RVP, Sales @ Bullhorn - I talk about creating systems for sellers to scale your impact, not your hours

3 years ago, I was drowning...

As an RVP at a fast-growing tech company, my life had become an endless stream of:

• "Urgent" emails
• Back-to-back meetings
• And constant fire-fighting

Waking up early and working late into the night.

My phone was always buzzing with notifications.

To make matters worse, it was taking a toll on my family.

The breaking point:

Missing my son's jujitsu belt test.

Something I'd promised I wouldn't do.

That night, seeing the disappointment in his eyes, I knew something had to change.

I spent the next year obsessively learning, developing & testing different productivity systems that would allow me to:

• Still perform at a high level
• Stop feeling perpetually overwhelmed
• End working nights/weekends just to keep up

I started creating what I called "mini-systems"

Small changes that had a compounding effect.

What began as a quest to regain control of my calendar...

Evolved into an operating system that helped me recover 10+ hours every week.

More importantly, spend more time w/ family. 

I've started documenting my learnings & "mini-systems" and now share them with others through my content and weekly newsletter The Systematic Sales Leader.

My goal is to help as many sales leaders as possible avoid the same burnout I and so many others experience through tested and proven systems.

If you're curious to learn more, check my "featured section" for a few free resources.

The biggest lie in sales:

(That most believe but shouldn't)

You need to be extremely outgoing to have success.

I've worked with 100's of sellers.

The top 20% share the following:

They listen more than they speak
They do their homework before every call
They follow up with precision, not persistence
They ask better questions than they pitch features
They build trust through consistency, not charisma

Your personality type doesn't determine your quota attainment.

Your preparation and process do.

Keith Weightman

Talks about #saas, #sales, #salestips, #prospecting, and #salesdevelopment

How many of these are you doing, and what's 1 you'll start using this week?

How to Build 3-4 stakeholder relationships

11 lessons about sales I wish somebody told me when I started:

1. Successful sellers hang around each other
↳  The opposite is also true    
   
-----    
    
2. Good news: consistency compounds
↳ Bad news: it will take longer than you want    
   
-----     
    
3. You don’t “have to” do anything. You “get to”
↳ Your attitude determines your altitude     
   
-----    
    
4. Winning alone will get you paid
↳ Losing alone will get you fired    
   
-----    
    
5. You learn from every deal you’re in
↳ But 2x as much from deals you lose
   
-----    
    
6. Success in sales is a lifelong pursuit
↳ Not a 90-day quota    
   
-----    
    
7. “Daily exercise” is vital to manage stress
↳ Skipping it compounds pressure    
   
-----    
    
8. The more skills you stack, the better off you’ll be
↳ But the boring basics build your foundation     
   
-----    
    
9. Focus on your journey
↳ Not the journey of others    
   
-----    
    
10. The separation is in the preparation 
↳ Winning happens before the game starts
   
   
-----    
11. Integrity > commissions  
↳   Short-term gains never beat long-term trust

——-

What others would you add?

After years of being LinkedIn friends, finally met Samantha McKenna in person the other day.

True to form, she brought her signature SMYKM (Show Me You Know Me) energy by picking a spot called Best Buns. If that’s not personalization, I don’t know what is.

It was one of those rare moments when someone is exactly who you thought they’d be, just better in person. 

We’re both in VA, so looking forward to the next one.

I've reviewed hundreds of pipelines over the past decade. The reps who consistently miss quota all show the same four patterns:

Pattern 1: The 'wing it'

• They don't follow a process
• They don't prepare before calls
• They don't use any structured frameworks

They believe that their natural 'sales acumen' and 'charisma' are enough.

Then become confused when they lose to inferior competitors.

-----

Pattern 2: They fall in love with big numbers

A $500k opp gets all the attention while 3 $30k deals that actually have momentum get ignored.

The big one pushes, and everything falls apart.

-----

Pattern 3: They're optimists with their forecast

The deal from April that went silent?
Still in the pipeline in "proving".

The prospect who stopped returning calls?
Just busy, definitely still interested.

The pipeline becomes fiction.

-----

Pattern 4: They avoid the hard conversations

Not only with prospects, but with themselves.

