Summer Cognoscenti Interview: Gerry Hill

Episode 23: Gerry Hill - Outbound Sales, Trust and Cold-Calling Mastery.

Welcome to What's Broken in GTM and How to Fix It with Louis Fernandes and Simon Daniels. Each week, together with occasional guests, we explore the challenges that face go-to-market leaders in SaaS scale-up businesses and suggest solutions to common issues.

This week our Summer Cognoscenti Series guest is Gerry Hill ex-VP EMEA at ConnectAndSell. Here’s the TL;DL (“ Too Long; Didn’t Listen)”) in case you don’t have time for the whole episode: In an era of over automated cadences, real human conversations still rule. Cold calling is alive, but the art of conversation needs reviving. That old smile and dial brute force approach is broken. The new winning formula is precision at scale. Genuine curiosity, active listening and human connection are what open doors far more than any gimmicky email subject lines.

Listen on as Gerry shares his journey into B2B sales via a thwarted aspiration to play professional rugby, culminating in a key role at Connect and Sell where he helped drive outbound calling as a distinct discipline. He reflects on the evolution of sales, emphasising its scientific nature and the critical role of data and process optimisation. Gerry discusses the inefficiencies in traditional cold calling, pointing to bottlenecks and unpredictable outcomes that hinder productivity. Despite not being embedded in technology himself, Gerry emphasises the importance of tools that facilitate meaningful conversations. And echoing past guests, Gerry highlights trust and grit as key attributes in engaged in outbound calling.

Other mentions in this episode:

 Jesse Ouellette, Lead Magic

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