster, and actually improve. That’s the environment we’re trying to build at Apollo.

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This is a glimpse into future of Demo Automation with Agentic AI I've seen AI playing a role in the Presales/Solutions space for some time. Automating RFPs, injecting data, call recording software. The next phase is a layer deeper. It's helping us find problems, fix problems, and maintain our demo environments. It's writing the code that makes demos work - not just the click path. Both can be helpful, but in most of my time as an SE I've demo'd beyond a click path. We want AI to produce fully interactive environments that look and behave like the real thing - but are more reliable, predictable, and cost way less to spin up. Dig in with Reprise: https://lnkd.in/ebJXAM-A

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The #1 sales skill I still use every day in Customer Success? Listening. Years in enterprise sales taught me that the fastest way to a deal isn’t always the slickest pitch. It’s understanding what the client truly values, often what they don’t say out loud. I recently faced a situation where a key new client was quietly frustrated with how our team was handling their rollout. Most metrics were fine, but something felt off. Instead of jumping in with solutions, I spent time listening genuinely, without interrupting or trying to “fix” immediately. For that meeting, I brought along a couple of technical experts (including a senior sales colleague who understands the product capability better than many experts) and the project manager. Together, we listened to the client’s operations team, point by point. We identified most of the misalignments across the table, and for the remaining concerns, we understood their expectations and went back to our engineering team for feasibility discussions. We then returned to the client with clear yes/no answers and timelines for what could be done. Lesson: In Customer Success, as in Sales, listening first is the ultimate leverage. The client may forget the slide deck, but they’ll remember that someone truly heard them. How do you ensure your clients feel genuinely heard, beyond metrics and dashboards? #CustomerSuccess #EnterpriseSales #Trust #ClientExperience #Leadership #SMtalks #Coaching

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11 Comments