7 Keys to Sales Success: Unlocking Growth and Profitability

Over the last 10 years of building and leading sales, I have found these 7 things are the key to sales success.

Pay attention to the entire list… this isn’t a list to pick and choose what you want. It’s all the things working together that make a successful team that is driving revenue.

Here are the 7 Keys to Sales Success!

1. 🤝 ICP: They know their Ideal Customer Profile, inside and out. It’s a very focused approach. Even if they could sell to everyone… they don’t. Beyond specific messaging for your GTM. It allows them to customize their product to the needs of that niche. Ex: Work with a specific industry with a specific headcount or revenue. They have specific problems that you solve for them.
2. 👫 Team: They know who they want on their team. Not exact people but what are the key attributes they are looking for and what they don’t want. because someone has been successful in one company doesn’t mean they will be for yours… what do they need to have? (based on industry, stage, and size of the company). Ex: Getting someone from a big company and you want them to come build your start up… not a great fit.
3. ⚙️ Sales Process: No surprise this one is on the list. It’s a process that is repeatable. Anyone hired learns the same process as the existing team. When sales reps are struggling, you can see exactly where in the process they are lacking and can train. This doesn’t have to be perfect but it has to be there BEFORE you scale. Without it, you will have a revolving door of sales reps that don’t perform and a lot of cash burned.
4. 💰Pipeline: Without a pipeline, your sales are dead. Being reliant on a few deals going your way or not, cannot make or break you hitting your number every quarter. You need a 3X pipeline. As a team and every individual rep. If you don't have enough pipeline for each rep to have 3X, you have 2 options. 1) Figure out a way to increase your pipeline. 2) Reduce your headcount. It's that simple.
5. 🏆Quota Attainment: This has a couple of sides to it. 1) Giving a quota that is difficult but attainable is a must. If it’s outside what is attainable, it is demotivating and you will get less than if it’s a stretch. 2) You need to have 80% of your reps at least at 80% of their quota. If you don’t, adding more headcount will not improve your ratio. Oftentimes, it gets even worse. Why? 1) Too much headcount, 2) Not enough pipeline, 3) Lack of sales process, or 4) Not the right person. Most will say it's they aren't the right person. What happens next is you will keep hiring and firing. Reality it's something else meaning. It's in your best interest to figure out the reason.
6. 📚 Onboarding: Dialed in… when someone starts, they are excited and roaring to go. Then you give them a less-than-stellar onboarding and training. The fact is the faster they ramp and are closing deals, the faster they can be profitable for you. When you don't train them to the level they need, they will most likely fail. When sales reps are taking too long to ramp, onboarding is the cause. You may get lucky with someone coming in who does it on their own but that is not scalable.
7. 📊 Growth is Revenue (not headcount): "Fastest Growing Company" awards on how many you hire are a joke. Somehow people have this idea that if they add people, then it will solve all problems. It is the fastest way to burn your cash. If you have more pipeline than you can handle, then add more sales reps. If you don’t have enough pipeline to support your current team, then more headcount will make it that much worse.

What do you notice about all of these?

None of them are these life-shattering or extremely difficult things. Yet when you put them all together, it does wonders.

PS What are you missing and more importantly... what are you going to do about it?