Plus “Most Implementable,” “Momentum Leader” and 12 others.

Our friends at G2 recently shared their Fall 2021 Market Report, and we are proud to share that QuotaPath has once again scored high with our users. 

This time, our sales commission platform received a new PR of 15 badges. Some include repeats like “Easiest to Use” and “Best Relationship” — a nod to our friendly UX and lovable team. However, we’ve also earned plenty of new ones.

And we couldn’t have done it without our growing user base. Thank you to our wonderful users for supporting us as we transform how commissions are tracked and compensated. With your trusted feedback and glowing reviews on platforms like G2, QuotaPath continues to stand out from competitors. 

Below, we’ve listed a few of our new favorites.

Momentum Leader 

First up is the “Momentum Leader” badge. This recognizes companies that have achieved the most positive customer movement in 2021. G2 takes into account user reviews and data aggregated across social media to identify leaders in the space. We didn’t just earn this recognition in one product category or even two. No, QuotaPath earned the top honor for sales compensation, sales analytics and sales performance management. Our integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot and Close have certainly played a role as have our quick implementation times. 

“Incredible Time Saver! Incredible Service!”

“We love the easy visibility of our sales team’s commissions, plus we love the ease of sending payouts to payroll for processing!

“Bravo, QuotaPath. Our commission process used to take almost three workdays to audit and ensure accuracy; we are down to 15 minutes to check and approve commissions.”

— Leah W, People Operations

Best Results

Another new addition includes “Best Results.” QuotaPath earned the highest overall results rating for sales compensation products based on reviews that indicated high ROI estimates, short implementation times, and overall satisfaction with the platform. Turns out, RevOps professionals have enjoyed the 17 hours a month we’ve returned to them through automated comp plans. Sales leaders and reps have also applauded our real-time quota tracking and CRM updates. 

“Amazing product and wonderful onboarding experience.”

“We have absolutely loved working with the team over at QuotaPath. Huge shoutout to Michael and Cole! They’ve spent a ton of time working to understand our commissions structure and helping us integrate our process as intelligently as possible.

“We are thrilled to be offloading from Excel and clumsy billing platforms to QuotaPath!”

— Cody G, Finance Director

Most Implementable

Lastly, from our humble beginnings in 2018, we’ve set out to introduce a solution that companies can easily and quickly implement. That’s why QuotaPath only takes a day to set up versus the industry standard of weeks or months. Our users have taken note and have showered us with positive testimonials around the set-up process. This data point, plus high user adoption percentages, led to QuotaPath receiving the highest implementation rating for sales compensation products for the second consecutive year. We couldn’t be prouder to update our Fall 2020 badge to 2021.

“QuotaPath simplifies commission tracking/setup and promotes motivation!”

“This platform is easy to set up, removes hours of Excel tinkering to create commission plans and continuous manual tracking of commissions. And it provides the team a super simple way to track how much they are making, can make, and will make!”

— Garrett O, Co-Founder

Here is the complete list of our Fall 2021 honors:

If you’re ready to automate your commission tracking, or if you’d like to discuss 2022 compensation planning, then schedule a time to chat with us. We’re excited to meet you!

Ready to become ASC 606 Audit Compliant? We’ve got you.

By this point, you’ve probably heard of ASC 606, but perhaps you’re at a loss for how it impacts your business.

Here’s the skinny.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued the new revenue recognition standard in 2014. Public companies adopted the ‘606’ in 2018, and now, private companies have to follow suit. 

Under the standard, finance and accounting teams must account and recognize revenue from contracts with customers and incremental costs, which includes commissions and bonuses. The goal is to drive more consistent and comparative financial reporting. Translation: Any company with recurring costs needs to pay attention.

Any company with recurring costs needs to pay attention.

Psst — that’s you, SaaS.

Those who don’t adhere face the risk of hefty fines and a surprise auditor visit. No thanks!

ASC 606 is the head standard, but we’d like to draw your attention to 606’s subtopic, ASC 340-40: Other Assets and Deferred Costs: Contract with Customers. This subtopic calls for ongoing record keeping and reporting of costs incurred while obtaining or fulfilling a contract with a customer. (Think: travel, advertising, and our pride and joy, sales commissions.) 

Additionally, it mandates that the related incremental costs to every contract are capitalized as an asset and amortized over time to match the timing of the revenue recognition.

So, what can you do to be ASC 606 compliant as it pertains to ASC 340-40? 

For starters —please stop with the manual spreadsheets. ASC requires every deal and earning to be tracked annually. This information should also be readily available and accessible to auditors. Your spreadsheet won’t scale.

We introduced Ledger to help. 

Our new feature provides accounting teams with the flexibility to recognize commission expenses immediately or batch earnings and amortize them to match their revenue recognition schedule.

With Ledger, streamline your month-end close process, eliminate errors and stay on top of every line item that pops up. Plus, save time by quickly producing digestible, audit-ready reports.

Why our customers love Ledger:

• ASC 606 compliant (!)
• Fresh and clean record keeping
• Marie Kondo-levels of data point organization
• One location for all things commissions
• Storage unit for historical data
• Reports that can be easily exported and imported into local accounting systems

Let’s talk more about this together! Schedule a brief demo with a member of our team today. And stay tuned for more enhancements to Ledger. We’ve got a lot lined up to make your jobs easier. 

In today’s world, we rely on software to help make our lives more efficient so that we can operate and grow our business. Automation plays a key role in how tools can help increase productivity and make work-life simpler and more streamlined. 

For sales teams, CRMs are the holy grail of hosting deal data and tracking daily sales activity. However, on their own, they may not give reps deeper insight into their earnings, quota attainment, and paychecks.

With QuotaPath, revenue teams can centralize team earnings and commission data in one shared source of truth. All of the information stored in your CRM is crucial to tracking and reporting on sales compensation, which is why we’ve partnered with our friends at Close to bring you our newest CRM integration.

