Sales Team

The best sales candidates often share several key traits and skills that set them apart. As a hiring manager, you can identify high-potential candidates by looking for th...

Great question. This is becoming increasingly hard in tech. The “next best thing” is always around the corner! I think there are a few fundamental things that retain top ...

Communicating strategy up to the C-suite: align on why now, what changes, and what the upside is. • Vision (zoomed out): what becomes possible if we get this right (growt...

The ones who have a high learning velocity, resilience, and customer curiosity.I hire for how people think, not just what they’ve sold. Top AEs show strong problem-solvin...

I think about AI in sales leadership as an accelerant and the foundation has to be trust.We use AI to help reps and managers see patterns faster, coach more consistently,...

One that’s purpose-built, not stacked. Every meeting should earn its place by changing decisions or behavior.I’m ruthless about meeting intent. Forecast calls exist to as...

Capture the reality, identify patterns, and turn insights into behavior change. If it doesn’t change how teams sell, it’s just reporting.First, I focus on getting clean, ...

Managing a remote or hybrid sales force really comes down to intentionality.I anchor everything in clarity.Clear expectations around goals, behaviors, and how work gets d...

A couple things: Whenever you can build an action that requires reinforcement into your standard operating model where it is just considered part of the day to day proces...

Pipeline coverage! It's not enough to say deals and dollars created will get us to our quarterly target as we need confidence that the deal creation is leading to real op...

Deal Concentration Risk and it's one of the most dangerous blind spots in pipeline management.The Problem: Teams hit their 3x or 4x pipeline coverage target, but 40% of t...

I like a consistent review of competitive win rates by stage. I think these can serve as early signals to so much: from how your narrative is landing, whether price is wh...

Since nearly everything is quantified in sales, OKR's can sometimes come across as redundant and inconvenient to manage to the uninitiated.But OKR's are an amazing vehicl...

Sales KPIs play a critical role in forecast accuracy, especially in unpredictable markets. Amidst the market turbulence, really the only thing you have are deal execution...

KPIs around deal progression can help to identify trends in sales duration, close rate and similar. So changes in the typical pipeline coverage needed can be observed ear...

As important as any KPI is why the metric is being measured, how you intend to reliably collect and review the data and the frequency you will get together to review the ...

The further up the funnel the better. Early sales hires should mainly think about pipeline, that way you have enough meetings/at-bats to determine if you have product mar...

Accountability is a team sport - the team needs to know that you're as accountable to their efforts as they are. For my teams, I've communicated the standards needed for...

This is the approach that we take when structuring, hiring and training our sales group. Hire for talent density and values fit. At Notion, we set a high bar for judgment...

However early you think you need to be getting out in front of your renewal process? Double it. Early bird gets the worm -- work with the cross-functional teams to unde...

When sales leaders at 0-1 companies are doing this well, I've noticed that they're all regimented about understanding why they're winning and losing deals. It sounds simp...

I like to think of small company leaders building the motion and large company leaders scaling the motion.In a small company, sales leadership is a lot more hands-on and ...

Sales and Customer Success shouldn't be two separate islands. These groups have to be incredibly synced in order to best serve your customer base. This is why I recommend...

Assuming you are maturing from founder led growth, once the founder has more than 6 direct reports. AND, you think you don’t need founder involved in each deal.

Great question and I believe this depends on the maturity of your business. If you’ve already established and perfected pre and post sales you have a single owner over pr...

You have to have a glutton for punishment moving from structure to no structure, take it from me, but it can be such a rewarding and fulfilling experience to build someth...

When you are the first sales leader at a company establishing the function, you're going to constantly battle the demands on your time. Personally, I tend to use a mixure...

When sales and demand gen work off different gtm plans, alignment breaks down fast. In my experience, the key is to co-create KPIs that are tied directly to revenue outco...

Email Templates based on vertical & title you're selling to (Outreach or Sales Loft) SFDC Dashboards to track accountability metrics Closed Won Recorded Call Librar...

Our sales team is structured into three segments: Enterprise (Upmarket), Mid-Market (Established), and SMB (Emerging Managers). Since we sell into VC's, our segmentation ...

I have a lot of thoughts on this question. First and foremost, it’s critical to deeply understand your core customer, their needs, and most importantly the why behind goi...

For complex features, I recommend flash carding like you're in high school and listening to successful recorded call. This can be on an individual basis or in a group zoo...

Being the first sales hire at a startup is a unique opportunity—and a big responsibility! You’re not just selling the product; you’re helping build the sales function fro...

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...

In my experience, communicating the performance & progress of your sales team to the company helps to connect all employees to the mission. It can create transparency...

Motivating a sales team isn’t static—it changes as your team grows and matures. What energizes a team of three won’t work for a team of thirty. The key is to evolve your ...

Great Question! In the 30-60-90 plans that I've created + seen done well, I've noticed a trend that:Month 1 is "identity", meaning becoming a value-add corporate citizen ...

Sales leaders can set KPIs around behaviors we want to see and hold the team accountable to them but top performers will disregard them if they don’t find it is what puts...

Love this question, too. It's true. There are a few reasons: You will always have outliers in a sales org. Sometimes a rep has a windfall and reaches quota without hittin...

There are several kinds of KPIs. Some of the KPIs at the top of the funnel may not be worth much, however, the same type of KPI at the middle or bottom of the funnel may ...

Some KPIs that are over-hyped and unimportant is Talk time. Did you hit your number? Are you asking great questions? Are you pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone...

My process for figuring out what metrics to hold sales accountable for is related their percentage to quota each month//quarter & their W2. You can never take your ey...

I would say adding more rigor around the reporting of KPIs on a weekly basis does help reps stay accountable. It should not be a one and done discussion if you want certa...

Quarterly and annual OKR's on an individual level need to be broken down from the Company/Segment/Team Level. Once the overall priorities are defined you can identify the...

This isn’t a one size fits all approach. Every leader should bring a different focus to their 30-60-90 day plan based on their leadership style, the stage in which the co...

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...

When it comes to shared KPIs with demand generation, the approach can vary depending on the maturity of the company. Here’s how I think about it:Early-Stage Companies: Fo...

When stepping into the role of Head of Sales at a startup that hasn't previously had a dedicated sales function, it's crucial to establish a strong foundation while drivi...

Compared to a sales-assisted org, your KPIs change with a self-serve product. You want product led growth that funnels your NRR (Net Revenue Retention) to feed your MRR (...