Learn how Jen Allen-Knuth journeyed from Challenger to Crushing Keynotes

*This is Jen's total engagement numbers from her 9-year journey (through July 19, 2024) 

Introduction

Just like last week's breakdown of Devin Reed's Corporate Breakout story, we find ourselves looking at how Jen Allen-Knuth (DemandJen) has been able to crush her way out of selling Challenger Sales methodology into her own business. 

The story is similar yet very different in the sense that she's found her own unique voice that stands out on LinkedIn. 

Being able to find that unique voice took time but once DemandJen understood what her audience wanted, it became something she was able to really lean into.  

Let's get into it. 

Content Style: The Corporate Breakout

Jen's journey really started at CEB (Corporate Executive Board) where I remember reading The Effortless Experience.  I used that book as a sales play at Zendesk.  It worked incredibly well as the 'Zendesk Playbook' for Customer Success leaders.  

The reason that's important is the CEB was a very corporate place to be working.  Selling their services must not have been easy.  I used some of the products they created as sales tools for the SDR team while at Zendesk but I can't imagine selling it.  

Then going from that into selling Challenger which is a sales methodology must have been just has difficult.  

She talks about the journey in greater detail with Devin Reed on Reed Between the Lines (full episode).  It's a great discussion and by becoming the Chief Evangelist at Challenger, Jen was able to put the first step in place to having her creator style become the Corporate Breakout.  

Let's get into her story and talk about how she got there. 

We All Start Somewhere

Jen Allen-Knuth started her LinkedIn journey in 2016, but didn’t start sharing her thoughts and ideas as a creator until 5 years afterward. 

So, for 5 years, Jen posted just a couple of times.

Really, she only shared 2 posts per year from 2016-2018 and 3 posts in 2019. In her first 4 years, Jen shared 9 posts, 9!

Now, let’s check out some of these early posts, starting with her very first on August 5, 2016

(7 reactions)

That’s it!

No hooks, no body, no CTA, nothing else. Just that!

Of course, that was her starting point, and she also shared another post after two months. 

In 2016, Jen shared two posts.

Here’s her 4th LinkedIn post shared on October 13, 2017

Hook: Have you done the math on your Sales org? The burden on B2B sellers continues to increase. Though well-intentioned, are you contributing to the productivity problem by fighting "more" with more? (35 reactions, 5 comments, 2 reposts)

What a performance for a 4th post!!

Of course, you can question whether that was the hook or the body, but it may not matter so much. Some features may have been responsible for this performance. Aside from the post directly speaking to her audience (Sales personnel), these two reasons may be it.

1. It has a chart (or maybe a CHEAT SHEET), and 
2. It has a link to a valuable article - The "Help" You're Giving Your Reps May Be Dropping Their Close Rates by 12%.

September 10, 2018

Introducing: Challenger, Inc. For years, methodologies from our best-selling books have been adopted by thousands of#sales, #marketing, & #service teams across the world. Come check out what’s new https://bit.ly/2wKJ330 (39 reactions)

November 7, 2019

Love this take on methodical meetings (especially the ordering food analogy). With 11+ stakeholders involved in a complex B2B sale, sellers who simply react to customer-stated needs miss out on an opportunity to help customers overcome group decision dysfunction. (15 reactions, 1 comment, 3 reposts)

Despite being her 9th post on LI, Jen always attached something bigger than her and her brand. She attaches links to articles that provide value. This mostly triggers engagement. 

In 2020, Jen took her posts a step further by sharing 13 posts against 3 in the previous year.

Check out her two most-performing posts for the year;

April 29, 2020

Today, the Challenger team takes our complimentary support one step further with the release of a 5-part video series -- Challenger Selling in a Virtual Environment (link in comments). Access these videos now to get practical guidance on questions we're hearing such as:... (53 reactions, 1 comment, 11 reposts)

Jen included infographics in this post and also started including links in the comment section.

October 14, 2020

38% of complex B2B purchase attempts end in no-decision. Why?... (49 reactions, 8 reposts)

Testing Phase

Jen started posting (as a creator) on LI in 2021 - she shared 67 posts. A giant leap from what she has previously shared in the last 6 years.

March 5, 2021

According to Gong's study of 25,000 sales calls, the average rep spent 65-75% of the call speaking. Yet, the highest converting calls had a talk-to-listen ratio of 43:57. (112 reactions, 14 comments, 2 reposts)

From the hook, you can tell why this post performed well. It is fact-based, controversial, and offers value. It addresses one of the most important topics in sales - the call-to-conversion. This is a topic that many people talk about and how important it is for sales reps to listen more. Bringing stats to the gist takes it to a whole new level. 

April 21 2021

I just hung up from a conversation with someone in Sales for whom I have immense respect: Josh Braun. (291 reactions, 44 comments, 1 repost)

You notice a significant increase in the number of her comments. Aside from sharing a really valuable post, Jen also started engaging her comments.

September 14, 2021

Last December, I lost my dad to cancer. That is (and probably always be) my hardest goodbye. (1008 reactions, 86 comments, 1 repost)

This was the first time Jen reached 1k reactions on her post. She shared a very personal story and linked it to sales. Nothing evokes engagements better than emotional posts. Everyone can relate to the hard goodbye she said to her father, whether they have experienced the same or not.

Also, she shared a very good image to accompany the post. Even if you didn’t read it and you don’t want to react based on the post, the picture would probably make you do that.

December 1, 2021

One of most transformative Sales lessons I learned from Challenger was how to use ROPE instead of ROI. (265 reactions, 36 comments, 2 reposts)

Another thing I observed from Jen’s posts is that she has greatly improved her copywriting skills. Her content in 2021 are better written than the previous years - they even now have proper Hooks. 