Automate commissions with Close

You know Close for their sleek industry-leading CRM platform used by over 5,000 organizations and their huge library of sales content and resources (100% check it out if you haven’t, there’s something in there for everyone).

With QuotaPath’s native Close integration, you can push your company’s CRM data directly into QuotaPath. Then teams can layer on insights like individual earnings, team quota attainment, pipeline forecasting, and payouts for a powerful understanding of performance.

The QuotaPath and Close integration allows you to:

• Streamline workflows: There are a lot of stakeholders involved in commissions. This integration breaks down silos and simplifies the handoff process. With data being in one place, there are fewer errors and less manual entry.
• Robust reporting: When it comes time to managing compensation, everything is right at your fingertips – performance analytics, deal auditing, automated commissions statements, payouts, and ASC 606 reporting.
• Data syncing: Unlike other commission solutions, data syncs in real-time, so you always have an accurate, up-to-date view of your opportunities.

Integrating QuotaPath + Close

With this integration, you can import all of your Close opportunities in just a couple of clicks. Connect and sync plans using your organization’s Close API Key.

Choose Close “Opportunities” records

Pull in Opportunity records from Close to count towards your earnings in QuotaPath.

Map Fields

Map all the components of your comp plan to relevant fields in Close like Lead, Value, Date won, User.

Define stages or “status”

Define deal stages to see commissions on closed deals and forecast potential earnings on opportunities.

Sync opportunities

Once you’re ready, start syncing. QuotaPath will populate Close opportunities for all comp plan assignees.

Try the Close integration with QuotaPath

We’re excited to partner with Close and offer a way to automate incentives and make work-life easier. This also means we now offer native integrations with the three industry-leading CRM software companies in the nation – Salesforce, HubSpot, and Close!

This integration works whether you’re an individual contributor looking to track your monthly earnings or a sales leader managing compensation.

If you need more flexibility, Admins can align QuotaPath members to Close users, map comp plans with Close CRM data, and calculate earnings & attainment from Close deals.

If you want to learn more, head to the Close integration page – we’re listed as a Featured integration!

The rep-configured HubSpot CRM integration is available for free. The Admin-configured HubSpot CRM integration is offered in our Plus tier.

Today during closing week, our closing bell rings as we continue to bring in new customers. But we’re also celebrating a huge company milestone – the announcement of our $21.3 million Series A!

The round is led by Insight Partners, which has made over 400 investments with notable portfolio companies like SalesLoft, Pipedrive, monday.com, SetSail, and Showpad. Stage 2 Capital, HubSpot Ventures, Integr8ted Capital, and ATX Venture Partners – both new and existing investors – have also participated in the round. Additionally, we have 50 of the very best revenue leaders already involved in QuotaPath as investors and advisors.

We have so much support behind us to help transform the way organizations think about and engage with commissions.

The journey: where we’re headed

Just like closing a deal, there are a lot of moving parts when building a great company. And for the last 3.5 years, our co-founders AJ, Cole, and Eric have led the team as we help companies build and scale high-performing growth teams. 

We’ve accomplished a lot. We’ve built native integrations with three of the industry’s leading CRMs: Salesforce, HubSpot, and Close.com. We’ve landed a >75 NPS with our customers. G2 named us a top 50 sales product this year. We’ve pivoted to a remote workforce due to COVID without missing a beat. And we’ve grown our revenue 600% in 2021. With the recent raise, we’ve reflected on where we are and where we’re headed.

People-first

To quote AJ, “The difference between a good company and an outstanding company starts with its people.” We’ve hired over 25 extremely talented folks in every department, from engineering to customer success. We’ve tripled our sales team this year alone and have made executive hires in marketing and finance. We live out our core values of Empathy, Trust, and Inclusion and push ourselves and each other to solve the pain point of commissions in innovative ways. We recently made Philadelphia’s Best Places to Work list. With our new funding, we have plans to double our team by the end of the year. 

Product-first 

As a product-led company, we are total nerds when it comes to building a product that creates more simplicity, efficiency, and accuracy in the commission process. This means helping companies move out of spreadsheets and into an automated solution. And supporting every stakeholder involved in commissions – commission and attainment tracking for sales reps and managers, deal auditing for sales and revenue operations, and payouts for finance and HR. With more funding, you can expect to see new integrations (think accounting and payroll software), and continued investment in the customer journey and delight for the end user.

Customer-first

We’re all about creating raving fans through quick onboarding times, instant access to performance metrics, more rep motivation, and a tool that’s easy and enjoyable to use. Today we have over 6,000 users – from sales reps to finance teams – tracking and running commissions using QuotaPath. Organizations can get up and running in just a few days and don’t have to pay extra for dedicated support. That’s one of the reasons our customers love using us so much. That and the ability to build custom comp plans without having to use formulas. 

In a recent customer survey, we found that we save companies on average 60 minutes per rep in running commissions each month! We’ll keep pushing the needle when it comes to streamlining workflows, aligning teams, and surfacing reliable data.

We’re full steam ahead. For those who have been on the journey with us, we appreciate you and thank you for your support. If you’d like to get involved, please contact us or try QuotaPath for free.

And you can read more about our story in TechCrunch.

Sales coaching is a crucial element in driving revenue growth. By working with your sales staff, you give them the skills they need to close deals. Many think coaching expertise comes naturally — but just as team members don’t become top performers overnight, most managers aren’t born great coaches. It’s a skill you can learn and hone through practice. Here are five ways to do just that. 

Be consistent

A sales team brings ongoing value to the company, so coaching is an ongoing process. Think of sales coaching as a long-term proposition that develops the unique talents of each individual. This takes time and commitment.

Make coaching a priority by putting it on the calendar. Aim for weekly or biweekly meetings and stick to the appointments. If it’s on the schedule, coaching will happen. If it’s on the end of your to-do list, it might never get done. 

