John Thackston’s Post

Hey Sales Leaders: it's time to let your sellers sell! Over 50% of enterprise sellers I talk to say, “I can’t sell like I want to do at my current company.” Why? Because they were hired to drive larger deals in larger accounts but are being told: - “We need to show up well on the dashboards” - “The month is looking light - can you bring in that deal early?” - “If you could just get on the board with a few small lands…” This is 180 degrees from how their role was initially positioned. You need to your enterprise sellers be enterprise sellers. Don’t push them down to small deals the first quarter in the role. Building enterprise pipeline will take time. Telling them to get contacts at 100 accounts on an outbound sequence will kill their time for strategic activity. Going for a high volume of calls with lower level stakeholders for an un-researched, under-personalized meeting will drive your ENT sellers insane. DO have them: - Pick a handful of large accounts with a capacity to buy in large amounts. - Research the heck out of them (days not hours) - Craft a customer-specific Point of View for each account - Rally your own executives and senior players in your ecosystem to help get a warm introduction to senior players within the account. - If that doesn’t work, invest the time in creative cold outreach (creative items sent through the mail with a relevant message). All of this to START a compelling business conversation with an Economic Buyer. All of these activities are strategic, effective and time consuming, But that is the nature of enterprise sales. Predictable Revenue, velocity sales plays - they all have their place in the world. But not when you want to go upmarket. Let’s celebrate managers who do it right. P.S. Want to find and close the biggest deal of your career? Join over 1000 sellers at the Enterprise Sales Secrets Challenge. Register here: https://buff.ly/43B47YH #sales #enterprisesales

I’ve coached reps from 50+ companies in the last 6 months Here’s 1 common mistake everyone has made in outbound No, it’s not “spam filters” (enough with this) No, it’s not your messaging most of the time It’s actually your product So many SDRs are stuck selling really poor products with no differentiator at all SDRs: Question as much as possible on interviews. Especially if their rev is <$5m ARR Here are some questions you can ask the hiring manager: 1. What happens to the customer without your product? 2. Why do you win against competition? 3. What happens when customers buy your product? Hiring managers should be answering your questions in specific without using jargons or using cost / customer service as differentiators If you can’t find their answer convincing, it’s not a product worth doing outbound Literally the last thing you want to sell is a product that isn’t sellable ________________________________ PS: I’m 💜 Srivaradha Vanamamalai. I help Men make 1-2L pm through their sales jobs ♻️ Repost this if you find SDRs struggling here Are you a man looking to break into SaaS? Register for the Dec 14 batch: https://lnkd.in/gk2GahF3

When conducting pipeline reviews, here's a list of some of my favorite deal KPIs to analyze: Days in stage Last Prospect Interaction Last Sales Interaction # Emails # Calls # Meetings # Prospects in convo chain (Multi-thread?) Deal Size (ARR or ACV) Deal Stage Probability of Close Close Date Decision-Maker Engagement Buying Signals / Intent Objections and Risks Champion and Relationship Strength Competitor Involvement Sales Cycle Length Lead Source Multi-threading Next Steps and Action Items Contract StatusUpsell / Cross-sell PotentialCustomer Fit (BANT, MEDDIC) Contract Value to Quota (CVTQ) What's missing?

How four mid market and commercial reps 2X'd their deal size in a single quarter. Next week, I am exposing what they did and you're invited. Mid market and commercial reps ask me all the time, "I'm not at the large enterprise level yet but I'm tired of transactional selling motions. Do you have any resources for sellers earlier in their career?” I do. And in fact, in next week's free session, I'll teach you how to 2x your deal size in 12 weeks or less. The tactical problems I will cover: - Can't to get to senior customer stakeholders - Prospects going dark after the first meeting - Can't drive decisions - Can't build enough pipeline - Simply not closing enough deals… Next week I am going to teach you - for free - how to solve those problems and more with the Elite Sellers Playbook. Link in comments to register or tag a friend who could benefit. This method is for sellers who want to leave the pain of transactional sales and have fast results. The Elite Sellers Playbook is all about how to 2x your deal size in 12 weeks or less. After years of closing million dollar deals and teaching enterprise reps how to 10x their deals, I have finally formulated this into a faster, leaner system which mid market and commercial sellers can quickly digest, put to daily use, and change their sales outcomes in record time. If you’re ready to take charge of your sales career and WANT TO ACTUALLY achieve this, I want you with me next week. You will leave learning each area of the playbook including my proprietary Two Mountain Model that has helped 100’s of other reps grow their deal sizes 4X - 25X - and you will hear their stories and learn from their experience in the field. More importantly, you will actually leave with knowledge that you can take action immediately in your deals to increase deal size and chances of closing. Not a fit for you? Tag a colleague or friend who could benefit. Join me on June 27th at 2pm EST / 11am PST. Let's get the transactional monkey off our backs and earn a lot while doing it. Link in the comments.

