SaaStr

OCTOBER 25, 2024

When Marc Benioff started Salesforce, he codified the sales playbook. Then Mark Roberge , former Hubspot CRO, wrote The Sales Acceleration Formula with deep insights into quota structures. Bottom-up PLG and very top-down are relatively healthy. We’re looking at more than double the inflation in sales quotas. #4:

Go To Market 132

Go To Market Quota GTM Price 132

Sales Gravy

MARCH 18, 2025

If youve ever hired a sales class or tried to ramp up new hires in an industry with complex products or strict guidelines, youll relate to Gaiuss dilemma. The question is, how soon can they start generating leads and setting up sales conversations? The short answer is no they can start small while still in training.

Cold Call 76

Cold Call Commission Appointment Pipeline 76

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 100

Quota Pipeline Sales Up-sell 100

Sales Gravy

APRIL 23, 2025

What follows is the advice I gave Kyle, cleaned up and expanded so every field seller, territory manager, and outside-sales road warrior can put it to workright now. Focus on Activity Count, Not Time Blocks If you're in Kyle's shoes (or truck), here's my advice: stop obsessing over time and start focusing on activity counts.

Prospecting 69

Prospecting Appointment Outside Sales Territory 69

Veloxy

DECEMBER 9, 2024

Start for free Lack of User Buy-In You’ve probably heard it before, “This isn’t how we used to do things.” Clean Up Your Data Invest time and resources into ensuring your data is accurate and up-to-date. Start by pinpointing your top priorities. Start by setting clear expectations.

Objectives and Key Results 130

Objectives and Key Results Negotiate Outside Sales Follow-up 130

SaaStr

JUNE 19, 2025

Then they’re shocked – SHOCKED – when the AI starts sending generic, tone-deaf messages that get 0.2% Most teams give up after iteration #3. You wouldn’t expect a new SDR to be quota-crushing in week one, right? Start with your absolute best performers. Start with clearly defined use cases.

Objection handling 109

Objection handling Sales Legal Strategize 109

Salesforce

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

Organizations must now have the data to back it up. Then, using your current team structure, churn rates, new hire plans, ramp times, quota, and average quota attainment to create a table or spreadsheet that shows you, for any given period, the output of your team. Sign up now Thanks, you’re subscribed!

Growth 52

Growth Quota Territory E-commerce 52

Hubspot

SEPTEMBER 6, 2024

Why Use AI Sales Closing Techniques With AI backing up our sales department, missed opportunities became a thing of the past — which is critical considering that sales is a numbers game. To meet your quota (and stay sane), it’s important to leverage AI tools and techniques that can unlock the following benefits.

Closing 80

Closing Contract Technique Sales 80

SaaStr

JUNE 19, 2025

Companies want to see that you’ve consistently hit or exceeded quotas in your past roles. Start building relationships with founders, VCs, and other sales leaders in your industry. Great VP of Sales roles don’t come up every day, and companies take their time to hire. Network like crazy. Be patient but persistent.

Referrals 89

Referrals Quota Networking Pitch 89

Salesforce

JANUARY 9, 2025

As a result, 84% of sales representatives missed their quota last year, and 67% expect to miss it this year. However, each decision often adds up to the difference between landing a deal or not. Sign up now Thanks, you’re subscribed! Sales teams should start by creating a holistic and comprehensive strategy.

Closing 98

Closing Represent Territory Lead generation 98

Hubspot

MARCH 13, 2025

According to a 2023 survey of over 450 sales leaders, 91% of their teams missed quota that year. And even with revenue up in 2024 , reps are still struggling to meet their sales goals. If sales targets are not reasonable or attainable from the start, they will not be met regardless of how well a sales rep performs.

Meeting 66

Meeting Pipeline Quota Sales 66

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

And less than 10% just makes sales … start to get even harder. So: if the quota for the rep is say $600k, your average Opportunity is $20k in size, and you have a 15% opportunity-to-closed ratio … your rep will need ~200 opportunities over the year to hit their quota, or about ~15 a month.

Quota 98

Quota Sales Follow-up Closing 98

SaaStr

MARCH 6, 2025

I.e., both hitting quota. This will ferret out if he/she can play at an early-stage SaaS start-up successfully and if they know how to scale once you scale. So many candidates you talk to will talk about nothing but process, not customers to start. Should the VP of Sales sell themselves when they start?

