Josh Wagner

A bad sales comp plan will kill your sales team productivity. A good sales comp plan motivates your team to hustle through the end of each month. As we scaled the Levelset sales team to 60+ front-line sales reps, we learned a TON about how to build great comp plans. Here are my principles for good sales compensation: 1. Salespeople don’t do sales and other things well. Let the salespeople sell, don’t saddle them with additional responsibility. For example: Sales and Customer Success are separate functions. 2. The compensation structure should be so simple that you can do the math on the back of a napkin. 3. No commission-only roles. Sales reps should get base salary + variable compensation. 4. At least 40% of sales reps On-Target Earnings should be in the form of variable compensation. 5. No “draw on commission” for ramping reps. New reps should have some mix of guaranteed variable compensation during their ramp period. 6. Sales reps should be paid “straight-line” up to 100% of quota. There should be compensation accelerators above 100%. There will be no compensation hurdles or decelerators for producing below 100%. 7. Annual quota for Account Executives should be 5x On-Target Earnings. For example: $500k annual quota, $100k OTE. This keeps your cost of sales to between 20 - 25% of gross revenue. ‍ 8. Did I mention accelerators? You need to include accelerators for over-performance. This isn’t a comprehensive list of principles. But if you follow these principles, your comp plan will motivate the team to hit their number. Read the full list of principles here: https://lnkd.in/gmwXkRE9

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2.8k SFCC stores do $1m+/yr. 1.4k do $5m+/yr 1k do $10m+/yr 704 do $50m+/yr 281 do $100m+/yr There are huge brands on Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Definitely a higher concentration of public brands than on Shopify. But the Shopify market is so much larger in the $1m - $100m segment. It’s still the greatest opportunity in eCom. #Shopify

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This week on SDR, we're getting into the nitty-gritty of making your Service Department profitable. We're talking five game-changing steps that can turn things around fast. We'll cover everything from getting a handle on your financials to pricing that actually makes sense. Plus, we'll show you how to set up systems that don't just look good on paper, but actually get results. If you're tired of barely breaking even, or just want to take your already good department to great, you'll want to catch this one >> https://swiy.co/PE-O

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Do you use Salesforce? How about LinkedIn Sales Navigator? Keep reading. Question: How many tabs do you have open with Prospects that you're going to call....at...some....point? Today that changes...well hopefully not the prospecting part. LinkedIn Sales Solutions is making your lives even easier. ❌ No more switching between platforms ❌ No more multiple tabs ❌ No more [right click, open in new tab] Instead ✅ Insights that you can use, right insight your CRM ↳Account IQ: Get clued up on your accounts so you know how to position your solutions ↳Find your decision making unit ↳Relationship map - no more lists - visualise relationships to find decision makers faster. All of this is available today! (click refresh on your CRM tabs). Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/EESalesInsiders #LinkedIn #SalesNavigator #DeepSales #Sales #CRM #Productivity #GoToMarketStrategy

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Sales leaders don’t need more processes, tools, and teams—they need agentic AI to unlock insights they’ve been sitting on. We see it every day, as teams use Landbase. Improve your Go-To-Market Efficiency with Landbase.

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Introducing.. .Our 7-Figure Prospecting Bootcamp Coaches for August: They'll be your guides during the August cohort of the 7 Figure Prospecting Bootcamp. Mark Kosoglow doing a Q & A about his learning from being the 1st seller at Outreach --> $200m+ company Jen Allen-Knuth on advanced email strategies that help you break through the status quo Kat Shuchuk on levering sales tech like your CRM and LI Sales Nav to find low hanging fruit in your pipeline Vin Matano 🐝 Matano sharing how he turns a problem statement and personalization into meetings via cold email Sean Gentry on the cold call fundamentals that you can use every day to book meetings Ryan Peterson shows you how to stand out with creative prospecting like direct mail and AI videos  I'll be running sessions on building sequences, problem prospecting and maximizing time as a seller. Victoria keeps everything running in order. And, of course, Jack The Dog provides emotional support to all. 🤑 5 weeks. 🤑 10x 60-minute calls. 🤑 Dozens of tactical examples that you can take into the field. 🤑 A community with like-minded people to connect and collaborate with during live sessions (Zoom) and offline (Slack). 🤑 Over 1,000 Raving Fan customers from 1-person start ups, behemoths like Salesforce and everything in between. We kick off in 12 days. Over that time period, I am going to do a deeper dive of something I learned from each of these outstanding coaches in my personal sales life. Tomorrow, I'll share a story about Mark Kosoglow. Until then, we'd love to have you join us. PS - My DMs are always open for any questions

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CS teams NEED to start "managing up" with execs and the board by talking about REVENUE. Yes, you can keep talking about sentiment and feelings, but start with the $. Don't lead with churn- Bottom-line-focused execs don't like that headline, so you need to tell the story better. An informal poll had CS teams owning over 50% of the revenue of many SaaS companies. Lead with this and have it be your first talking point. From there you will be able to get more things done with other departments, as your requests will be revenue-focused Need to get a Customer Success Platform as you scale? Point to revenue and the potential to lose revenue without efficiencies Need to hire more to prevent burnout? Point to Revenue potential with renewals and upsells Talk in the language your execs and board want to hear.

