The biggest reality of sales is that you are as good as your current quarter. No matter how well you may have done in the previous quarter, the meter comes back to zero at the beginning of the new quarter/new year. I have been in sales for more than 2 decades and have seen numerous quarter ends/month ends. The trick to avoid burnout is to ensure that you disconnect from work every now and then. I try to take 5 days off every quarter to re-energize myself and get back on the grind. I also keep on taking up a new hobby which also is a great way to destress yourself without having to go on a week long holiday. At present, I am learning how to play the guitar :) 

To effectively define the metrics for which you should hold sales accountable, I look at a few things: 1. Understand the "Sales Math" of the business across some core universally applicable SaaS Sales metrics 2. Compare the performance of the top 1/3 AE's against the bottom 1/3 AE's and look for which metrics contribute the most to high performance. 3. Go deep in those categories and correlate the activities top performers do differently to achieve these results. Quantify these activities to define supporting metrics which will lead to success. To break this down, let's understand the foundational "Sales Math." This is the equation to hit quota. The equation is fairly simple, but everyone's vernacular is different. It is actually extremely important to have very well defined steps in the equation to get consistency across your entire team. For example, we use opportunity stages with clear exit criteria for the buyer & seller to provide consistent insight into our Sales Math. So I would actually use a Stage 1 Opp Created - instead of Discovery Call, and Stage 3 Opp instead of Demo. For the purposes of this article, I'll use general sales terms that each business should be able to use as a starting point and customize from there. Here are the metrics that go into the Sales Math equation: * Activities to create a Discovery Call * # Discovery Calls per quarter * # Demos per quarter * Discovery Call to Demo conversion ratio * # Closed Won Deals per quarter * Demo to Closed Won conversion ratio * Average Deal Size * Average Deal Cycle These metrics will allow you to create the math to hit quota. If the current team's metrics do not consistently lead to the results you're looking for, then the Sales Math may be aspirational. If your team is executing against plan, then this may be your actual current metrics. Regardless, this is what you should feel confident telling AE's is the realistic, attainable and surpassable way to hit quota. For example, it could look like: $250k Quarterly Quota Average Deal Size of $84k 3 Deals to hit quota Close ratio of 33% 9 Demos needed per quarter 60% conversion ratio of Disco to Demo 15 Discovery Calls needed per quarter 50 Activities to create a Disco 750 Activities needed per quarter* *one note on activity. It's a metric I'll always track to understand a baseline level of effort, but I will often leave this out of the Sales Math when dealing with higher complexity sales and more senior AE's. Up to you if this should be in your Sales Math equation. Now take your Sales Math, and map your high performers against your low performers to look for which metrics have a high correlation with success. This exercise can be extremely surprising, so be open to what the data shows you, and hold your strong opinions loosely. Let's extrapolate this exercise across two different scenarios: Scenario 1 - Enterprise Here's how the exercise played out when running it against a more enterprise business (numbers are directional): 1. Activity, Discovery Calls and Demos were almost identical across high & low performers. This told me that pushing "more activity" was only going to have so much impact on performance. 2. The Closed Won conversion of top performers was 46% vs. 25% for the low performers. This was a huge gap, and had major implications on the Sales Math. 3. The Average Deal Size of top performers was $160k vs. $70k for low performers. This is also a huge gap compounded the success or struggles of each group when combined with the stat above. So the key metrics to optimize were Average Deal Size and Demo to Close Ratio. We wanted to maintain our activity levels, but really lean into increasing ADS and strategies to help with Deal Execution. Based on this knowledge of what would have the biggest impact in high performance vs. low performance, we added in some metrics & activities that would contribute to these results: * Updated our account prioritization to ensure a focus on the top deals & tracked activity against Priority 1 accounts * We blocked off time each week to prospect into our top accounts & scheduled strategy sessions to help get more meetings with these accounts * We tracked # of Discos with P1 accounts * # of Demo's with $100k+ Opportunities For Deal Execution * We tracked multi-threading in each account * Have we made an executive connection? * We created a cross-functional meeting to lean into competitive differentiation strategy * We set a threshold for accounts that needed a key deal review & updated our process to improve efficiency and make room for more accounts reviewed each week. Scenario 2 - Transactional Here's how the exercise played out when running it against a more transactional business (numbers are directional): 1. There were two camps of high performers. Those with extremely high activity, and those with higher disco to demo efficiency. Our most consistent top performer was a combination of both. Low performers fell into a similar pattern of either low activity or low conversion of discos to demos. 2. Deal size and win rate didn't have dramatic differences outside of 1 AE who closed the largest deal in segment history. This wasn't repeatable so we eliminated that result instead of putting too much time in hunting whales. 3. Average Deal Cycle for top performers was 39 days vs. 52 days for lower performers. Top AE's were closing deals faster, which allowed for more time to close more deals. From this data we defined additional metrics and activities to drive better results: * Upped the baseline activity volume expectations - there is a diminishing point of returns, but higher volume was almost always a component of success. We raised the bar, but also coached our highest volume AE's to lean more into their efficiency metrics instead of pushing to just do more. * Managers went deep on quality of discovery calls coming into the funnel * Title & Seniority level of Prospects - lower conversion was correlated with lower titles. * Was the company in our Ideal Customer Profile? Quality of company greatly impacted conversion * Why now? Did we offer someone a gift card or just bug them until their defense was worn down? Or was this call predicated on funding, a new hire, an inflection point in the business, intent or some other business catalyst? * Managers inspected quality of prospecting messages * Managers inspected quality of discovery calls * We rallied around creative promos to help the team close deals faster * We replicated decks top AE's were using to build value and establish trust faster In both Scenario 1 and 2 - we started with the baseline Sales Math, and through comparison of top performers vs. low performers we were able to lean into the 2 key metrics that had an outsized impact on performance. We then defined key activities and additional metrics which we could hold the team accountable to, that we knew would correlate towards greater success across the team. How easy was that? :)

