Introduction
This document is not a sales pitch. It’s a working memo—our way of thinking out loud with those who operate like we do.
Each month, we surface operating truths from the field—patterns, leverage points, and friction spots we’re observing inside real sales organizations. These aren’t theories. They’re reflections—hard-won from inside the work.
Some will confirm what you already feel. Some may challenge what you think you know. All of them are meant to help you see your system more clearly.
Overview
Sales organizations don’t usually fail for lack of effort. They fail because the process gets noisy, unclear, or misaligned. This month, we stepped back and looked for the fault lines—not in what’s being done, but in how it’s being decided.
Here’s what stood out:
- Teams are chasing net-new pipeline while neglecting millions in already-warmed follow-ups.
- Response time continues to be the most undervalued predictor of conversion.
- Connection rates are collapsing, and it’s not about rep skill—it’s about carrier behavior.
- Show rates are more about emotional commitment than calendar links.
- Set rate dips are often misdiagnosed—leading to the wrong interventions.
- Many orgs still don’t have a clear definition of what makes a lead truly “qualified.”
- AI is no longer theoretical—it’s operational. We’ve deployed multiple agents live across client accounts.
- Sales Ops is being used to cover for weak leadership instead of to scale strong process.
- And lastly: a new channel has arrived. Instagram DMs are now a real pipeline—with attribution, logic, and scale.
All of these signal the same core truth:
There is more leverage in refinement than in reinvention.
The Nine Principles This Month
- Before building more pipeline, collect what’s already yours.
- Every minute you delay, you’re buying back your own trust at a premium.
- You can’t outsell a bad signal. Protect your phone numbers like assets.
- The calendar isn’t commitment—emotion is.
- Track shifts in behavior before declaring performance failure.
- Define the line between MQL and SQL—or watch morale die chasing ghosts.
- AI won’t replace your reps—but it will expose every inefficiency around them.
- Sales Ops is the COO. Sales Leadership is the CEO. One sets direction. The other makes it executable.
- New channels don’t come with playbooks. Build one before your competitors do.
I. Revenue Hiding in Plain Sight
(The SmartView Audit That Uncovered $2.1M)
Earlier this month, I ran a simple audit across a few client CRMs. No AI. No fancy dashboards. Just pattern recognition and curiosity.
I built a Smart View with these filters:
- Call Completed: Exists (Demo, Discovery, Strategy, etc.)
- Outcome: Follow-Up or Long-Term Follow-Up
- Incomplete Tasks: Less than 1
- Upcoming Meetings: None
- Latest Communication: Over 30 days ago
In short: Deals with interest shown… but silence ever since.
Here’s what we found:
- Client 1: 1,314 deals | AOV $9,997 → ~$1.3M in idle revenue
- Client 2: 349 deals | AOV $10,000 → ~$349K in ghosted pipeline
- Client 3: 153 deals | AOV $29,000 → ~$435K forgotten
- Client 4: 24 deals | AOV $6,000 → ~$14K neglected
Over $2.1M in total. All with a conservative 10% close rate.
The humbling part? I nearly missed it. I was too focused on "more leads," "more traffic," "top of funnel." But the money was sitting mid-funnel—just waiting for attention.
Principle:
Before building more pipeline, collect what’s already yours.
II. Speed-to-Lead: The Hidden Drop-Off Curve
Every lead has a half-life. Here’s what we continue to observe:
- 0–5 min: Peak performance window. 8–10x more likely to convert.
- ~1 hr: Still decent, but urgency fades.
- ~8 hr: 70–80% drop. Most leads cool off.
- ~16 hr: 80–90% decay. They barely remember the form they filled
- ~24 hr+: 90–99% drop. You're cold again.
It’s not just speed—it’s intent decay.
Principle:
Every minute you delay, you’re buying back your own trust at a premium.
III. Connection Rates Are Collapsing—And It’s Not Your Reps’ Fault
Connection rates are no longer what they were five years ago. Here's why:
- Carrier Behavior (STIR/SHAKEN): “Spam Likely” kills contact attempts.