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Challenge: Enterprise SaaS Deals aren’t progressing, denying clients increased efficiency and vendors the revenue needed to grow. You: Fractional or Full Time SaaS Sales Leader focused on strategy, staffing and operations. Me: Enterprise SaaS Deal Coach, focused acutely on helping sellers and their champions progress current deals, resulting in increased conversions, deal value and recurring revenue. Let’s meet to help clients improve their business while driving the revenue you need to grow.

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How I'd sell into Enterprise (whale hunt)... ▶︎ List all named accounts ▶︎ Stack rank them tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 ▶︎ Build out all personas and bucket them into 3 buckets: Key Buyers (budget holder, contract signer), Buying Committee (involved in decision), Frontlines (impacted by buying but not influencer on deal - more for intel) ▶︎ Build full list of all people in all accounts ▶︎ Score list with Phone Ready Leads ▶︎ Take segments (high propensity for phone, low propensity for phone, bad data) ▶︎ Stack rank your accounts by tier and who has high propensity for phone in order of key buyer, buyer committee, frontlines ▶︎ High propensity segment --> call only campaign ▶︎ Low propensity segment --> email, social, direct - account-based style ▶︎ Bad data --> enrich data and rescore (redo process) ▶︎ Then strategy for each persona type: ▶︎ Key buyers --> call for conversation and conversion, email/social/direct the rest ▶︎ Buying Committee --> Call for rapport, intel, conversation, and conversion, email/social/direct the rest ▶︎ Frontlines --> Call for intel, email/social/direct the rest ▶︎ When you get conversations that don't convert, go to frontlines and gather more intel to bring back ▶︎ When you get conversations that do convert, work through sales process, get cell numbers from all buying personas and move convo to texting in between macro events Whale Hunting 101.

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I did an informal poll on CSM vs Sales commission splits. I was pleasantly shocked to see over 95% of companies do not have Sales take a commission on renewals unless it’s a particularly challenging one, the AE is there to help with it as a “bounty renewal”. in this case, the AE gets a % but not taken from the CSM. Other interesting data points : "Commission on upsells and renewal made up 30% of the total compensation package. However, the exact commission % was determined by dividing the 30% by $$$ into the total ARR managed by the CSM." What metrics should this be based on? Most followed this model to Typically companies that are earlier in their CS maturity will base this off a few leading indicators(adoption milestones, EBRs, etc.), and then move to comping on lagging indicators(retention, expansion, NRR, etc.) once their leading indicator activities have been proven. The following are examples of metrics you can use, not an exhaustive list: Leading: QBRs and/or EBRs (attained vs scheduled) Product adoption milestones (product dependent) Lagging: Net Revenue Retention(NRR) - this is likely the most common Retention Expansion Advocacy (hard to make this scale across large teams and mixed portfolios - this is better as a SPIFF or annual metric to Bonus on) From there you can determine the weight of each metric on the bonus. I'll give an example using a bonus that is achieved by a renewal retention goal and an NRR goal. Criteria for 100% Bonus Attainment: 90% Renewal Retention (50% weight) 125% Net Revenue Retention (50% weight) "This keeps it pretty simple with two priorities. Retain and Expand Revenue. The Retention goal being assessed separately ensures CSMs don't have significant churn masked by massive upsells. In this example, if a CSM had 85% Retention and 115% NRR, they'd end up at 93.22% to goal for their overall commission/variable comp."

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It’s never too early to start sales planning and it should be continuous anyways! Don’t miss out on this advanced-level crash course tomorrow, June 13th at 1:00pm EST for the RevOps Co-op! Join industry leaders George Erskine (Candescent Strategies), and Jeff Ignacio (Regrow Ag) and myself as we unpack the sales planning process, lessons leant over years doing this each year and the optimal order of operations for the ideal outcomes and outputs! Topics include: ✅ Setting and achieving planning goals ✅ Integrating with GTM planning ✅ Crafting a robust annual planning process ✅ Effective communication and change management ✅ Rolling out the plan and compensation updates 📅 Save the Date: June 13, 2024 🕒 Time: 1:00 PM EST 💻 Where: Zoom Register now: https://lnkd.in/ew8-guwM #SalesPlanning #SalesStrategy #RevOps #Webinar

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Revenue pros need to get ahead of the renewal conversation. Don’t take your renewals for granted. Instead: (1) Understand what’s going on with the business. Where are they winning and where are they struggling? (2) Demonstrate the impact you’ve had on their business. Make the case for renewal plain and simple. (3) Bring a point of view to the renewal conversation. This may mean restructuring to find an agreement that works for everyone. How are you getting ahead of renewals?