Essentially, scaling a successful sales team all comes down to the people you hire. The members you are adding as part of your team will define the team culture. I always aim to hire people that help create a culture that fosters innovative thinking to enable growth and progress. Similar to adding ingredients to a recipe, scaling should be done slowly and steadily. Try to find the right people who share the passion, vision and values that you foster within the team. At a later stage, after you have found and hired the right people for your team, make sure you are creating a structure that will enable all team members to grow. Eventually, you will scale up to a point where you will need to develop managers within your team. Make sure that you are nurturing the right people that have the qualities that you look for to make them leaders.

Common mistakes include: * Focusing on why you want to work at X company, but not why you want Y job (it's arguably more important to show why you're drawn to the role that you will be doing every day rather than just the company you will be joining) * Not having any questions whatsoever for your interviewer at the end (it's important to show that you took some time to think through thoughtful questions) * Spending more than half the interview going through every single job you've ever had (essentially, reading off the resume). Perfect your elevator pitch for yourself. In just a few minutes, how can you tell your story effectively and succinctly? * Indicating that you've never had any setbacks, failures, or difficulties in your previous roles (no one is perfect so being able to speak to setbacks and what you've learned from them is important) * Not knowing much about the company, its products/services, value props of what you would be selling, etc. (little-to-no research done before the interview shows a lack of Investment on the interviewee's end)

Be prepared: C-Suite folks are busy people- don't waste their time. Ensure you are prepared for every meeting you have with them. Anticipate the questions you would expect them to ask and have your answers ready to reply with in real time. Be clear and concise: It goes a long way in terms of how you show up to the C-Suite if you can articulate what you need to say in a clear and concise way. If you are taking the time to prepare, this should be easy enough to accomplish. Properly prepare them: If you are running a meeting or call together or simply need your C-Suite's involvement in a deal or project you're working on, it is critical to properly prep them for it. Take the extra time to build out a pre-read that outlines the background of the deal or project, who's involved, the goal of their involvement, what you actually need from them, and in some cases suggested ghost written content (i.e. ghost written email in a deal for exec to exec alignment). Simply put, if you are asking something of them, make it as easy as possible for them to get up to speed and execute on it. Be confident: The C-Suite are people too! Of course, have respect, but also have confidence in you and make sure that shines through. 

