A mid-sized tech firm operating across Australia and New Zealand faced significant performance gaps when measured against industry benchmarks from Forrester and Gartner. While the industry standards indicated a Sales Pipeline Coverage of 350%–400% and a Win Rate of 25%–30%, the firm's sales team reported lower pipeline coverage and significantly reduced win rate percentages. Moreover, the pipeline generated by the Account Executives fell short of the 30%–40% benchmark, signaling a critical need for improvement.

Upon closer examination, several challenges were identified. Inefficient deal progression was a primary issue; Account Executives were pursuing numerous deals without sufficient qualification, straining resources and leading to lower conversion rates. This inefficiency resulted in resource overload, placing undue pressure on Pre-sales, Services, and Customer Satisfaction teams who were supporting multiple demos and proofs of concept. Additionally, there was a pipeline generation imbalance, with heavy reliance on other teams for pipeline generation, highlighting the need for increased contributions from Account Executives.

To address these challenges, the leadership team implemented strategic actions based on Propelion's methodology. They introduced a structured Go/No-Go process to support the sales team in making rational decisions about which deals to pursue, thereby increasing win rates by focusing efforts on high-probability opportunities. With time saved from better qualification, a proactive High-Impact Activity Plan for prospecting was established. Through a new Habit Loop, Account Executives developed consistent and effective sales activities, improving pipeline quality and distribution. Social Selling training was also introduced to help Account Executives adopt new techniques and expand their networks, becoming a core component of the Habit Loop and supporting continuous improvement.

Integrating the Go/No-Go process, High-Impact Activities, and the Habit Loop, along with dedicated coaching, fostered a culture of strategic focus within the sales team. The firm experienced a significant boost in win rates, diversified its pipeline generation sources, and achieved top-percentile results in the company-wide Team Satisfaction survey.