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What is a Pipeline Council? Your pipeline council is a committee of GTM leaders that meet to discuss and create real solutions for deep issues affecting the pipeline. It’s an opportunity to dig deep into what’s working and what’s not to create and close pipeline. An opportunity to identify real issues, across the business and solutions to those issues. How to Setup a Pipeline Council: 1. Get Executive Alignment 2. Decide on Attendees 3. Hold the First Meeting 4. Then Continue Meetings How to Run Them: 1. RevOps brings the source of truth: data 2. Everyone has to show up 3. Everyone has to work towards the same goals 4. Leaders have to be vulnerable in sharing ideas 5. Every meeting has to be action-oriented 6. Keep it dynamic More on this in tomorrow’s 📰 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙊𝙥𝙨 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙡𝙮 📰 Subscribe to get it here: https://bit.ly/49RCm0h ✌️

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Sales Friends- How many times in a sales conversation do you qualify your prospect's level of interest? ReplayzIQ has unearthed that top sales reps will qualify their prospect's level of interest 3-5 times in a 45 minute Discovery or Demo call. What does 'qualifying their interest' mean exactly? It means taking a temperature check of your prospect throughout the call to see if they genuinely appear to be seeing value and whether they are identifying with the pain you are solving. Are they leaning in or out? Are they hot or cold on your solution's ability to solve their unique painpoints? Why is this important? None of us are mind readers. So why not just ask how your prospect is feeling about what you've unearthed so far? This gives you the ability to address what is on their mind right there and then. A lot of the time your prospect won't volunteer this info unless you ask. AND unless you ask in the right way. What can this sound like? "Based on what we've discussed so far, it sounds like our solution could immensely help you with ________ (insert the pain you identified here). What do you think?" "So is this feeling like a fit for you?" "How does this stack up with how you are doing it today?" "Is there anything you were hoping our solution would do that you haven't seen so far?" ReplayzIQ uses AI to analyze hundreds of sales calls per hour. We've trained ReplayzIQ to unearth the patterns that lead to success. This one skill consistently shows up as a differentiator of top-performing sales reps. What other qualification questions do you use? Weave in 3-5 of these gems in your next sales convos and you will see the difference. Crush it today my friends! 🙌 #sales

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Renewals are the lifeblood of every SaaS company. However, we don’t talk enough about what makes a great AM/CSM who handles renewals. Since there are so many lists on what makes a great AE, I thought I’d take a stab at what makes a great AM/CSM who handles renewals: 1/ They prioritize the renewals that move the needle Renewal rate comes down to simple math. What renewals are going to move the needle for them? Great AMs/CSMs spend their time where they’ll get the most bang for their buck. 2/ They prepare 6 months in advance Average AMs/CSMs prep 3 months in advance. Great ones plan 6 months in advance. This includes asking hard questions well ahead of time during a mid-year QBR, so they know where to spend their time. 3/ They can re-sell the product Stakeholders change. Priorities change. Competitors try to break in. Great AMs/CSMs can sell the product as well as their AEs and know how to position their value props and handle objections. 4/ They know how to negotiate I don’t know any procurement person in the post-ZIRP era who doesn’t try to negotiate their contracts. A great AM/CSM knows how to turn negotiations into win-wins. 5/ They know the difference between procurement and decision-makers Similar to point four, they know how to negotiate and with whom. Negotiating with procurement is much different than negotiating with a key stakeholder. Each party wants something different, and it’s important to recognize what that is. 6/ They know how to rope in their AEs or extended teams Just like the best AEs know how to “quarterback” deals, a great AM/CSM knows how to rally resources to help with renewals. AEs, Execs, SEs, and Professional Services can all be brought in to help show the customer extra love. 7/ They develop a renewal champion We always talk about champions in the presales process, but not enough about champions during renewals. A great AM/CSM knows how to develop champions to help push renewals through. An AM/CSM who knows how to do these things is worth their weight in gold. Keep them happy as long as you can!

