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The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million Hardcover – February 24, 2015
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The Sales Acceleration Formula provides a scalable, predictable approach to growing revenue and building a winning sales team. Everyone wants to build the next $100 million business and author Mark Roberge has actually done it using a unique methodology that he shares with his readers. As an MIT alum with an engineering background, Roberge challenged the conventional methods of scaling sales utilizing the metrics-driven, process-oriented lens through which he was trained to see the world. In this book, he reveals his formulas for success. Readers will learn how to apply data, technology, and inbound selling to every aspect of accelerating sales, including hiring, training, managing, and generating demand.
As SVP of Worldwide Sales and Services for software company HubSpot, Mark led hundreds of his employees to the acquisition and retention of the company's first 10,000 customers across more than 60 countries. This book outlines his approach and provides an action plan for others to replicate his success, including the following key elements:
- Hire the same successful salesperson every time ― The Sales Hiring Formula
- Train every salesperson in the same manner ― The Sales Training Formula
- Hold salespeople accountable to the same sales process ― The Sales Management Formula
- Provide salespeople with the same quality and quantity of leads every month ― The Demand Generation Formula
- Leverage technology to enable better buying for customers and faster selling for salespeople
Business owners, sales executives, and investors are all looking to turn their brilliant ideas into the next $100 million revenue business. Often, the biggest challenge they face is the task of scaling sales. They crave a blueprint for success, but fail to find it because sales has traditionally been referred to as an art form, rather than a science. You can't major in sales in college. Many people question whether sales can even be taught. Executives and entrepreneurs are often left feeling helpless and hopeless.
The Sales Acceleration Formula completely alters this paradigm. In today's digital world, in which every action is logged and masses of data sit at our fingertips, building a sales team no longer needs to be an art form. There is a process. Sales can be predictable.
A formula does exist.
- Print length224 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWiley
- Publication dateFebruary 24, 2015
- Dimensions6.3 x 1 x 9.1 inches
- ISBN-101119047072
- ISBN-13978-1119047070
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Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
The standard wisdom is that sales is art, rather than a science, which might be why so many great ideas have gone from the startup phase straight to the graveyard. Building the next hundred-million-dollar business requires building a sales team that can get the job done reliably, but, until now, there has been no predictable formula for achieving that goal. Now, a tested formula exists to turn sales from an art into a science, and it's presented in The Sales Acceleration Formula.
When author Mark Roberge joined HubSpot, it was just another software startup with a big idea but no numbers to prove it would work. In only a few years, Mark took HubSpot past the $100 million revenue mark using the strategy he outlines in The Sales Acceleration Formula. In a world glutted with consultants and thought leaders who have more personality than real knowledge, Mark's story is a significant one. This book contains practical wisdom from a practitioner who has actually overcome the biggest challenge businesses face in the early stages: scaling sales.
The Sales Acceleration Formula deconstructs the process of building revenue into easy, measurable steps. The businesses that successfully make the transition to hundred-million-dollar ventures are those that have mastered five basic tasks: hiring salespeople, training the sales team, managing sales, generating demand, and experimenting with new technologies. Each of these is addressed in The Sales Acceleration Formula, which presents concrete plans for implementing metrics-driven systems that work. Businesses encounter hurdles at every stage of the growth process, so this book provides a framework that can take you from your first sales hire all the way to a fantastic sales team with the motivation to take your business to the next level.
In today's marketplace, every action is logged, recorded, and stored somewhere. With all that information, we can uncover the scientific principles behind even the most mystifying processes. Sales is a perfect case in point at one time, almost everyone believed that "sales can't be taught." With The Sales Acceleration Formula, Mark Roberge is disrupting common knowledge and showing that the journey from $0 to $100 million can be predicted, planned, and measured at every step of the way.
From the Back Cover
Praise for THE SALES ACCELERATION FORMULA
"A new breed of disciplined, data-driven leaders are re-shaping the field of sales. The Sales Acceleration Formula explains why."
