Tom Melbourne is the Founder of OpnMkt (pronounced Open Market) which is a Salesforce-Native utility app on the AppExchange for a marketplace approach to the distribution of new leads or new opportunities. OpnMkt is more than just a sales effectiveness tool. It’s completely reimagining the status quo when it comes to maximizing sales capacity.

Tom has had an incredible career on his way to starting OpnMkt. He started out as an Account Executive where he was very successful and then went on to leading sales teams for companies like CareerBuilder, Citrix, MixPanel and Sendoso. He’s been a VP of Sales 3x over and is also an angel investor and a strategic advisor.

In this episode, Tom challenges the way we think about sales structure in terms of pre-defined territories and/or named account lists. He offers an innovative alternative to traditional SDR to AE routing/distribution that can inherently open up more sales capacity.

#salesconsultantpodcast #salescapacity #leadrouting #accountdistribution #sdr #salesdevelopment #salesterritory #namedaccounts

Time Stamps:

[2:00] Tom starts by telling the story of starting a wedding DJ business at 12 which he ran all the way through college. This led to him and a partner creating a wedding planning app right out of college that they sold to companies. 

[8:00] Explains what he attributes his progressive career to. Tom gives some advice to people who might be earlier in their career; nurture your network.

[10:23] Nobody cares about a lead until someone wants to buy something + the origin story of OpnMkt.

[13:00] The one thing missing from lead distribution platforms today is involvement from the Account Executive. The more excited a rep is about working a lead the better that lead will be worked.

[15:00] The current model of SDR to AE opportunity routing is inherently inconsistent due to the AE’s expectation varying based on the health of their funnel. 

[19:00] Pre structured territories limit the ability to dynamically route leads. We talk through an example where a lead surfaced that was generated via a rep’s brand building/social media activity and how unless an exception was made that rep most likely wouldn’t get the lead.

[22:30] Tom helps us understand what “Sales Capacity” even means. Then he gets into how we inherently limit capacity through the traditional approaches to structuring our orgs and our territories.

[26:00] We unpack an alternative approach to just defaulting to the same ol ‘assign everything to the salespeople/Account Executives’. The approach is innovative ad creates optionality which leads to increased sales capacity.

[37:00] He explains the inherent challenges to the traditional SDR/AE pod model (i.e., personality conflicts, inconsistent SDR development, etc.) 

[41:30] The tension between quality and quantity and how SDR compensation changes for the better in this new model.

[47:00] Why and how creating optionality in your distribution helps maximize sales capacity.

Mentions:

• OpnMkt - https://www.opnmkt.io

• Sendoso - https://sendoso.com

Connect with us:

Tom’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommelbourne/

OpnMkt - https://www.opnmkt.io

OpnMkt on the Salesforce AppExchange - https://appexchange.salesforce.com/listingDetail?listingId=a0N3u00000PFnBWEA1&tab=e

The Sales Consultant LinkedIn Page - https://the-sales-consultant-podcast.captivate.fm/

Derrick’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/derricklwilliamsjr/

Derrick’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/derrickis3linksales/

Derrick’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/derrickis3link

These interviews are also available on Derrick’s YouTube page