Vince Fausone has a hot take on sales metrics: It’s not all about the bottom-line revenue.
“I’ve typically measured accounts researched, contacts uploaded into my sequencing software and calls made,” Fausone said. “These metrics are sacred for a salesperson as opportunities generated and even bottom-line revenue. Yes, seriously.”
Fausone, an enterprise account executive at Finch, believes that finding your own set of daily targets is what keeps a sales pipeline consistently flowing.
Built In spoke with Fausone in detail about what it takes to get out of a sales slump and back on target.
Finch provides a unified API for employment systems.
How do you find qualified leads consistently in your sales role? How many steps do you take to get to that first conversation?
With internal and external databases like Salesforce and LinkedIn, finding leads is easier than ever these days. Finding quality leads is a different story. The modern salesperson needs to be ruthless about targeting their ICP, and the narrower the better. You’ll get enough window shoppers and stretch use cases from inbound traffic.
If you’re filling your own pipeline, it should be with high ACV, high propensity to buy opportunities. If you can’t rattle off your top accounts and target personas faster than your own birthday, you’d better get on that! The book says 8-12 touches to schedule a meeting, but for the right account, it’s however many it takes. I’d rather touch an account I know is a great fit 100 times than 100 mediocre accounts once. Conferences, emails, LinkedIn messages, cold calls, warm intros from your C-suite or investors — everything is on the table when prospecting.
Have you ever been in a slow period for lead generation? How do you keep yourself motivated to perform when things aren’t moving as quickly as they should?
The slowest periods for lead generation will always be when the pipeline is full and busy work abounds — this is the paradox of sales and a trap that must be avoided. Rain-or-shine pipeline generation is key to consistency. Whether you are held to KPIs by your own manager or not, it’s important to set daily targets for yourself. I’ve typically measured accounts researched, contacts uploaded into my sequencing software and calls made. These metrics are sacred for a salesperson as opportunities generated and even bottom-line revenue Yes, seriously.
If you could give one piece of advice to a new sales rep working on finding qualified leads, what would you say?
If you’re calling on the right prospects, the confidence and conviction in your product comes naturally. It’s a lot easier to sell when you’re an excellent fit for the prospect. Stay diligent, disciplined and take pride in the work you put in rather than your results.
