Objective-Driven Sales Plans

Earlier this week, I shared something some salespeople will find controversial: you shouldn’t be thinking about the close as much as you think you should. Instead, you should be focused on the next commitment objective. So, what is a commitment objective? A commitment objective is a specific, concrete action that you want the customer to agree to take. This isn’t always the sale. In fact, early on, it likely won’t be the sale. The commitment objective is unique for each prospect. For instance, it might be setting up a future call or scheduling a meeting with some key decision makers. Without a commitment objective, there’s a good chance you’ll make mistakes and get in your own way. You risk talking too much, ambushing the sale by misreading the prospect’s level of certainty or missing an opportunity to learn more. On the other hand, knowing your commitment objective lets you create definable goals for yourself. When you focus on achieving your commitment objective, you give yourself a clear target. You won’t have to wonder if your sales call was successful or not. The sales process often extends beyond a single call or meeting and may proceed over several steps. If you try to close when your prospect isn’t ready, no amount of sales training or sales strategy will help you. That sabotages the whole process. Your commitment objective helps you stay focused, so you keep moving the sales process forward without rushing. This prevents wasted effort. Having specific goals enables you to know whether things are progressing as they should. One classic sales strategy is to end every interaction with either a closed deal or an agreed commitment for the future with specific details for when it will take place. This level of sales discipline separates the winners from the losers in sales. If you follow my sales methodology, you will build the rapport and authority to get your prospect to not only define what’s next but also decide when that next step will happen. Remember, experience is the best teacher. Today before every sales email, text, call, or meeting, define the commitment objective. Knowing this will put you in the driver’s seat and keep you there.

Early in my career, I thought my meetings went great. They didn't.   Back then I was confusing activity with objective. And I’m not alone. Most sellers know what they want to talk about. Very few know what they need to walk out with. That's the difference between activity and objective. An objective answers one question: "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺?" And it's the difference between a meeting that moves the deal forward and one that just fills the calendar.   Here's what that looks like in practice. "𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩." ➔ Activity. "𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘘3." ➔ Objective. "𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘭." ➔ Activity. "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥." ➔ Objective. "𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴." ➔ Activity. "𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦." ➔ Objective. See the difference? Activities describe what you do in the meeting. Objectives define what you walk out with. Best-in-class salespeople write a SMART objective before every single meeting. 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰: What exactly needs to happen? 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲: What metric defines success? 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲: Can I make progress on this today? 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁: Does this move the deal forward for the customer — and for me? 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲-𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: By when? After every meeting they ask themselves one question: 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦? Yes? Great. Move to the next step. No? Don't sugarcoat it. Figure out why. Most sellers leave a meeting thinking "that went well." The best ones leave knowing exactly what they accomplished. One objective. One honest answer. Every time. → Forward this to a seller who's still confusing activity with objective.  

Casestudy: An auto SaaS startup, that provides inventory management and AI-powered customer engagement tools to car dealerships. Despite having a cutting-edge product, they were struggling to gain traction in the market. Their go-to-market strategy was overly complex, and their sales team was fragmented, resulting in slow sales cycles and low conversion. The Challenge: They approached me to streamline their GTM strategy and optimize their sales process. Their core problems included: Complex GTM Messaging: The product's value proposition was convoluted, making it difficult for dealers to quickly understand the benefits. Inefficient Sales Team: Sales reps were unfocused, not prioritizing high-value clients, and lacked the training to sell effectively to large dealers. Low Conversions: Long sales cycles with limited success in closing deals due to unclear positioning and disjointed communication. The Solution: Simplifying the GTM Strategy: We restructured and distilled their message into one clear, customer-centric statement: "Reduce your inventory costs and engage buyers automatically." This simplified the narrative, shifting the focus from the product’s technical details to the tangible outcomes for dealerships—reduced costs and higher sales efficiency. Retrain Sales Team: The sales team was retrained on the new messaging framework, emphasizing pain points like excess inventory costs and missed engagement opportunities. We introduced a new prioritization system, focusing on larger dealer groups and high-potential markets. Additionally, I implemented a strict qualification process, ensuring reps were spending time only on prospects that fit the ideal customer profile (ICP). Reps were trained to focus on shorter, more impactful conversations, highlighting exclusivity, cost-savings, and market differentiation. Introducing Metrics-Driven Sales: Each sales team member was coached on setting clear, measurable goals. Weekly performance was tied to specific KPIs like calls made, demos scheduled, and deals closed, using a data-driven approach to refine the process. Results: Within 3 months of implementing the new GTM strategy and sales playbook: the average sales cycle shortened by 30%, allowing the team to close deals faster. Increased Conversion Rates: 30% to 52%, as dealerships better understood the value proposition and the sales process became more targeted. Higher Revenue: Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) increased by 50%, driven by both closing more and larger deals. Conclusion: By refining GTM strategy and revamping their sales process, we achieved rapid growth and better market positioning. The transformation positioned them as a go-to solution for dealers looking to cut costs and improve customer engagement, proving the power of a well-executed strategy in scaling a SaaS business.

