Trying to get your AEs to self-source more pipeline? Stop giving them arbitrary activity requirements.
"Mandatory 30 activities per day"
"Mandatory 25 cold calls + 5 personalized emails per day"
"Mandatory 200 outbound activities per day"
No one became an AE to be micromanaged. And an arbitrary number has no meaning. There's no "why."
Instead, help every AE dial in their sales math.
✅ Start with the "why" convo
Have a big picture talk with every AE. Find out where they want to be in 3-5 years.
How much money do they want to make? What kind of lifestyle do they want?
Do they want to put their kids in private school? Buy their dream home? Retire in their 40s or 50s?
Make it real. Find their "why." And reverse engineer starting with how much money they want to make.
✅ Dial in the sales math
Use this formula to determine the exact level of activity needed for you to hit target:
→ Commissions earned goal / commission rate = Revenue needed to close
→ Revenue target / avg. deal size = # of deals to close
→ x % of pipeline you need to self-source = # of self-sourced deals to close
→ / win rate on qualified opportunities = # qualified opps needed
→ / conversion rate of 1st meetings to opps = # 1st meetings needed
→ x # outbound activities to create a meeting = # total outbound activities needed
For example:
→ $100k commissions / 10% commission rate = $1M target
→ $1M target / $50k avg. deal size = 20 deals to close
→ x 30% of pipeline you need to self-source = 6 self-sourced deals to close
→ / 30% win rate on qualified opportunities = 20 qualified opps needed
→ / 30% conversion rate of 1st meetings to opps = 67 1st meetings needed
→ x 80 outbound activities to create a meeting = 5,360 total outbound activities needed
→ = 446 outbound activities / month (111 / week)
Now you have the exact number of outbound activities to create the meetings you need every week to hit target.
This creates meaning and “why” behind the outbound grind.
✅ Don’t have great historical data to work with? Start with these benchmarks:
Aim to self-source 30% or more of your pipeline
Use a 30% win rate on qualified opps
Use a 30% opportunity creation rate on 1st meetings
Use between 60-80 outbound activities to create a meeting
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Want 3 more killer strategies to help your AEs self-source 30%+ of their pipeline?
Check out the latest newsletter I put together with my good friends Nick Cegelski and Armand Farrokh at 30 Minutes To President's Club.
Grab it here: www.30mpc.com/newsletter/how-to-self-source-30-of-your-pipeline-in-sales
