3 Rhythm Tips CEOs & Sales Leaders Use to Hit Their Numbers

If you ask any salesperson what their #1 Priority is, they will say, “Make my numbers!” increasing sales revenue

Truer words were never spoken, eager salesperson!

So how do the most successful Sales Teams use Rhythm to achieve desired results? Below are three patterns we’ve seen that drive extreme focus, increased pipeline predictability and speed of execution.

1. Establish Very Simple KPIs

Work as a team to identify the top 2-3 most important metrics to measure. There should be a mix of results and leading indicators. For example, a team could hyper-focus on their Quarterly Sales Goal, their Qualified Sales Pipeline and their number of Sales Demos per Week. A best practice is to include one result indicator (sales goal) and 1-2 leading indicators (pipeline & demos).

Once you have the three KPIs agreed upon as a team, break down those KPIs by person. For example, there will be an Overall Sales Goal, and each person on the team would have their Individual Sales Goal underneath it. If you are using Rhythm software, you can build this as a Composite KPI.

Next, the team should align around how to measure each metric. They should all know what counts as a demo, in this example. Everyone should be measuring and reporting their data the same way.

Finally, use a dashboard that is visible to all to drive natural competitiveness and prompt the right discussions at your weekly meeting.

2. Track Big Opportunities as Priorities

Many successful sales teams use Priorities a little differently than other departments. Tracking their top opportunities is another great way to create extreme focus.

Challenge each sales person to identify their top 3-5 deals that they would like to close in the quarter. Write each opportunity as a Priority with Red Yellow Green success criteria and Actions.

For example, my Priority is to “Close to Forum Health Deal.” The due date is October 30, and a Green outcome is if we have a signed deal by then. A Red outcome would be if we lose the deal. Some milestone Actions that would need to happen along the way would be to have a requirements gathering call by September 30, and get legal sign off by October 15.

Priorities get statused weekly, discussed at weekly meetings and usually have a robust conversation going in the Comments section. Again, have this visible on a dashboard in Rhythm to help drive natural competitiveness and a sharing of ideas to keep opportunities moving forward.

3. Use Week In Sync Notes

The most successful sales teams use Week In Sync Notes in Rhythm, not only as a personal reflection exercise, but as a way to stay aligned as a team.

Every week, each team members reflects and records their responses to these prompts:

I’ll be successful this coming week if:

A few victories from last week are:

My priorities this coming week are:

I am stuck on:

My travel schedule next week is:

At the weekly meeting, each person gets 2-3 minutes to share their note out loud. It’s a great way for teams to stay connected in a virtual environment. It also opens the door for some problem solving discussion around Stucks. Your weekly meetings should be a time to use the collective intelligence of the team to solve problems and move opportunities forward.

Over the years, I’ve met some resistance from sales leaders when it comes to using Rhythm. After experiencing Rhythm as a way to cut through the noise of their CRM and hyper-focus on important KPIs & Priorities, they are believers. Also, if the rest of the Company is using Rhythm as their Strategy & Execution operating system, there can be a huge blind spot if Sales is not also using the tool. Not everyone at your organization wants or needs to have access to your sales CRM, but having the visibility on top Sales KPIs & Priorities opens the door to cross-functional collaboration and problem solving. After all, we all want the same thing—to “Make Our Numbers!”