Key Performance Indicators
The who, what, why of leading and lagging indicators and why it matters for us in sales leadership
I’m back!
Last week I was out on vacation and did something I hadn’t done in over 4 years:
Completely disconnect and detach from all things work - including this “little engine that could” newsletter.
So hopefully the “best of” email you all received provided some value before getting back to business this week.
I’m refreshed and ready to go with the next several week’s worth of content starting with this one on KPIs.
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly -
Learn from People.ai on managing your team with Leading Indicators instead of lagging ones.
Steli Efti highlights the 18 essential sales KPIs used by top sales teams around the world
Plus freshly curated, sales-focused snippets to send, and share with your team.
THANKS for reading!!
-Grant
And lastly - as always, if you find this newsletter valuable- subscribe or share it with someone who might as well 👊.
STRETCH SHARES
Managing with Leading (not lagging) Indicators
I really enjoyed this piece from one of my favorite sales tech companies - People.ai on managing your team with Leading Indicators instead of lagging ones.
Most orgs manage with lagging (rear view mirror) indicators such as Quota attainment, Average Deal Size (ACV), Win %, Lost % etc. These are table stakes and important ones to measure.
But as this guide points out - Leading indicators are based around early activities that translate into pipeline generation and maturation, not just results. Indicators like emails sent/received, people engaged, pipeline engaged and built, meeting hours and opportunities created.
This helps sales leaders spot potential landmines, and problem areas well before it’s too late.
18 essential sales KPIs: How & why managers track these metrics
Another data packed piece from Steli Efti on the importance of managing your sales funnel with essential performance indicators.
Learn from Steli as he runs us through everything you need to know about sales KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and metrics and then highlights the 18 essential sales KPIs used by top sales teams around the world to court better prospects, close more leads, and boost their bottom line.
As is the case with all Steli posts - this one is pretty thorough with quick links upfront to take you directly to each description.
STRETCH SNIPPETS
📊 Louis Adam shares a few tips to identify and track some sales KPIs to help you better understand your team’s sales efficiency in an effort to bring in more revenue.
📈 In terms of speed of their career growth, Scott Barker says from his perspective, it seems that non-traditional backgrounds outperform traditional backgrounds in sales...
⛈ Tom Boston is a great follow on LinkedIn. Check out this hilarious video on “If weather forecasts were like sales forecasts” and give him a like and a follow.
3️⃣ Compensation (Base/OTE/Equity), Team, Alignment (Product, Service, Mission). Amy Volas gives us three things to consider before jumping for greener grass as a VP of Sales.
📒 Ryan Rich gives us a good overview on what, why and how to use a Mutual Action Plan (I call them a Go-Live-Plan) to move deals to close. Free templates. Top 4 ways on how to use them.
🧠 Mindset
Thanks for reading!
My hope is if you find this valuable, consider sharing it with friends (or signing up if you haven’t already).
— Grant 👋
About stretch vp: confessions, learnings, and insights from sales leaders in SaaS
Compiled and aggregated from a network of sales leaders in SaaS, Stretch VP showcases learnings, insights, and experiences as well as best practices to overcome common hurdles, obstacles, and setbacks in your quest for excellence as a sales leader in SaaS.
Are you a VP, Director, thought leader, or content producer in the SaaS space? We’d love to have you contribute. Just reply to this email and I’ll be in touch.
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