- Prospect Fatigue: People screen calls more aggressively than ever.
- Local Presence Dialing Is Dying: Consumers are catching on.
- Number Burnout: Reused numbers trigger blocking algorithms.
Modern Reality:
Even great SDRs won’t fix this if the infrastructure is broken.
Principle:
You can’t outsell a bad signal. Protect your phone numbers like assets.
IV. Show-Up Rates: What’s Working (and What’s Not)
For high-ticket coaching and consulting, current benchmarks:
- Cold Leads: 30–50% show-up
- Warm (Referrals): 50–70%
- Pre-Qualified Applicants: 70–90%
What improves show-up:
- Reminder systems (SMS + email)
- Clear call value communicated upfront
- Pre-call nurturing content
- Qualifying through applications
What kills show-up:
- Weak confirmation process
- Lack of emotional commitment pre-call
- Long booking delays post-opt-in
Principle:
The calendar isn’t commitment—emotion is.
V. Set Rate Drop? Investigate Before You Panic
Before blaming reps, look upstream:
- Did your traffic source change?
- Did the targeting, content, or CTA shift?
- Are you tracking credit scores or financial filters?
- Has your setter’s messaging changed?
The system changed. The rep just inherited it.
Principle:
Track shifts in behavior before declaring performance failure.
VI. SQL ≠ MQL: Get Your Definitions Right
Sales organizations burn out when they chase the wrong leads too early.
Your team needs a unified definition of:
- MQL: Ready for nurture or automation
- SQL: Ready for a human conversation
Every org has to balance:
- Quality vs. Volume
- Speed vs. Fit
- Effort vs. Reward
There’s no perfect answer—just a system you revisit monthly.
Principle:
Define the line between MQL and SQL—or watch morale die chasing ghosts.
VII. AI in Sales Ops: Not Theory—Tactical Now
If you’re not using AI agents to augment your sales process, you're behind. Here’s what’s already live in production:
- Follow-Up Agents: Analyze sales calls → send recap + CTA
- Deal Risk Auditors: Score pipeline deals based on red flags in transcripts
- Content Generators: Create assets that pre-handle objections based on real sales conversations
- Metric Assistants: Text an AI agent to get live sales metrics
- Custom Script Builders: Personalized scripts based on enriched data and persona research
Built in n8n, triggered by real events, delivering real results.
Principle:
AI won’t replace your reps—but it will expose every inefficiency around them.
VIII. Sales Ops vs Sales Management: Know the Line
Too often, Sales Ops is asked to do the job Sales Management won’t.
- Sales Ops creates systems.
- Sales Management enforces accountability.
If your Ops team is chasing down rep activity, you don’t have an Ops problem—you have a leadership problem.
Principle:
Sales Ops is the COO. Sales Leadership is the CEO. One sets direction. The other makes it executable.
IX. New Channel Watch: Instagram DMs Are Becoming a Real Sales Channel
This is not hype—it’s infrastructure catching up to behavior.
Over the last 90 days, we’ve seen a dramatic uptick in serious buyers originating in Instagram DMs. But until now, most orgs couldn’t track, manage, or attribute revenue from IG like they could with email or calls.
That changes now.
Enter: Ellipsend.
The first real social CRM for Instagram.
It lets your team:
- Track all DM conversations in a clean pipeline
- Attribute revenue to actual messages
- Route and tag leads based on message triggers
- Deploy outbound setting logic inside the app
- See Instagram DMs inside your sales process—not outside of it
For high-trust brands with active IG presence, this is a channel unlock—not just a tool.
Principle:
New channels don’t come with playbooks. Build one before your competitors do.
Final Thought
The best operators don’t obsess over what’s working now.
They study friction. They investigate the quiet drop-offs. They look where others don’t.
This month, one insight kept repeating:
The money is usually already in the system—you’re just not looking at it from the right angle.
See it. Reclaim it. Refine the machine.
