It’s Been a Weird Year, Yes?

I started Sponge.io seven years ago, and I can honestly say 2023 has been the most chaotic one yet.

Every quarter swung wildly between unrest and mastery, whether it was meeting our goals, hiring/firing, or the scope of our projects. In a lot of ways, it felt like 2023 was our “growing up” year:

• This risk-taking woman had to become much more conservative.
• Fortune 100 companies trusted us with immense transformation projects, which was both daunting and validating as a scrappy team of 9.
• We actually have proven results to back up our POV on sales & marketing alignment, integrated demand planning, and automating the lead-to-revenue process, which is just rad.

Even though it’s been chaotic, there is magic in the doing: when the systems work, the numbers match, and the leads are good. I’m feeling really grateful for my talented team and the clients (that’s you!) who trust us with meaty and interesting problems every day.

>> Related: Here Come the Aggressive 2024 Revenue Targets <<

Sales Ops – Stop Ghosting Leads

Here are the 14 lessons we’ve learned managing outsourced BDRs after helping a €5.5 billion client onramp a telemarketing agency.

Marketing Ops – Remodel Your Tech Stack

These are the email benchmarks we expect for open, click, and bounce rates, and the red flags that are concerning.

Demand Gen – Drive Pipeline

Hiring season approaches!  Here are the demand gen skills we prioritize for start-ups, SMBs, and enterprises.

What we’re digging lately…

• Paddywax National Parks Candles – Trust us, we’re cozy candle connoisseurs 🔥
• The World of Competitive Boat Docking – A DMV exclusive 🛥
• The Worst Thanksgiving Sides – Apologies to green beans everywhere 🍠

Recently on the blog…

• How to Manage Salesforce Duplicates
• How to Use Marketo My Tokens and Templates to Scale Webinars
• 40 A/B Test Ideas for SalesLoft, Outreach, Emails, Form Pages, Social & PPC
• Tips for Coaching Remote BDRs and Sales Reps

Header image from Stratejoy.