No review of what's real versus what's wishful thinking.

No killing the deals that should be killed.

-----

I, too, followed these patterns for years, until I noticed that those hitting quota did the opposite of all four.

Don't make the same mistakes that I did.

What others would you add?

Fun fact about me: I've never owned a dog.

But I draw them pretty regularly, because...

1. I like to draw, and they're easier than humans
   
2. Their owners seem to enjoy my average sketches 

3. They make good gifts, and I'm terrible at shopping

So if you're looking for a hand-drawn sketch of your pet as a holiday gift, shoot me a DM. 

P.S. Also works if you're terrible at shopping and need something for the person who has everything except a mediocre drawing of their pet.

What’s your favorite holiday movie - BUT you can only comment a quote from the movie not the title. I’ll go first…

“Sh*tter was full”

5 ways to open your prospecting emails without saying "I hope this finds you well":


The personal nod:
I saw you [interesting thing they did/or like]....

The referral:
[Mutual connection] suggested I reach out...

The boss's vision:
Caught your CEO's interview and [something they said]

The persona problem:
In talking with [persona] 2 things keep coming up. [problem 1] and [problem 2].

The teacher:
[Interesting fact or data point about industry/trend/problem]...

Attention spans are shorter than ever.

Grab it in the first line.

What other ways would you add?

Think about your last great purchase decision.

Did the salesperson wow you with their pitch?

Or did they ask the right questions?

Did they dominate the conversation?

Or did they make space for you to think out loud?

The sellers who consistently win deals understand:

Customers don't buy from people who talk the most.

They buy from people who understand them best.

And understanding requires:

• Listening without planning your next sentence
• Asking follow-up questions instead of moving to features
• Creating space for them to articulate their actual needs
• Observing what they're not saying

The sales profession doesn't need more "smooth" talkers.

It needs more thinkers.

Agree or disagree?

Live look at every customer we have open Q4 deals with...

I've spent 10 years leading AE & AM teams and managing $60M+ territories. Here are 5 lessons I wish I had known before I started:

1. 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗻, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲

Most sellers think more time = more deals.
So they:

• Join every call
• Take every meeting
• Chase every opportunity

I've seen $100k deals lost to $100 distractions.

The best sellers use time as a weapon:

They cut what doesn't matter
To double down on what does

A focused hour beats a busy day.

-----

2. 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀

I used to pride myself on 60+ hour weeks.

Then I discovered something counterintuitive:

My best quarters came when I worked less but worked smarter.

Implemented a Deep Work System:

• 3x strategic work completion
• 23% fewer internal meetings
• Higher win rates

-----

3. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗽

New sales leaders think they need to:

• Solve every problem
• Have every answer
• Fight every battle

It's exhausting. It's isolating.
And it's completely unnecessary.

Great leaders build network, not silos:

• Build support system across teams
• Lean on peer leaders for advice
• Share wins and losses openly

Your success scales as soon as you stop trying to be the hero of every story.

-----

4. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 "𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗢𝗻"

Browser tab overwhelm
Calendar Tetris anxiety
Notification hell

I built a Focus System that:

• Cut notifications by 67%
• Reduced email time by 73%
• Created actual weekend freedom

Your devices work for you.
Not the other way around.

-----

5. 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲

"Just work harder" is lazy advice.

Top performers stack "mini-systems" to scale their impact, not their hours.

-----

What others would you add?

P.S. Here's where I share more about my favorite 'mini-systems' https://lnkd.in/ewB99KND

taplio

Keith Weightman's Linkedin Analytics

Keith Weightman

Performance ScoreKeith Weightman's LinkedIn Performance

What is Keith talking about?

Who is engaging with Keith

Keith Weightman's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

.css-6ytdur{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39, 43, 72, 1) 0%, rgba(33, 47, 183, 1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Keith Weightman's Linkedin Analytics

Keith Weightman

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Keith Weightman's LinkedIn Performance

What is Keith talking about?

Who is engaging with Keith

Keith Weightman's Best Posts .css-1emoo84{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:400;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);}(last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Keith Weightman's Linkedin Analytics

Performance ScoreKeith Weightman's LinkedIn Performance

Keith Weightman's Best Posts (last 30 days)