How do you build a sales culture where top performers are empowered and poor performers are not protected? In this episode, CJ is joined by Daniel Lentz, whose career has spanned sales, taking an e-commerce platform public during a global pandemic, and, interestingly, seminary. Daniel Lentz is the CFO of BigCommerce and an expert in designing comp plans that work. In this episode, he breaks down his approach to this and how to avoid the pitfalls that can easily discourage your salespeople. He explains how to align sales and marketing efforts, touching on multi-touch attribution models, before discussing why he focuses on input metrics over output metrics. The conversation covers the importance of having an operator-first mindset, the skill of having a BS detector, the challenges of navigating macroeconomic factors, the role of mentorship, and why teaching your team how the company actually makes money is the ultimate unlock.
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LINKS:
Daniel Lentz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-lentz-5ba8134/
BigCommerce:
https://www.bigcommerce.com
CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222
Mostly metrics:
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TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Preview and Intro
(02:28) Sponsor – Brex | Aleph | RightRev
(07:04) Daniel’s Unconventional Career Arc
(11:40) Being an Operator-First CFO
(14:05) The Skill of Having a Good BS Detector
(15:45) Sponsor – Navan | NetSuite | Pulley
(19:16) Why People Make Things Sound More Complicated Than They Are
(21:33) Transitioning From a Top Sales Rep to a Top Sales Leader
(24:46) Daniel’s Philosophy When Designing Comp Plans
(28:53) A Hot Take on Capping Big Deals
(35:01) Onboarding Great Sales Leaders
(38:17) Multi-Touch Attribution Models
(42:36) How Finance Can Reduce Sales Versus Marketing Turf Wars
(44:52) The Metrics That Matter: Input Versus Output
(47:30) Misdiagnosing Problems in SaaS Go-to-Market Models
(49:00) Why Benchmarking Can Be Misleading
(51:06) How Small Companies Can Compete With Big Companies
(52:22) The Power of Explaining to Employees How the Company Makes Money
(55:56) Why Daniel Doesn’t Want Employees To Be Distracted by the Macro
(57:19) Explaining Rational Interest Rates to Employees Under 30
(59:24) How Mentorship Has Influenced Daniel’s Career
(1:01:12) Advice for Taking Investor Advice
(1:03:04) Long-Ass Lightning Round: A Big Career Mistake
(1:04:51) Advice to Younger Self: Careerism Is a Trap
(1:06:49) Finance Software Stack
(1:10:32) Craziest Expense Story
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SPONSORS:
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#SalesComp #SalesCompPlan #InputMetrics #SalesCulture #SalesLeaders
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