Quota 73

Quota Sales Up-sell Lead generation 73

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 23, 2025

Despite ramping up the numbers, increasingly we are not achieving our goals. Win rates plummet, % making quota plummet, retention rates declining, sales cycles lengthening, deal size decreasing. ” And we are using these tools to…… ramp up the numbers even more. But something becomes very clear.

Gaming 118

Gaming Up-sell Quota Pitch 118

SaaStr

JUNE 15, 2025

Hitting quota. Set Clear Expectations and Watch for Early Results Your first AE should start closing deals within one sales cycle. You don’t have time to wait for someone to “ramp up” indefinitely. "Never, ever hire a VP of Sales until you have 2 individual sales reps really closing. And that early sales team?

Quota 95

Quota Up-sell Sales Closing 95

Salesforce

MARCH 31, 2025

Consider the stats : 67% of sales reps don’t expect to meet quota this year, and 84% missed it last year. Lori Richardson To put this into practice, start by having one-on-one conversations between sales management and reps to find all possible motivations, then send out surveys to ask reps to rank them in order of importance.

Drivers/motivators 64

Drivers/motivators Quota Territory E-commerce 64

SaaStr

JUNE 5, 2025

If you dont have a repeatable sales process or at least two reps hitting quota, youre not ready. Start building relationships early. If theyre not willing to roll up their sleeves and sell, theyre not the right fit for an early-stage startup. Get it wrong, and youll lose a yearor more.

Quota 98

Quota Sales Up-sell Closing 98

RingDNA

APRIL 11, 2025

If you’re looking to gain insight into the core health of your outbound sales team, the following metrics are a fantastic place to start. What it Measures: The total number of sales emails that individual reps send out each day Value: It’s important for reps to keep up a regular cadence of calls and emails with prospects.

Quota 62

Quota Sales Pipeline Contact 62

SaaStr

JANUARY 8, 2025

It was started in 2014 when founders Daniel and Jonathan were working together at a delivery startup and experienced firsthand how slow background checks were slowing down worker onboarding. But as she dug in, the real answer was too many sales reps were overbooking deals because of the pressure to hit their bookings quota.

Objectives and Key Results 117

Objectives and Key Results Growth Engineering Quota 117

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

I ask crazy questions like, “Why are only 40% of your people making their quotas, what do we need to change to double that?” ” RevOps must start to view itself as the change agent, to drive constant improvement, constant learning, constant growth. Anyone can run the numbers.

X-functional 126

X-functional Strategize Quota Pipeline 126

Hubspot

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024

MQLs that your sales team has vetted and identified as worthy of direct follow-up. Then, the prospect’s engagement levels in these campaigns can dictate when (or whether) a sales rep should follow up with the prospect. I would start with a blank spreadsheet and build it out from there. Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs). Opportunity.

Territory 83

Territory Cold Call SQL Campaign 83

SaaStr

JUNE 17, 2025

Set a quota for how many deals your sales team can bring you into without hesitation. Run Paid Pilots or Smaller Deployments : Offering opt-outs after 60-90 days or starting with smaller deployments can help prospects commit faster. Show Up in Person. If you also sell to them, the deal progresses faster.

Quota 70

Quota Sales Trust Up-sell 70

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 24, 2025

We start managing to the numbers and not managing performance. Once he starts seeing a problem area, then he drills down, looking at more data, coaching his people. When they aren’t, we start drilling down. All of these roll up to the 5 key metrics the CRO cares about. coverage).

High impact 103

High impact Pipeline Inside sales Quota 103

Sales Gravy

APRIL 24, 2025

Sales coaching forces you to stop guessing and start fixing. Inconsistent follow-ups? The ego stays in check, the mindset stays sharp, and the momentum stays up. The moment you stop chasing growth is the moment someone else starts catching up. Youre missing quota again. You need guidance. Weak discovery?

Sports 98

Sports Referrals Sales Pipeline 98

SaaStr

APRIL 2, 2025

Not all reps can work with the limited support, onboarding, and training you get at a start-up. They may not immediately hit quota (few do). Only the outliers will hit a full quota in their first quarter. But most of the ones that will make it at your start-up will close something in 1 sales cycle.

