J12 Commercial Excellence Playbook -10 Non-Negotiables
Part 10/10
This 10-chapter series has focused on how to find and harness commercial excellence, centered around creating a sales playbook that is adaptive and fit for scale. It has covered all of the critical building blocks to set you up for sales success in the long-term. Now it is about going forward and implementing these practices into your daily sales routines. It’s time to get habitual and walk the talk.
Some things can simply not be traded. Some rules aren’t to be broken. Certain principles must simply be held to account. I call them “non-negotiables”. In sales, I have found sticking to a philosophy and backing it with discipline can serve you well. Refusing to cut-corners and being short-changed can (and will) pay dividends. It requires significant discipline and patience. From insisting on hiring A-Players only, to holding your ground on GTM fundamentals, sales is about having conviction and being able to stay the course. Not blindly and not naively - one must adapt and evolve their sales position and skills - but steadfast in learning what is effective, what isn’t and doubling down on this.
Here are 10 sales non-negotiables that will serve you well in start-up mode:
Whatever your ICP, whatever your vertical. These will also stand the test of time.
Don’t compromise on hiring. Team matters most.
Be laser focused on your ICP and Personas.
Define your sales funnel early on (stages, trigger points, weighting).
Language matters. Choose your sales vocabulary and own it.
Don’t overcook it. Salespeople like simplicity. Apply it to everything.
Be boring. Do the sales basics consistently well. Always. Repeatability pays off.
Build scripts, sales sequences and map out the end to end customer journey. Ensure everyone in the company knows it.
Instill a sales marketing stack from day one. If technology can do it, use it.
Measure what matters. Make the CRM part of your core sales DNA. OKR and KPI it!
Get the right bottoms on the right seats as soon as is plausible. Hunters hunt. Farmers farm. Don’t be schizophrenic, it never works in the long-run.
It’s not a time to accept second best. Good luck!