January 10, 2022

Today, I shared the news that I'll be stepping into a new role as Chief Evangelist for Challenger! (376 reactions, 91 comments)

March 8, 2022

Years ago, a new hire joined me for a Sales meeting as part of their onboarding. (567 reactions, 34 comments, 6 reposts)

One major catalyst for driving performance with online content is controversy. Neutral content don’t get as many reactions and comments as controversial content. Now, combining controversy with a personal experience is “fire”. 

Of course, she continued to engage her comments.

June 29, 2022

Are you waiting on a contract signature by EOD tomorrow?

Are you thinking about sending your 2nd or 3rd "just checking in..." email?

Consider this… (852 reactions, 114 comments, 13 reposts)

Finding Jen's Creator Style

September 7, 2022

choosing violence with this post. (1236 reactions, 201 comments, 6 reposts)

This is the first time Jen reached 1.2k reactions with her LI posts. A couple of things may be responsible for this. 

• It is controversial!
• It is frame breaking!
• It looks like she took it really personally!
• It directly speaks to the experience of many sales reps on LinkedIn!
• The closing was like a “mic-drop” moment.
• And have you seen the structure? Jen completely ignored the grammar rules for starting every sentence in caps. 

In October 2022, Jen started posting content every day. 

December 2, 2022

Today, I say goodbye to Challenger. (1801 reactions, 320 comments)

January 3, 2023

I made the decision I wouldn’t go back to being a full-time employee after I left my last job. (1380 reactions, 296 comments, 1 repost)

On March 9, 2023, Jen shared her most viral post on LI (as of July 2024) when she announced her wedding with a wonderful hook; 

After 41 years with an easy last name, ya girl is now part of the "How Do You Pronounce That?" Club. (2461 reactions, 693 comments, 1 repost)

July 25, 2023

Yesterday, I reviewed 100+ cold emails in Lavender .

Here are the top 3 most common mistakes. (1830 reactions, 285 comments, 60 reposts)

There are obvious reasons for this wow performance aside from just giving the right content to her audience. 

Some of those reasons are;

The Hook

• Yesterday - very recent, valid, not outdated
• 100+ - the number 100 is a powerful number. You don’t have to mention 117; just 100+ is great.
•  Lavender - the cold emails were crafted and sent by professionals - just like her audience. Everyone wants to know why their cold emails are not performing. So this is a perfect template for them. 
• Top 3 common mistakes - logically, you’d think if they are the commonest mistakes, most sales reps are making them and you want to avoid the mistakes.

The content

• Each reason is clearly highlighted
• Skillful use of numbers; 150+, <50, 23%, 60s 
• Writing tone - aim to write like you’re talking - “Stop writing like you are one of the Knights of the Roundtable”
• Mentions - Jen mentioned her company and 2 other people
• Closing - scoring the cold emails and showing the results is just a perfect close for such an amazing post

The Comments

• She was there to engage the comments. 
• Jen shared more value in her comment section, including her favorite email from the reviewed cold email drafts, and links to Tips for Subject Lines, Writing Shorter Emails, and How to Land an Unsure Tone. 
• Sharing each of these details gives more chance for engagement. One of these had 87 reactions and 29 replies. 

August 9, 2023

4 cold email subject line frameworks (and examples for each) in 3 mins and 15 seconds. (2280 reactions, 276 comments, 82 reposts)

October 11, 2023

You cannot recruit Gal anymore. (2217 reactions, 131 comments, 147 reposts)

December 6, 2023

Dwight Schrute gave one of the best lessons I've ever seen re: how to defeat a bigger competitor. (1227 reactions, 201 comments, 55 reposts)

January 4, 2024

I've sold $50M+ in professional services into Enterprise accounts. (569 reactions, 118 comments, 5 reposts)

February 22, 2024

Welp, I can officially check off "cried at a Sales Kickoff" from my bucket list. (1729 reactions, 139 comments, 10 reposts.)

April 18, 2024

If I ever wrote a Sales book, I would name it, "Sell Like You Give a Sh*t". It would be 7 chapters. Here's the TLDR of each chapter. (980 reactions, 206 comments, 18 reposts)

June 14, 2024

Every SaaS/Tech Sales & Marketing conference agenda in 2024:... (993 reactions, 285 comments, 6 reposts)

So what does all this mean for you?

The Corporate Breakout: Is it for you? 

If you want to start your own creator journey and you're working a corporate 9-5 today, really think about Jen's journey.  She was able to create a role as the Evangelist.  Is that something you could do? 

This is an example of how someone can go from a W2 to a full time creator. 

If you spend the next 9-12 months really refining who you are and what you want to speak about, you can do it too. 

It really will take a solid 9-12 months of focus and don't underestimate the amount of energy that goes into creating your strategy, writing content or editing it to be ready to rock.  Each piece takes time. 

Focus on building your brand.  Be a top performer at your W2.  Find a way out.  

If that's what you want to do with your life. 

Conclusion

Here’s what you should take away from DemandJen's journey that started almost a decade ago:

• Lean into your expertise (and share your learnings) 
• Be controversial and frame breaking
• Deep dives on topics build trust 

As you'll see throughout Jen's story, she refined how she spoke to the audience over time.  Her voice allowed her to be controversial and stand out (and say things others wouldn't).  Finding your creator style takes time but as you'll see with Jen's style - it is very unique and that's why it worked. 

If you combine these three takeaways, it is her voice. Her voice is powerful on the platform and she's built deep TRUST with the audience because of it.  

As I get deeper into my journey as a creator, I'm refining how I want to talk to the audience and figure out how to stand for something (or not) to go on certain topics.  

It takes time, but that's the point.  Just get started on your journey. 

Now, here's a bit more about the detailed takeaways that are worth considering.