Leadership In Sales Teams

The most valuable private tech company out of Europe right now published its performance management playbook. And IMO every entrepreneur should read it. There’s a lot out there about what Revolut has accomplished ($428m in net profit last year, with $2.2bn in revenue and a global customer base of 45 million for starters). There’s a lot less written about how the Revolut team achieved this level of success. Which makes Nik Storonsky’s “Driving High Performance” playbook so valuable. It was co-written by Nik and the team at QuantumLight and somehow manages to condense nearly a decade of Nik’s best practices from growing Revolut into a 30-minutes read. What I find most notable about Nik’s playbook: 🥷 𝐀 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐑 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐄𝐎 Nik believes performance management is a science, not an art. It can be standardized and it should be a top CEO priority. At Revolut, this looks like a team of smart operators that can build the process for performance management and constantly fine-tune evaluations and incentives. 🧮 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 Performance is delivered over three dimensions — deliverables, skills and culture — and scorecards are used to describe ideal behavior. Assessment is standardized through yes/no answers. For each seniority level, the performance team sets a bar for expectations and goes through a quarterly process to gather performance reviews, calculate grades, calibrate results, and share those results with managers to deliver feedback. There’s no exception to this process, no matter how junior or senior someone is. The result of such a mathematical approach? Employees get evaluated on outcomes, not intuition. Which means they spend less time focused on positioning themselves positively and more time improving their metrics. 🥇 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 When everything that matters gets measured across functions, both A-players and under-performers are easy to spot. Revolut doesn’t shy away from giving its top 15-25 percent of employees disproportionate compensation. On the other side of the performance coin, they focus on exiting the bottom 0-10% of performers as quickly as possible. At a time when all the talk is about founder mode, here is a concrete, actionable playbook for maintaining peak performance at a large scale. Is Nik’s approach for everyone? No. Can it lead to incredible results for founders that adapt this model to their own culture? Absolutely. Nik Storonsky and QuantumLight, thanks for sharing your secrets - hopefully it will inspire and help a lot of entrepreneurs.

How I helped ~90 AEs & BDRs increase outbound meetings set by 42% quarter over quarter 👇 Back story: - This sales team primarily relied on expensive inbound leads - AEs were not self-sourcing pipeline - Many AEs hadn't made a cold call in years - Inbound deals were way too small Here's what we did: ✅ Focused on training front-line leaders This is crucial for making habits stick and creating long-term results. ✅ Implemented the "Reinforcement Loop" framework with leaders We used this simple framework to reinforce the training. Teach. Telling is not teaching. Speak to the why, what, and how behind the area of coaching focus. Practice. The stakes are high in live situations with prospects. Avoid a culture where reps practice on prospects. Role play and facilitate practice during your 1on1s and team coaching calls. Observe. Self-reported data is the least accurate. Trust in your reps, but verify by watching and listening to them in action. Coach. Ad-hoc coaching doesn’t create lasting change. Be consistent in delivering coaching. But more importantly, empower reps with the tools and ability to self-assess and self-coach. ✅ Determine the Sales Math You must establish metrics for success. They worked with each rep to determine the exact level of activity needed to hit their desired target. No arbitrary activity metrics. ✅ Give to get culture with rep coaching In order to get coaching, reps must first attempt to coach themselves. We did this by aligning the leaders on a standardized cold-calling scorecard. Then, each rep was required to score one of their cold calls and bring it into their weekly 1on1 for feedback. ✅ Weekly GSD sessions We ran twice weekly Get sh*t done sessions with the sales team. These are two 1-hour standing calls where every rep is required to get on and prospect within each of their teams. Managers get in the pit, give feedback, and make calls with reps. ~~~ This is what it takes to create a dramatic pipeline-building culture shift in your org. It's hard. Requires a ton of discipline and accountability from front-line leaders. And takes 1-2 quarters to successfully implement. Want help making this culture shift at your org? Drop me a DM and I'll let you know we might be able to help #sales

