Today, we have advice for the newbie managers out there. Plus, everyone’s going crazy for Plaid—the Plaid/Visa duo that is. And, why your sales outreach should be a bit warmer.

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Mastering manager-ing 

So we hear you’re a new manager. Congrats... But do you know where to start?

There’s a lot to be learned, and plenty of room for error, especially for newbies to the space. And the first 30 days of your manager-ship can really shape how your managees feel about you. So we’re grateful for the reminder, written by Know Your Team’s Claire Lew, on the six concrete mistakes to avoid during your first month in this role. 

It’s great to hear the how-tos and the preachings of positivity, but in this case, what not to do is just as dire as what to do. So here are our favorites:

• Don’t just address your team as a whole. Because one-on-one meetings can help you establish where each of your team members is at: Are they stuck? Are there concerns? If so, what are they? What work style do they prefer? We are huge believers at ProfitWell that feedback is everything. Be sure to solicit it, appropriately and often.
  
  
• In a similar realm, embarking on a journey of “Here’s what I think,” as opposed to a tour of listening, learning, and fully understanding. Instead, ask questions. Be inquisitive. Again, it’s all about feedback.
  
  
• Another solid one: Forgetting to interview fellow leaders in your space. There are so many influentials around—whether you find them physically or via LinkedIn—who have been in your position. Take advantage of that expertise and keep the learning going. Here's an article we wrote on trends amongst successful SaaS CEOs that can help. 
  
  
• One from this list that really resonated with me: Optimizing for likeability (and not trust). This, I admittedly struggle with. But prioritizing "being liked" as a leader often prevents us from being honest. Instead, be frank, direct, and ultimately transparent. Rather than focusing on "How can I get my team to like me?" ask yourself what you can do to earn their trust. 

There’s more where this came from, so we suggest reading through Claire's full piece here. Because struggle on the managerial side will inevitably trickle down to all parts of your organization. No pressure, though.  

Plaid is so hot right now

We’ve seen the headlines ad nauseam: Visa is acquiring Plaid for $5.3 billion dollars. 

At 2x its final private valuation and a triumph for investors, Visa will now own financial services API startup Plaid. Plaid is a behind-the-scenes tool, powering advances for financial services with the technology that provides access to, and analytics for financial data. If you’ve heard of Twilio, Plaid is in that same realm. 

Yet we’re not concerned with the what or the who, but the why. Why did Visa scoop up the startup for such a pretty penny?

It comes down to the customer. With this acquisition, Visa will get access to a seriously impressive lineup of customers that it can sell additional payment services to—because Plaid works with the majority of the largest fintech apps in the U.S., like Venmo, Square Cash, Chime, Acorns, Robinhood, and Coinbase. 

And we know more is almost always better when it comes to expansion revenue. We have an episode of the ProfitWell Report on exactly how much expansion revenue your company needs to be successful. Here’s the data from 5,000 companies and 300,000 subscription buyers. 

Warmer days are coming

What even is a warm email, you ask? And why do we need it in our outreach?

We know the "cold email" as an effective form of business outreach, all in the name of booking more appointments. But apparently, according to InboxBrain, 24% of email campaigns are never even received, never mind opened. So that’s where the warm email comes in—to help ensure your emails are being delivered and not being marked as spam. 

The gradual process of warming an account has to do with the volume of emails sent, the reputation of the account and the domain that’s linked, plus the type of content being sent.  

And although email sometimes gets a bad rap, we can attest—there are many hidden talents to it. We have a talk by Litmus’ former email badass and Help Scout’s current Head of Marketing Justine Jordan that’ll show you 40 of them in 40 minutes. Email is your friend—your segway to drive traffic, conversation, and ultimately sales.

So how do you go about warming up your outreach? Here's the article by InboxBrain—on everything from personalization to warming your account and launching it.

Protect the Hustle: Feedback is not negotiable

Feedback can be challenging, as it feels inherently personal and can fuel all the not-so-great emotions: insecurity, vulnerability, anger. Yet, as HubSpot's Brian Halligan points out, it has to be faced—and, if utilized correctly, it can be one of the most critical factors of building a company. Here's how to do it right.

And that’s a wrap for your January 17 subscription news. Recruit your teammates into the subscription know through profitwell.com/recur/recurnow.

If you have news to share, hit me up at abby@recurnow.com and we'll collaborate.