Profile
Katie Layng is a sales executive with a proven track record of growing revenue and maintaining high customer satisfaction and retention. She has over a decade of experience exceeding sales goals, increasing YOY recurring revenue and leading successful sales teams within SaaS, Marketing Tech, Ad Tech and Media. Since joining Demandbase in 2013, she’s helped the company grow from a 40-person startup to a 300+ leader in the ABM space. As Demandbase's first Ad sales hire, Katie played an integral part in launching and scaling the Advertising business across top B2B brands. Now, as the Vice President of Sales, she is responsible for scaling the Mid-Market sales team and driving SaaS and Advertising revenue growth.
Reviews
Katie Layng didn’t begin her career in sales, but once introduced to the B2B world, she knew it was for her. After stints in digital advertising and publishing, she found her way into selling, and eventually joined Demandbase as the company’s first ad-targeting sales rep. Today she’s a key figure in a group of women leaders within Demandbase that is responsible for significant portions of the company’s growth, managing all SaaS and advertising revenue for the company’s mid-market segment. After more than seven years with Demandbase, Katie understands the B2B world is constantly evolving and has a knack for sensing shifts in the market. Never one to settle for the status quo, she moves quickly to expand her skills to complement the ways in which selling is changing. For instance, when Katie started in B2B sales, a typical strategy involved mass outreach and minimal personalization. Today, it’s the complete opposite. Katie leads her team to develop highly curated prospect lists. From there she turns to research to get a sense of her prospect’s business and their specific needs. After she and her team do their due diligence, they collaborate with marketing to create personalized communications that convey Demandbase’s value proposition. Katie, who is always in learning mode, is a popular leader within the company because she sets high standards and empowers her team to always go the extra mile. She emphasizes strategy, including the importance of account planning, creating authentic pitches that demonstrate the “why”, and understanding product knowledge. Katie also encourages her team to stay up to date on the industry’s competitive landscape, so they may confidently discuss the differentiating factors between Demandbase’s solutions and its competitors. And finally, Katie leads by example by embracing cross-department alignment. Whether she’s working with SDRs, SEs, field marketing or CSM team members, Katie knows no deal is ever closed solo. This is where her exceptional listening and communication skills come into play. Whether it’s staying late to get on the same page with colleagues internally or connecting with prospects about their priorities during an economic downturn, communication is a key factor in building trust for successful partnerships, inside Demandbase and out. Katie is a leader who recognizes enterprise sales is a team effort. She never gets hung up on who gets credit for landing big deals. It’s a win for everyone, and a testament to the relationships she has fostered.