When is a good time to start making big changes with sales processes? Our CEO believes we are too small 200+ employees to adopt a sales methodology. I have implemented best practices, rules of engagement, sales process, and all sales training. The only thing we lack is a methodology to bring the team together and unite us. We have made very large gains in ARR & ACV over 120%, but seem to have plateaued. I have approached my CEO many times always trying to improve culture, training, and support and find that it's the hardest part of my job to get him on board. I have proven myself with hard data and still can't seem to get through. The usual response I get is we just need to focus on getting X quarter sales in.

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"?

Great question. This is a common challenge, especially in startups that often focus on immediate results.

At 200+ employees, adopting a sales methodology is not just appropriate but necessary.

However, given your success in deploying best practices, processes, and training, the key might not be just about adding a methodology.

In my business, I leverage a combination of methodologies and 'processes' to ensure our sales approach is both thorough and scalable.

Here’s how I do it:

Tracking Methodologies: I use a call recording tool that transcribes every sales call. After each call, I run the transcript through a large language model (LLM) that extracts details based on four sales methodologies: BANT, SPICED, MEDDIC, and Challenger.

This generates a running summary highlighting whether or not these methodologies' necessary elements were covered during the call. This helps my sellers stay aware of their performance and consistently apply the techniques needed to advance deals with prospects.

Sales Process: However, while methodologies help guide the quality of interactions, they don't directly translate to the structured tracking I need at a leadership level. That’s where my sales process comes in.

The sales process is tied to specific, measurable milestones that I can track at scale. These include:

1. Business Case Identified: After an initial call, sellers conduct discovery and produce a business case asset. This could also involve signing an NDA—both are concrete milestones with clear deliverables.

2. Technical Validation Completed: This involves technical discovery, often supported by deliverables such as diagrams, data schemas, or spreadsheets from a solutions engineer. When these are delivered, it signals that the technical validation step is complete, enabling the seller to engage the executive sponsor in a commercial step.

3. Executive Alignment Achieved: This milestone is reached when a meeting occurs between the buyer’s executive team and our internal executives to finalize the steps to close. It's a measurable event, usually scheduled on the calendar.

4. Vendor of Choice Identified: This step ensures that the buyer has selected us as their vendor of choice, often marked by clear communication with an internal sponsor, i.e. me as head of revenue.

It's time to elevate your first-line leaders and implement a more rigorous revenue cadence over a 13-week cycle.

Here’s how you can do that:

1. 13-Week Revenue Cadence:

   • Your quarter is 13 weeks, so every week, focus on moving the needle on three key metrics: net new acquisition, expansion, and churn reduction.

   • Week 1: Focus on net new revenue. Have your team identify every action that can drive deals forward and maximize pipeline output.

   • Week 2: Shift focus to expansion and churn. Dive into strategies to overcapitalize on expansion opportunities and reduce churn.

   • Alternating Focus: Continue this pattern, alternating between net new and expansion/churn focus each week. If churn is not a major concern, concentrate solely on net new ARR and expansion.

2. Revenue Stream Management:

   • By breaking down the focus into these specific areas, you gain more control over the daily events in your process.

   • This allows for more meaningful conversations with your reps about how to push the needle on their individual deal cycles.

3. Engagement-Based Incentives:

   • Implement incentives tied to process-oriented milestones. For example, offering $100 for every executive conversation that a rep sets up can accelerate deal closure.

   • Focus on engagement-based incentives rather than activity-based ones. Reward actions that directly advance deals, such as booking meetings with +VPs to advance deals or completing technical reviews that move prospects from technical validation to commercial conversations.

4. Incentivize Milestone Completion:

   • Tie incentives to the key milestones in your sales process. For example:

     • $25 for completing the business case asset.

     • $25 for booking an executive alignment meeting.

     • $25 for completing the technical validation step.

   • This ensures that your sellers are motivated to progress through the stages systematically rather than navigating them organically.

When you're struggling to align with your executive leader, especially if they don't come from a sales background, it's important to recognize that they may be primarily focused on outcomes rather than the details of go-to-market strategies.

Here’s how you can navigate this situation:

Instead of convincing your executive leader of the value of subjective changes like culture or training, frame your ideas with a clear business case.

1. Shift the Conversation to Tangible Business Cases: For example, present a plan where you’ve defined a sales process or methodology and propose that you incentivize specific steps within that process.

2. Make it Transactional: For instance, could you suggest implementing incentives for key process milestones, like setting up executive meetings, completing technical validations, or signing NDAs? Show how these incentives can accelerate deal cycles, reduce closing time, and increase the likelihood of achieving critical sales milestones.

3. Link to Practical, Tactical Outcomes: Speak the language of your executive leader by focusing on practical and tactical outcomes. Could you talk about the 13-week revenue cadence and how each week should focus on moving the needle on net new acquisition, expansion, and churn reduction?

Emphasize how incentivizing specific steps in your sales process can directly contribute to achieving your revenue targets. This approach not only aligns with their focus on outcomes but also provides you with the flexibility to pursue initiatives that improve the overall effectiveness of your sales team.

4. Dual Effect Strategy: By making your proposals more transactional and outcome-focused, you’re more likely to get buy-in from your executive leader. Once you have their support, you can then explore how to maximize these micro-investments to achieve broader goals, such as improving sales culture, investing in training, or other initiatives that you believe will drive long-term success.

This approach creates a dual effect: it convinces your CEO to support necessary actions to hit your numbers while also giving you the freedom to implement strategies that enhance your sales team’s performance.