Field Notes
Short reads on sales things people repeat without thinking about much. Most end with a tool that does the math.
Your quota is crazy. Now prove it.Saying it feels too high has never moved a number. Math sometimes does.ReadHow to review an offer, and push back on itThe offer letter tells you what they'll pay if everything goes right. Find out what you'll make in a normal year.ReadYou think the company is shorting youStart with the math, then the paperwork, then the right person. In that order.ReadHow to explain a bad comp plan without losing the roomYou'll roll out a plan you wouldn't have written. Your team will find the ugly parts fast, so get there first.ReadHow to fight a comp plan before it shipsOnce the plan ships, you're mostly explaining it. The time to change it is while it's still a draft.ReadOTE is what you make if everything goes rightIt's a real number. It's the number for a year that goes to plan, and most years don't.ReadYour accelerator only matters if somebody reaches itA 2× accelerator sounds great in the offer. It pays nothing in a year you finish at 90%.ReadA cap tells you how much upside they're willing to sharePast the cap, your check stops growing. Where they put it tells you a lot.ReadHow a $1M deal turns into a small paycheckYou close a $1M deal. Then the credit rules run.ReadThe plan says uncapped. Read the footnotes.A plan can be uncapped on page one and still limit a big year. Find out before you're counting on one.ReadWeighted pipeline is only as good as the weightsYour CRM's stage probabilities are numbers somebody typed in once. Check them against what you actually win.ReadYou're the rep and the number is crazyYou don't set the number. You can still make a case, if you bring the right one.ReadYou have to hand down a number you don't loveYou made your case upstairs. It didn't move. Now your team needs to hear it from you.ReadThe number isn't changing. Now what?You made the case. It didn't move. Fine. Now figure out what it takes.ReadBefore you decide the comp plan sucks, figure out how it paysMost reps read the quota and the OTE and stop. The money is in the rest of it.Read3X is really a win rateEverybody plans to it. Almost nobody asks where it came from.ReadWhy I don't start with BANT or MEDDICThey're useful when you're working a deal. The trouble is the moment before that.ReadIf three people failed in the same territoryYou probably don't have three bad reps.ReadYour quota went up 30%. Did your territory?The number moved. Ask what else did.ReadThey asked for 15% off. What are you buying with it?A discount is a purchase. The only question is what you got for it.ReadYour best rep hates internal meetings. Is that a problem?Probably not the one you think.Read
