Sales Gravy

JUNE 10, 2025

Here's a question that exposes one of the most dangerous myths in modern sales: How do you set the right pipeline creation target to consistently hit quota? The obsession with pipeline multipliers is creating more problems than it's solving, and it's time we had an honest conversation about what actually drives predictable revenue.

Pipeline 54

Pipeline Appointment Quota Follow-up 54

Veloxy

JUNE 8, 2022

Perhaps the answer could be in your sales pipeline. Research shows that top performing companies and sales teams do extremely well when it comes to managing their pipeline. However, over 60% of sales teams say their companies are doing a bad job of managing the sales pipeline. What is a Sales Pipeline? But first….

Pipeline 195

Pipeline Technology Technology Cross-sell 195

SaaStr

OCTOBER 25, 2024

Then Mark Roberge , former Hubspot CRO, wrote The Sales Acceleration Formula with deep insights into quota structures. That elongated sales cycle created pipeline supply shocks. To offset slower sales cycles and worse payback periods, quotas have moved in step with them. So how much business has it closed? ‘ Great!

Go To Market 131

Go To Market Quota GTM Price 131

Sales Pop!

DECEMBER 2, 2022

The rapid road to a closed sale is only through revenue intelligence. Revenue intelligence contains all that is required for your sales leadership to create accurate quotas and forecasts, and for your team’s pipeline management. Activities are connected to the pipeline, leads, and upsells. Creating Forecasts and Quotas.

Quota 245

Quota Pipeline CRM Closing 245

Sales Gravy

MARCH 30, 2025

You Hit Quota You on track and right where you are supposed to be against your number You are in trouble You missed your number, are behind quota, and are feeling the pressure. It can also make life much easier if your sales plan and quota gets bigger in the back half of the year as many do. Quota isnt easy to achieve.

Quota 98

Quota Pipeline Sales Up-sell 98

SaaStr

MAY 4, 2023

And I think it’s also telling, as it summarizes what has happened all across SaaS sales in the past 24 months: Their top reps are still closing, and closing well — at 129% of quota. “The top 15% of our sellers have achieved 129% of quota over the last four quarters.” Pipeline has not decreased.

Quota 126

Quota Closing Pipeline Growth 126

Force Management

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

Healthy sales pipelines and accurate forecasts are grounded in structured territory, account and opportunity planning processes. Without this line of sight, sales organizations often miss quota goals, forecast revenue inaccurately, and close the majority of deals late in the quarter – or year.

Pipeline 148

Pipeline Territory Quota Sales 148

Tibor Shanto

JULY 7, 2021

It was a straight unbroken line, the quota is a number, as are ROIs, commissions, and almost everything else. No doubt we all want greater quality prospects, than just more things in the pipeline. This may also explain why nearly half of B2B sellers fail to deliver quota. (And That reality leads to an uncomfortable choice.

Objectives and Key Results 301

Objectives and Key Results Quota Gaming Commission 301

Veloxy

DECEMBER 9, 2024

Show your team how these features can do the following: Save time with AI for sales Close deals faster Improve their performance The more value they see, the more they’ll use it. How does it help them close more deals? When Salesforce helps close a big deal or streamline a complex process, celebrate it.

Objectives and Key Results 130

Objectives and Key Results Negotiate Outside Sales Follow-up 130

Partners in Excellence

SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

Recently, a reader wrote, asking a lot of questions about pipelines–what are they, why are they important, how do we leverage them, and so forth. For example, I know of very few sales training programs that teach pipeline concepts (we’ve been doing this for the past 30 years). So strap in… What is the pipeline?

Pipeline 133

Pipeline Prospecting Closing Up-sell 133

Sales Pop!

JUNE 23, 2023

One factor differentiating Pipeliner CRM from our competitors—especially high-end systems such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and Oracle NetSuite—is that we have taken the incredible complexity involved with a CRM application and made it simple for the user. Because of Pipeliner’s visual UI, you will always know where you stand.

Technology 246

Technology Technology Pipeline CRM 246

Hubspot

MARCH 13, 2025

According to a 2023 survey of over 450 sales leaders, 91% of their teams missed quota that year. This begins at the sales rep level but can become an enterprise-wide problem when sales staff, from reps up to SVPs, focus on their year-to-date (YTD) positions against quota. Relying upon seller opinions when grading pipeline health.