🎯 Annual Planning: The Game-Changer in Sales They say failing to plan is planning to fail—and trust me, I’ve learned this the hard way. Early in my career, I relied on hustle and hard work, but without a clear roadmap, I was just reacting to whatever came my way. That changed when I committed to annual planning. I’d start every year by writing down my goals and creating a plan of action. It wasn’t about crafting a rigid strategy—it was about having a guide to stay focused and intentional. Here’s what worked for me: -Set clear objectives: Define what you want to achieve in measurable terms. -Focus on high-potential accounts: Identify the clients or prospects with the greatest opportunity for growth. -Prioritize your pipeline: Know which deals are closest to closing and which need nurturing. -Map out key actions: Break down your goals into specific steps you can take weekly or monthly. -Track your progress: Regularly review where you stand and adjust as needed. -Keep your goals visible: Post them where you’ll see them daily—on your desk, in your planner, or even your phone wallpaper. The habit of revisiting my plan gave me clarity and confidence, even when things got chaotic. It allowed me to stay proactive and aligned with both personal and company objectives. Now, as a leader, I encourage my team to embrace the same mindset. Success doesn’t just happen—it’s planned. 2025 is going to be a big year for all of us. Let’s crush it, but let’s start by making a plan and committing to it. What’s one thing you always include in your annual plan? Let’s share ideas—I’d love to hear what’s worked for you! #SalesReflections #PlanningForSuccess #SalesGoals #GrowthMindset #SalesLeadership

In 30 days, we got 27 meetings for a B2B tech company (~ 60 people) in 3 APAC markers (5 steps we followed) 👇 Before October 2023, My client top 5 challenges: 1- Rely on inbound leads 2- ~55% of their inbounds were not ICP. 3- They were sending 20+ cold emails/week 4- 3 farmer sales team 5- Couldn’t get their ICP data (90k+ SMEs in APAC) Here’s the 5 steps we followed to generate 1 lead/day: Step 1: What sales strategy to implement? Success in outbound = planning 7 key information to formulate a sales strategy: 1- The Revenue target 2- Annual Contract Value 3- The average number of contacts/account 4- The average activities/account 5- Average show rate 6- Average qualified rate 7- Average close rate Those 7 answers tell us the number of accounts/people we need to reach the targeted revenue - - Step 2: Square their ICP Knowing our client’s Ideal Customer Profile (I.C.P.) / Buyer Persona is the top 2 info of our onboarding 6 criteria to define an ICP/Persona: 1- Demographic info 2- Challenges 3- Goals 4- Buying behaviour 5- Communication preferences 6- Value prop alignment - - Step 3: Focus on Sales-intents: Our client solution replaces 1 specific tech position in SMEs 1 way to know that a SME could potentially need that solution is by tracking what SMEs are hiring for this position. By scrapping job boards, analyzing and summarising the job descriptions of the profiles we know exactly the needs of those SMEs We can then reach out to the right person with the right message at the right time - - Step 4: Calibrate their ICP/Persona 1- Gauge the number of accounts/contacts to target 2- Estimate the available data per account/contacts As step 1 tells us how many accounts/people we need to reach the targeted revenue, We evaluate if the number of accounts/people found versus the ones needed are matching. - - Step 5: Write intent-driven cold email sequences 7 steps-blueprint to send terrific cold emails in 2024: 1. 1-3 word subject line 2. 5th grade language 3. 1st line: an observation 4. What’s in it for the prospect 5. 50-75 words 6. Generates emotions 7. Soft Call-to-Action Send the cold emails you would like to receive. Don’t over complicate it. - - Results: - In 30 days - 368 emails were sent - 203 emails were opened - 28 emails got replied - 456 cold calls were made - 27 meetings were scheduled - - PS: If the above resonates with you: - You're part of a revenue team - Post-revenue (> 1 M/y) - Existing branding ( ~10-20 inbound leads/w) - Sell to SMEs - Target: Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia - Avg ticket size: 5-figure But you don’t have the resources to make outbound work DM me 'Multichannel'. We'll chat and I'll get you details Happy Monday A.

