Prioritize real deals, not just any deal

To avoid common mistakes and close out the year strong, Holly Allen suggests focusing on quality over quantity, staying consistent with what works, and managing your stress.

Here's a summary of her post:

1. Prioritize real deals – Only put genuine opportunities in your pipeline. It might look leaner, but it saves you from wasting time on deals that won’t close.

2. Stick to what works – Don’t try to overhaul your prospecting process at the last minute. If personalized voice notes and videos work for you, keep using them.

3. Plan your time, don’t panic – Instead of stressing about the calendar, create an action plan to meet your goals. Control what you can and stay focused.

4. Don’t rush the process – Make sure to qualify deals properly. Rushing through the sales process can waste your time and lead to more frustration.

5. Avoid unnecessary discounts – Only offer discounts if it’s part of the strategy, not as a quick fix to close deals.

6. Look after yourself – Stressing out will only hurt your performance. Keep your mindset positive and take care of your well-being.
   

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Quality over quantity

Todd Busler outlines how his team boosted first meetings by 280% the week before Thanksgiving. They achieved this with 70% of the meetings coming from outbound efforts.

Here's what they did and didn't do to make it happen:

What they didn't do:

• Hire new reps.

• Waste time configuring tools or using unnecessary apps.

• Overcomplicate with long, ineffective cadences.

• Constantly rewrite cadences.

• Make excuses about being too busy to prospect.

What they did:

1. Start with a plan: Every rep had a personalized plan for high-value prospecting from day one. No time wasted.

2. Prioritize quality: Focused only on target accounts where they could add real value.

3. Play to strengths: Reps worked in areas they excelled—whether on the phone or through networks.

4. Leverage smart ops support: An operations analyst helped by building targeted lists and providing data, so reps could focus on selling.

5. Tap into warm engagements: They focused on people already familiar with them through social media and virtual events.

Bad account prioritization is killing your pipeline

Keith M. Laughner explains how poor account prioritization is hurting your pipeline. He highlights the dangers of using vague, broad ICP criteria and offers a structured approach to focus on the right accounts.

The problem with bad ICP

• Too broad, too vague, or based on gut feeling.

• Results in wasted time: SDRs chase accounts that will never buy, causing burnout and missed opportunities.

• More activity, less pipeline: Increased effort without results leads to frustration.

How to improve account prioritization

1. Analyze closed-won deals: Look at industries, company size, decision-makers, buying triggers, and deal velocity.

2. Focus on intent signals: Use tools to track who’s actively searching for solutions in your category (website visits, content downloads, competitor research).

3. Track engagement data: Look for accounts interacting with your brand via emails, clicks, and LinkedIn engagement.

4. Prioritize by revenue potential: Target accounts with the budget, need, and urgency to buy.

5. Combine firmographics with behavior: Layer company details with real-time actions to identify buying intent.

6. Refine over time: Continuously adjust your ICP to reflect market changes and new insights.

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