Why sales results are the ONLY thing that matter

How do we measure the impact of our long, tireless enablement efforts? With so many factors contributing to sales success, metrics like quota attainment and time to first deal are only a slice of the big picture.

SecZetta's Head of Revenue Enablement & Operations, and former Director of Revenue Enablement at Chainalysis, Christi Wall, walks through the sales velocity equation, and how to use it to track progress and measure impact.

Here's a little taster of what's to come...

Q. What metrics do you use at Chainalysis to gain a deeper insight into the impact of your enablement activities?

A. We recently set up a dashboard based on the sales velocity equation: number of opportunities X average deal size X win rate divided by average sales cycle.

When paired with standard sales metrics like time to first deal and quota attainment, we’re able to get really good visibility into how effective (or ineffective!) our enablement efforts are.

There’s a lot more I have to say about sales velocity, but I’ll save it for the actual presentation. Cliffhanger!

Q. Which is more important: measuring the effectiveness of enablement activities (like trainings completed or ramp times) or measuring actual sales results?

A. This might be an unpopular opinion - but sales results are the ONLY thing that matter.

We could do 365 trainings a year or run hundreds of sellers through an onboarding program - but those metrics don’t actually tell me anything about the effectiveness of enablement efforts. The only way I can really tell if our programs are working is if our sellers are winning business and closing deals.

Q. How closely do you work with sales ops to identify how to measure success and on strategies for improvement?

A. So closely that they’re probably tired of talking to me

It’s critical to be aligned with sales ops on metrics and reporting. They have great insights into sales data and can often point out nuances and trends, so I think it’s a required partnership if you want to get a holistic view of sales performance. Plus, they’re much better with numbers and dashboards and I often need their help!

Q. What are the key benefits that you feel people will get out of the Festival? What would you say to someone who asked you why they should attend?

A. The most important thing you can do for your personal and professional development is to keep learning and growing! It’s so easy to get stuck in our own minds and habits, and communities like SEC bring fresh ideas and new perspectives.