Tony Robbins
"A lot of factors go into building a great sales force, but those factors don't have to be a mystery. Roberge breaks down the moving parts of a sales force recruitment, hiring, training, compensation, and performance evaluation and describes the metrics and methods he has applied to these components to make his company a success. If you want to engineer sales success, this book, written by an engineer-turned-sales-leader, is for you."
Daniel H. Pink, author of To Sell is Human and Drive
"The Sales Acceleration Formula provides the most powerful, practical approach yet to the total marketing and selling process from lead generation to close. It helps senior sales and marketing executives understand how to work in concert to satisfy customers, quickly close sales, and grow revenue exponentially."
Ben Shapiro, Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing, Emeritus, Harvard Business School
"In The Sales Acceleration Formula, Roberge provides a prescriptive blueprint for scaling a modern sales team. It should be on every sales leader's reading list."
Kevin Egan, VP of Sales, Dropbox
"Mark has been at the forefront in figuring out the new sales methodologies around inside sales, leveraging metrics for insights, and web technologies for increased rep productivity. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone running a sales organization."
David Skok, General Partner, Matrix Partners
"Predictable scale is on every CEO and sales executives' mind. However, it is rarely achieved. Roberge provides a great tactical approach toward reaching this goal."
Brian Schmidt, Global VP of Sales, TripAdvisor
"Early in my career, I worked as a sales representative at a Wall Street economic consultancy. Back then the salesperson had the information and therefore the power in the relationship. Now, because of the wealth of content on the web, traditional selling doesn't work so well. In this important book, Mark shares his radically successful formulas for how sales needs to change in order to be successful in our new buyer-driven world."
David Meerman Scott, bestselling author of 10 books including The New Rules of Sales and Service
"It's time to rev up the revenue engines! The Sales Acceleration Formula transforms the mystique of selling into a scalable methodology that savvy leaders can implement."
Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies and Agile Selling
"Mark Roberge and Hubspot are one of the few places I go myself to study up on what's new and working in sales, as a legend in the making."
Aaron Ross, author of Predictable Revenue
"An engineering mindset arms the modern sales leader with an unfair advantage. The Sales Acceleration Formula explains why."
John McGeachie, VP of Sales, Evernote
About the Author
MARK ROBERGE served as HubSpot's SVP of Worldwide Sales and Services from 2007 to 2013, scaling the customer base from 1 to over 12,000 and his staff from one to hundreds of employees. Mark holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and an engineering degree from Lehigh University. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, Inc Magazine, The Boston Globe, and Harvard Business Review. Mark currently serves as the Chief Revenue Officer of the HubSpot Sales Division.
Product details
- Publisher : Wiley; 1st edition (February 24, 2015)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1119047072
- ISBN-13 : 978-1119047070
- Item Weight : 14.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.3 x 1 x 9.1 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #39,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #137 in Sales & Selling (Books)
- #416 in Business Management (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
MARK ROBERGE served as HubSpot's SVP of Worldwide Sales and Services from 2007 to 2013, scaling the customer base from 1 to over 12,000 and his staff from one to hundreds of employees. Mark holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and an engineering degree from Lehigh University. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, Inc Magazine, The Boston Globe, and Harvard Business Review. Mark is currently a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book easy to read and refreshing. They appreciate the well-researched information and new approaches to traditional sales problems. The book provides clear, step-by-step insights on how to build and grow a high-performing sales organization. Readers enjoy the thoughtful framework and thought process behind these traits. The book contains creative ideas, policies, initiatives, and a structured playbook for anyone considering scaling a sales organization. Overall, customers describe the book as a great resource that can be applied and adapted to their organization.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book easy to read and helpful for improving the sales process. They find it refreshing with good points and simple takeaways. The book is well-written and organized, providing valuable nuggets for sales professionals.
"...It is simple and based on repeatable, scalable processes...." Read more
"...There are simple take aways that any sales person, executive, or entrepreneur can apply from Mark's book, like;..." Read more
"...Great read- I was hooked after reading the intro. “When you are scaling a sales-team, the to-do list is endless...." Read more
"Really good, with no fluff and a good summary after every chapter. Thanks for the great book, Mark! I throughly enjoyed it." Read more
Customers find the book interesting and well-researched. It teaches new approaches to traditional sales problems and is a great reference for scaling a modern, SMarketing team. The book clarifies many concepts and provides good insight into technical aspects.