Meeting 66

Meeting Pipeline Quota Sales 66

SaaStr

JUNE 24, 2025

Companies with strong AI adoption across their GTM organizations are outperforming peers on virtually every metric: higher quota attainment (61% vs 56%), shorter sales cycles (20 vs 25 weeks), lower cost per opportunity ($8.3K The problem is happening much later in the funnel where sales teams are supposed to close deals.

GTM 73

GTM B2B SQL Quota 73

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 24, 2023

When I read my feeds or listen to a lot of “experts,” the focus is always on hitting our quotas, maxing our commissions, achieving our goals. One imagines a sword of Damocles hanging over seller’s heads with the constant threat of making quota. And then there are the consequences of not doing so. I’ll stop here.

Quota 127

Quota Commission Pipeline Pitch 127

Sales Gravy

APRIL 24, 2025

Its for closers, leaders, and the ones who want moremore pipeline, more wins, more control over their career. Are you hesitating at the close? Soft closes? The ultra-high performers Ive seen who get coaching consistently shorten deal cycles, multiply referrals, and close with precision. This isnt feel-good fluff.

Sports 98

Sports Referrals Sales Pipeline 98

Salesforce

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

These targets are used to guide the quota-setting, territory mapping , and sales team strategies. These include things like quota attainment for a sales team and the numbers of deals in reps’ pipelines. With sales targets in place, your team can create quotas to strive for and specific strategies for hitting those quotas.

Quota 116

Quota Territory Pipeline Sales 116

Cerebral Selling

JANUARY 14, 2023

You could also be well behind your quota, struggling to stay motivated and worried about job security. When pipelines shrink, close rates decrease, and your team doesn’t see a clear path to the number, they lose motivation, worry sets in, and they start blaming things outside of their control. It can also be the hardest.

Quota 216

Quota Pipeline Drivers/motivators Negotiate 216

SaaStr

APRIL 30, 2025

Heres what to include: Pipeline Health : Review the pipeline metricsdeal velocity, win rates, average deal size, and pipeline coverage. Look at quota attainment, activity levels (calls, emails, demos), and conversion rates. Reps who get just three hours of coaching per month can increase close rates by 70%.

Cross-sell 70

Cross-sell Pipeline Legal Contract 70

Veloxy

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Most salespeople expect to miss their quota every single year. But hitting quota every year doesn’t always equate to a perfect sales enablement strategy for a few reasons. First , quota is set too low to accommodate for sales process inefficiencies. This is why sales reps experience high turnover and workplace stress.

CRM 262

CRM Quota Sales Pipeline 262

Veloxy

FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Sales teams today spend 70% of their workday on non-selling activities a massive roadblock to hitting quotas. This interconnectivity helps sales teams optimize their workflows and dedicate more time to what matters most: building customer relationships and closing deals. See our case study here. to USD 165.00

Product 130

Product CRM Price Objectives and Key Results 130

Salesmate

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

It is undoubtedly disheartening when you fail to achieve your sales quota at the end of the month or quarter, isn’t it? Deals slipping from the sales pipeline isn’t a pleasant sight. Here is how you can successfully close them. Salesmate gives you a clear pipeline view of all your sales deals. Try Salesmate Now!

Closing 128

Closing Pipeline CRM Quota 128

Sales Gravy

JUNE 19, 2025

The quota clock is ticking, the pressure is mounting, and there's that relentless urge for a quick win. Focusing solely on the quick sale burns through pipeline leads faster than you can replace them, leaving you on a perpetual hamster wheel of prospecting just to stay afloat. You know the drill. This approach is financial suicide.

Commission 69

Commission Cross-sell Manufacturing Pitch 69

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 30, 2025

Yesterday, the CEO I spoke with said more than half of his salespeople were not hitting quota, and he also thought they were complacent. Its not unusual to hear about quota fails or complacency in these conversations, but on this particular call, I heard about both. Thats only a 7% difference from the group that doesnt hit quota.

Quota 71

Quota Drivers/motivators Sales Up-sell 71

Martech

JULY 17, 2024

As performance becomes harder to predict, Emma is caught in a whirlwind of soaring CPAs, long “gap-close meetings,” and the desperate need to meet ever-higher quotas. Pipeline coverage and efficiency metrics become key indicators of success, ensuring that marketing aligns with sales and revenue goals.

GTM 102

GTM Product Strategize Drivers/motivators 102

Sales Gravy

AUGUST 12, 2022

Putting Aside Time Every Day to Prospect Will Keep Your Pipeline Full Kaizen is a theory that developed in Japan after World War II and revived the country, their spirit, and their commerce. It’s similar to what we call “feeding the pipeline,” and involves the art of cumulative prospecting. However, that’s not what pipelining is.