The sales framework we used at HubSpot was much different than Sandler, Challenger, MEDDICC or any other framework I'd seen for one main reason. It focused on the buyer and their objectives Most other processes are focused on the seller and what we want GPCT + CI G: Goals - Where do they want to go? P: Plans - Where are they now? What are they doing? C: Challenges - What's getting in the way of accomplishing their goals? T: Timeline - When do they need to get there? This was a great start to frame the conversation about them. Then Peter Caputa added in C+I. C: Negative Consequences - what happens if you don't hit it? I: Positive Implications - What great things happen when you hit your goal? When you're selling, are you focused on the buyer and helping them solve their problem? Or are focused on checking the boxes for yourself?

Skipping strategy and going straight to execution is a fast way to fail in business. That's why so many companies have an inconsistent pipeline. So they hire more SDRs, switch tools, and rewrite the copy. None of it works because the foundations aren't in place. Instead, follow this flow: 1. Define the target → Start with a revenue goal → Get specific on who you sell to → Pick the metrics that actually tell you if it's working This is a founder decision, not something to delegate on day one. 2. Understand the buyer → Talk to recent customers → Go back through deals you lost → Find the pattern of why people say yes or no It's already there. You just haven't looked for it yet. 3. Study the competition → How are competitors positioning themselves? → What are they charging? → Where are they weak? Most companies skip this and end up sounding the same as everyone else. 4. Build a strong offer → Define the result you actually deliver → Keep the scope tight → Price it based on the value it creates A bad offer doesn't get fixed by better copy or more sends. 5. Align before you launch → Who you're targeting → What you're offering → How you're talking about it Founder, marketing, and sales need to agree on all three before execution starts. If they don't, you're wasting time and budget. 6. Build the GTM plan → Choose your channels → Set weekly activity targets → Define what a qualified lead looks like in writing → Track pipeline in one report everyone can see Before any campaign goes live, verify your contact data. Dirty lists destroy deliverability and lead to wasted efforts. We use BetterContact, a data enrichment tool that cross-checks 20+ data sources to find and provide you with the most accurate contact information. You only pay for verified data. 7. Run marketing → Cold email, cold calling, content → Measure what's driving replies and meetings → Cut what isn't 8. Run sales → Train the team on the offer before they're on calls → Qualify hard and early → Review close rates every week, not every quarter 9. Retain and expand → Get results in front of the customer fast → Track their outcomes → The best upsell opportunity is a client who's already seen ROI Most companies jump straight to marketing and sales. Missing steps 1 through 5 is why steps 7 and 8 never convert. We build this end to end at C17 Lab. Apply for a free pilot campaign here: https://bit.ly/C17Pilot Repost for other founders building. Follow Enzo Carasso 🧲 for frameworks that work. 