— Jordan Park
CEO, RevPilot
Introduction
This document is not a sales pitch. It’s a working memo—our way of thinking out loud with those who operate like we do.
Each month, we surface operating truths from the field—patterns, leverage points, and friction spots we’re observing inside real sales organizations. These aren’t theories. They’re reflections—hard-won from inside the work.
Some will confirm what you already feel. Some may challenge what you think you know. All of them are meant to help you see your system more clearly.
Overview
Sales organizations don’t usually fail for lack of effort. They fail because the process gets noisy, unclear, or misaligned. This month, we stepped back and looked for the fault lines—not in what’s being done, but in how it’s being decided.
Here’s what stood out:
- Teams are chasing net-new pipeline while neglecting millions in already-warmed follow-ups.
- Response time continues to be the most undervalued predictor of conversion.
- Connection rates are collapsing, and it’s not about rep skill—it’s about carrier behavior.
- Show rates are more about emotional commitment than calendar links.
- Set rate dips are often misdiagnosed—leading to the wrong interventions.
- Many orgs still don’t have a clear definition of what makes a lead truly “qualified.”
- AI is no longer theoretical—it’s operational. We’ve deployed multiple agents live across client accounts.
- Sales Ops is being used to cover for weak leadership instead of to scale strong process.
- And lastly: a new channel has arrived. Instagram DMs are now a real pipeline—with attribution, logic, and scale.
All of these signal the same core truth:
There is more leverage in refinement than in reinvention.
The Nine Principles This Month
- Before building more pipeline, collect what’s already yours.
- Every minute you delay, you’re buying back your own trust at a premium.
- You can’t outsell a bad signal. Protect your phone numbers like assets.
- The calendar isn’t commitment—emotion is.
- Track shifts in behavior before declaring performance failure.
- Define the line between MQL and SQL—or watch morale die chasing ghosts.
- AI won’t replace your reps—but it will expose every inefficiency around them.
- Sales Ops is the COO. Sales Leadership is the CEO. One sets direction. The other makes it executable.
- New channels don’t come with playbooks. Build one before your competitors do.
I. Revenue Hiding in Plain Sight
(The SmartView Audit That Uncovered $2.1M)
Earlier this month, I ran a simple audit across a few client CRMs. No AI. No fancy dashboards. Just pattern recognition and curiosity.
I built a Smart View with these filters:
- Call Completed: Exists (Demo, Discovery, Strategy, etc.)
- Outcome: Follow-Up or Long-Term Follow-Up
- Incomplete Tasks: Less than 1
- Upcoming Meetings: None
- Latest Communication: Over 30 days ago
In short: Deals with interest shown… but silence ever since.
Here’s what we found:
- Client 1: 1,314 deals | AOV $9,997 → ~$1.3M in idle revenue
- Client 2: 349 deals | AOV $10,000 → ~$349K in ghosted pipeline
- Client 3: 153 deals | AOV $29,000 → ~$435K forgotten
- Client 4: 24 deals | AOV $6,000 → ~$14K neglected
Over $2.1M in total. All with a conservative 10% close rate.
The humbling part? I nearly missed it. I was too focused on "more leads," "more traffic," "top of funnel." But the money was sitting mid-funnel—just waiting for attention.
Principle:
Before building more pipeline, collect what’s already yours.
II. Speed-to-Lead: The Hidden Drop-Off Curve
Every lead has a half-life. Here’s what we continue to observe:
- 0–5 min: Peak performance window. 8–10x more likely to convert.
- ~1 hr: Still decent, but urgency fades.
- ~8 hr: 70–80% drop. Most leads cool off.
- ~16 hr: 80–90% decay. They barely remember the form they filled
- ~24 hr+: 90–99% drop. You're cold again.
It’s not just speed—it’s intent decay.
Principle:
Every minute you delay, you’re buying back your own trust at a premium.
III. Connection Rates Are Collapsing—And It’s Not Your Reps’ Fault
Connection rates are no longer what they were five years ago. Here's why:
- Carrier Behavior (STIR/SHAKEN): “Spam Likely” kills contact attempts.
