A Sales Leader's Playbook

In this issue…

• A Sales Leader’s Playbook: Stop Chasing Revenue, Start Tracking What Matters - by Mike Carroll

• Extra Insights: How to Become a More Organized Leader (While Still Being Flexible) - from Jane Stoller, Former Forbes Council

• Weekly Motivation Boost: What Makes a Great Leader? - from Linda A. Hill, Harvard Business Review (YouTube)

• Action for the Week: Prioritize Your Calendar, Declutter the Schedule

• Together with 1440 Media: Daily News for the Curious Mind

🎯 EXPERT OF THE WEEK

A Sales Leader’s Playbook: Stop Chasing Revenue, Start Tracking What Matters

By Mike Carroll

If you're like most sales leaders, you probably spend a lot of time looking at revenue numbers. But here's the challenge: revenue is a lagging indicator. It tells you what already happened, not what's going to happen. The most successful sales leaders know how to identify and track leading indicators, the activities and metrics that predict future success.

Why Leading Indicators Matter More than Lagging Ones

Revenue is like looking in your rearview mirror. It's important to know where you've been, but it doesn't help you navigate what's ahead. Leading indicators are like your GPS: they tell you if you're on track to reach your destination.

Here are the key differences:

Lagging Indicators (the past)

• Monthly revenue

• Quarterly results

• Closed deals

• Market Share

Leading Indicators (the future)

• Number of new qualified meetings per week

• Total potential deal value (compared to your target)

• How quickly opportunities move through sales stages

• Early-stage decision-maker engagement

Essential Leading Indicators That Predict Success

The metrics that truly help you forecast and influence future results are:

#1 - Weekly Activity Metrics

Track how many new qualified opportunities your team adds each week. For example, if your average deal takes 30 days to close and you need 10 deals per month, you might need 40 new opportunities each month to hit your target. By monitoring this weekly, you can course-correct before it impacts your quarterly numbers.

#2 - Early Decision-Maker Engagement

Monitor who your team engages with early in the sales process. Let's say you're selling enterprise software. Your data shows that when IT directors are involved in the first two meetings, deals close 40% faster and have a 60% higher win rate. But there's an even more important insight: when IT isn't engaged until late in the process, they often kill deals entirely – after you've invested months of effort. By tracking early IT engagement as a leading indicator, you're not just improving your chances of winning; you're also preventing time-wasting pursuits likely to fail.

#3 - Total Pipeline Value vs Target

Keep track of the total value of potential deals in your pipeline compared to your goal. If your quarterly target is $1 million in sales, you might want $3 million worth of potential deals in your pipeline to ensure you hit your number. This 3-to-1 ratio gives you enough opportunities to achieve your goal even if some deals don't close.

#4 - Pipeline Velocity

Watch how quickly deals move through each stage of your sales process. If a deal typically spends a week in the "discovery" phase but you notice several deals stuck there for three weeks, that's an early warning signal. You can address this through coaching before it impacts your quarterly numbers.

#5 - Opportunity Quality Metrics

Look at the characteristics of deals early in the pipeline. Are they with companies that match your ideal customer profile? Are the right stakeholders involved? Having 100 opportunities doesn't help if they're with companies that are too small or lack budget.

Turning Leading Indicators Into Action

Having the right data is one thing – using it effectively is another. Here's how to make these metrics work for you.

Regular Review Rhythm

Set up weekly pipeline reviews focused on leading indicators. Instead of asking "Will you hit your number?" ask questions like:

• “How many new qualified meetings did you have this week?”

• “Which decision makers are involved in your new opportunities?”

• “What’s the next step for deals that haven’t moved in two weeks?”

Coaching Opportunities

Use leading indicators to make coaching more proactive and specific. If you notice a rep isn't getting enough early IT engagement, you can role-play conversations about engaging technical stakeholders before it impacts their results.

In the Real World

You don't need complex systems or advanced analytics to track leading indicators. Start with these basics:

• Choose 3-4 key leading indicators that align with your sales process

• Track them consistently in your CRM

• Review them weekly with your team

• Use the insights to guide your coaching

• Share trends and predictions with leadership

Predictive Metrics

When you focus on leading indicators, everyone can see success coming – or course-correct before problems arise. The best part? As your team sees how these metrics predict their success, they'll become more engaged in tracking and improving them.

While revenue tells you where you've been, leading indicators show you where you're going. Focus on the right metrics today to set yourself and your team up for success tomorrow.

💡EXTRA INSIGHTS

How to Become a More Organized Leader (While Still Being Flexible)

by Jane Stoller, Former Forbes Council Member

8-Minute Read

Read the full article by clicking on the image below.

🏅WEEKLY MOTIVATION BOOST

What Makes a Great Leader? - Linda A. Hill, Harvard Business Review (YouTube)

6-Minute Watch

🏃🏽‍♀️Action for the Week

Prioritize Your Calendar - Declutter the Schedule

The goal is to fill your time with things you genuinely enjoy doing as well as things that you are uniquely skilled at doing that few others can offer. That way your time is best spent doing the most valuable things for your role and gives you fulfillment.

1. Go through the last 2 weeks of your calendar and color code the following way:

   🟩 Green - the things that gave you energy

   🟠 Orange - the things that drained energy

   🟡 Yellow - things that may have drained energy, but can only be done with your skills or genius

2. The goal is to spend ¾ of your time in the GREEN areas. If you have a lot of orange, find ways to minimize them and refill with green:

   ➡Delegate or realign these tasks with someone else

   ➡Automate the task with a tool or AI capability

   ➡For yellow areas, reexamine if they truly can only be done by you, or can you delegate to a trusted individual/team

   ➡Eliminate the task all together

💎 TOGETHER WITH 1440 MEDIA

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