“Our objective is to hit $50 million.” That’s not an objective. That’s a scoreboard number pretending to be a strategy. And it’s exactly why execution falls apart — because people can’t play toward a number without knowing what game they’re in. The Problem -------------- Financial targets tell you what you want, but not what you must become or improve to get there. So every team does what makes sense in their lane: One discounts One raises prices One adds promos One cuts costs Everyone’s rowing, but not in the same direction. The Fix ---------- Start with a real objective — one that describes the capability you want to build: “Strengthen our customer growth engine so revenue becomes repeatable and resilient.” Then layer in the structure: Key Results ↳ $500M revenue ↳ +15% retention ↳ +20% AOV ↳ +10pts satisfaction Initiatives ↳ Referral program ↳ Mid-market pricing ↳ Better onboarding That’s how you link intent → proof → action. Objective = what you’re becoming Key Results = how you’ll know Initiatives = how you’ll get there Why It Matters ---------------- When objectives describe what you’re building — not just what you’re chasing — three good things happen: ✔️ You clarify what to focus on ✔️ You connect effort to impact ✔️ You make success repeatable Because execution isn’t about hitting a number once. It’s about becoming the kind of company that always can. — Q: What’s one objective you’ve seen that actually moved the needle? #execution #objectives #OKRs #strategy

Want to know the secret to getting a buying group to select a higher quality solution? It's really all about building a 'Customer Value Roadmap'. We all know the challenge - convincing unwieldy buying groups invest a top-tier solution, not just the easiest or cheapest one. It can be can feel like an impossible missions these days. If they don't end up with "No Decision", they settle for "Good Enough". For almost 20 years, Timur Hicyilmaz and I have been focused on understanding what makes top performers so much more effective and also studying how buying groups who purchase high value solutions operate differently. For the first time, we are sharing publicly the tool and process that replicates these behaviors that we use with our clients as part of our 'Insight to Value' program. It's not just about winning deals at any cost. It is about a process that fosters stronger trust and collaboration and ultimately helps your customers achieve greater outcomes. Unfortunately, most opportunity management frameworks are far to one-sided and transactional. The key is about a practical approach to scale insight, trust and collaboration that unifies your entire customer team. No surprise, top performers manage to sit on the same side of the table with their customers and work together on this plan. Here's a quick look at the 6 key steps that successful sales professionals follow: 1) Deep Dive Research and Discovery: Really understand the customer's strategic objectives, their view on the current state, and what is getting in the way. Uncover the impact of their challenges on people in addition to who's involved in finding solutions. 2) Share Insights: Bring relevant insights from other customer experiences to help them avoid common mistakes and work towards an ideal solution. 3) Focus on Metrics: Identify the most important metrics for tracking both the problem (COI - Cost of Inaction) and the positive impact of the solution (ROI). 4) Anticipate Challenges: Proactively consider potential risks and obstacles that could hinder the decision-making process or the success of implementation. 5) Objectively Explore Options: Provide a clear overview of the available options, comparing them based on factors like risk, cost, timelines, and the quality of potential outcomes. 6) Align on Action: Map out the steps needed to achieve the desired objectives, working backward from the end goal. This is where collaboration is key – sales, CSMs, solution engineers, SMEs, and the buying group all working together. If you'd like to get a closer look at the CVR tool itself, just type "SEND" in the comments, and we'll send it your way. If you're interested in exploring how our 'Insight to Value' program helps team develop the skills required to execute this process, type "CVR" below, and we'll get in touch to share how we customize this for each organization! #CustomerValue #SalesStrategy #BuyingGroups #ValueSelling

“Our team hits our goals, but it doesn’t feel like we’re moving forward.” Sound familiar? That’s the difference between revenue goals and revenue objectives. At Clari, we’ve seen this play out across $4 trillion in revenue under management. Teams focused solely on goals often feel stuck in a cycle of short-term wins. Teams that adopt revenue objectives? They build momentum that carries into the next quarter and the next year. Here’s how they do it: 1. Align objectives across the organization gets sales, finance, and marketing rowing in the same direction. 2. Define the metrics that matter most for long-term success, not just short-term wins. 3. Build a framework that ties every action back to the bigger picture. Goals are no longer just numbers on a board — they’re milestones on the path to consistent, predictable growth.