Measuring Sales Performance Metrics

No one hit quota for 8 months straight. The VP blamed the economy. I blamed the VP This conversation happened in a conference room VP: "The market's impossible right now. Nobody's buying" Me: "Show me your quota calculations" VP: "What do you mean?" Me: "How did you determine each rep needs to close $200K monthly?" Silence I saw that quotas were set by taking revenue goals and dividing by number of reps, zero consideration for market capacity, no analysis of historical performance, no adjustment for ramp time or seasonality and mathematical quota setting without reality checks I ran the actual numbers: → Average deal size is $15K → Average close rate is 8% → Average monthly qualified opportunities per rep is 12 The math: 12 × 8% × $15K = $14.4K monthly Their quota: $200K monthly They were asking each rep to perform 14x above statistical possibility We changed everything realistic quotas based on market data, achievable stretch goals with bonuses, monthly coaching focused on process improvement Three months later 5 out of 8 reps hit quota, team morale went from toxic to motivated and pipeline quality improved Your quota should stretch your team, not break them If nobody's hitting numbers for months, the problem isn't your people It's your math Set quotas based on reality, not wishes P.S. Do you have problems with sales? Check out my newsletter

Your sales team is optimizing for the wrong metric, and it's costing you millions Most sales leaders are obsessed with pipeline coverage ratios. "We need 3x coverage to hit our number." "Generate more top-of-funnel activity." "Increase prospecting activity by 40%." But coverage ratios are a vanity metric that's actually destroying your team's performance. Here's why this thinking is backwards Traditional logic is the same old… More opportunities = Higher probability of hitting quota Build massive pipeline = Insurance against deal slippage BUT in reality Bigger pipelines create cognitive overload for reps Too many opportunities = Poor qualification and deal management Reps spread thin across 50+ "opportunities" instead of focusing on 15 real ones The highest-performing sales teams I work with have completely flipped this Instead of maximizing pipeline size, they maximize pipeline quality. The Quality-First Framework looks like this 1) Ruthless Qualification Standards Only deals with documented business impact, defined evaluation processes, and accessible buying teams make it into the pipeline. 2) Rep Capacity Management Each rep can effectively manage 12-15 active opportunities. Anything beyond that diminishes focus and results. 3) Stage Velocity Tracking Measure how fast deals move through stages, not how many deals exist in each stage. 4) Elimination Before Generation Before adding new opportunities, eliminate stalled ones. Clean pipeline = clear thinking. The math is crazy Team A: 200 opportunities, 15% close rate = 30 deals Team B: 100 high-quality opportunities, 35% close rate = 35 deals Team B wins with half the pipeline stress. Your reps aren't struggling because they need more opportunities. They're struggling because they can't focus on the right ones. Share with a leader who needs to hear this ^^

"This saves you time." - is one of the most used, and least valuable 'benefits' that sellers love to use. 'This will save you time!' Cool. So does skipping lunch. Doesn't mean I'm buying. Most reps stop at the surface benefit and wonder why prospects don't get excited. Save time. Save money. More insights. Faster process. These are lazy benefits. They're true, but they're invisible. The prospect can't feel them. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗠 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗦𝗨𝗥𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗦 "Save time" means nothing because everyone claims it. Your prospect has heard "save time" from the last 18 vendors. It's noise now. And the shame is: the benefit is actually real. You DO save them time. But you're not going deep enough to make them see it. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟯-𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗧 𝗥𝗨𝗟𝗘 Don't stop at the benefit. Go three layers deep. Layer 1: The feature benefit (surface) Layer 2: What that enables (the "so the f what") Layer 3: What they can now picture doing (the visual) Watch the difference: ❌ Surface: "This saves you time on reporting." ✅ Three layers deep: "Look at how many fewer steps this process takes. You're cutting 6 clicks down to 2. Because there's fewer steps, you're not just saving time — you're getting more done in the same hours. Picture this: instead of generating 3 reports a week, you're generating 6. Same time investment, double the output. That's what your Monday morning looks like now." See the difference? One is a claim. The other is a movie playing in their head. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 "Save time" is almost never the real benefit anyway. Nobody actually wants more free time at work. They want to accomplish more in the time they have. So flip the pitch: Instead of: "This saves you 2 hours a week" Try: "This lets you reach twice as many prospects in the same time block" Instead of: "Faster reporting" Try: "Picture sending that board deck out Tuesday instead of scrambling Friday" Make. It. Visual. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗚𝗟𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗦 Before your next demo, pressure test every benefit: 1. Can I go three layers deep on this? 2. Can the prospect actually picture the outcome? 3. Am I describing what changes in their day-to-day? If you can't answer yes to all three, you're still at the surface. Generic benefits get generic responses. Specific, visual, layered benefits get people leaning in saying "wait, show me that again." Go deeper, ya'll.