Pipeline 116

Pipeline Prospecting Cold Call Quota 116

Sales Hacker

JULY 26, 2021

A typical sales process consists of five to seven steps: prospecting, preparation, approach, presentation, handling objections, closing, and follow-up. Less friction to source and control pipeline. These improvements allow teams to expand their pipeline faster. The sales process today is long and clunky.

Quota 130

Quota Cold Call CRM Sales 130

SaaStr

MARCH 2, 2021

In SaaS companies in the very wide band from ~$1m to $40m ARR or so, the debate over Quarterly vs. Monthly Quotas comes up all the time. And it especially comes up when you hire your First VP of Sales, because odds are, he or she will want to move from Monthly to Quarterly Quotas. And often, see worse results. Not really.

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Quota Closing Pipeline Start-ups 111

Gong.io

MAY 3, 2021

2021 : Gong introduces Deal Execution, providing business leaders much-needed visibility into activity happening across all pipeline deals. Gong for Deal Execution brings together every interaction across your deals in a single view so sales teams can quickly understand pipeline health and stop sales from going south. No more opinions.

Pipeline 118

Pipeline Drivers/motivators CRM Sales 118

SaaStr

JUNE 19, 2025

They want an AI SDR to basically close deals itself, on autopilot. You wouldn’t expect a new SDR to be quota-crushing in week one, right? The teams seeing 40%+ increases in pipeline from AI tools aren’t the ones looking for shortcuts. But most teams don’t. They want magic. That’s not how this works.

Objection handling 106

Objection handling Sales Legal Strategize 106

RingDNA

APRIL 11, 2025

But beyond merely revealing insight into reps’ performance, tracking the right sales KPIs is critical to assessing they overall health of your sales pipeline. And a lot of companies are finding it harder to build pipeline than ever before. Value: More conversations each day virtually always correlates with higher quota attainment.

Quota 62

Quota Sales Pipeline Contact 62

SaaStr

MARCH 29, 2025

You need to close your first 10-20 customers yourself to deeply understand the sales process, objections, and what resonates with buyers. And Get Them Both Hitting a Basic, Sustainable Quota. One rep might excel at outbound prospecting, while the other might be better at closing inbound leads. You Never Get to Leave Sales.

Commission 75

Commission Objection handling Quota Sales 75

Veloxy

AUGUST 31, 2023

Feeling overwhelmed by the infinite options for growing your pipeline? These are tactics that have helped outside sales professionals grow their pipeline by 300% in one month. Aim for the moon with targets and quotas In the words of the famous Michelangelo, the greater danger doesn’t lie in aiming too high and falling short.

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Outside Sales Pipeline Inside sales Cross-sell 130

SaaStr

MARCH 13, 2025

Heres what Id look at: Pipeline Growth : Have they increased your pipeline metrics? If your pipeline hasnt improved, thats a red flag. You have to make sure it’s not cr*p pipeline. Even with the same leads and resources you had before, a great VP of Sales should be able to optimize and close more deals.

Pipeline 65

Pipeline Contract Quota Growth 65

SaaStr

JULY 2, 2025

By 60 days, they should be generating pipeline and closing smaller deals. By 90 days, they should be fully ramped and hitting quota. Focus on Small Wins Early Don’t expect them to close massive deals right away. Instead, focus on smaller wins—especially closing a deal as quickly as possible, and building real pipeline.

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RingDNA

MARCH 26, 2025

LinkedIn is no longer a nice to have in 2025, whether you’re a CEO shaping your company’s vision, a COO optimizing processes, or an SDR hustling to hit quota. Here are some ways that top salespeople can use LinkedIn to add to their pipeline. Be visible, relevant, and build relationships before they ever land in your pipeline.

Closing 62

Closing B2B Sell Referrals 62

Sales Pop!

OCTOBER 27, 2020

At the very heart of running a sales, pipeline is opportunity management. This means knowing the various stages that your opportunities pass through, from lead all the way to close. Pipeliner CRM is flexible enough that you can instantly make such sales process changes when needed, and it requires very little training.

CRM 165

CRM Appointment Pipeline Quota 165

SaaStr

MARCH 5, 2025

Before hiring their first sales reps, the founders personally closed millions in revenue. Compensation & Performance Metrics Fuel a Culture of Winning: Codium structured its compensation and quota models to create immediate success. 7 out of our first 10 sales hires are already over their annual quota, Graham notes.

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Territory Drivers/motivators Quota Pipeline 70