Learn from others

As you work to improve your coaching skills, it helps to take cues from others who have found success. Look to experts and renowned business leaders for tips on sales coaching. Ask people you know and respect for guidance. 

Reaching out to people across industries can help you gain a new perspective. Sales coaching doesn’t have to keep you in the box of your existing network. Learn all you can from people in peripheral industries or even those operating in a different part of the economy — they may all have something to teach.

Learn from your reps

Every member of your sales staff brings something to the table — that’s why you hired them. Tailor your lessons to each person. Ask them what they want to get from coaching. Invite them to share any positive and negative experiences they’ve had in the past with coaching, so you can start with what works for them.

Develop an approach that’s relevant to your team members’ present experience. To prepare for the first session, ask them to jot down notes about their current pain points and what they want to learn. 

Experiment with different forms of sales coaching

As you hone your coaching skills, you’ll find techniques that work well for you and your team members. Finding out what works and what doesn’t is part of the process. Take a gamble once in a while by trying new coaching styles. Role-playing and analyzing client calls are excellent methods — but always be on the lookout for new ways to close deals. 

Again, you can take cues from your sales reps and experts in other industries. Welcoming new ideas can help your company to develop new sales methods. That’s critical in competitive industries, so always look to add more tools to your toolbox. 

Read books (not just about sales coaching!)

There’s no shortage of literature on sales. Books on business and economics sell at a pace of approximately 20 million copies, collectively, in the United States in a given year. That market is huge, and you have a rich resource of information you can use to improve your sales coaching. 

Don’t let the sheer number of volumes get you overwhelmed. Take an hour and select a few good books. Read what you can and incorporate a little from each into your lessons. 

Bonus tip

Don’t give up! If you’re new to coaching, the prospect may be daunting. Your first few sessions may have some hiccups, and that’s OK. Give it some time to work before you scratch that coaching appointment time off the schedule. It will likely take a bit of adjustment before you find the right style that produces results. 

Be patient with yourself and your team as you go through this learning process. Encourage your team members to voice their concerns and share ideas. They’re usually on the front lines on cold calls or trying to convert a prospect — their insight can help you to become a better coach.

Track the results of your coaching with ease

Coaching has real benefits. It helps your sales team to do its best and improves the company’s bottom line. Like managing, coaching is a skill that most people learn and develop. It requires you to think outside the box, do research, gain insight from others, and work with your team members on an individual basis. 

Feel free to experiment along the way — and remember to savor the victories as you see the results start to take shape. 

Sales coaching can increase quota attainment and commissions, which is the ultimate goal. Use QuotaPath to track your commissions. Contact us today for a demo so you can see how that top-notch coaching has translated into success for you and your team. 

Some careers, like becoming a doctor or advancing to chief resident, are fairly predictable. There’s a route that must be followed to get from medical student to respected surgeon. But for other careers, like software sales, there are a multitude of ways to get where you want to go.

There’s no standard career path for sales. But here’s an example of how many people interested in the top role achieve their goal.

First, a quick definition:

What is software sales?

People outside the sales industry may think of software sales as a single type of position, but it’s actually an entire category of sales. Think about how pharmaceutical sales reps focus on medications and medical devices and insurance reps sell policies. Those in software sales are totally focused on technology. This is a particularly exciting niche that promises a lot of growth. After all, society’s love for and reliance on technology is only increasing. The market is strong, and that means lots of potential for job opportunities and career growth over time.

Software sales encompasses all the types of sales jobs you’d find in other industries. Many people start by nabbing an entry-level position at a company that specializes in software sales. They gain valuable experience and learn about core products while on the job. In the meantime, they’re proving themselves to management. In time, they’ll have a chance to work their way up the ladder.

First role: Sales Development Representatives (SDR)

Tenure: 1-2 years

Sales Development Representatives* are a type of sales rep completely focused on prospecting. Old-school sales setups saw reps tackling every part of the sales process. That can mean lower overhead thanks to a more slim-lined sales team. But today, many organizations separate their sales staff into specific roles so that everyone has a shortlist of targeted tasks to accomplish.

SDR’s key task is setting meetings for closers. They don’t do the actual closing, though. Instead, SDRs take lead lists from the marketing team, qualify prospects and then pass warm leads onto the Account Executives in charge of closing.

*In some organizations, SDRs are referred to as Business Development Representatives (BDRs) or Market Development Representatives (MDRs).

Second role: Account Executive (AE)

Tenure: 2-5 years

Account Executives, also known as Sales Executives, are the people in charge of the day-to-day interactions with clients. This includes developing and maintaining a relationship with the decision-makers at client organizations. AEs or SEs need to know everything about their clients’ companies, including:

• Their objectives
• Their end products/services
• Their end customer’s pain points
• What they have in development

Part of the Account Executive role is turning those warm leads from SDRs into actual contracts. Execs may present demos, negotiate terms and arrange the actual close. It’s the AE’s job to know what problems could crop up and what it might take to overcome those objections. They also need to know how to field questions about product features, what certain products or packages cost and the availability of upgrades.

Sales Executives often receive compensation packages that include a smaller base salary plus incentive compensation. Some roles may be entirely commission-based, meaning take-home pay depends on the ability to close a deal.

Third role: Sales Manager

Tenure: 3-8 years

Sales Managers are essential team supervisors. They manage a group of salespeople, fostering a positive environment that motivates employees to usher prospects through the sales funnel. Becoming a Sales Manager takes time, but it also takes experience. SMs are expected to know everything about the sales cycle, but they also take care of administrative duties such as:

• Setting sales goals
• Determining individual and group sales quotas
• Analyzing sales data
• Conducting training
• Evaluating and coaching sales rep/Account Execs
• Determining pricing for special promotions and discount programs
• Addressing customer complaints

Sales Managers may also be involved in hiring and firing and divvying up sales territories. It’s the Sales Manager’s job to keep the team on target and make customers happy. They’ll do whatever’s necessary to offer a superior experience and get and/or keep clients on board.