Every sales leader everywhere wants to accelerate ramp times for their new sellers. I’ve heard many different ideas and approaches including tightening the hiring profile, improving orientation and new hire enablement, implementing buddy systems for new hires, and more. All good ideas. But sometimes I hear about all of these good ideas before ramp basics are in place. So if ramp is top of mind for you right now, make sure you’ve covered the following bases: 1️⃣ 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗱! Yes, this sounds basic, but is being ‘ramped’ simply a function of time and quota deployment schedules OR is it some demonstrated level of proficiency? Bringing sellers on and making them proficient is the goal, but too often we measure ramped only by time. 2️⃣ 𝗘𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗽 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. Data collection and reporting for performance should be fully automated and real time. Otherwise, you’ll rely on manual data projects that won’t happen as often as they should. Furthermore, simple comparative analysis between reps, teams, segments, etc. is a must. 3️⃣ 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗽 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. Quota attainment is obviously the lagging indicator, so make sure you define and align on what leading indicators are correlated to future attainment. Pipeline generation is a big one for most companies, but there are pre-pipeline activities, sales certification, and more that come into play here. Covering the above gives you a solid foundation and the data you need to focus your ramp improvement efforts. I’m curious to hear from sales leaders what else is top of mind right now regarding ramping!

Top 5 character of highest-paid sales professional: 1. They Understand Business, Not Just Products The top reps don’t just know their product—they understand how businesses work and can talk about financials and strategy with confidence. ----- 2. They’re Incredibly Curious The best reps ask deep, meaningful questions. They dig into the buyer’s problems and motivations, instead of just scratching the surface. ----- 3. They Know How to Work with Many People Top reps build relationships with key people across the company, not just one contact. They create strong champions and know how to get in front of decision-makers. ----- 4. They Can Negotiate on Their Own The best reps don’t need their manager to handle negotiations. They know their worth and don’t resort to big discounts at the first sign of pushback. ----- 5. They Think Strategically About Deals Great reps don’t just “follow up.” They plan each step of the sales process, considering who to involve, what to do next, and why it matters. Btw, my partner Steph and I have spent over 200 hours creating a DISC hiring guide to help founders and sales leaders improve their sales by hiring the right sales professionals in their teams. If you’d like the free guide, feel free to DM us!

Pipeline calls are a waste of time. Here's why: Most sales teams spend hours discussing deal status, leaving little room for strategy. It's a common problem. But it's also a massive missed opportunity. These calls should be a goldmine for: → Strategic thinking. → Deal acceleration. Here's how to fix it: 1. Prep work is vital. Have reps update deal statuses BEFORE the call. 2. Set a strict agenda. Allocate specific time for updates and strategy. 3. Focus on high-impact deals. Not every opportunity needs airtime. 4. Ask targeted questions. "What's blocking this deal?" instead of "What's the status?" 5. Use AI-driven tools to analyze deal health beforehand. This frees up time for strategy. 6. End each discussion with clear action items. Accountability drives progress. That's it. Follow these steps and transform pipeline calls from time-wasters to strategy sessions. After all, in sales, time saved is money earned. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know.

Sales leaders in tech tell me that half of their external sales hires don’t work out. That is not acceptable, and it is not necessary. When I get called into a firm to fix this situation I can often point at a single, fundamental reason why it happens. 💥 No one knows what good looks like. Instead, the plan is: 1. Target the competition 2. Hire the highest performer there you can get This is a recipe for pain. Because a salesperson does not operate as a one-person unit. Many things go into impacting their performance, beyond their own skills. 🔹The product they sell. 🔸The existing client base they piggyback off 🔹The quality of marketing and SDR support they receive. 🔸The culture and leadership they operate under. Those are all going to be different in your firm to your competitors and peers. The best way, and I am giving away a little of my IP here, is to look at your own team. Who is outperforming their on-paper ability? Dig into what it is about them which combines with your product, target market, support and culture to be successful. Then, go find more people with those attributes. It’s what I do for clients, and it’s what you can absolutely do for yourself. When you do, you find that more of your external hires land and succeed. Have you done anything like this? How did it play out?

Hey Sales Leaders - your sales reps don't want to be automated... they want to be coached. The data has shown time and time again... the majority of your replies come from the minority of the emails you send. It's the +80% personalized emails. It's the 1 offs. NOT the "scaled" attempts Teach your reps so they can thoughtfully grow in the role.

Pipeline calls are a waste of time. Here's why: Most sales teams spend hours discussing deal status, leaving little room for strategy. It's a common problem. But it's also a massive missed opportunity. These calls should be a goldmine for: →Strategic thinking → Deal acceleration Here's how to fix it: 1. Prep work is vital. Have reps update deal statuses BEFORE the call. 2. Set a strict agenda. Allocate specific time for updates and strategy. 3. Focus on high-impact deals. Not every opportunity needs airtime. 4. Ask targeted questions. "What's blocking this deal?" instead of "What's the status?" 5. Use AI-driven tools to analyze deal health beforehand. This frees up time for strategy. 6. End each discussion with clear action items. Accountability drives progress. That's it. Follow these steps and transform pipeline calls from time-wasters to strategy sessions. After all, in sales, time saved is money earned. Do you agree or disagree? P.S. Follow me for more content like this.