I love MEDDIC, it's been the guiding principle for how I've closed millions in Enterprise SaaS over the past 12 years. Not for the reasons you think though. MEDDIC can be very seller first if you don't use it properly. It's not just about filling out fields in Salesforce...it's about firing up your champions/buying committee to take action. Metrics Old lens: “Quantify the economic impact of your solution.” Buyer first lens: Co create measurable outcomes that matter to the buyer. Ask: “What would success look like for you six months after implementation?” Purpose: Show you care about their scoreboard, not your quota. E Empowered Champion Old lens: “Find the internal advocate who sells for you.” Buyer first lens: Empower an internal leader to create change with confidence. Ask: “Who feels the most ownership of solving this problem internally?” Purpose: Make them the hero of the story, not your mouthpiece. D Decision Criteria Old lens: “Understand how they’ll choose a vendor.” Buyer first lens: Clarify what matters most to them and why, then design around it. Ask: “When you’ve made great decisions in the past, what made them great?” Purpose: Align to their values, not your feature list. D Decision Process Old lens: “Map the approval steps to close faster.” Buyer first lens: Guide them through a friction-free buying journey that protects their time and reputation. Ask: “What’s the smoothest way to get this evaluated without adding noise internally?” Purpose: Be their internal project manager, not a pushy seller. I Identified Pain Old lens: “Uncover pain to create urgency.” Buyer first lens: Understand the human and business cost of the status quo. Ask: “What happens if nothing changes and who feels that most?” Purpose: Build empathy and shared motivation to act. C Champion Old lens: “Build and maintain a strong internal ally.” Buyer first lens: Develop mutual accountability with your internal partner. Ask: “How can I make you look good internally as we do this together?” Purpose: Shift from extraction to collaboration. TLDR...make it about them and not about you or your forecast and watch the magic happen Thoughts? #sales

Your 2025 GTM Motion is only as good as your Sales Funnel. Most teams approach their GTM Funnel like it’s 2022. And it’s costing them. Here’s the problem: Teams focus on MQLs, SQLs, and deal stages. Buyers care about making the best decision for THEIR business. We need a funnel that works the way they buy. The Solution!? ❌ Replace lead volumes and MQLs/SQLs ✅ Track ICP journey + intent signals to track intent and engagement. Here’s how the stages look for B2B buyers in 2025: 1️⃣ ICP Accounts (Companies + Prospects) Find out the number of accounts in your ICP. This isn’t about who’s easy to reach, it’s about who can buy from you this quarter. What to track: TAM size Criteria: industry, company size, funding stage, tech stack. Tools to use: LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Apollo.io, Clay 2️⃣ Identified Buyers It’s not enough to know the account names. You need to know the people in charge of the buying decision. What to track: Titles, job roles, and key stakeholders at ICP accounts Tools to use: Clay, LeadMagic, RB2B 3️⃣ Engagement (Awareness) Who is paying attention to you? This is where you track brand awareness signals. What to track: CTR, website visits, LinkedIn engagement. Tools to use: lemlist, Hubspot, Teamfluence™, Unify 4️⃣ High Intent (Interest) Prospects are actively self-educating. They’re researching you and engaging with high-intent touchpoints. What to track: free trial sign-ups, webinar registrations, pricing page views, downloads Tools to use: RB2B, Calendly, Maximise, HubSpot, Getkoala 5️⃣ Active Pipeline (Consideration) Prospects are officially in the buying process, and now evaluating your solutions. What to track: demo calls completed, Free consulting scheduled, product engagement Tools to use: Calendly, Hubspot 6️⃣ Buying Process (Decision-Making) The deal is on the table. This is where you’re actively negotiating, finalizing contracts, and moving them into “closed won.” What to track: Proposals sent, redlines on contracts, final approvals. Tools to use: DocSend, PandaDoc, Accord. 7️⃣ Customers Once they buy, the funnel doesn’t end. Retention, expansion, and advocacy are critical for post-sale growth. What to track: renewal rates, upsell opportunities, advocacy signals. The Bottom Line: The modern B2B funnel isn’t just about driving leads, it’s about having visibility at every stage of the buyer’s journey. If you know: - How many accounts fit your ICP - Who the buyers are - Who’s aware, engaged, and interested - And how many are in active buying cycles... ...you can optimize any GTM motion. If your ICP funnel doesn’t look like this, now’s the time to rebuild. Your 2025 GTM goals depend on it. Let me know: Which stage of the funnel do you think is most overlooked? 👇

