Peter G. Chun

Marcus Chan didn’t get promoted 12 times in 8 years by just being a "super-rep." He did it by realizing that most sales organizations aren't failing because of a lack of skill, they're failing because of a broken operating system. On the Sales Gravy podcast with Jeb Blount Jr, Marcus explains why the "one-off workshop" model is dead and what leaders should be doing instead to build predictable growth: 1. The 90-Day Retention Trap Most companies try to fix a sales slump by hiring a trainer to run a couple workshops The problem? Only 10% of that information remains in a rep’s brain after 90 days. You need a system to reinforce those behaviors; otherwise your team will default to their old, comfortable habits the moment the trainer leaves the room. 2. Pipeline Qualified vs. Forecast Qualified There is a massive "Intent Gap" in most CRMs. A rep might have 15 deals in "proposal" stage and feel like a hero, but if those deals aren't "Forecast Qualified," the revenue isn't real. Marcus uses the ADVANCED framework to mirror how buyers actually buy, rather than how salespeople want to sell: A - Acknowledge Problem: Has the buyer agreed the problem is high-cost and high-priority? D - Documented Issue: Is the problem written down in a business case or internal Slack/email? V - Validated by Team: Have at least 3 stakeholders agreed this is a priority? A - Authorized by Exec: Is there an economic buyer sponsoring the project? N - Narrow to External: Have they decided to buy an outside solution rather than build internally? C - Chosen Vendor: Have they selected you as the preferred partner? E - Establish Timeline: Are there clear milestones and a "go-live" date? D - Deal Terms Finalized: Are the commercial and legal terms fully agreed upon? If sales managers aren't testing deals against these milestones, they aren't forecasting; they're guessing. Stop managing the "stage" in the CRM and start managing the buyer’s internal alignment. 3. The 3x3x3 Coaching Routine For sales managers who want to see a change this week, Marcus recommends deploying the "3x3x3" model. It requires the manager to get into the field for a 1/2 day of calls with a rep. Observe 3 Appointments together. At the end of the day, you give the rep 3 Wins; specific behaviors to keep doing, and 3 Opportunities for improvement. These must be tactical, like using the RIM framework (Relevance, Impact, Motive) to deepen discovery, rather than vague advice like "be more confident." Predictable revenue is the result of a predictable system. Marcus argues that the greatest lift in an organization comes from upleveling the business's 8 to 12 managers, rather than trying to manually fix 100 reps. When you fix the management system, the team’s performance follows naturally. Podcast link in the comments.

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Whenever I’m asked how I became the #1 Enterprise AE at Salesforce, I give this answer: I shifted from an inward focused seller to an outward focused seller. Here's what inward focused selling looks like: * My job is to sell you * I talk, pitch, and present * We discuss my companies products and services * Hitting quota is my #1 goal * I pressure you to buy * We sit on opposite sides of the table * I'm seen as a vendor By contrast, here's what outward focused selling looks like" * My job is to help you. * I have authentic conversations with you focused on your goals and challenges. * I listen and understand first, and only present my solutions when I know I can help you * Helping you hit your goals is my main goal * I empower you to sell this internally * We sit on the same side of the table * I'm seen as a trusted advisor The harder you try to sell, the more you will repel. Be interested, not interesting. To help you make this shift, I put together a free training here: https://lnkd.in/eWD8mTqH

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There are three signals I used to look for in AE Candidates. 1. Business Acumen - Do they have a strong sense of how businesses (for Gong, specifically how Revenue Organizations) operate 2. Grit and Work Ethic - Are they ready to grind, persevere, and get after it. 3. Pivotability (Made this word up) - Can they read a room, pivot quickly, and have a strong inclination of where to take a deal or a call. Recently, I have added a 4th item to the list that becomes more and more important every day. 4. How well do they use AI to drive efficiency The landscape has changed; sellers and sales leaders who lean heavily into AI will accelerate their success. Those who don't will fall behind. Over the past few months, I have been testing Perplexity's new AI-powered browser, Comet. And I am genuinely blown away. Check out this workflow on how you can use it as a seller or sales leader to do account-based tiering and research at scale. If you want to test it out, you can use this link https://lnkd.in/gQKzmdTR

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Every AE needs to understand this: 1) OTE is largely a function of quota 2) Larger OTE means larger quota because ratios are consistent 3) Larger quota/OTE doesn’t mean you’ll have what you need to even get close to the quota/OTE Don’t be the AE that falls for a big OTE with a 7:1 quota to OTE ratio and 80% of reps badly missing target. It’s the laziest recruiting tactic (we’ll give you a higher OTE!) that takes advantage of AEs that don’t know the math.

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JUST hire "A"players” is not a real growth strategy at Sub 10M ARR. It’s what teams say when the sales motion isn’t trusted. At sub-£10M ARR, the real question isn’t: ☘️ “Can a top rep make this work?” It should be: ☘️ “Can an average good rep deliver this consistently?” Different stage. Different constraint. ☘️ Sub-£10M ARR = Prove the motion is repeatable ☘️ Later stage = Scale what’s already proven "A"players absolutely add value in a weak structure. But their value is usually performance and not pattern. They win because of who they are: ☘️ Extra grind ☘️ Extra intuition ☘️ Extra political navigation None of that is a system and none of that is transferable. So the board sees strong numbers… But underneath it’s: ☘️ Forecasts built on hero deals ☘️ Pipeline that only moves if the founder steps in ☘️ Hiring that amplifies inconsistency, not confidence My focus with sub-£10M ARR teams is simple: ☘️ Make the sales motion so clear that "A" players amplify it instead of masking what’s broken. Question, if you removed your top 2 reps tomorrow, would your current motion still hold up? Or would your “success” disappear with them? If the latter.. well, I will say no more.. DM me to see if I can help. #Founders #StartUp #RepeatableGrowth #EnterpriseSales #Growth

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AEs are not short on activity. They are short on precision. In the last few months, I have seen this pattern repeat across multiple CRO searches in PE-backed SaaS. Reps are running full schedules, logging calls, moving deals. But the pipeline does not reflect it. Stages are inflated, next steps are vague, and qualification is optimistic at best. The issue is not effort. It is inspection. Three things that separate the teams getting this right:  • Clear exit criteria at every stage, enforced by the manager, not just the rep  • Next-step ownership confirmed before the call ends, not after  • ICP discipline that kills bad-fit deals early instead of carrying them for two quarters The CROs who are winning in this market are not running more campaigns. They are tightening what counts as a real opportunity. Inspection beats motivation speeches. What is the one inspection metric you trust most right now?

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There are more sales methodologies than ever. MEDDICC. SPIN. Challenger. Solution selling. Sandler. The list goes on. Everyone arguing theirs is “the one.” Here’s what I’ve noticed after 20 years in sales. The best reps don’t worship a methodology. They borrow bit from each of them. A bit of MEDDICC for deal control. A touch of the Sandler pain funnel. Challenger tension when needed. Consultative listening when it matters. Because there is no one size fits all. Anyone selling you that is oversimplifying the craft. The top performers find what works for them. And they read the room so they can adapt to their prospects. The reps who make it their own are more authentic. They come across as genuine and that's more important then ever.

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