Note: just because you’re a top performing AE doesn’t mean you’ll be a great Sales Manager, nor should it! It’s always acceptable to be a top AE as a permanent career.

Fourth role: Sales Leader

Tenure: To be determined (potentially unlimited)

Sales Leaders (VP of Sales, CRO, Sales Director, etc.) are the visionaries in the world of software or SaaS sales. Sales Leaders are often confused with managers. To help keep the roles straight, think of managers as the people who direct employees. Leaders develop those managers. Sales Leaders create the organization’s sales strategy, crafting a blueprint that will take the team through the quarter or even the entire year.

Sales Leaders are also mentors. They find ways to empower SDRs, Account Executives and even Sales Managers. Excellent Sales Leaders are able to balance working with the executive team and their sales team. They concentrate on working with team members to develop their skills, improve their pitches and so on.

Some Sales Leaders may even join the team during big pushes and pitch clients themselves. It’s not uncommon for supervisors in software sales to join their AEs when approaching a “big fish” customer. It’s a good way to model a well-developed skill set like the “perfect” demo. But it also boosts morale to see the boss right there in the trenches getting their hands dirty (so to speak).

There is some overlap between Sales Managers and Sales Leaders. Some organizations choose to combine the roles for that very reason. But keeping the positions separate means more opportunities for the team to learn and grow. Managers and Leaders with clearly defined job descriptions can provide support and amplify growth in different ways. That’s how you help create a stronger, more agile organization from the top down.

Starting your software sales journey

If you’re looking for a software sales job and aren’t sure where to start, the answer depends on your personal experience and skills. For many people just getting their feet wet in sales, an entry-level job as an SDR is an ideal introduction. They’ll learn about sales cycles (and software sales in particular) while actually taking a hands-on role. Those who have already proven themselves in other sales niches may jump right to an AE or even management position.

Your trajectory depends on you. Still, software sales are booming. Now’s a great time to reach out to recruiters and see how you can excel in a promising field.

Already in sales and looking for a better way to tackle daily tasks like commission tracking? QuotaPath makes it easy for reps to see what they’re earning, turning the concept of quotas into metrics that actually make sense. Sign up for a custom workplace today and start for free.

Every business wants to generate sales. Putting a tally in the win column feels good. But as a sales manager or other organizational leader, you need to look at the overall picture. One win isn’t enough. It’s how your rep handled that prospect and whether there could have been more tallies in that win column. Enter sales effectiveness.

Whether you’re a company breaking into a new market or a well-established organization, there’s always room for improvement. Understanding and training for sales effectiveness is how you amplify your sales process and turn failures into successes.

What is sales effectiveness?

The term “sales effectiveness” refers to how well a salesperson or sales team is completing their goals. If you’re being effective, you’re closing deals. In most circumstances, that means looking at everyone’s sales rate. But sometimes, instead of tracking overall sales, you might monitor revenue, profit, or the sales of a specific product.

It’s important to understand the difference between being efficient and being effective. Efficiency is a measure of how much someone can get done in a certain amount of time. You can be efficient and not be effective. For instance, say your team makes all their sales calls in record time but doesn’t book a single meeting or close a single deal. They were certainly efficient, but the lack of sales makes their efforts sadly ineffective.

To improve sales efficiency, try out some of these ideas that aim for long-term boosts in sales performance and profitability.

1. Group training

Group training views effectiveness as a team issue. This takes the focus off individual successes and failures and allows everyone to learn skills from their peers.

Before setting a training date and putting together your agenda, take stock of your team’s current state. Where are they struggling? Is there a common thread? Perhaps you’re seeing a dip in average contract value. Maybe the demo-to-close ratio is less than desirable. Design your sales training to address pain points. Try to keep each meeting focused on one or two issues, so you can dig deep and inspire change.

Additionally, if you have one member on your team who excels in the training subject, they can serve as the instructor. Some salespeople learn better from their peers than leaders. It also allows a member of the team to act as a sales leader without the management requirements. 

2. One-on-one training

One-on-one training can be nerve-wracking for the salesperson in the hot seat. But a little anxiety is worth it when you have an opportunity to fine-tune someone’s performance. Prepare for the meeting by identifying each person’s weaknesses, and then create training tailored to each individual. Using info gathered during employee evaluations may help.

One-on-one training and group training become more powerful together. Address common issues in a group setting to save time, and then tweak each salesperson’s technique privately. There, you can continually refine their approach and concentrate on what they need most to get to the next level.

3. Call recording sessions

One of the most significant benefits to recording sales calls is the value those recordings have as a training tool. When you’re on a call and in the moment, you’re going on instinct. You’re focused on making the sale, not picking apart your process. Listen back to those calls once the adrenalin dissipates, and you can be more objective. Assess your messaging, see how you handle objections and learn which keywords trigger certain responses (good and bad). Did you go in with a strategy? Were you a strong resource for your prospect or just reading off product data like a machine?

If you’re a sales leader using calls as a part of your sales coaching, check out these tips to ensure a positive outcome:

• Review taped calls before the coaching session, so you know what’s coming. Take notes, marking the timestamp of examples you want to review with your rep. Also note issues that occur on most or all calls, and highlight those as high-priority items to address while in training.
• Don’t focus solely on bad calls. Provide reps with demo calls that show best practices and some that end well (with a sale). You don’t want to tank morale in your quest for improvement. Plus you can learn just as much from a win as you do from a loss. 
• Make the coaching session interactive. Rather than lecturing or immediately taking the lead, ask questions. “What do you think went wrong here?” “Did you know who the decision maker was before you made contact with the customer?” “How could you have done that differently?”
• Prioritize one or two issues each session. If you try to address everything your salesperson did wrong in one 30-minute session, you risk not accomplishing anything. And they’re not going to feel very confident walking out of your office, either.
• Put regular coaching sessions on your schedule. Training works best when it’s ongoing and consistent. That way you can see the results cycle over cycle, month over month.

