The #1 deal diagnostic tool: Mutual plans – What good (and bad) plans look like
After accumulating the experience of literally hundreds of 1:1 meetings and deal reviews with Account Executives over the years as a sales leader, I think I have finally figured out the single most important predictor of success – Knowing exactly what is going to be done in order [...]
The most common sales hiring profile mistake in early stage start-ups
Your startup is series seed or series A/B and looking to build out your sales org – No sales effectiveness/training function in place; just you. You are moving up to mid-market or enterprise and you have just had a bad case of sticker shock… These damned [...]
Hiring over your head of sales – When the suit outgrows the wearer.
Let me start by saying that if done right, hiring over the top of an existing head of sales should be a VERY positive thing for both the business and the incumbent. This post tells you when to do it and how to do it: Do [...]
Clear signs your sales rep won’t ramp and what you should do about it
A core function of front line sales management is to amplify the results of the team. Due to rapid promotions to management and a lack of core skills development in reps, I am seeing a recurring trend that is killing the leverage we should be getting [...]
The Magic Acronym to Improve Your Win Rates and Forecast Accuracy
In 2008 I was running an enterprise team for Salesforce.com and had a dilemma with process integrity and CRM data - Enterprise reps were doing a great job in managing their big deal process and following the methodology, but for the smaller, higher velocity deals it [...]
Building Sales Operations Within Your Start-up
Have you ever wondered why your head of sales is struggling to give you an accurate view of next month’s forecast, or why the slick new reps that you brought in from a high flying SaaS company aren’t selling already? If so, you are probably ready [...]