When growth is stuck

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By Kirk Averett

When I first led a (very talented) group of sales and marketing folks our performance was good but not great. We didn't agree on the definition of a lead and it was causing a small amount of friction. I determined that fixing this would be a big step in the right direction. We worked through it and...nothing. The conflict was gone but the results stayed the same.

As I studied the longer term outputs of our work it became clear that the problem was our aim. We had no aim except for "more"-- at every stage in the sales funnel and especially at the top.

The modern system of sales and marketing is like shooting with a bow and arrow. Where the arrow lands on the target shows the score. The results may be terrific or terrible or frustratingly inconsistent. But a dedicated archer relentlessly practices hitting the center of the target.

In this analogy, we needed to know where to find the center of the target. Who were the very best customers? Why were those the best? Exactly how would sales and marketing (and everyone else) aim for more of them? What would it mean if we did?

Short-sighted goals will inevitably lead to bad results, regardless of skill or effort. For instance, marketing should not celebrate more website visitors if revenue remains flat. Sales should not celebrate winning customers who later turn out to be unprofitable.

Note that those things are generally good. But without something more, these goals won't hit the target. Our team learned how to aim sales and marketing with frequent, deep review of the larger goals. We discussed things like average revenue per customer and churn in the first 60 days. We found that it was easier to get "more" when we got specific about what we wanted.

We didn't make big adjustments to our KPI's, but we did put them into context. KPI's & processes must stay simple and fit the team. The sales team shouldn't have to track churn rates and customer satisfaction scores. A simple quota clawback for a few months post-sale can work wonders in a monthly SaaS business. It incentivizes setting proper customer expectations and a good customer handoff. Complex goals only generate confusion & wasted energy.

Just like the practice of an archer, an organization can refine and improve its aim with time. The marketing team will seek more of the right kinds of website visitors, even if total traffic falls. The sales team will spend their best efforts on the best prospects and ignore the bad.

If you're stuck on growth, my suggestion is to get very specific about what you want.