"...His background in engineering at MIT makes it a most interesting story - one where what he didn't have pre-conceived ideas about in sales definitely..." Read more
"...He also provides some keen insights as to looking for the right sales manager. He mentions reading a number of management books to no avail...." Read more
"...This is an exciting book because it shows not only how you can intertwine Sales with other functions but really how Sales can and must lead the way..." Read more
"...This is one of the most important books for sales leaders, entrepreneurs and CEO's of emerging companies ever written. Why?..." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's advice. They find the insights clear and practical, with a framework and thought process. The book provides a formulaic way to approach customers and grow talent. It is described as pragmatic and fair.
"...are not currently familiar with todays sales landscape, this book will set you straight.. If you are not familiar with the SAAS terminology, this..." Read more
"...What a great opportunity to work from the bottom up and put something in place that could be tested...." Read more
"While this book is 5 years old at this point, the ideas are still spot on...." Read more
"The book is a general guideline on key steps when handling a sales team; it would be beneficial for newly promoted managers...." Read more
Customers find the book provides creative ideas and a structured playbook for scaling a sales organization. They say it's well-written, organized, and easy to adapt to their organization.
"great book with a clear methodology, easy to apply and adapt to your organization!..." Read more
"...accomplish when you're not encumbered by experience but are smart and creative...." Read more
"This was a well-written, well-organized, and interesting book -- but it's simply one executive's collection of ideas and experience about what..." Read more
"...It contains several ideas, policies, initiatives, Etc. that the author implemented during his career that are nothing short of genius." Read more
Customers appreciate the scalability of the book. It helps them effectively scale their operation and build a strong sales team.
"...It is simple and based on repeatable, scalable processes...." Read more
"...of the latest techniques to build a strong sales team and scale your operation effectively, but most importantly: predictably...." Read more
"...book help you build your sales organization into a predictable, scalable machine...." Read more
"Scalable, Predictable Revenue Growth..." Read more
Reviews with images
If you need to scale a sales team quickly, particularly in SaaS, you must read this book.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2015Many of us have heard Mark Roberge speak - he has spoken in front of just about any group of startup CEOs, sales leaders, and sales professionals. In person he is genuine and he does not speak about things he does not know.
Mark Roberge knows how to build a successful, nimble sales team. His background in engineering at MIT makes it a most interesting story - one where what he didn't have pre-conceived ideas about in sales definitely helped him and helped his company, Hubspot grow.
Rather than a business school theory, Mark has worked with and tweaked his formula over 7 years as Sr VP of Worldwide Sales & Service. These aren't ideas crafted on a whiteboard - this is the story of how he helped a company get from zero to $100M.
It is simple and based on repeatable, scalable processes. There is a hiring formula, a sales training formula, a sales management formula, and a demand generation formula. Put them all together and you have The Sales Acceleration Formula.
My guess is that this will be come a must read for every entrepreneur who is thinking about sales growth. It will be a must read for sales leaders everywhere, and for anyone wanting to understand how a business grows.
With many good stories that demonstrate the formulas in action, Mark illustrates his points well. Highly recommended - especially with reflections on what he wishes he did - for example,
"I wish I could re-title all of my sales managers, calling them sales coaches instead. In my opinion, effective sales coaching is the biggest driver of sales productivity."
It is not often you have the thoughts of a successful visionary at your disposal. Buy it, read it, give it away.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2015When I interviewed Mark for my blog during his drive into the office and he told me about this book, I knew it would be great for high growth companies. But would it translate to the start up and solopreneurs, who have few resources other than themselves?
What is really great about "The Sales Acceleration Formula" is that it is not a magic formula that you can copy and paste. It gives the entrepreneur who knows nothing about sales a way to create their own unique processes- even if all you have is excel. "The key to the process was discipline, not sophisticated technology."
