How this AE evaluates KPIs to achieve the right pipeline results

In this sales climate, AEs are having a harder time than ever hitting their goals. Using Outreach's Pipeline Generation Report, we can hone in on the exact data points they need to hit their targets.

Outreach VP Angela Garinger teams up with Josh Entriken to break down his unique goals and how to conquer them utilizing the Strike Zone philosophy and the Pipeline Generation Report:

I'm here with Josh Entriken, Josh was one of the SDRs that got promoted to AE. One of the things that is really exciting about Josh is that he hits his KPIs, he is a killer “KPI-er.” So, I'm excited to dive into the Pipeline Generation Report because it's really important that we see that the KPIs are actually producing the results you want. So, ensuring that he's doing the activities that are making an impact is what we're going to see today.

Ready to dive in? 

SQL Value and Conversion Rate

So, we've got the Pipeline Generation Report up. Josh, talk to me about what your revenue goal is for this quarter. 

“Yeah, so my revenue goal for this quarter is $135,000," says Josh.

All right, so let's say it's $150,000 because we like to overshoot — and we like easy math. So, if your win rate is 20% and you've got a revenue generation goal of $150,000, what kind of pipeline coverage do you think you need?

“Typically, I'd like to cover 5X coverage” replies Josh. 

Great. So $150,000 times five is $750,000. 

Before we enter that goal number, let's filter it to you. I want to look at last month because we've completed one full month in this quarter, which will give us a good indication of how we need to progress through the rest of the quarter. Now we're ready to put in Josh’s pipeline goals.

What is your average SQL value? 

“I would say it's probably around 30K,” says Josh.

That's really high! Okay, let's put in 30K for your average SQL value. And then what about your SQL conversion rate? Do you think that's at 70 (which is where we like it to be), any higher or lower?

“I think we could put it to 75.”

I love all of these numbers already, Josh. This is great.

Meetings Booked Rate

Now we're going to press calculate and we're going to see what you need to do. In order to get 3 meetings booked a week, which is what you need to do, you need to sequence 173 people and make 689 calls a week — which leads to a little bit over 125 calls a day.

That's a lot. And it probably feels unsustainable if you are also generating your own pipeline and closing business. For an SDR, I would think this is not bad in regards to what their KPI should be, but their whole job is pipeline generation. If you're in a hybrid motion where you're both creating and closing, this feels a little unsustainable. But, that's okay because we're going to figure out what we can do to change it. 

Josh’s meeting conversion rate is 20% — that's fantastic. We think 10% is good, so 20% is amazing. When you're getting people on the phone, you're converting them into a meeting booked, and we like to see that. So, that feels like a lever that we probably don't need to mess with too much.

Meeting Hold Rate

Now, your meeting hold rate could be higher. It's almost a 79, which isn't terrible, but where do you like to see it?

“I like to have it at around 90,” says Josh. “Given that you're getting someone into a meeting, there’s a reason for them to be there. And, give or take a few for meetings to reschedule, I'd say 90 is a conservative number.”

Well, 90 is a conservative number — I think that's great. So I think this is going to be a place where if we can increase this particular data point, we could probably make those KPIs a little bit more sustainable for you. So when I see a low meeting hold rate, I start to think about: what are we saying on the phones, are we driving the urgency that we need, are we really getting to the business outcome that's going to make an impact for that particular person that you've gotten on the phone.

I think the best way to know if you're doing those things is to look at your Kaia recordings. Use some of those topics: are you seeing competitors, are you seeing budget come up, what is really stopping them from joining the meetings after you've booked them.

The second thing I would do is look at your sequences in regards to confirmation. Are you just sending the confirmation sequences, are they happening? So those are some tricks there. We'll see if that's the only place we need to help. 

Correct Connect Rate

“There it is. There's a lagging factor,” says Josh.

There is a big contributing factor there, which is the correct connect rate. And this really tells us if you are talking to the right people or if you are calling them at the right times. And so I think there's an opportunity here for you to get really specific about when you're calling. Do you have call blitzes across every day of the week?

“I typically set 3 different blocks throughout my week,” Josh replies. “Monday afternoons, Wednesday mornings, and Friday afternoons. I go about my calls in a blitz format whenever I have white space in my calendar. I also throw in some calls there as well, knowing that weeks vary depending on our internal and external meetings.”

I love that you actually already have these call blocks scheduled Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The good news is now we know that those days and times aren't really working for you — and all we have to do is shift that a bit. My recommendation would be: if you're doing Monday mornings, try Monday afternoons. If you're doing Friday mornings, try Friday afternoons. Do some playing around — try Tuesdays and Thursdays. You have some opportunity to really get creative in how you want to move this, and still keep them consistent so you can start to chase the data and see if it's making a difference. Look at the call heat maps, of course, too.

Key Takeaways 

Overall, I think your coaching plan is to:

1. Look at the heat maps 
2. Change your call blitz times. Get them scheduled at different times to see if that makes an impact
3. Use Kaia. See what you're saying, figure out how you can drive business outcomes in urgency with the people you're booking meetings with, and then ensure that all of your confirmation sequences are automatically triggering after you've gotten the meeting booked.

You’ve got a solid plan, Josh!