I received two separate cold emails this morning. One featured a photo of Donald Trump giving my agency the "Best Agency" award. The other showed Bill Gates crowning me the "greatest business mind on the planet." Both emails used the exact same phrase: "Legends recognize legends." We can all agree this is bad outreach. But why is it bad? It's the lack of insight. Even if an AI had written it, saying, "I see 2Stallions Digital Marketing Agency works with clients in the finance sector," it would still be missing the most important part. The most important part is the "So what?" You saw I work in marketing. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭? You noticed I liked a post on SEO by Neil Patel. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭? You know what projects I've worked on. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭? The connection is missing. The unique perspective is missing. Good outreach doesn't just state a fact; it builds a bridge from that fact to a relevant, compelling idea. It shows you've done your thinking, not just your research. Before you send your next cold email, whether it's written by you or an AI, apply the "𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?" test. If you don't have a compelling answer, you're just creating spam. #MarketingStrategy #B2BMarketing #SalesStrategy #LeadGeneration #CriticalThinking

Most sales VPs I talk to are frustrated. Their teams hit numbers sporadically. Deals slip. Reps plateau. They feel like they're babysitting adults instead of leading high performers. (Is this you?) Here's what I learned scaling teams to multiple 9 figures while hitting President's Club every single year: → High performance isn't about talent. It's about systems. The same 3 pillar system I used as a frontline leader (and now teach to sales VPs at 8 and 9-figure companies) can transform your team from reactive to proactive. PILLAR 1: Systematic Weekly 1-on-1s Not check ins. Performance drivers. 🔹Have THEM verbalize their numbers 🔹Review specific action items from last week 🔹Set crystal clear next actions (so specific a 2nd grader could understand) 🔹Use a pre-meeting form to drive self-awareness PILLAR 2: Weekly Scoreboards Visibility drives behavior. Period. 🔹Stack rank by your most important KPI 🔹Send every Monday morning 🔹Everyone sees where they stand 🔹Celebrate top performers publicly PILLAR 3: Strategic Call Shadowing This is where transformation happens. 🔹Plan monthly in advance 🔹Require agenda with minimum 3 calls 🔹Coach in real-time, not a week later 🔹Start with what they did well, then max 3 improvements If your AE can't prepare a solid half day for their sales leader, what are they doing when you're not watching? The result of this system: → Reps know exactly where they stand and what to do next → Problems surface early, not at quarter-end → Your team CRAVES feedback because they know it drives results → You hit bigger numbers without needing heroics every quarter Bottom line: Stop managing by hope. Start leading with systems. Your team (and your numbers) will thank you. — Ready to systemize your sales leadership? Book a call to see how we can implement this in your organization: https://lnkd.in/ghh8VCaf