Wise leaders treat the disease, not the symptoms. Use these 6 questions to solve the right problem permanently. 1️⃣ What output fell short? Everything is a factory. People, process and technology combined to yield an outcome. Sales is a factory. Customer service is a factory. Strategy is a factory. What is yours designed to deliver? The problem we want to start from is where our factory came up short. Typically it's: - Quality (bad output) - Volume (not enough output) - Cost (expensive output) 2️⃣ Who is responsible? Someone is in charge of that factory:  - They own the design.  - They address problems.  - They handle exceptions. If there's confusion about this, address this issue first. 3️⃣ Do they know what excellent looks like? Without a vivid picture of the goal and clear agreement on how to accomplish it, your factory will produce one thing: chaos. The remedy: training. A factory without trained employees should strike fear into every leader's heart. 4️⃣ What broke? Usually the factory breaks in many ways, not just one. List them out. Then I pick one based on three criteria:  - Is this a pattern I've seen before?  - Is something (or someone) new? - Is it connected to our current bottleneck? 5️⃣ Why? Many leaders have heard about the 5 Whys, but start with one. Most employees aren't forced to move past the surface level (which is often an excuse) and own the motivation behind the action. This is why, if genuine, it will yield a very different problem to solve. One that is much higher value. 6️⃣ Who should do what differently? Answering this question is the entire goal. Growth requires trust, clarity, and accountability. Leave with agreement on who will do what by when. --- As Abraham Lincoln said, "Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." These questions might not feel natural at first. That's good. If you want different results, you need to try a different approach. And the most effective way to solve problems is to solve the right problems.  One of the most popular MGMT Playbooks goes deeper on this topic. I expand on these questions and tell you precisely what to listen for. https://lnkd.in/eXXhiby8 It's free to subscribe.  Readers get 50+ playbooks and templates, plus a new one every week. Or follow Dave Kline for more practical leadership insights.

Coaching is not intuitive, yet many managers think it is. Here’s the hard truth: many managers believe they’re coaching, but they’re just telling people what to do. 💬 Managers - when they contact me for coaching training : "I've always coached my team intuitively, now I need a solid framework and practical tools." 💬Managers - after the first day of coaching training: " I’ve realised that I never truly coached my team — actually I've been mentoring them all this time…" ✅ Real coaching requires a distinct approach and a specific set of skills, now critical for every leader. If you're ready start coaching, here’s your 9-step cheat sheet to transform how you lead: 1. Build Trust Trust is consistency over time, as Jeff Weiner would say. Without it, nothing else matters. 2. Structure your sessions with the GROW Model Goal - the most important part - What is your goal for the session ? Reality - What is happening? Options - What are your options? What else? Way Forward - What is the first step? 3. Listen at levels 2 and 3 Stop listening to respond (level 1). Listen to what's not being said.  Start listening to understand. Go beyond the words. 4. Ask Powerful Questions Stop giving answers. Start asking questions Make people think: What’s possible? What success look like for you? 5. Coach the Person, Not the Problem Focus on the employee's growth, not on solving today’s issue. 6. Understand behaviors with DISC Adapt your communication style using DISC to meet them where they are: D- Dominant : Straight to the point I - Influential: Creative thinking S- Steady: Safe space, reflective time C - Conscientious: Be precise, take time 7. Focus on what can ce controlled Coach them to focus on what they can control and change. Help them not waste their time on what they can't control nor influence. Toxic waste of energy. 8. Close Every Session with SMART Goals Vague intentions don’t cut it.  Every session needs actionable goals, small steps. 9 Ask for feedback, Welcome radical candor Feedback is a two-way street.  Ask for it. Encourage it. Embrace it. Ready to level up your coaching skills? Join our training in September - link in comments - and start coaching to the next level. P.S. 👍 Like this? ♻ Repost it and download it. And follow Geraldine GAUTHIER MCC for more content like this!

Five ways 𝐁𝟐𝐁 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 can win with technology and AI in 2025. To stay on the front foot, #B2B sales leaders need to leverage technology to find the right markets while discovering, retaining, and delighting customers across all channels. A McKinsey & Company study found that companies that outperform on growth invest more aggressively in #digital transformations and AI to boost sales and marketing productivity. In my experience the most successful B2B players are investing in five growth areas: 🎯 #AI powered opportunity identification: Growth leaders in B2B sales are using AI to find new pockets of growth both within their core business and beyond. 🔧 #Personalization: Innovators are tapping into gen AI to effectively tailor their offerings and pitches in response to increasingly specialized customer pain points and needs. 💰 Value-based, AI-enabled #pricing: Companies are using technology innovations to better inform value, transitioning away from manual, static pricing and toward dynamic models that can automate prices, tailor deals to customer segments, and improve price discipline. 🚀 Digitally enabled task #automation: B2B players are using technology to improve their sales force efficiency and productivity, incorporating tools to better prioritize opportunities, speedily deliver customer value, and inform go-to-market strategies with better insights. 👲🏾 Digitally driven #talent improvement: Sales organizations are leveraging tech to more effectively assess seller performance in line with their goals while also improving performance by implementing capability-building programs. Are there other technology areas that #b2b companies should leverage to outgrow their peers?

