Create Pipeline, Move Pipeline, Close Pipeline
It was Sep 2016, and it was a Friday afternoon.
I remember it like it was today.
After a long week, Ludovico (our Sales Ops) and I were chatting at his desk.
We were in Dublin, in the new LinkedIn EMEA HQ building.
I struggled a bit during that quarter. After a few good quarters, I had a setback and started questioning myself a lot.
In fairness, LinkedIn was a highly competitive environment.
If somebody wasn't hitting, you knew as they walked in.
Huddles, leaderboards, scorecards, there was a whole setup that (silently) would push top performers and let underperformers marinate in their (limiting) beliefs.
That quarter (Q32016), I was the underperformer deep into negative beliefs.
But everything changed during that chat with Ludo.
We were talking about my performance, and I was trying to look at endless external factors:
My book of accounts is terrible!
Italy is not ready for Social Selling!
The budgets are tight this year (do you remember one year when the budget wasn't tight or difficult to get?)!
I kept rumbling and rumbling.
At some stage, Ludo stopped me and said the three sentences that completely changed the course of action.
He said:
Matte, it seems you are complicating things. Sales is easy; you need to create pipeline daily, every single day. Then, you need to move it fast across stages and close it.
I looked at him with a big question mark on my face.
He went on to say:
You are complicating things. Start from the basics. Create pipeline every day.
I finished that year at 106% vs goal. After hitting 70% in Q3, I overachieved in Q4.
I was one of the top performers as an Account Manager for LinkedIn Sales Solution in Europe.
Fast forward 8 years later, my motto is still the same. Those words still resemble me.
When I see a salesperson, a founder, or a sales leader I work with struggling and overcomplicating, I help them return to basics.
Create pipeline every day.
Move deals across stages with consistent follow-ups.
Close and implement closing strategies for faster and larger closed won.
Most people like us to think that sales is complicated and that only gurus, experts, or top performers have the solution in their pockets.
I have seen salespeople from top-notch universities and companies fail at creating pipeline, so they fail at the rest.
Or others who had terrible follow-ups or struggled to drive closing.
Also, I have seen salespeople with no degree who sold cars for years come to software SaaS and make (literally) millions in commissions.
Just because they nailed those principles.
Sales isn't complicated.
Sales is a process, and like every process, if you skip steps, you are in trouble.
Keep it simple, and I can tell you you will succeed.
Thanks for reading this far. Enjoy your weekend, and see you all next week!