4. Bring in an outside perspective

Another way to increase sales effectiveness is to look for help outside your organization. Sometimes you get so caught up in your process, you forget there are other ways of selling. As American showman P.T. Barnum once said, “Comfort is the enemy of progress.”

A third-party training expert or consultant can offer a fresh perspective. Shaking up the status quo and seeing your team — and yourself — through new eyes can be a surprisingly invigorating experience. All that insight can power new marketing approaches, inspire training content and help your team provide better service.

5. Examine your tech stack

Technology can be as important as people to your overall sales effectiveness. You need help measuring key metrics, and tools that help track commissions and build and manage comp plans free your team up to do what they do best. These tracking platforms are more efficient with numbers and more accurate, too.

Gauging sales effectiveness and striving for improvement is a major factor in scaling your sales. Getting to the next level requires a lot of introspection and effort. But those willing to make changes will reap the rewards. 

To see how tech can help you achieve impressive growth through sales effectiveness, book a demo with QuotaPath today.

New parents would love a manual that clearly outlines the best way to calm a crying baby. Similarly, every salesperson alive would love to know the best time to cold call. Unfortunately, unless your sales manager has a crystal ball, you’re not going to get a definite answer on when to phone up your prospects. Instead, we’ve gathered expert insight into the question “When is the best time to cold call a prospect?” With answers ranging from the time of day to type of mood, these suggestions are just what you need to get a word in edgewise and hopefully close a deal.

What are the worst times to cold call?

Before we dig into our top cold calling tips, let’s identify when you should probably never ever reach out and pitch a prospect.

(Way) After hours

Some people are so dedicated to success that they’ll work 24/7. Some people succeed because they draw a very well-defined line between work and everything else. Step over that line by calling a prospect into the dinner hour or beyond and you could make a terrible first impression. You may have interrupted family time or simply inserted yourself into their life beyond business. If it’s past 7 PM their time (pay attention to time zones!) then wait until tomorrow.

(Very) Early in the morning

Cold calling early in the morning is risky for the same reasons as cold calling late at night. You’re a customer, not your prospect’s BFF. It’s important to be respectful of their time and boundaries. Violating that unspoken rule on day 1 could result in a fractured relationship before you even have a relationship to speak of. Just like dinnertime cold calls, try to avoid cold calling pre-breakfast; stick to after 8 AM their time.

Weekends

Sure, calling on a Saturday means you won’t be competing with other salespeople for a moment of your prospect’s time. And there’s a reason for that. Even if you get straight to the point and never waver from your very professional script, cold calling on a weekend is unprofessional and risky.

Federal holidays

Cold calling on a federal holiday makes you look out of touch. It doesn’t matter if it’s a strategic move on your part. It still seems like you either didn’t remember it’s a holiday or you just assumed your prospect would be working. Either way, you may not get the result you’re hoping for. Besides, there’s a reason deals tend to stall over the holidays, right?

When you’re following up bad news

Sales is not about products; it’s about people. Before you pick up the phone to call a customer, hit up Google. Take the time to research that customer, their company, and any current campaigns. If their organization has been in the news, you should know why. If that news is in any way negative, reschedule your call. The day after a member of the board passed away or the company stock took a nosedive is not a good day. It’s doubtful that decision makers are going to be eager to pursue a new partnership or spend money. Of course, this depends on what you sell, if you’re in the business of cybersecurity, sometimes the day after a hack is the perfect time to call.

When everybody else is calling

There’s a problem with reaching out to a prospect when experts say it’s the best time to cold call. Everyone else will be cold calling then too. Even the loudest voice won’t be heard if you can’t get a potential customer on the line.

Finding the best time to cold call

Cold calls are never easy, but what if you can find a way to stack the deck in your favor? At least one study indicates that people are more likely to say yes when asked a question in the evening. That’s one scenario to try, but there are many other factors that could help you get the positive response you’re craving.

When the decision makers are in the office — and their assistants aren’t

Executive assistants are the gatekeepers of corporate America. It’s their job to filter the streams of information trying to get to their bosses and ensure only the important bits get through. If you don’t tick all the boxes on that checklist, your call is going to hit a dead-end quickly. But pick up the phone when the gatekeepers are away from their desks and you may have a fighting chance. Try outside the normal 9-5 or even early/later than the extended work hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Less-official holidays

Most businesses are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not as many let their staff take off for Veteran’s Day. Schedule your cold calls for a holiday that’s not widely observed, and you may be able to beat your competition to the punch.

Time blocks that are typically less busy

According to a survey by staffing firm Accountemps, the most productive day of the week is Tuesday. Monday is second-best, and only 10% of people say Friday is their big get-it-done day. That makes sense. With the weekend looming, it’s easy to lose focus Friday afternoon and use that time to catch up on odds and ends. That’s also what makes Friday afternoon the perfect time to cold call. You’re less likely to interrupt meetings or other key tasks, and your prospects could be surprisingly receptive.

Whenever people might be happiest

Here’s another vote for Friday afternoons. People are happy that they’re going home for the weekend, and they might not want to end their week on a negative note. If you know your prospect’s company is having a fun event like a company picnic or mid-week retreat, calling after that could be a smart move, too.

Even all the expert tips in the world can’t give you an exact day and time that’ll ensure cold call success. The fact is that every person is different. Some prospects might answer in the middle of the day. Others might not. Some are early birds who can’t wait to tackle big subjects even though they’ve barely had their first sip of coffee. Other people might give you an automatic no just because you dared to call on a Friday afternoon when all they want to think about is leaving for their long-awaited fishing trip.