There are simple take aways that any sales person, executive, or entrepreneur can apply from Mark's book, like;
-the five traits that correlated to sales success (that all successful entrepreneurs need to also possess)
-how to make the first critical hire and set up sales training for future hires
-how to design your sales methodology and process around the buyer journey
-how to understand the day to day life of your potential customers
-how to make continuous improvements to the process
-the importance of a personal brand
-"...salespeople who are intelligent and helpful, rather than aggressive and high-pressure, are most successful with today's empowered buyer."
-"Buyers should not be asked to understand the salesperson's solution and how it can help...salespeople should understand the buyer's goals and how his own solution can help."
I know Mark and his family personally- he comes from good stock and is an entrepreneur at heart. Like him, I don't come from a sales background. If you asked me what the difference between BANT and SPIN were, I would have said dance moves. I didn't start to understand what sales really is until I became a business owner myself and learned the hard way.
If you are one of those entrepreneurs who know nothing about sales, this will help you.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2016This particular book comes by way of a recent chance meeting at a local networking group, Triangle Sales Think Tank, which is a spot where some of the prominent local sales folk may meet and from time to time offer exchanges of brilliance.
In one such exchange with Lawrence Harte, who is a serialpreneur, did the get to know you dance, and while we did our verbal twirls and plies, he talked excitedly about this book. For some reason, the title failed to stay in my mind and I am quite sure I asked for the title a number of times.
A bit later in the meeting Lawrence was referred to by one of the very perceptive members of the group (Linda Gutin) as being one of the smartest businessmen that she knew. As far as I could tell, this was genuine praise. I must read this book and I must read it now!
And so now I have, and now I shall regale you with some of the nuggets or perceived insights that I received from this book.
A worthwhile side note is that the foreword for this book is written by Neil Rackham, author of SPIN Selling. This is important because, as far as I can tell he has quite a following and according to Wikipedia pioneered consultative selling. This was a book recommended to me by Cisco sales managers when asked the question where can I learn more about sales. AKA the guy has some clout!
Further evidence or at least finger pointing to the worth ideas contained on the pages within this book!
Who is Mark Roberge and why do I want to read this book?
Mark Roberge is one of the initial members of Hubspot, a company that went from $0 to $100 million in a relatively short period of time. He is an MIT grad. He was the first sales manager for Hubspot. He had no sales experience and was a self-proclaimed "Quant" (data specialist)
This book outlines how he sought out his salesforce, and how he developed practices and processes to develop the team. How what and why he drove his teams to success along with recommendations for others in achieving what he calls a predictable and reliable way to run a sales team, as well as generate sales revenue sustainably.
How does he accomplish this?
In part one he gives us the sales hiring formula. He also prefaces and ends this section with a YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) , this is what worked for me, of course suggesting a similar formula may work for you. Read as: season to taste, or tinker till satisfied.
Immediately you run into his first finding when seeking characteristics of a successful salesperson. His regression analysis found that the characteristics traditionally sought after such as closing ability and needs identification had the worst correlation with success! This is bookended by preparation and adaptability. This may be some great news for some of the people out there who are terrible at closing and or needs analysis. Of course, it may not be such great news if you are working on your closing and developing your needs analysis skills. Oh, the ever-changing landscape of the workforce and skills that are needed. Could you imagine the world flipping on its axis and the sun rising from the west?!
Mark is adamant about tracking everything and utilizing data that he gathers to drive his next steps.
He also highlights his primary candidate criteria, or as I like to read it, who I'm up against. This section bothers me a little bit, if you focus on certain criteria which follows a particular trend, then how will you fall upon the rare gem, the outlier who has the potential to shift the trajectory of your companies future. You could also read this as, "I don't think that based on the supplied criteria I would have made it through the door". Of course, he does have SOME criteria that will allow for a miscreant or two to slip through the cracks. Go underdogs!
So he has his hires, now he needs to train them. I will not go into to much detail on this one. Suffice to say one of the modules he provides is he has each salesperson create and run their own successful blog. Interestingly enough Hubspot also has a free course to learn more about blogging, should you succeed in completing this course they will provide you with a certificate of completion.