The lost successful leaders I have worked with all seem to be able to have a healthy mix of the following: Must Have 1. Sales Strategy Development: For CRO's, its imperative that they have the ability to work with their partners in enablement to design and implement effective sales strategies that align with company goals, including setting KPIs, sales targets, and go-to-market plans. These strategies need to be clearly communicated and must be repeatable, measurable and scalable across regions 2. Data-Driven Decision Making: Proficiency in analyzing sales metrics and performance data to identify scalable and repeatable trends, forecast results, and make informed decisions. This includes budgeting, revenue forecasting, and optimizing team performance. 3. Coaching & Feedback Techniques: Knowledge of coaching frameworks (such as GROW or SBI) and the ability to mentor teams effectively to improve individual and team performance is a must. This needs to be a constant part of the conversations with your teams, and feedback should never be a surprise. Do team selling events: mid stage deal reviews, practice upcoming discovery calls together - not every meeting needs to a pipeline review! 4. Product and Market Knowledge: Deep understanding of the company's products/services and the competitive market landscape, enabling strategic positioning and selling. Nice to Have: 1. Marketing Org Alignment: Understanding of marketing programs & principles to help collaborate effectively on important programs like lead generation, content creation, and aligning sales efforts with marketing campaigns. 2. Financial Acumen: Familiarity with P&L management, margins, and revenue impact analysis, to ensure that sales efforts align with overall financial goals. 3. Digital Sales & Social Selling: Proficiency in digital selling techniques and platforms (e.g., LinkedIn Sales Navigator) to enhance prospecting and lead nurturing in today’s online-driven sales environment. Hope this helps!

I enjoy companies that operate from a set of core values & principles. Step one is to call out learning as core to the business's success. Next, you should consider: * Praising knowledge sharing * Driving a learning culture from the top-down * Offering easy ways for people to share their learnings * Embedding learning where sellers & leaders need it most

First off, congrats on the big gains in ARR & ACV, and also for putting some key processes in place. Like many of my other responses, let me say here that "It depends." We should find some time to chat about your situation. At Vanta, we had a repeatable sales playbook from the early days, but we didn't implement a formal sales methodology when we were around 200 employees (and had a GTM org of around 100 employees). Why did we do it? Not because we were struggling (sales were humming), but because our newly hired CRO had seen firsthand how adopting a sales methodology early better enables a GTM org to scale for the long run. We ended up hiring Force Management to lead us through Command of the Message (CoM) training and it was worth every penny. For those unfamiliar, many of the fastest-growing sales teams today use CoM. Besides bringing a new structure to our GTM motion, our in-person training and onboarding with Force Management also served to realign the entire company around our core values and mission. Once again, to answer this question well for you and your company, I think I need a bit more context. I'd love to hear what sort of "hard data" have you presented, and what do you mean by "plateaued"?

I don't have a favorite question but I do prefer open ended questions in discovery. Close ended questions start with helper verbs. Every question beginning with these words(Am, Are, Is, Was, Were) can be answered by a buyer with a yes or a no. Even when folks give you more than a yes or no they will always be giving you less than a response to an open ended question. To get the most information and provoke deep thought from a prospect. I coach my team to leverage open and command open questions. For example questions that start with Who, What, Where, Why, Tell Me, Explain, Describe, Help me understand ETC. When you construct questions that are "open ended" buyers will elaborate and provide answers with a lot of detail.

* Lack of Relevant Experience: It’s concerning if a candidate's resume lacks relevant sales experience or is not tailored in a way to showcase how their experience is relevant to the open role. Including a personalized cover letter or tailoring the summary/objective of the resume to highlight relevant skills and achievements is important to show alignment. * Inconsistent Job History: A history of short tenures at previous companies can raise concerns about a candidate's commitment and reliability. Aim to demonstrate stability and longevity in your roles, and be prepared to explain any job changes or gaps in employment during interviews. Additionally, always make sure that your resume aligns with the roles on your LinkedIn profile. It’s not a good sign when either the resume or LinkedIn is inaccurate. It’s surprising how often we see misalignment. * Not closing the interviewer: When it comes to a sales interview, not being prepared to ask for the next step in the process or get buy-in on their candidacy is a huge miss. As a sales professional in a sales interview, you are expected to close. It shows you investment in the role and your ability to move a conversation forward. * Skipping thank you notes: It may seem a bit old school, but the best reps I’ve ever hired have all written extremely thoughtful thank you messages during the interview process. Take the time to reiterate your interest in the role and thank the interviewer for their time and insights. It’s a sign of strong follow up and rapport building skills and can further set you apart from the candidate pool.