When determining whether someone should receive a pay increase, it's important to ask three key questions. 1.) Is the rep displaying the golden side of our values and behaviors? 2.) Did the rep achieve or exceed 100% of their target? 3.) Is the rep actively learning and applying lessons from their manager and sales enablement in their sales activities? The piece around values and behaviors is critical. Reps should not be eligible for a raise, no matter how much they’ve exceeded their goal, if they are not consistently showing up in a way that aligns with the values.

Here is my favorite hit list of OKRs for Sales: *ASP *Average Sales Cycle *# of net new logos *Total discos scheduled *Percentage to quota I've been at different organizations that also liked to measure the following: * Total Appointments//Discos * Total Pitches Completed * Total Number of Net New Logos * Total Transactions from Cross Sells * Total Selling Days in Month//Quarter * Total Calls//Emails (Calls2Set +Emails2Set Ratio) * Total Talk Time * % to Quota * Selling Days * Show Ratio * Average Deal Size I live by "RGA" = Revenue Generating Activities 

In my experience, the best sales candidates are not necessarily people with the most years of sales experience. I've noticed the best sales candidates all have these qualities in common: * Insanely Driven and Hard-Working (folks who are intrinsically motivated to double down on KPIs to exceed their goals if that's what it takes) * Adaptable (people who can think on their feet, and adjust their sales motion/process to best hit their sales targets) * Inquisitive (excellent salespeople know that the key to selling is listening, not talking. So people who are naturally curious about their clients' pain points are generally much better at prescribing solutions and highlighting impact for the client) * Self-Sufficient with Outbound (the top 1% sales talent I've seen will always find ways to exceed their number beyond what's given to them. They know how to go creatively source for leads and go outbound to feed themselves, and not just rely on an inbound pipeline)

Staying up to date: It’s important to pick a medium that you like for content. Whether it is Linkedin, podcasts, email newsletter, or chat based slack groups, you want to make sure you are setting yourself up for success. If the content goes unread or unlistened to, you won’t build a consistent learning habit. Personally, I find the most value in content forums where you can engage and ask follow up questions, hear multiple opinions on a particular matter, and even reach out the the original writer for a 1-1 chat! Another underutilized source of knowledge for industry trends is content from Sales Development technology vendors. It’s imperative that they stay on the cutting edge, so following a few top vendors on Linkedin will allow you to see what future the tools are preparing for. Avoiding the noise: There can be a great amount of value in public best practices. That said, there is risk in assuming that something that works for someone else will also work for you, or for implementing changes to something when you are already seeing above-average results. For example, if your content is getting a 20% reply rate, you may not want to adopt the “best practice” that moved someone else's team from a 10% to 15% reply rate. Having your own benchmarks and running your own A/B tests can help you determine where you should be altering your SDR motion, and where you should keep yours in place. Then, you can proactively search for interesting ideas to test in areas you are performing below benchmark. 

Coming into an organization as the first sales hire puts a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. You are basically in charge of proving the validity of this function within the company. There are a few things that I would consider and act on in this position: Start with the short term. As a first hire in a sales organization, you are required to deliver results that have a very immediate impact that meets the business needs. This means focusing on some low-hanging fruits in order to deliver results within a short time frame. Build a framework. As a first hire within the team, you should make sure you document your work, and create clear guidelines and processes, with the expectation of adding additional members to the team in the future. This will ensure a smooth expansion of the team while positioning you as a thought leader and a pivotal member of this function. Go beyond your scope. As a junior sales hire, never underestimate the power of tenacity. I always invite my team members to push the boundaries and look for additional scope and responsibilities whenever they feel capable. This is a very strong signal that you are willing to take on more, and when management will face a new task at hand, they will know they can count on you.