Even if you do get a no the first time you call, avoid getting caught up in negativity bias. Humans are hardwired to focus on negative stimuli, which is why we remember uncomfortable situations with greater clarity than positive ones. Buck the trend by brushing off less-than-stellar responses and choosing a new best time to call. After all, it only takes one yes to turn everything around.

QuotaPath and HubSpot are all about metrics and helping you make data driven decisions. It’s critical to understand your sales metrics to be able to accurately manage and grow your revenue. Which is why we partnered to create a free tool for you.

Sales Metrics Calculator

We partnered with HubSpot to build this all-in-one Excel template to calculate the sales performance metrics you should keep an active eye on. Easily calculate 12 key performance indicators, from Average Deal Size to Revenue by Product, to Employee Turnover Rate…and more!

Download it FREE here

How to measure key sales metrics

Average Deal Size

Average Deal Size, or Average Contract Value, is exactly what it sounds like. The average size of your deals. Looking at this alone won’t be very helpful. Tracking Average Deal Size over time, across regions, between reps, or for groups of reps might reveal a sweet spot or opportunity.

To calculate it, pick a time period—month, quarter, or year. Record deals won and revenue generated during that period. Divide the total revenue by the number of deals.

Win Rate

Win Rate is a ratio of Closed/Won and Closed/Lost deals. For continued growth you want to see an increase of deals won over time.

To calculate win rate percentage, take the total number of deals won divided by the total number of deals.

Tracking the reasons for lost deals will give insight into areas of opportunity.

Demo to Close Ratio

Demo:Close Rate forecasts an average of how many demos need to occur in order to win a deal. If you don’t use demos, this might be meetings held, calls, etc. Substitute for your needs!

Again, these metrics are more valuable outside a vacuum. Reducing the number of demos held would be a healthy indicator that you’ve nailed your messaging and are growing your business.

How to set sales quotas and manage commissions

Quota Setting

We know a thing or two about setting quotas, and we like to write about it. For now, we’ll focus on one type of quota set based on revenue. Quotas help set the bar for performance. You want your quota to be attainable enough for 75% of your reps to hit it every period.

To set your quota, you’ll need to know your sales rep’s On-Target Earnings (OTE) and select a multiplier. The standard multiplier for SaaS companies is 5x. Depending on sales cycles, revenue, and company it usually ranges from 2 to 10 times OTE.

Commission Calculator

There’s so much opportunity for insight with solid commission tracking. Commission tracking can give you insights into sales cycles, seasonality, rep and team performance, and so much more. We get really excited about designing compensation plans and commission tracking and would love to chat with you more on that. To track commissions, you’ll want to record the close date, contract amount, and commission earned. These calculations can get complicated quickly, but we take all the work out of commission tracking for you.

Revenue sales metrics to know

Customer Acquisition Cost

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total required spend on sales and marketing to close a deal. CAC decreasing over time is a healthy indicator of a growing business.

Calculate CAC by summing up total sales and marketing spend and dividing it by the number of new contracts. Be sure to include ad spend, salaries, commission, software costs, and other sales and marketing activity expenses.

Customer Lifetime Value

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), or Lifetime Value (LTV), is the average revenue a customer provides before churning.

To calculate it, you’ll need the Average Deal Size — which you will already have if you use the free Sales Metrics Calculator. And the average lifetime of your customer.

This metric is valuable when compared to your Customer Acquisition Costs. You’ll want to ensure you’re making the money you spend on sales and marketing back before a customer churns.

CAC-to-CLV

And here we are! Measuring the correlation between the last two metrics we calculated: Customer Acquisition Cost and Customer Lifetime Value.

To calculate it, you’ll divide CAC by CLV. A 1 or higher means your customer is giving you more revenue over their lifetime than you spent on acquiring them.

Revenue by Product

If you sell more than one product, you’ll want to measure Revenue by product to analyze the popularity and profitability of services.

Your sales team is going to love this metric. It will help sales focus their effort with data around the products moving the needle. Pro-tip: You can also track this in QuotaPath by setting up Paths, or what we call variable components of your team’s comp plan. So many of our customers are able to track revenue over time and optimize their plans accordingly!

Customer Retention Rate

Related to Customer Lifetime Value, Customer Retention Rate measures your churn rate. The lower this number is the healthier your growth will be. Choose a consistent time period to measure and stick to it.

To calculate it, you’ll record how many customers you had at the start of the period,. hHow many customers are at the end of the period,. aAnd, how many new customers were acquired during the period.

Revenue Churn

Revenue churn is how much revenue was lost in a given period. There are two ways to look at this—Net Revenue Churn and Gross Revenue Churn. Net churn factors in upsells, gross churn does not. The lower your churn number the better, and it can be a negative number.

To calculate Gross Revenue Churn, subtract Total New MRR/ARR from your period Ending MRR/ARR and divide by Starting MRR.

To get your Net Revenue Churn number you will start with your period Ending MRR/ARR. Subtract Total New MRR/ARR. Add Total Upsell MRR/ARR. Divide by Starting MRR/ARR.

Employee Turnover Rate

Sales is a high turnover industry. Benchmarking employee turnover rates will not only indicate how happy your employees are, but give you insights to plan for hiring and company growth.

Take the number of employees lost during a time period, divided by the total number of employees.

That’s a lot of metrics to track and manage. Luckily, you don’t need to remember that or any of the formulas if you use the Sales Metrics Calculator spreadsheet template.

And, for a commission tool that motivates reps, learn more about QuotaPath.

One of the first things you learn in business is that when you’re ready to close, you always approach the decision makers. Any other tactic is a waste of time. This is particularly true in sales. After all, pitching to someone who doesn’t have any power is as inefficient as it is ineffective. But how do you know who’s capable of giving you a “yes” that actually holds water?

The truth is that there is rarely just one decision maker at a company. Perhaps more importantly, there’s more than one type of decision maker. Understanding what motivates people in power will help you tailor your approach to your audience. Once that’s done, you’ll know how to save time and speed up the process. Even better, you may finally have the edge you need to send your close rates soaring.