Solving problems is the core of leadership. But not all problems are created equal. Some are messy. Some are hidden. Some keep coming back no matter what you try. Quick fixes don’t work. Assumptions break under pressure. What looks simple is often anything but. That’s why leaders need thinking tools. Not just instincts or experience. 5 proven ways to solve real problems properly: ❓ The 5 Whys ↳ Start with one clear problem you want to solve ↳ Ask “Why did this happen?” → then answer it ↳ Ask “Why?” again based on that answer ↳ Repeat until you hit a broken process or system ↳ Most real causes appear by the fifth why 🧭 Cynefin Framework ↳ First step: Diagnose the type of problem you have ↳ Clear: Obvious issue? Use the usual process ↳ Complicated: Get expert advice. Don’t improvise ↳ Complex: There’s no right answer. Test and learn ↳ Chaotic: Stop the bleeding before thinking long-term 🧠 First Principles Thinking ↳ State the problem in plain, exact language ↳ Break it down into its smallest parts ↳ Identify facts that are 100% provably true ↳ Remove everything based on habit or guesswork ↳ Rebuild a solution using only those raw truths ⚙️ DMAIC (Six Sigma) ↳ Define the issue with clear goals and boundaries ↳ Measure how the process is performing today ↳ Analyse the data to find what's causing failure ↳ Improve by fixing the weak step in the process ↳ Control results with checks to keep it stable 🎯 Design Thinking ↳ Empathise: Understand how others feel the problem ↳ Define: Frame a problem that’s actually worth solving ↳ Ideate: Explore options beyond what’s been done ↳ Prototype: Trial the idea in a small real-world setting ↳ Test: Gather feedback, then refine with specifics Problem-solving isn’t a step in leadership. It’s the skill that holds every decision together. Which of these methods have you successfully used? Let me know in the comments. ♻️ Repost to help others solve problems better 👉 Follow Lauren Murrell for more like this

Why Your Sales Team’s Performance is Inconsistent - And How to Fix It 📢 Sales leaders, let us talk about one of the biggest frustrations in sales management - inconsistent team performance. Some reps exceed their targets month after month, while others struggle to close deals. The result? Unpredictable revenue, missed quotas, and unnecessary stress. After numerous sales consultations with leaders across industries, we identified some common challenges: 🔍 The 3 Biggest Causes of Sales Team Inconsistency 1️⃣ Lack of a Standardized Sales Process Without a clear, repeatable process, results will always be hit or miss. If every rep is handling deals differently, there’s no consistency in outreach, follow-ups, or closing techniques. 2️⃣ Weak Training & Coaching Most teams invest in onboarding, but not in ongoing training. Without continuous skill development, top performers keep winning while others fall behind. 3️⃣ Fluctuating Motivation Sales is tough. Reps experience rejection daily, and if there’s no ongoing motivation, recognition, or career growth, their performance will suffer. 🎯 How do we fix it? Some recommended solutions from top sales leaders are: ✅ Implement a Structured Sales Playbook – Document every step of the sales cycle and ensure every rep follows it. Create scripts if required, objection-handling frameworks, and outreach cadences. ✅ Make Coaching a Non-Negotiable – Hold weekly coaching sessions, role-playing exercises, and deal reviews to refine skills. The best teams train like commandos. Think Navy Seals. ✅ Recognize & Reward Regularly – Beyond commission, celebrate small wins (first meetings booked, great prospecting calls, effective follow-ups). Recognition fuels consistency. ✅ Use Data to Identify Weak Spots – Track key metrics like conversion rates, pipeline velocity, and call-to-meeting ratios to uncover patterns. Performance gaps are easier to fix when they are inferred through data. ➡The best sales teams don’t rely on talent alone—they rely on processes, training, and culture. 💬 What’s one thing you do to ensure consistency in your sales team? Let’s discuss in the comments! Need help optimizing your team’s performance? 📩 https://lnkd.in/dGGM5vCK #sonniasingh #sonniasinghleadershipcoach #SalesLeadership #SalesCoaching #PerformanceManagement #SalesTraining #SalesEnablement

