Let’s assume you’ve read the other blogs in this series. You’ve realized your strategic plan is mostly budgeting in disguise. You’ve stopped rearranging your org chart like a game of corporate Rummikub. And you’ve come to terms with the fact that last year’s SKO was a PowerPoint-palooza with dry chicken and a team that remembered […]
It’s that time of year again: Flights are being booked. Ballrooms are being reserved. Executives are pretending they’re motivational speakers. Yes, it’s Sales Kickoff (SKO) planning season. SKOs should be the ignition point for the year’s go-to-market strategy. They should inspire, align, and sharpen execution. But too often, they deliver fatigue, confusion, and a branded […]
The connection between corporate strategy, sales strategy, and a Sales Kickoff (SKO) is both critical and often underleveraged. When aligned well, these three elements form a closed loop of strategic clarity, executional alignment, and frontline empowerment. When disconnected, they create confusion, misallocation of resources, and underperformance in the field. Let’s unpack the connection through a […]
There’s a strange ritual that happens in boardrooms every fall. Executives gather to review “next year’s plan,” and somewhere around slide 38, someone suggests that what the company really needs is… a new org structure. Cue the whiteboard marker. Circles. Boxes. Dotted lines. Innovation achieved! If you listen closely, you can hear Peter Drucker facepalming […]
Let’s just say it: most strategic planning processes are neither strategic nor particularly planned. They’re mostly budgeting exercises and wearing a strategy hat. They masquerade as thoughtful, future-focused sessions, but in practice, they resemble a mix of political theater, spreadsheet jockeying, and a PowerPoint rehash of last year with minor tweaks. Welcome to Q3 […]
In our last blog, we exposed a hard truth: being average [or below average] is costing your business millions. The middle 60% of your sales team—your “core performers”—represent the biggest untapped growth opportunity. The Cost of Being Average likely represents an opportunity cost of about 15% of your annual revenue. But despite the massive potential […]
In most companies, mediocrity is the silent killer of growth. Not failure—because failure gets noticed. Not inefficiency—because inefficiency can often be fixed with tools and automation. The real problem is being average—and the staggering costs that come with it. Over the past 7-8 years, we have consistently asked CEO’s the same question to get their […]
Meet Sarah. She’s a mid-career salesperson working in enterprise software. Sarah knows her job isn’t just hard—it’s brutally hard. Her territory covers 300 accounts, ranging from scrappy startups to Fortune 500 giants. Her manager wants more meetings booked. Marketing keeps dropping generic campaigns in her inbox to forward. Customers will meet with her if they […]
Sales management may well be the hardest job in any company. Sales managers are the linchpin between senior leadership and the front-line sales team, juggling a near-impossible set of expectations. They are asked to lead, manage, coach, and don’t forget sell—all while dealing with immense pressure to execute. Compounding the challenge, many sales managers are […]
In the late 1990s, Apple was floundering. Bloated with overlapping product lines, the company had lost its way. Then Steve Jobs returned. His first move? Slashing Apple’s sprawling portfolio from dozens of products to just four. Critics balked, but Jobs was unfazed. “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do,” […]