Superpowers and Secrets
Learn from industry experts the superpowers and secrets to scale sales
Happy Wednesday!
Each of the three main articles in this week’s newsletter stood out as something to help any of us, regardless of where we’re at in our Stretch VP stage.
Seasoned, new, aspiring sales leaders alike can hopefully find something insightful here this week.
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly -
Doug Landis discusses the 4 key Superpowers he identifies for hiring VPs of Sales
Crafting the Perfect Follow Up: The Secret to Cold Email Success with Tim Carter
Jeb Blount and his 3 Elements of Predictable Sales Pipeline Forecasting
Plus more insights, tips, and secrets from industry gurus to help you scale your sales team.
And lastly - as always, if you find this newsletter valuable- consider sharing it with someone who might as well 👊.
THANKS for reading!!
-Grant
STRETCH SHARES
A Founders Guide to Hiring Your First VP of Sales
Excellent article on hiring your first VP of Sales. Doug Landis gives us a peek inside the text on how this process works. If you’re an aspiring VP of Sales or looking to make a move- must read to see how you can prepare, compete and set yourself apart.
I specifically liked where Doug talked about sales leaders possessing at least one of four "superpowers". He advocates picking a sales leader whose primary superpower is the SAME as the CEO and who's secondary superpower aligns with what the company most desperately needs. Great insight for us current or aspiring VPs of Sales.
Superpowers:
Company Management: CRM, Excel, Data, etc.
Process Management: Streamlining processes, planning documents, etc.
Culture Management: Vocal, big personalities, cross-department champions, etc.
Deal Management: Addicted to sales, deal experts, etc.
Crafting the Perfect Follow Up: The Secret to Cold Email Success
Tim Carter pens a thoughtful post on Sales Hacker talking about why Follow Up is the most important part of any cold email campaign.
(Now - I probably wouldn’t stop there. One of the best reps I’ve had the privilege of working with shared with me some of his secrets to success several years back.
His words? Maniacal, Focused Followup.
He went on to clarify that focused follow up included referencing pain points and opportunities uncovered in discovery - but then maniacally following up to progress those deals to close)
Now, Tim points out WHY follow up is so important:
Most people don’t respond right away
Multiple emails give you multiple chances
Brand familiarity increases over time
A follow up can make or break a “maybe”
And then gives us practical tips on building that perfect follow up.
Read how to build the perfect follow up HERE
3 Elements of Predictable Sales Pipeline Forecasting
Forecasting. Art? Science? Witchcraft?
Hear from Jeb Blount on the best way to structure your team’s forecasting strategy. Great article that shows us how a mix of both art and math helps narrow the variability of your forecast, which improves predictability.
Jeb outlines the three elements that drive sales forecast accuracy:
Deal Value
Win Probability
Close Date
When each of these elements is as accurate as possible, you get predictable and accurate forecasts. When sales leaders master coaching these elements, they will keep their fingers firmly on the pulse of sales performance and forecast accuracy will improve almost immediately.
STRETCH SNIPPETS
🏄♂️ Scott Leese discusses building high performing sales teams, throwing caution to the wind, and preparing for a VP of Sales role with Marcos Serna and Andy Chen on the SalesLife podcast.
🚌 Ryan O'Hara details how to leverage the School Bus Strategy to structure our sales teams.
📊 Struggling with what to track? Experts like Peter Capulta and Daniel Disney weigh in on some important sales metrics.
💰 Hey salespeople: Bribery does not work! Prospecting emails offering a "gift card" are associated with 52% lower reply rates -per Jeremey Donovan
📞 Mor Assouline tells us how to become a discovery call ninja in just one call in this quick 5 min podcast.
👉 Sara Howshar writes on the sales organization structure and 5 Tips for Scaling Your Sales Team
😇 Jason Lemkin says that no VP of Sales is great at everything. Optimize around target ACV, let them be good at what they do, and then help by adding managers to help where needed.
🧠 Mindset
20 years ago I was overweight, depressed, and unhappy with my identity... At one point, I couldn’t even walk up the stairs... How did I turn my life around? Hard work for 20 years. And also what I talk about in the video. Enjoy. - Dan Martell
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. Contact Me HERE.
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