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Target achievement
Deal conversion went 45% to
Customer adoption jumped above target by
As the company’s VP of Sales for the UK and ANZ, Will Jackson is responsible for all things sales-related, from pipeline admin to sales strategy.
Will uses two KPIs to ensure Mr Yum’s sales teams are performing at their best: adoption and average price per deal.
While it might seem like an issue for customer success, Will realised that customer adoption directly correlates to the expectations set by his teams in the sales process. When sales does a good job, the customer understands the solution’s value and will drive adoption.
In turn, Mr Yum charges a percentage on the amount of revenue that goes through the system (another reason why adoption is so important). The higher the average price per deal, the better.
However, during the second half of 2022, the average price per deal was trending downward. Rather than selling on value, the team was getting stuck in price wars with their competitors.
“Even when we won a deal, we couldn’t celebrate it because the pricing was nowhere near where it needed to be,” says Will.
At the same time, the tech world was going through a fresh wave of financial turmoil. Previously a well-funded, growth-at-all-costs tech startup, Mr Yum had to stop burning through cash and get to profitability as fast as possible.
As Will analysed the situation, it soon became clear that the sales team needed to improve how they engaged with their ideal customers. However, finding time to make that improvement happen — while already dealing with the day-to-day work of managing multiple sales teams — was just too much.
“We needed some support,” explains Will. “We needed somebody to come in and say “This is what you should be prioritising and this is how to do it.” It couldn’t be me trying to plan it and create the content all on my own. It’s just too hard.”
The first step was finding the right company to help them develop their sales skills. For Will, any successful candidate needed to do more than just talk a good game — they had to show that they knew what they were talking about.
They had to sell themselves.
Having been in sales for over 20 years, Will knows a thing or two about what being sold to looks like.
“I understand when that person is challenging me,” says Will. “I understand when someone is helping me to surface the pain and elevate its impact. Immediately, I got that from Flow State. They helped me categorise my thoughts, connect to my problem and articulate it… compared to the other companies we spoke to, Raff and Aaron were just poles apart.”
Will and Flow State worked together to explore the different metrics and skills they could work on, from conversion rate to confidence. Raff and Aaron then went away and built a six-month programme that addressed the business’s biggest challenges.
The training included six modules, covering a mixture of foundational skills and more detailed components. For example, one session covered the discovery process. Another part looked at how to move the prospect from surface-level problems to fundamental issues that need to be prioritised.
Raff and Aaron delivered each session with their unique blend of expert insight and genuine passion for sales.
“It’s a lovely experience,” recalls Will. “They’re fun, they’re friendly… don’t get me wrong, they’re direct. But they make it engaging, they make it interesting. They’re conscious of, as Raff will say, the mental calories that you’re burning in the room, so they make time for breaks and stick to their time.”
At the same time, the training was designed to challenge the sales team. Many of the salespeople were highly experienced and skilled but still felt some resistance to the new concepts and theories they were learning.
Raff and Aaron understood this and patiently addressed every objection that came their way. Rather than pushing new training and methodologies without giving a reason, they coached the team through the process and led them so they could figure out the solution for themselves.
“Aaron in particular is very blunt and direct, which is one of his absolute superpowers and is exactly what we needed,” says Will. “We needed someone to shake us up, call out the hard things and get us to focus on them. That’s a game changer.”
Flow State made it clear that this wasn’t just some sales training that could be gone through and then forgotten about the next day. To get the results they wanted, the sales team had to truly embrace what they were learning and implement it in their daily activities.
To achieve long-lasting change, Flow State provided the team with sales enablement services that continued long after the training finished. This included a Slack channel where the sales team can still get feedback from Raff and Aaron and access any documents they’ve shared.
Flow State continues to support Will in his role as a manager, acting as a sounding board whenever he needs advice or accountability. “Raff and Aaron essentially became my sales leaders. We still have a text message group together, where I can ask any question day or night and they’ll respond. They’ve also included me in a sales leaders group, sharing knowledge across different industries and different levels of leadership, all at no extra cost. They saw it as part of supporting my company and where we’re going.”
By embracing the training and making full use of the sales enablement services, Will and his teams exceeded their sales targets. “We finished Q1 [before the engagement] at around about 50% of our target. However, we finished Q2 at 180% of the Q2 target and are already at 51% of the annual target.”
Rather than trying to close any deal at any cost, the sales teams now focus on a smaller number of high-quality leads. The sales pipeline is cleaner than ever, leading to dramatically improved sales forecasting. Average deal cycle decreased from around nine weeks to five weeks, while the conversion rate has jumped from ~45 % to about 70%.
Will’s KPIs have also improved. “Our adoption metric has gone from around 20% below target to about 30% above target. Our average price per deal has also increased. Right now it’s about 0.3% above target, which might not sound like much, but in real revenue terms it’s very material… Right now, every metric that we track for the UK business that’s relevant to the sales team and other functions is ahead of target.”
Perhaps more importantly, the sales teams’ mindset has changed for the better, with a high-performance culture and peer-to-peer team accountability. “This is going on 24/7, whether I’m in the office or not,” says Will. “The customer success and onboarding teams have noticed and want to know how they can instil the same attitude in their teams.”
Will firmly believes all sorts of sales teams can benefit from Flow State’s help.
“Whether you’re a sales manager of three people or a VP of Sales covering multiple regions, there’s so much noise in this job. If you’re honest with yourself, you’re probably operating with a level of quiet desperation.
“Flow State will help you see what the top things you should focus on, the standard they should meet, and then they’ll help you bring your team up to standard on those two or three specific areas that are either relevant to you… It’s been transformational for me as a leader.”
By giving Mr Yum’s sales team the necessary direction and then holding them accountable, Flow State enabled them to control their pipeline, identify better deals and learn how to influence those deals more effectively. They also helped Will improve in his ability to manage and coach his team members. “It’s been transformational for both me as a leader and my team.”
For any team looking to level up their sales skills, Will stresses that you have to be willing to put in the effort. However, those who come to the table and do the work will find that it’s worth it.
By implementing what they’ve learnt alongside a new culture of continuous improvement, Mr Yum has enjoyed a wide range of benefits, and Will is excited for the next stage of their engagement with Flow State.
“We’ve seen a material change in both our team’s attitude and capability, which is resulting in a tremendous amount of success,” says Will. “I directly attribute the success we’re having to the team’s hard work and the framework that Raff and Aaron have taken us through.”
Record revenue achievement
Increased customer adoption rates
Upward trend of % quota achievement across regional sales teams.
Improving levels of forecasting accuracy and pipeline management discipline.
Increased no. of coaching hours delivered weekly by managers.
Direct feedback from reps and leaders in positive culture shift and growing confidence and belief amongst the sales team that they have the capabilities to win.
All sales metrics ahead of target
High-performance culture and peer-to-peer team accountability
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