The Champion

Of all the types of decision makers you’ll eventually encounter, The Champion is one of the most enjoyable. That’s because they’re the person who wants to buy a solution every bit as much as you want to sell them one. The Champion is interested in problem-solving. They might be the actual decision maker. Or they could be the person taking the demo and relaying all the important bits to the decision maker later on.

What to look for:

The Champion will go out of their way to help facilitate a deal. They may encourage you to set up additional calls with them or other key players. They’ll likely email you questions about your product or sales process. They’ll also respond to your emails quickly rather than letting time pass to appear “hard to get.” They’re a stakeholder, either literally or because they know that closing a deal will make them look good to their peers and/or bosses. Be on the lookout for someone who’s engaged from the beginning and you’ll likely find The Champion.

The Final Decision Makers

Much as the title suggests, The Final Decision Maker is the person — or people! — who have the authority to sign on the dotted line. They may still have to run your proposal by a business partner or even a board of directors. But still, The Final Decision Maker is the all-powerful entity who can help you hit your sales goal or send you packing. This is not an employee, an assistant, or Bobby from the mailroom. When you meet with The Final Decision Maker, it’s clearly their yay or nay that makes all the difference.

What to look for:

It can be a bit tricky figuring out who The Final Decision Maker truly is. Some organizations use decoys along the way, sending in managers lower on the company ladder to do the majority of the leg work. Sometimes, you can cut to the chase by finding out who has wielded the buying power before. For that, ask around your own sales team (assuming you and the prospect’s company have a history). You may also want to see if anyone from another company in your sales territory has any insight. The Final Decision Maker might also give themselves away by knowing the answers to your process and timeline questions. After all, they’ve been there, done that.

The Signer

The Signer may also be called The Surpriser. Officially, they’re the person responsible for signing off on your contract. But they’re also the person who could come in at the last minute and completely torpedo your deal.

What to look for:

Ideally, you’ll only meet The Signer once everyone is happy with the terms. This should be that moment when everybody in the room is ready to pop a few bottles of bubbly in celebration. You may hear his or her name early on or spot it in the paperwork. They may be CC’d on emails or included in conference calls as a courtesy. Often, they’re kept in the loop so that they’re up to date on important developments. But they likely won’t ask questions or otherwise insert themselves into the conversation unless forced to. Their job is to sign the contract. The rest is just details, and those details should be worked out long before The Signer makes an appearance.

The Legal Decision Maker

In most deals (and especially the big ones), there’s a person in charge of the legal review of your contract. This is The Legal Decision Maker. Their job is to ensure that all items in the contract adhere to the letter of the law, but that’s just the beginning. They may ask questions to clarify certain clauses and ask for language to be adjusted to eliminate ambiguity or mitigate risk. A skilled attorney will also look for boilerplate language that covers potential conflict. This is vital so that all parties know how disagreements will be handled should any arise.

What to look for:

You can spot The Legal Decision Maker by the tell-tale JD that appears after their name. Or you may see a title like General Counsel indicating their status as a top-notch legal eagle.

The Fake Decision Maker

When you’re trying to make a deal, the worst-case scenario is not getting a “no.” It’s getting a “yes” from someone who doesn’t actually have the authority to give it to you. The Fake Decision Maker is a person who claims they can make a decision but can’t. There are several reasons this happens. They may be too wrapped up in their own ego to realize they need permission from higher-ups. They might think they’re in charge of a project and then have their authority stripped away because of someone else’s ego. Or they could just be a liar (harsh, but it does happen).

These fraudsters can ruin a deal and wreck your day. It’s crucial you avoid getting too far into the sales process before realizing you’re dealing with a Fake Decision Maker. Otherwise, you could have to abandon your progress and start from the beginning. That’s after you figure out who you should really be talking to, of course. In some cases, running headfirst into a Fake Decision Maker could derail the deal entirely. To prevent that, get to know what Fake Decision Makers look like. Once you’ve got that down pat, figure out how you can get around them to schedule a meeting with the actual powers that be.

What to look for:

Fake Decision Makers are typically people who lack power, which means they haven’t finished a deal as a decision maker before. They may seem unfamiliar with the buying process and stumble over their words because of that uncertainty. In an effort to cover their tracks, they may be reluctant to let you talk to anyone else in the company. Just remember: If something feels off, something probably is off. Don’t be afraid to retrace your steps, do some company research and make a few phone calls to see who is really in charge. If you’re discrete, you won’t ruffle feathers, and a quiet investigation could save you a lot of time and resources.

Some deals may be as simple as you and a solo decision maker sitting down for a chat. Other deals might involve several stages and more than one type of decision maker. Learning how to pick out a Champion in a crowd can make it easier to close a deal quickly. Learning how to spot a Fake Decision Maker before you spend weeks catering to their ego can save you a ton of heartbreak. In other words, this is a skill worth honing.

For more sales tips, check out some of our favorite sales podcasts of 2020.

“How do we grow better?” Dharmesh Shah asked this very simple question at HubSpot’s INBOUND conference in 2018. It is a fantastic talk if you haven’t heard it before and you can find it here.

It is the very thought that I’ve had since my first founder journey took me on the rocket ship that was TrendKite. In 4 years from founding the company (circa Jan 2013), we went from a napkin idea and $0 in revenue to ~$25 million in revenue. 

We grew fast – the B2B sales team that I was fortunate to run hit 34/36 monthly quotas, grew to 100+ sellers, and was regarded as one of the fastest-growing startups in Austin. We eventually sold the company for $225 million in 2019. It was quite the ride.

However, when I left TrendKite, I became obsessed with the question, “How do we grow better?”. Since the inception of QuotaPath, we’ve had this insatiable hunger to map the customer journey. We live and breathe personas, and are CONSTANTLY talking to end-users to make sure we’re delivering value. Our product roadmap continues to be driven by the end-user. THAT is how we grow.

