Systems & Frameworks
Repeatable processes for managing complex, long-cycle enterprise sales
1. Quota Math Framework
Every activity has a dollar value based on its contribution to closed revenue. By quantifying activities, I can reverse-engineer what it takes to hit quota and ensure I'm investing time in high-value work.
Example Activity Values:
- Prospecting outreach: $50 per outreach (builds pipeline, low conversion but necessary volume)
- Meeting: $10,000 (face time with stakeholders, advances deals, builds relationships)
- PO collection: $100,000 (direct revenue realization)
- Presentation creation: $0 (working on slides doesn't advance deals automatically, though good presentations can speed up sales, this requires balance)
- Admin tasks: $0 (booking travel enables meetings but generates no revenue itself)
How It Works:
- Work backward from annual quota to determine weekly activity targets
- Track actual activity value vs. target each week
- Identify gaps and adjust time allocation accordingly
- Ruthlessly minimize $0 activities (or batch/delegate them)
"If it doesn't have a dollar value, I shouldn't be spending time on it, or I should be delegating it."
Real Example: Weekly Quota Check
With a $3M annual quota, I need approximately $60K in weekly "activity value" to stay on pace. If I'm at $40K by Thursday (4 meetings, 200 outreach emails), I know I need 2 more meetings or focused prospecting to hit target. This prevents end-of-quarter scrambles and keeps pipeline predictable.
2. Account Penetration Playbook
Breaking into cold or stagnant accounts requires systematic, multi-channel outreach that creates value before asking for anything.
Core Components:
- LinkedIn + Sales Navigator + Dux-Soup: Automated connection campaigns to build network visibility within target accounts
- Custom email campaigns: Personalized messaging (written and crafted for each account, not templated)
- Calendar invite tactic: When traditional outreach fails, send meeting invite with clear agenda directly to decision-maker
- Webinar strategy: Offer 20 pre-created topics, let customer select 3 most valuable, document all attendees, systematically follow up with each person
- Cold calls: Attempted but largely ineffective (many large companies eliminated external dial directories)
"The calendar invite with agenda is the pattern interrupt that works when everything else fails."
Real Example: Calendar Invite Breakthrough
Engineering Simulation Director wouldn't respond to calls, emails, or LinkedIn. Sent calendar invite with agenda focused on their efficiency goals. Got 30 minutes. Used that meeting to offer webinar value, not pitch product. Built from there.
3. Pipeline Management Process
Opportunities only belong in pipeline if the customer is willing to invest their most scarce resource: time.
Core Principles:
- Next step + next meeting required: Every interaction must end with scheduled follow-up. No next meeting = red flag.
- Authority escalation must be scheduled: When higher sign-off is needed, introduction to that person must be calendared, not "I'll get back to you"
- Deal plans with dates: All known next steps documented with assigned dates
- Future commitment rule: If customer can't commit to date now, schedule a future check-in (month/quarter out) to revisit timing
"Giving you their time is the only thing they can't afford if they aren't serious."
4. Discovery & Qualification Framework
Qualification is about identifying disqualifiers early, not perfect discovery questions. Questions are industry and account-specific, but disqualification criteria are universal.
Three Hard Disqualifiers:
1. Low Value / No ROI Potential
If the customer's problem isn't worth solving or the business case doesn't justify investment, no amount of selling changes that. Exit early.
2. Won't Commit to Next Steps
Inability or unwillingness to schedule follow-up meetings, provide access to stakeholders, or agree to evaluation timelines signals lack of urgency or authority.
3. No Internal Champion
Without someone inside the organization who believes in the solution and will advocate when you're not in the room, deals stall or die in procurement.
5. Multi-Threading Framework
Complex deals require relationships across multiple levels and departments. Single-threaded relationships are fragile.
Systematic Approach:
- Org mapping: Document known structure early, use LinkedIn to fill gaps, listen for clues in conversations about who influences decisions
- Relationship building: Leverage webinars, meetings, and introductions to engage multiple stakeholders
- Periodic check-ins: Maintain relationships based on three factors:
- Urgency of their projects/initiatives
- Importance of relationship to overall account success
- Criticality of current deal to my pipeline
- Champion development: Identify potential advocates early, provide value to them specifically (insights, connections, career support)
"If your primary contact leaves or loses influence, a multi-threaded deal survives. A single-threaded deal dies."
Real Example: Multi-Threading Success
Webinars bring in 5-40 engineers per session. Following up with each and every attendee leads to new opportunities, new initiatives, and value discovery. High-touch engagement across companies creates opportunity and resilience. When primary contacts leave or lose influence, multi-threaded relationships ensure deals survive.
6. Stakeholder Alignment System
Complex accounts become scalable when customers know who to contact for what, without everything flowing through the account executive.
Approach:
- Timing: Establish after relationship feels solid through periodic customer meetings and consistent engagement
- Formal documentation: Create governance structure mapping their organization to ours
- Leadership mapping: Connect their executives to our executives for strategic alignment
- Technical mapping: Connect their engineers/technical staff to our solution architects and pre-sales teams
- Support mapping: Connect their IT/operations to our support and implementation teams
- Goal: Transition from "me-to-director" relationship to "company-to-company" relationship
"Scalable accounts have clear escalation paths. If I'm the only contact point, I'm the bottleneck."
Real Example: Account Governance Structure
At PACCAR, one of our largest accounts locked into a 3-year deal, I created formal governance document mapping stakeholders to appropriate internal resources: their engineering leads to our solution architects, their IT team to our support, their procurement to our contracts team. This freed me from operational coordination to focus on strategic opportunities and quota-driving activities while maintaining account health.