The Sales Acceleration Formula

1. Hire for specific traits that predict sales success

The ideal sales hiring formula is different for every company, but the process to engineer the formula is the same.

Identify key traits. Rather than relying on intuition or industry norms, use data to determine which characteristics correlate with sales success in your specific context. At HubSpot, the top five traits were:

• Coachability: Ability to absorb and apply feedback
• Curiosity: Genuine interest in prospects and asking insightful questions
• Prior success: Track record of high achievement
• Intelligence: Quick learning and clear communication
• Work ethic: High energy and activity levels

Develop a rigorous hiring process. Create a structured interview process to evaluate candidates on each key trait. Use behavioral questions, role-plays, and assessments. Continuously refine your hiring criteria based on the performance of new hires.

2. Implement a structured, predictable sales training program

A 'ride-along' sales training strategy is neither scalable nor predictable.

Define your sales methodology. Establish a clear framework encompassing:

• Buyer journey: Stages prospects move through
• Sales process: Steps aligned to buyer journey
• Qualifying matrix: Criteria to evaluate fit and readiness

Create a curriculum. Develop training modules for each element of the sales methodology. Use a mix of classroom instruction, role-playing, and certifications to ensure consistent skill development across the team.

Measure results. Implement exams and skill assessments to quantify training effectiveness. Analyze correlations between training scores and on-the-job performance to continuously refine the program.

3. Coach salespeople using metrics-driven diagnostics

Use metrics to diagnose which skill development area will have the biggest impact on a salesperson's performance. Customize the coaching plan to that skill area. Execute 'metrics-driven sales coaching.'

Identify skill gaps. Analyze each salesperson's funnel metrics to pinpoint their biggest area for improvement. For example:

• Low leads worked → Time management issues
• Low connect rate → Poor prospecting skills
• Low close rate → Lack of urgency creation

Customize coaching plans. Focus on developing one skill at a time. Create a specific plan with exercises, role-plays, and metrics to track improvement.

Measure coaching success. Track changes in the targeted metrics over time to gauge the effectiveness of your coaching efforts. Adjust plans as needed based on results.

4. Design sales compensation plans to drive desired behaviors

The sales compensation plan drives the results of the business.

Align with company goals. Structure compensation to incentivize the outcomes most critical to your current stage of growth (e.g., new customer acquisition, retention, profitability).

Keep it simple. Ensure salespeople can easily understand how their actions translate to compensation. Avoid overly complex formulas.

Make it immediate. Provide frequent payouts tied closely to desired behaviors to reinforce positive actions.

Involve the team. Gather input from salespeople when designing new plans to increase buy-in and surface potential issues early.

5. Develop sales leaders from within using a formal curriculum

Focus on leadership skills, rather than general sales management skills, when developing future managers internally.

Establish prerequisites. Set clear criteria for leadership consideration, such as:

• Consistent quota attainment
• Well-rounded sales skills
• Demonstrated leadership potential

Create a leadership curriculum. Develop a structured program covering key skills:

• Coaching and feedback
• Conflict management
• Team motivation
• Change management

Provide real experience. Before formal promotion, have candidates hire and manage one new salesperson while maintaining their individual quota. This tests their ability to balance management and selling responsibilities.

6. Flip demand generation by attracting inbound leads

Today's buyer is empowered by the Internet. A modern demand generation strategy means less focus on interruptive outbound marketing and more focus on inbound marketing.

Create valuable content. Develop blog posts, ebooks, webinars, and other resources that address your target buyers' questions and challenges. Focus on educating rather than selling.

Optimize for search. Use keyword research to identify phrases your ideal customers are searching for. Create content around these topics to improve your visibility in search results.

Engage on social media. Participate in online conversations where your prospects are active. Share helpful insights and build relationships with potential buyers and industry influencers.

Nurture leads. Develop automated email campaigns to continue educating leads and moving them through the buyer's journey until they're ready to engage with sales.

7. Align sales and marketing with quantified service level agreements

Use the Sales and Marketing SLA to replace the subjective and qualitative aspects of the Sales/Marketing relationship with well-defined targets and quantified goals.

Define lead quality criteria. Establish clear parameters for when a lead should be passed from marketing to sales based on factors like company size, engagement level, and buyer journey stage.

Set quantitative goals. Create specific targets for both teams:

• Marketing: Number and quality of leads delivered to sales
• Sales: Speed and depth of lead follow-up

Track daily progress. Implement dashboards to monitor performance against SLAs in real-time. Address issues quickly to maintain alignment.

8. Leverage technology to accelerate sales and improve buying experiences

Sales technology creates better buying experiences for customers by capturing customer context and making that context readily available to salespeople.

Automate administrative tasks. Use tools to streamline data entry, activity logging, and other time-consuming processes so salespeople can focus on selling.

Surface buyer context. Implement systems that aggregate prospect information from various sources (e.g., website visits, email opens, social media) to help salespeople engage more relevantly.

Enable data-driven management. Leverage technology to provide real-time visibility into pipeline health, forecasts, and team performance without creating additional work for salespeople.

9. Foster a culture of continuous experimentation and improvement

Great teams have a core philosophy of continual improvement. A key ingredient to the sales acceleration formula is fostering a culture of experimentation.

Encourage bottom-up innovation. Create channels for frontline employees to submit and develop new ideas, such as regular hackathons or innovation contests.

Establish a formal process. Implement a structured approach to running experiments:

1. Define clear goals and success metrics
2. Design minimal viable tests
3. Set timelines and resource limits
4. Analyze results objectively
5. Scale successful ideas, learn from failures

Celebrate learning. Recognize both successful and failed experiments for their contributions to organizational knowledge. Create a safe environment for taking calculated risks.

Last updated: August 11, 2024