135: Stress Test
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Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here. Today’s edition only takes 4 minutes. "Build a product so good that a weak sales team could sell it. And… build a sales team so good that they could sell a weak product." Amit Bendov, Co-founder and CEO of Gong Today we’ll cover:
Storytime I work with a client who sells to cafes, restaurants, and event centres. Their product is the magical combination of differentiation, specificity, and a structured onboarding offer. It fits the bill of Amit Bendov’s “Product so good that a weak team could sell it”. However, the sales team currently is only “ok”, a solid 6/10. As with many of my clients, the founder no longer sells. And as with many of my clients, even in his sales heyday, he was a reluctant salesman at best. But because the product offer is so compelling, the sales team hasn’t needed to be better than a 6/10 - until the founder decided that sales is the next leverage point. As part of my onboarding with this client, we went through the standard process: an audit of the sales systems and processes, a review of each seller's recorded calls, and a looooooong list of recommendations. (If you’re interested, check out what the audit entails here; next availability: 5th October, then 26th October). During the audit wrap-up, I think the founder was a bit overwhelmed by the recommended next steps, because he asked me: “Scott, what will have the biggest impact before the end of the year?” And I had to think. Because the answer is simple, but not easy: “Adding structure and accountability to your sellers” Actually doing that is fiddly. Not only was the HubSpot CRM a mess, but the reps weren’t actually working deals through any of the eight pipeline stages. Instead of using the Closed Lost option, they just stopped working any deals that got stuck. So we discussed the full answer (see this newsletter about managing a sales team):
That meant creating a single pipeline with clear entry/exit criteria for each stage, then running weekly pipeline reviews to keep the team's pipelines moving and fresh. Let’s talk about using Pipeline Reviews to stress-test every deal so the team only works on the deals that matter. Paperwork Most elite sellers suck at paperwork. It makes sense; you are actively hiring people who like talking to people, uncovering pain, and ultimately, solving problems. And doing the paperwork is often worlds away from actually solving the problem. But unless sellers do the paperwork, deals and follow-up fall through the cracks. Sometimes founders try to solve this by hiring someone else to do the follow-up and paperwork. In the seven times I have seen a founder try to outsource paperwork, new deals won and revenue per deal both dropped. So we want to make the paperwork as minimal as possible, but elite sellers know they still have to do it. Then we stress-test every deal against a documented, structured checklist each week. Pipeline Reviews A pipeline review is a weekly meeting/process to ensure every deal in a seller's pipeline is being actively worked. They are quick-fire meetings - 30 seconds to 2 minutes per deal. This is NOT a deal strategy meeting. You start by asking the rep to open their pipeline, then you follow the checklist for every deal to the letter. No fluff, nothing extra, just the checklist and move on. Make it Real To give you an exact structure, here are two pipeline reviews I run for two clients every week. One for a B2C business selling fast-moving, high-ticket offers. The other is for a B2B business selling to small businesses where there is a free trial between initial contact and first revenue. The B2C review: For B2C pipeline reviews, we’re moving quickly. Most B2C deals take several touchpoints (1-2 calls, ~5 texts, and 2-3 emails), but that all happens within about 5 days of the buyer getting serious. Therefore, the goal of the pipeline review is to make sure every deal is being worked right now, because if we leave it until next week, it’s already gone. This is the checklist we use at one of my clients:
B2B Review: For B2B pipeline reviews, we have a bit more breathing room. Often a deal will last 3-4-5 weeks, and often the buyer will have a specific timing for when they can/want to get started. So we focus on maintaining momentum at the right moments. This is the checklist we use at one of my clients:
Whether it is just you or you have a team, schedule a weekly pipeline review using the above as inspiration or watch deals fall through the cracks. Until next week, PS When you're ready, here are three ways I can help you get out of the founder-only sales trap:
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