I met a sales team that tracks 27 different metrics. But none of them matter. They measure: - Calls made - Emails sent - Meetings booked - Demos delivered - Talk-to-listen ratio - Response time - Pipeline coverage But they all miss the most important number: How often prospects share your content with others. This hit me yesterday. We analyzed our last 200 deals: Won deals: Champion shared content with 5+ stakeholders Lost deals: Champion shared with fewer than 2 people It wasn't about our: - Product demos - Discovery questions - Pricing strategy - Negotiation skills It was about whether our champion could effectively sell for us. Think about your current pipeline: Do you know how many people have seen your proposal? Do you know which slides your champion shared internally? Do you know who viewed your pricing? Most sales leaders have no idea. They're optimizing metrics that don't drive decisions. Look at your CRM right now. I bet it tracks: ✅ When YOU last emailed a prospect ❌ When THEY last shared your content ✅ How many calls YOU made ❌ How many stakeholders viewed your materials ✅ When YOU sent a proposal ❌ How much time they spent reviewing it We've built dashboards to measure everything except what actually matters. The real sales metric that predicts closed deals: Internal Sharing Velocity (ISV) How quickly and widely your champion distributes your content to other stakeholders. High ISV = Deals close Low ISV = Deals stall We completely rebuilt our sales process around this insight: - Redesigned all content to be shareable, not just readable - Created spaces where champions could easily distribute information - Built analytics to measure exactly who engaged with what - Trained reps to optimize for sharing, not for responses Result? Win rates up 35%. Sales cycles shortened by 42%. Forecasting accuracy improved by 60%. Stop obsessing over your activity metrics. Start measuring how effectively your champions sell for you. If your CRM can't tell you how often your content is shared internally, you're operating in the dark. And that's why your forecasts are always wrong. Your move.

For half a decade, I thought I was tracking the right metrics I was wrong Revenue. Growth rate. ROAS. Conversion rate. New customers. Repeat revenue All important But they could tell me the business was growing without telling me whether that growth was making the company more valuable You can buy more traffic, discount more aggressively, and acquire less-profitable customers while the top line keeps going up The business gets bigger That doesn’t automatically mean its equity value does A stronger Brand should make future revenue easier to earn, more profitable, and less dependent on buying every sale Here are the 11 metrics I wish I’d started tracking sooner, framed as questions: 1. Are branded organic searches growing faster than revenue? 2. Are contribution dollars and contribution margin going up? Contribution Dollars = Revenue - variable costs like COGS, marketing, and shipping 3. Is direct and branded search revenue growing faster than overall revenue? 4. Is the gap between gross and net sales shrinking? This signals less reliance on discounts and fewer returns 5. Are 30, 60, and 90-day incremental LTV going up, excluding the first purchase? 6. Is reach growing as fast as—or faster than—revenue? 7. Have your worst days gotten better? One way to measure this: is the average of your 30 lowest-revenue days trending up? 8. For organic search, is revenue per session rising while sessions are growing or stable? 9. Is your share of branded organic searches growing versus your competitive set—at both the Brand and category level? 10. Is Baseline Revenue growing, both in dollars and as a percentage of total revenue? I define Baseline Revenue as revenue from direct traffic, organic search, and organic social referrals It’s imperfect. But if it’s rising in dollars AND as a percentage of revenue, good things are generally happening 11. Is Baseline Revenue per branded organic search going up? Branded searches are an imperfect proxy for the Brand you’re building. Baseline Revenue per search shows whether you’re monetizing it better If searches are soaring but Baseline Revenue per search isn’t, that’s something to audit — A few caveats: None of these metrics are perfect. You can game any of them They’re also mostly leading indicators—not the ultimate company scorecard The ultimate outcome is more operating profit and net cash over time The right metrics also change with the company’s stage, economics, and strategy. A five-month-old company shouldn’t use the same scorecard as a 100-year-old company But if you can honestly answer “yes” to most of these questions, there’s a good chance the quality of your growth is improving And that gives you a better chance of building a more valuable company—not just a bigger one Question for the people of the internet: What else do you track to understand whether growth is increasing the quality and equity value of the business?