He also provides some keen insights as to looking for the right sales manager. He mentions reading a number of management books to no avail. It is not until he begins reading books about leadership does he believe he is retrieving useful insight. Luckily for us he also provides us with a list of these useful books:
Defining and Developing Your Leadership Style:
Discovering Your Authentic Leadership (assuming this link as the link from this book did not work for me.
Building an Authentic Leadership Image (WordPress messing with me and link application..user error?)
Twelve O'Clock High - This is a movie, you can watch it!
Forceful Leadership and Enabling Leadership
Ongoing Feedback: How to Get It, How to Use It
Providing Positive & Negative Feedback to Subordinates
Feedback That Works: How to Build and Deliver Your Message (Ideas Into Action Guidebooks)
Giving Feedback to Subordinates
Successful Mentoring and Coaching
Sales Coaching: Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach
Seven Keys to Successful Mentoring [Paperback] [2009] (Author) Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), E. Wayne Hart
The New One Minute ManagerOne Minute Manager
Succeed: How We Can Reach Our GoalsSucceed How We Can Reach our Goals
Managing Conflict:
Managing Conflict with Direct Reports by Popejoy, Barbara, McManigle, Brenda J.. (Center for Creative Leadership,2002) [Paperback]
Managing Conflict with PeersManaging Conflict with Peers
Managing Conflict with Your Boss
Managing through Change:
Adaptability: Responding Effectively to Change
Building and Developing Your Team:
Good to Great Chapter 3: First Who then What
Raising Sensitive Issues in a Team
Building Your Team's Morale, Pride, and Spirit
Active Listening:
Building Your Team's Morale, Pride, and Spirit
One or two of these books is bound to make it onto my list!
His finding is such that he begins to refer to the sales manager as the sales coach. He provides his guide on metric-driven sales coaching. He continues with how his compensation plan is initially created as well as how it evolves. In short, it is not different from any other training these days. Identify desired behaviors and reward accordingly. Of particular interest in the sales coaching, he was able to drive organic adoption of process changes. I will leave it to you to read more!
And as far as this review goes:
If you are not currently familiar with todays sales landscape, this book will set you straight.. If you are not familiar with the SAAS terminology, this book will provide you with some solid background. You're are not familiar with inbound sales? Marketing? You need to be! After you read this book you will be.
The sales landscape is changing and in the blink of an eye, it may have already happened.
Many of the ideas and principles that I read in this book I had also recently heard on the following two podcasts:
Linking into Sales - Jill Rowley Episode
Rory Vaden's Recent The Action Catalyst Episode with Dr. Jonah Berger
How is this book rated? What is the scale? I rate this book on a timely to misses the boat scale. If you read this book and become current with sales along with the mechanisms and motivators than it is timely. If you don't then you stand a chance of missing the boat and will end up as the saying goes, swimming with the fishes.
Top reviews from other countries
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MarcsonReviewed in Brazil on November 7, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente leitura
Livro bem direto ao ponto, com insigths interessantes e prático.
Tras alguns frameworks vem relevantes e inovadores.
Super recomendo a Leitura.
- Karen DansieReviewed in Canada on December 11, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars I love that selling is a science. Follow the metrics!
Helpful tool to coach team
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Oscar RateraReviewed in Spain on December 22, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro increíble de ventas
The media could not be loaded.
Oscar Ratera
Reviewed in Spain on December 22, 2024
Images in this review -
AnaheimReviewed in Mexico on July 1, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente lectura para innovar en ventas
Nueva visión a la estructura tradicional de vengas, ideas para aplicar de inmediato. Fácil de leer, conciso y muy práctico.
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PaoloReviewed in Italy on February 19, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro che consiglio a tutti da leggere
Per chi è gia un manager esperto e è alla ricerca di nuovi punti di vista su come creare un sales team da zero, credo sia un must have. Ho trovato molto interessante la parte per i criteri di scelta su come assumere un team.