Along the way, there are certain companies, founders, and investors that help inspire this journey. And no company has stood out as a shining example of this more than HubSpot. I’ve constantly been impressed by their journey from “Inbound Marketing” to a company that will serve millions of customers around the globe to help them grow better.

When we launched our integration with the HubSpot CRM platform earlier this year, this became clear as we’ve doubled our customer base this year already. It is apparent that one of the ways QuotaPath can “grow better” is to partner with a strategic organization that has that very same mission.

With that said, I am very excited to announce that HubSpot Ventures has made a strategic investment in QuotaPath. This partnership allows us to go further with their CRM and have a front seat with their top-tier customers that are trying to solve sales compensation. 

HubSpot customers love to experiment and give feedback and it has been a pleasure to get to work with them. They are at the forefront of growth and scale and will be quick to make sure that you keep pace with them. We love and thrive living in their world.

A huge shoutout to the whole HubSpot team, and one special shoutout to Brandon Greer. Brandon and I have gotten to know each other over the years (mostly forming the relationship during the pandemic) and I think our partnership will play a key role in helping both of us “grow better.”

Read the full story, and learn more about HubSpot Ventures.

Need a new way to incentivize your team? You can’t hand out rewards unless you know whether your team is actually succeeding. Learn how to monitor sales performance and you’ll have your finger on the pulse of progress. Here’s how to set up tracking and make life easier as you and your team race toward a common goal.

What is sales performance?

Sales performance is a measurement of how well a salesperson or sales team is doing their job. In other words, are they selling? And if so, how much? This measurement should be quantifiable, meaning it’s a concrete number or percentage. Sales managers use sales performance to gauge whether their team is on track to meet a predetermined sales goal. In many instances, just achieving profitability or converting a prospect into a customer isn’t enough proof that everyone is on target. Sales performance should be looked at as a relative number to track progress and identify room for improvement.

Why is it important to monitor sales performance?

It’s impossible to know what to do next if you don’t know how you’ve done so far. Monitoring sales performance helps everyone on the sales team identify winning tactics and which approaches may not be so effective. By seeing how your team is performing, you can make smart, educated decisions. Instead of guesswork, you can tweak your game plan based on actual numbers generated and evaluated in real time.

And sales performance monitors more than just total sales, too. There are a number of sales metrics or KPIs you might track, such as:

• Sales per source
• Sales per demographic
• Sales per salesperson
• New customers vs. recurring sales
• Total sales in a defined time period
• Average length of the sales cycle
• Average revenue per customer

Armed with these numbers, you can identify new ways to increase motivation

Why it’s challenging to monitor sales performance when working from home

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a sharp rise in the number of people working from home. But the truth is, there’s been increasing activity in the WFH space for years. The number of employees telecommuting from home has jumped by 173% since 2005. Studies find that team members who are allowed to work from home are more productive and more loyal, but there are some downsides.

Getting up-to-date info on lead generation and close rates might be easier when your whole team is under the same roof, but there are alternatives. If your team is working remotely, it’s vital you come up with a way to track and share everyone’s activity. Working in isolation can be demotivating. There are more distractions and more reasons to push off those follow-up calls until tomorrow.

That kind of attitude can have devastating consequences. That’s why you should make it a priority to keep your entire team connected. Send out regular updates. Make a big deal every time someone hits a benchmark. Let there be no mistake that this business is everyone’s business. Stoke the fires of competition by creating a leaderboard and updating it regularly.

Setting clear goals and KPIs

KPIs, or key performance indicators, are values that offer clear, measurable insight into a certain business objective. There are tons of metrics to track on a sales team. The trick is choosing the ones that are the most relevant to your organization. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• New leads and opportunities
• Sales cycle time
• Emails and calls
• Opportunity win rate
• Cost to revenue ratio
• Deals closed

The metrics you choose may change depending on your current goal or campaign. You may even have different metrics for each salesperson. One may need to work on their overall number of contracts. Another may struggle with average deal size.

5 tips for monitoring sales performance

So, now you know why it’s crucial to monitor sales performance, but what’s the easiest way to keep tabs?

1. Leverage your CRM

Seek out customer relationship management (CRM) software that has a visual dashboard. Salesforce and HubSpot help you track your funnel and deliver a bird’s-eye view of performance at the same time. This user-friendly and super transparent approach keeps reps motivated and the whole team on target.

2. Keep your progress front and center

Out of sight means out of mind. Display sales KPIs on a big TV display on your second monitor. A giant whiteboard is a less tech-forward option, but it works well in a pinch. Update as deals move through your pipeline, or use it to compare the progress of everyone on your team.

3. Automate with Slack

Slack is a project management platform that streamlines communication. First, integrate Slack with your CRM. Then, create a dedicated channel, and Slack will automatically pull in all closed/won deals. You’re giving the sales team increased visibility, and you’re funneling data to the whole company.

4. Old-fashioned 1-on-1s

If you’re a salesperson, carve out time to meet with your manager on a regular basis. If you’re a sales manager, same idea, just in reverse. Use the time to review recent calls and uncover any roadblocks that may be standing between you and the finish line. The goal? To strategize how to close the deals in your pipeline and bring in more prospects — over and over and over again.

5. Take advantage of the right tools

Don’t ignore technology. Sales platforms and support software are there for a reason. QuotaPath makes it easy to track your commissions and monitor quota attainment. You can set goals and track your progress, all via an easy-to-use dashboard. Reps can sell smarter, not harder, and make strategic decisions that impact their earnings by forecasting to see earnings potential. It’s another example of gathering key intel to fuel winning strategies, but this time, the tech is doing the legwork.

Empower your team with up-to-date commission tracking and other key tools courtesy of QuotaPath. To get started, create your custom workspace today.