As the new sales manager for a B2B SaaS company that is starting to scale with 40 people, your first month and first quarter are critical for laying the groundwork for future success. Here's what you should aim to do in each timeframe: First Month: 1. Understand the Business: * Gain a deep understanding of the company's products, services, target market, value proposition, and competitive landscape. 2. Assess Current Sales Processes: * Evaluate existing sales processes, tools, and workflows to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. * Review sales metrics, performance data, and historical trends to identify patterns and insights. 3. Build Relationships: * Get to know your sales team members individually, understand their strengths, weaknesses, and motivations. * Develop rapport with cross-functional teams, including marketing, product, customer success, and operations. 4. Set Expectations: * Clearly communicate your vision, goals, and expectations for the sales team. * Align sales objectives with broader company goals and priorities. 5. Identify Quick Wins: * Identify low-hanging fruit and quick-win opportunities to boost morale and generate early momentum. * Focus on addressing any immediate challenges or bottlenecks that may be hindering sales performance. First Quarter: 6. Develop a Sales Strategy: * Develop a comprehensive sales strategy that aligns with the company's growth objectives and market opportunities. * Define target customer segments, ideal customer profiles, and go-to-market strategies. 7. Optimize Sales Processes: * Streamline and optimize sales processes to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and scalability. * Implement standardized workflows, sales cadences, and best practices. 8. Provide Training and Development: * Implement a structured onboarding program for new hires and provide ongoing training and development opportunities for the sales team. * Focus on building sales skills, product knowledge, objection handling, and negotiation techniques. 9. Implement Sales Technology: * Evaluate and implement sales technology tools and platforms to support sales operations, enablement, and analytics. * Implement a CRM system to track leads, opportunities, and customer interactions. 10. Set Performance Metrics: * Define key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to track sales performance, such as conversion rates, pipeline velocity, and quota attainment. * Implement regular performance reviews and coaching sessions to provide feedback and support to the sales team. 11. Foster a Culture of Accountability: * Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement within the sales team. * Celebrate successes, recognize top performers, and address underperformance proactively. 12. Align with Leadership: * Maintain open communication and alignment with executive leadership, providing regular updates on sales performance, initiatives, and challenges. * Seek input and guidance from leadership to ensure alignment with company goals and priorities. By focusing on these key initiatives in your first month and first quarter as a sales manager, you can establish a strong foundation for sales success, drive growth, and position the company for long-term scalability and profitability. ChatGPT can make mistakes. Consider checking important information.

Staying up to date on industry trends and sales enablement best practices is something that needs time to absorb the information to analyze if your organization needs to adjust any of the current or future programs. Below I have outlined a few ways to stay up to date on both industry trends and best practices. Industry Trends Sales Enablement is accountable for providing the GTM customer-facing teams with the current information and training to assist them in their customer engagements. Below are some of the Industry Trends to review based on your business needs. * Vertical Markets - Sign up to industry papers, forums and magazines to stay ahead * Personas - Sign up to any CSuite forums, magazines and blogs to stay informed of the thinking * Technology - Sign up to the technology forums that align with your solutions, preferably your own company's customer early adoption, or customer forums or developer communities * Purchase Industry Benchmarking Reports : Forrester or Gartner to assist in your efforts There are alot of vendors that offer enablement and insights for the enablement practioner. Below are the top three enablement professional networks that would help you. SalesEnablement Pro ATD (Association for Talent Development) Sales Enablement Society (Chapters are local in your area)

I stronly believe that sales people are one of the most likely people to get to the highest position in any business right upto the role of a CEO. In fact, many CEOs in global companies either come from either sales or product background. * A sales person would start their sales career somewhere as a SDR/BDR. * And then move into an account executive quota carrying role. * From there, they would either branch into management or continue to be a senior Individual Contributor (think about a Key Account Director) * I have seen successful sales people eventually getting into GM, CRO or even CEO roles

Navigating tactical opportunities within our enterprise accounts is a challenging but vital aspect of my role. My team focuses on deals that align with our clients' strategic objectives. On average, each AE handles 3 to 5 opportunities per month. While many of the key stakeholders remain consistent (sponsor, procurement, key decision maker), the diverse nature of our products means managing these deals can be intricate and time-intensive. Understanding each product and its customer-centric benefits is crucial. This insight allows us to align and prioritize opportunities effectively. Once consensus is reached, establishing a mutual close plan with specific steps and responsible parties becomes much smoother. When execution is spot-on, and the product's benefits are acknowledged, quantified, and a timeline is set, the rest of the sales cycle shifts towards project management and ensuring accountability, rather than traditional selling. This approach ensures that our efforts are laser-focused on delivering value and driving outcomes for our clients in line with their strategic vision.

Love this question, too. It's true. There are a few reasons: 1. You will always have outliers in a sales org. Sometimes a rep has a windfall and reaches quota without hitting KPIs, I've seen it. But the point of KPIs is the make success repeatable. 2. It gives your managers a tool kit to help coach and manage performance. 3. How do you eat an entire elephant? One bite at a time. Each KPI is a "bite" and we do best when faced with a big task (annual quota) to break it down to as small of pieces as we can.