If I was starting a new sales role today, here are the 5 things I’d do in the first 5 days
1. Find the accounts in my territory that are most likely to buy (aka the most like past buyers).
I’d do this by creating a CRM report of Closed Won deals for the Past 2 years, with these details:
- industry
- location
- age of company
- $ ARR amount
- # of employees
- names/personas involved in the purchase
THEN I’d create a report of Prospects with similarities in my territory/account list.
This is the low hanging fruit.
2. I’d find 3-5 consistent top performers and ask them 3 simple questions:
- Who are the best personas for us?
- Which are their 2-3 top business problems we solve (+vocabulary they use)?
- What’s the # 1 thing to do/not do when just starting in this role?
This is a shortcut for how to start off with a Bang…without trying to reinvent the wheel.
3. I’d immediately set up intro calls with internal folks like Finance/Deal desk, Legal, Product, Support, Solution Consulting, Channel partners, Systems Integrators, etc… anyone who I’ll regularly interact with on deals.
Start figuring out the best “Gives” for each person – do they like Starbucks, Slack shout outs, special beverages for EOQ/EOY? I’d put quarterly reminders on my calendar (and schedule quarterly deliveries where it makes sense).
This is how we create our “tribe”/internal network within a company…rather than just being ‘another seller who wants something’.
4. I’d memorize 5-8 customer stories.
Starting with writing a 1 min summary on note cards – with the Champion’s name/title, pain felt, problem solved & impact created.
I’d practice telling these stories out loud every morning for 10 minutes…until I don’t need the notecards anymore. Then I’d rinse/ repeat, memorizing 5 new stories.
This is how we build confidence & credibility.
5. I’d analyze my boss’s personality – using tools like HumanticAI and CrystalKnows – and I’d ask them about their top 2 career goals in our first 1:1 chat.
This is how we manage up.
Success in any sales rarely happens by accident.
“The Separation is the Preparation.”