Sales leaders: Do you treat the people on your sales team like soldiers who are expected to follow orders, or... ...do you empower them to be the CEOs of their territory? The difference determines whether you merely hit targets or create an environment that that inspires salespeople to reach beyond the company's goals because they see their territory as "their business." As Chapter 2 of "Mastering Medical Sales—The Evolution" demonstrates, the most successful sales organizations treat each rep as the CEO of their own territory business. Sales reps: Imagine your territory as your company where you're not responsible for just quota attainment, but for 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒕𝒉 and market penetration. When leaders foster this mindset, reps stop viewing challenging physicians and accounts as excuses for not closing the sale and are compelled to develop creative approaches to bypass the obstacles. For managers, this means less micromanaging and more strategic coaching—helping your reps develop business acumen rather than just a quota-driven mindset. For representatives, embracing this CEO mentality transforms your daily activities from transactional selling to strategic partnership building that advances your career. The transition begins when leaders encourage territory business planning and reps willingly analyze their markets like entrepreneurs rather than traditional salespeople. Leaders who cultivate this ownership mentality find themselves directing a team of innovative problem-solvers who make smarter decisions about time and resource investment. Are you a leader building the next generation of medical sales strategists? Are you a rep ready to run your territory like it's your own business? The answer determines whether your organization merely competes or truly dominates.

Navigating Pitfalls: Common Sales Leadership Strategies That Can Derail Success As sales leaders, the path to success is complex and filled with potential pitfalls. By categorizing these challenges, we can better understand and address them. Here's how these insights break down into four key categories: 🚀 Strategy Missteps: Balancing Act: Avoid over-emphasizing new customer acquisition at the expense of existing ones. Growth requires a balanced approach. ⚖️ Evolving Strategies: In a rapidly changing B2B landscape, sales strategies must evolve to meet new buyer needs. 🌱 Chart Your Own Path: Don’t follow the crowd; tailor strategies to what's proven effective for your organization. 🛤️ Embrace Change: Be ready to adapt and make necessary changes if current strategies falter. 🔄 Operational Oversights: Quality Over Quantity: Prioritize high-quality leads over a high volume of low-quality ones. 🎯 Meaningful Metrics: Focus on outcomes, not just activity, for genuine insights into success. 📈 Pipeline Reality Check: Maintain a realistic view of your pipeline to improve win rates. 🔍 Developmental Dilemmas: Continuous Learning: Ongoing B2B sales training and development are crucial for keeping your team competitive. 📚 Simplify to Amplify: Simplify over-complicated sales processes to empower your team. 🔄 Customer-Centric Concerns: Customer Voices: Valuing customer feedback is essential for avoiding loss to competitors. 👂 Patience Pays: Prioritize the customer’s readiness over pushing for quicker deal closures. ⏳ Realistic Targets: Set achievable sales targets to prevent stress and burnout, ensuring a modern approach that values relationships. 🎖️ Reflective Realizations: Achieving Goals: Remember, success is strategically winning the right deals, not just hitting numbers. 🏆 Best Practices: Lean on reliable best practices to enhance effectiveness, rather than fleeting trends. 🌟 By understanding these categories, you can steer clear of common pitfalls and guide our teams toward more effective and successful sales strategies. How do these categories resonate with your experiences? Let’s share insights and grow together! 👇

If you got into sales because you "like solving problems", you are likely making this critical mistake on your sales calls.  Uncovering pain and solving problems for your customers is useless if you don't also understand the OUTCOME your prospect is looking to accomplish. Executives do not make 6 and 7 figure investments to solve operational pain. They make investments b/c they are looking to accomplish business outcomes. Of course you need to understand the pain/problem your prospect is currently dealing with. Part of your pitch will include how you'll make that problem go away. But you ALSO need to understand the "promised land" of where your prospect is looking to go by solving that problem. If you don't understand BOTH, your pitch will fall flat with execs. Try asking: 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵? If they can't answer that question, this opens the door for YOU to teach them the main outcomes you drive (ex. faster WIP-to-Cash, Reduction in bill write-downs). When you can tie your product to BOTH solving problems AND achieving outcomes, you will see your win rate increase.