Quota 70

Quota Sales Gaming Closing 70

Hubspot

MAY 26, 2025

Yet, I started my career in sales at 19 years old. I was just a kid with a phone, a quota, and crippling self doubt. Heres how I get fired up for my cold calls, so I can be ready for the conversations that help me move forward. But heres the part that gets me fired up: Cold calling doesnt just make you a better seller.

Cold Call 65

Cold Call Quota Gaming Pitch 65

Sales Gravy

FEBRUARY 2, 2025

Small Slips in Discipline Can Add Up Quickly Lets say you kicked off the new year determined to have your best sales year ever, and you knew that meant filling your pipeline daily by getting Fanatical about Prospecting. This was something I promised myself I wouldnt do when the year started. Its just human nature.

Quota 54

Quota Drivers/motivators Sales Pipeline 54

Hubspot

JUNE 16, 2025

Standing out starts long before the interview — and doesn’t end after the handshake. You show you can identify hidden revenue opportunities and automate follow-ups that close deals faster. Mike Peditto , director of talent at career growth platform Teal , suggests asking a question related to quota attainment. Peditto explains.

Objectives and Key Results 50

Objectives and Key Results Pitch Sales Follow-up 50

SaaStr

MARCH 13, 2025

Team Building : Have they started hiring and onboarding new reps that you think are at least good ? And are those reps hitting quota or at least showing signs they will? A great VP of Sales should free you up to focus on other areas of the business. If revenue hasnt improved, thats another warning sign.

Pipeline 67

Pipeline Contract Quota Growth 67

RingDNA

JULY 2, 2025

It’s ideal for both B2B and B2C sales professionals aiming to sharpen their sales instincts and improve quota attainment. RISE Up Sales Certification – National Retail Federation Created by the National Retail Federation (NRF), this certification is geared toward retail associates and frontline sales professionals.

Retail 62

Retail Technical Sales Consult CRM 62

SaaStr

MAY 2, 2025

He expresses a hint of envy toward founders who are starting companies today because they can build agent-first organizations from the ground up rather than transforming existing ones. And existing leaders being radically remade that will look much different from how they do today.

Strategize 99

Strategize Drivers/motivators Healthcare Contact 99

Salesforce

NOVEMBER 15, 2024

On the other hand, SDRs who aren’t having career conversations may seek opportunities elsewhere within organizations that can provide them with the next step up the career ladder or who offer a well-defined career progression plan. Sign up now Thanks, you’re subscribed! Complete onboarding 2. Sit in on 25 demos 1.

Tradeshows 52

Tradeshows Drivers/motivators Territory Negotiate 52

Veloxy

FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Sales teams today spend 70% of their workday on non-selling activities a massive roadblock to hitting quotas. Prove it to me Sign up for free 1. We designed Veloxy to work perfectly with Salesforce and added automated activity logging and up-to-the-minute data synchronization. Double Sales Productivity in only 1 Minute.

Product 130

Product CRM Price Objectives and Key Results 130

Salesforce

OCTOBER 15, 2024

Businesses typically use sales invoices to calculate financial earnings, quotas , and taxes after they are paid. Sign up now Thanks, you’re subscribed! For example, if a customer signed up late in the month, the bill may only be for 15 days of that first month.

Finance 104

Finance Territory Price E-commerce 104

criteria for success

MAY 4, 2025

Assessing the State of Your Business Start With Sales Read Now The Sales Performance Assessment Let's jump in. Is your sales team missing their quotas? C players consistently fall under their quota and need a concrete performance plan to stay on track. Just because they meet their quota doesnt mean they are a good culture fit.

Growth 52

Growth Sales Quota Follow-up 52

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 19, 2025

” I’m constantly befuddled by the acceptance of YoY slips in revenue performance, slips in % of people making quota, slips in win rates and deal values, slips in retention. I’ll stop here, I get wound up, but you know the same problem. We have to begin a problem solving process. What isn’t working?

GTM 118

GTM Quota Presentation Start-ups 118

Salesforce

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

Learn how to create a CVP that stands out from the competition and catches your target customer’s attention so you can start making more sales. For example, a tech company that generates so much buzz for its latest smartphone that people are lined up in front of its stores on launch day creates excitement and demand for a new product.

Transportation 52

Transportation Drivers/motivators Customers Territory 52