You want to open a dialogue with sales.
Before we begin, let’s talk about the win rate.
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From last week’s email:
The first thing we will define is the “win rate.” Hubspot defines “win rate” as:
The sales win rate is the percentage of final stage prospects that closed and became customers divided by the total number of deals in a given period.
This is the number that is a heuristic that sales teams can understand efficiency, and super important because the salesperson is generally paid based on the deals they close.
If you have no other way to define your relationship with the revenue organization, then “win rate” can help.
Knowing how much sales wins, you are one step closer to a better conversation with them.
Right now, more than in the last decade, alignment between the sales team and product team is critical - since tech businesses are shifting from margin focused (how much can we take of a particular type of business - also known as GROWTH AT ALL COSTS) to more (sound) regular ol’ business.
This means reducing product waste is a major key for product teams. Every moment spent on tools that aren’t moving the needle is maintenance costs that are burning a hole in your company expenses and, even worse, costing an untold opportunity cost.
Think of it this way, the six months you spent shipping the thing that landed with a thud could have been spent doing anything else (including sending emails in the pool) and be more productive.
Yes. Sleeping until 3 PM binge-watching Netflix and responding to Slack is more beneficial to the business than shipping harmful products - especially now.
No one feels that more than the people generating a paycheck based on what you create.
That’s sales.
If you didn’t know before - sales take home is generally based on what they sell or even what they could sell. Yes, they may take a loan (a draw) to get a paycheck.
That’s why it is in the best interest of both teams to make things that people want.
So what should you do this week? Ask yourself - What is the product team doing to help increase revenue?
Read Rich Mirinov’s article on product waste.
Calculate your product waste if you have the win rate for your product after last week’s email.
And if you are inclined, please email me any questions. I read every email.
Thanks for reading The Adam Thomas Product Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