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#RevOps pros, are you feeling the pressure of year-end planning? 📊 The weight of aligning company goals, ensuring data accuracy, and setting achievable KPIs is a lot. But who said you have to do it alone? 👇 Join Rattle 🦖 on November 14th for a virtual “RevOps Group Therapy” session, where you'll connect with peers facing the same challenges and uncertainties. This isn't your typical webinar—it's a chance for RevOps to decompress, share, and strategize as the fiscal year comes to a close. This end-of-year session will focus on the critical role RevOps plays in shaping business success, especially as we head into annual planning mode for the next fiscal year. Breakout Group topics will include: ▪ Aligning on Business Goals and KPIs: How to bring together sales, marketing, finance, and leadership to agree on a unified set of expectations that drive growth. ▪ Data Visibility and Accuracy: Discover strategies for improving data hygiene, avoiding blind spots, and using clean data to forecast effectively. ▪ Adapting to New Technologies and Processes: How to balance pushing existing adoption of the existing tool stack with discovery of new technologies ⭐ Meet session speakers: Kevin Heraly - VP, GTM Revenue Operations at Terminus George Erskine – CEO & Managing Partner at Candescent Strategies Sara Kinsey - VP of Marketing at Rattle 🦖 Don’t miss out—let’s tackle the challenges of annual planning together! Register now to secure your spot (It’s free): https://lnkd.in/eTvvc6CV #gtm #2025planning #revenueoperations #gtmteams #revenueteams #annualplanning #revenueplanning #B2B #revops #revenueenablement #revenueleadership #salesorganizations #gotomarket #revenueforecasting #revenueperformance #gtmleadership #SaaS #onlineevent #freeevent #gtm #gtmstrategy #gtmexperts #sales #marketing #cs #revenuestrategy #longtermsuccess #gtmperformance #operationalefficiency #revenueoptimization #revenuestreams #growthmodel #kpi #businessgoals #revtech #gtmtech #revenueintelligence #ceo #cro #cfo #business #organizationalleadership #strategicplanning #salesai #revenueai #ai #aiadoption #entrepreneurship #startups #revgenius #strategyexecution #strategymanagement #strategyplanning #strategyimplementation #businessstrategy #startupfounders #strategydevelopment #growthstrategy #businessgrowthstrategy

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Utah has produced some of the top SMB / MM sales teams: Podium Route Divvy Canopy Lucid Pluralsight Brex Pinterest BambooHR and so many more here... Why? ⛪️ A huge percentage of saas sales reps start their sales career knocking doors. Selling Jesus. Nothing harder than that. Slam the door in your face? Go to the next smiling ear to ear. Oh, and do it for 2 years in a foreign country at 19 years old. Oh, and you pay for it yourself. Yes, I'll be making 'Utah, Selling Jesus & Saas' shirts soon. 🚪A HUGE percentage of these then go on to sell door-to-door with solar, pest, alarm, or whatever else you can sell door-to-door. It's what they are good at and know. 💵 Many then realize it's unrealistic to be 23, married and have their second kid on the way and still be making >$180k a year knocking doors only during the summer. So, the fastest path to $180k+ a year is selling saas. ⤴ The path to selling large enterprise is a journey and many fall out during the journey. So, sales teams naturally have a huge influx of SMB / MM talent that is top notch here to pull from 🎯 We're small. The community is still small and has the feel of 'everyone knows everyone'. This means your recruiting efforts have compounding effects. If you can steal a rep from company X, they likely went to school with, roomed with or worked with 3 others that want to follow them Regardless, I'm a believer. Selling to SMBs / MMs. No better place to build it than Utah. Shoot me a note, I'll tell you which companies to pick from. 😇

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We have a great new episode of Building Elite Sales Teams featuring Pete Scharber, a veteran sales leader with over 27 years of experience in the medical manufacturing sector. Pete brings a wealth of knowledge on building high-performing sales teams in a highly competitive industry. In this episode, he shares invaluable insights on: 🎯 The importance of honest self-assessment: Understanding your true differentiators and where you excel against competitors 🤝 Building team chemistry and fostering a culture of mutual support 💼 Aligning your go-to-market strategy with your organization's core strengths 🔍 Implementing effective processes to evaluate incoming opportunities One of the best moments of our conversation was when Pete shared how his father's blue-collar work ethic shaped his own passion and drive in sales. It's a powerful reminder of how our backgrounds can fuel our professional success. Pete also emphasizes the value of open communication, both with your team and leadership. His approach to building trust through honesty and transparency is truly refreshing. Check out the full episode to learn more about Pete's strategies for creating a sales team that meets targets and thrives on collective success. What resonates most with you from Pete's insights? Share your thoughts in the comments! #SalesLeadership #TeamBuilding #SalesStrategy

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Hot Take… RIP #PLG, Long Live #SLG But before you throw shade, let me explain… 🔹 There are undoubtedly exceptions, I’m sure many will highlight monday.com, Freshworks, etc. 🔹 PLG works well for low ACV deals with low CAC… think SMB and mid-market customers. Target CAC payback <12 months 🔹 PLG is a fantastic top of funnel marketing channel for enterprise sales ⭐ But for 6-figure enterprise sales, you need enterprise salespeople pressing the flesh with customers

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