Meaningful Metrics
measurable metrics to help you plan for a momentous year
Hey there friends-
One of the key frameworks I fall back on as a sales leader is something I came up with a while back in my first stint as a VP of Sales. I call it MPST. (note: I’ve tried to create a catchy acronym or something better, but until then it is what it is)
MPST is something I can look at to determine what area of focus or attention I need to give while leading sales. (I’m working on a more thorough write up on this later) But if you’ve talked with me about leading a sales team, no doubt you’ve heard me mention this a time or two.
For today’s newsletter - we’ll be chatting about the first half of the M, in MPST: Metrics.
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly -
Bill Binch , partner at Battery Partners (and excellent follow) gives us his list of best-practice metrics an enterprise software company should watch to measure business health
The MEDDICC team and Robin Daly breaks down exactly what the Sales Velocity Equation is and how the elements of MEDDPICC can support each of the four key metrics.
Plus more measurable metrics to muster as you look towards planning for a meaningful year ahead.
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
Eight Leading Sales Metrics to Watch in Tough Market Conditions
A very good friend and fellow VP of Sales (holla Al Hogan) shared this article with me and is definitely worth re-sharing. Bill Binch , partner at Battery Partners (and excellent follow) gives us his list of best-practice metrics an enterprise software company should watch to measure business health.
Inbound Demo Requests (IDRs) by week
Demos delivered each week
Monday Morning Meeting Rule
Mojo Metric
Cost Per Opp
Average Sales Cycle (ASC)
In-Quarter (or month) Create and Close (IQCC)
ARR Per Employee
Do yourself a favor and read the article as he explains these 8 metrics. My favorite? Mojo Metric.
Bill closes by saying: I didn’t include any bookings elements. My focus here was on metrics and measurements that will give you an indicator of what will happen, not what has happened. That said, all of these indicators lead up to your bookings number, so it truly is the final bus stop. Include your bookings as the last data point.
The Sales Velocity Equation
Found this article by the MEDDIC team super insightful. Apparently I have been living under a rock because I don’t think in the 3 years I’ve put together this newsletter, I’ve even once shared The Sales Velocity Equation. What is the SVE?
Sales Velocity Equation measures the speed at which your business makes successful deals to generate revenue. It consists of four core metrics:
Average Order Value/Annual Contract Value: Depending on your business model, this indicates the average value of what you are selling.
Time to close: Literally, the time it takes for a deal to be completed.
Conversion rate: How many of your potential opportunities turn into wins?
Number of opportunities: The amount of actual chances to strike deals.
Something I’ve heard time and time again is MEDDIC is a one-trick pony. This articles articulates why MEDDPIC is so valuable in your sales arsenal. By applying MEDDIC to the Sales Velocity Equation, you focus not just on the number of opportunities in the pipeline, but on each of the individual metrics that affect your sales performance as a whole.
STRETCH SNIPPETS
👉 Want a more insight on metrics explained from Bill Binch? Check this podcast out and hear firsthand what metrics Bill thinks are most important for each stage of a B2B SaaS company's growth.
✅ Over 30 sales experts shared their best tips in this guide, including: 1. Set goals in retrospect 2. Focus on the long-term 3. Use the SMART framework 4. Tie-in goals with seasonal trends 5. Ditch outcome-based goals for effort-based goals.
🎯 Shawn Parrote gives 10 KPIs are that strike the sweet spot between tracking too few sales metrics and trying to track them all. Use them to form the basis of a powerful sales analytics program. They’ll allow your growing sales team to thrive without burying them in numbers.
🗣 You don’t need more sales metrics and data to wade through. Says Steli Efti, You need the right ones. Here are his 18 essential sales KPIs to measure.
🏄♂️ Scott Leese talks about why his single favorite sales metric to get better is: Pacing. Here’s a quick algebraic formula to calculate pacing (per Scott): [Total amount sold / total selling days gone] * Total selling days in given period of time = Pacing.
🧠 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.
Also… check out the blog or follow on Twitter