Part 3: Building a Sales Org from Scratch
Welcome to days 61-90 in your new VP job. You are on the home stretch of putting your initial influence on the GTM strategy. This article is the final chapter in a 3 part series I am writing. At this point in your journey you should’ve completed the following:
Assessed and rated the team
Reviewed and configured the tools and softwares you will use
Set up your KPIs to track and monitor progress
Implemented a sales enablement program
Targeted pipeline creation strategies (ABM)
Creating the sales calendar
If you’ve methodically followed these steps then you should get some insight on the skillset of your team, what tools they need to be successful as well as how to track their success. Also, you put in training around skill gaps you have seen/heard, identified areas for generating quality pipeline and put the team on an easy repeatable calendar that they can be held accountable to. This is fantastic work and a good job! But you are not done yet….
Cohort your Pipeline
I’m a HUGE believer of this and discuss it in length with folks I work with in my sales coaching. Breaking your pipeline down into sections helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses in the GTM engine. It also allows for you to understand where to burn your calories. What does this mean? Well, if you are able to digest your pipeline into small, medium and large opportunities then you can do the following:
Where are we most successful in deals by ARR?
What portion of our pipeline is competitive and against who?
Where is the pipeline sourced and at what size?
Why do customers buy or dead out based on deal size?
By taking your pipeline and breaking it down into sections you can spin the rubix cube around to glean some insight. From here you can start to implement strategies for your transactional business, your mid-market segment and the strategic whale deals.
Additionally, you can start to understand who the ICP is and why. I’ve walked into companies that swore they had an Enterprise ICP only to find out that it was actually lower Mid Market. Or other scenarios where they claimed no industry focus on the ICP only to find out 80% of the pipeline was high tech. I’ve also been lucky where the E-staff room had great command on their ICP and the cohort analysis only supported this.
Breaking down the pipeline so it’s more digestible is the easiest path to get a sense of your GTM engine. It also feeds strategies that you’ll want to implement in the short term as well as in the long term.
Establish Executive Coverage on Pipeline
All pipelines have key deals that will have a dramatic effect on the company. We want to make sure that 1) we have the best sellers on those deals and 2) there is some executive riding shotgun on the deal. Ever heard the statement “win and lose as a team?” Executive sponsorship allows for team selling and offers additional advantages as well.
Firstly, you can hear directly from the marketplace on what they think of the product. This helps during your cross-departmental meetings regarding issues that might be happening with product, marketing sources or support services. No Salesforce report can replace hearing a customer speak about your product and service.
Also, the entire E-staff can get exposed to deals and let you know whether or not they think it’s coming in. The pressure of having to forecast your largest deal in your first quarter is immense. Folks talk about championship game pressure but nothing compares to getting in front of new colleagues and making commit calls on a deal. Your whole brand is on display and being tested for people that don’t know you. No pressure!
Make it easier on yourself and start the cohort process of the pipeline and assign executive sponsors on key deals. Spread around the responsibility and de-risk the pressure of bringing in every strategic deal.
Frameworks for Cross-Departmental Meetings
One of my pet peeves is what I call “bongo circle executive meetings.” What is this? This is a standing meeting where there is no agenda or defined outcome. It’s just a bunch of executives getting on a call and theorizing about what ifs. Or in other works just listening to a drum circle that has no beginning or end. Just noise. Everyone has great ideas but there is no direction on what we are fixing or why we want to do it.
The best E-staffs I have been a part of have a framework of what we are going to do. We are also going to make sure we are on task. How are your KPIs performing? What initiatives are you reviewing to address any issues? What is the update on your current initiatives?
Getting a document in place helps you understand what you need to get done as well as what your colleague is working on. You can also tie in the efforts of your team to compliment another team’s initiatives.
For example, let’s say the product team is thinking about a new integration that they think they want to build out. It’s on their roadmap for the future but not committed yet. Well, because you know this you can direct your reps to probe prospects if this is important. You can also have this question be asked in your executive sponsored deals by an E-Staff member. Once you get a sample size then you can report back to your colleague on what the marketplace is saying.
Frameworks are incredibly powerful and very, very under utilized amongst executives.
Final Thoughts
If you look at the complete list then you can see what a purposeful 90 days could look like.
Assessed and rated the team
Reviewed and configured the tools and softwares you will use
Set up your KPIs to track and monitor progress
Implemented a sales enablement program
Targeted pipeline creation strategies (ABM)
Creating the Sales Calendar
Cohort the pipeline
Assign Execs to key deals
Build frameworks for your cross departmental meetings
If you are able to nail all of these points then you are off and running. You’ll set up your next 3 quarters as well to ensure you get to your annual number. Most importantly, you’ll be able to wrap your arms around the beast which is the GTM engine.