- Prospect Fatigue: People screen calls more aggressively than ever.
- Local Presence Dialing Is Dying: Consumers are catching on.
- Number Burnout: Reused numbers trigger blocking algorithms.
Modern Reality:
Even great SDRs won’t fix this if the infrastructure is broken.
Principle:
You can’t outsell a bad signal. Protect your phone numbers like assets.
IV. Show-Up Rates: What’s Working (and What’s Not)
For high-ticket coaching and consulting, current benchmarks:
- Cold Leads: 30–50% show-up
- Warm (Referrals): 50–70%
- Pre-Qualified Applicants: 70–90%
What improves show-up:
- Reminder systems (SMS + email)
- Clear call value communicated upfront
- Pre-call nurturing content
- Qualifying through applications
What kills show-up:
- Weak confirmation process
- Lack of emotional commitment pre-call
- Long booking delays post-opt-in
Principle:
The calendar isn’t commitment—emotion is.
V. Set Rate Drop? Investigate Before You Panic
Before blaming reps, look upstream:
- Did your traffic source change?
- Did the targeting, content, or CTA shift?
- Are you tracking credit scores or financial filters?
- Has your setter’s messaging changed?
The system changed. The rep just inherited it.
Principle:
Track shifts in behavior before declaring performance failure.
VI. SQL ≠ MQL: Get Your Definitions Right
Sales organizations burn out when they chase the wrong leads too early.
Your team needs a unified definition of:
- MQL: Ready for nurture or automation
- SQL: Ready for a human conversation
Every org has to balance:
- Quality vs. Volume
- Speed vs. Fit
- Effort vs. Reward
There’s no perfect answer—just a system you revisit monthly.
Principle:
Define the line between MQL and SQL—or watch morale die chasing ghosts.
VII. AI in Sales Ops: Not Theory—Tactical Now
If you’re not using AI agents to augment your sales process, you're behind. Here’s what’s already live in production:
- Follow-Up Agents: Analyze sales calls → send recap + CTA
- Deal Risk Auditors: Score pipeline deals based on red flags in transcripts
- Content Generators: Create assets that pre-handle objections based on real sales conversations
- Metric Assistants: Text an AI agent to get live sales metrics
- Custom Script Builders: Personalized scripts based on enriched data and persona research
Built in n8n, triggered by real events, delivering real results.
Principle:
AI won’t replace your reps—but it will expose every inefficiency around them.
VIII. Sales Ops vs Sales Management: Know the Line
Too often, Sales Ops is asked to do the job Sales Management won’t.
- Sales Ops creates systems.
- Sales Management enforces accountability.
If your Ops team is chasing down rep activity, you don’t have an Ops problem—you have a leadership problem.
Principle:
Sales Ops is the COO. Sales Leadership is the CEO. One sets direction. The other makes it executable.
IX. New Channel Watch: Instagram DMs Are Becoming a Real Sales Channel
This is not hype—it’s infrastructure catching up to behavior.
Over the last 90 days, we’ve seen a dramatic uptick in serious buyers originating in Instagram DMs. But until now, most orgs couldn’t track, manage, or attribute revenue from IG like they could with email or calls.
That changes now.
Enter: Ellipsend.
The first real social CRM for Instagram.
It lets your team:
- Track all DM conversations in a clean pipeline
- Attribute revenue to actual messages
- Route and tag leads based on message triggers
- Deploy outbound setting logic inside the app
- See Instagram DMs inside your sales process—not outside of it
For high-trust brands with active IG presence, this is a channel unlock—not just a tool.
Principle:
New channels don’t come with playbooks. Build one before your competitors do.
Final Thought
The best operators don’t obsess over what’s working now.
They study friction. They investigate the quiet drop-offs. They look where others don’t.
This month, one insight kept repeating:
The money is usually already in the system—you’re just not looking at it from the right angle.
See it. Reclaim it. Refine the machine.
— Jordan Park
CEO, RevPilot
