Most sales teams want to win. But too many rely on gut instinct, believing that a mix of natural talent, charisma, and relentless hustle will push them over the line. Paul Fannon, Global CRO at Bottom Line, has seen this thinking play out over his 30-year career, and he’s here to tell you why it’s wrong.
Sales isn’t magic. It isn’t luck. It’s a science.
On Coach to Scale, Paul sat down with Matt Benelli to share what separates high-performing sales organizations from those that miss quota. His lessons? Stop wasting sales calls. Stop managing off instinct. Build a structured, repeatable process, and develop both your sellers and your managers to execute it at a high level. If you’re a CRO looking to create a more effective, efficient revenue engine, here’s what you need to know.
Sales Success is a Science, Not an Art
Many sales leaders still believe that selling is an art form—that the best reps are the ones with a gift for persuasion. Paul disagrees. “Sales is all about process, it’s all about data, and it’s all about the customer,” he explains.
He’s not saying soft skills don’t matter. Listening, curiosity, and emotional intelligence are critical. But they need to be applied within a structured framework. Without a process, you’re relying on talent alone, and talent alone is unreliable.
The best sales teams don’t win because they have more gifted reps. They win because they run a tighter system. They’ve built a structured, data-backed approach that eliminates wasted effort and maximizes every interaction.
No More Wasted Sales Calls
A wasted sales call is a drain on your team’s energy and productivity. Paul believes that every sales conversation should be high-value, with reps engaging the right prospects at the right time. A disciplined approach to prospecting, qualification, and follow-through is the key.
Too many teams let reps operate with minimal structure, hoping that sheer activity volume will yield results. But sales isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing better. When managers coach their reps on executing high-quality calls and leveraging data to target the best opportunities, pipeline grows, close rates improve, and sales cycles shorten.
Work Ethic: You Can’t Teach It, But You Can Uncover It
One of Paul’s core beliefs is that work ethic is an essential ingredient in sales success but it’s not something you can teach. Instead, great leaders recognize and unlock work ethic in their teams.
“I have found people who have it and don’t know they have it,” Paul says. The key is creating an environment that rewards discipline and consistency. Some reps just need a push. They need to see that making more calls, refining their pitch, and sticking to a process will actually produce results. That’s where frontline managers come in.
Great sales leaders don’t just track activity. They help reps recognize what’s working, reinforce strong behaviors, and create a culture where effort translates into success.
Why Your Frontline Managers Are Your Biggest Competitive Advantage
Too many sales orgs fall into the same trap: they promote top sellers into management roles and assume success will follow. But sales leadership is an entirely different skill set and most new managers aren’t trained for it.
“The reality is, being a good seller is a great talent,” Paul explains. “But to be a good manager is a very different skill set.”
The best sales teams don’t just coach their reps; they coach their managers. They train them to hold their teams accountable, adapt their coaching approach to different rep personalities, and reinforce a structured process. A strong frontline manager can multiply the effectiveness of an entire team. A weak one lets inconsistency and bad habits take root.
If your frontline leaders don’t know how to coach, develop, and manage performance, your reps won’t improve. And if your reps aren’t improving, your pipeline and revenue won’t either.
Data-Driven Sales: The End of Instinct-Based Selling
Paul has a clear stance on sales forecasting and deal management: instinct is not a strategy. “If you’re relying on gut feeling, you’re introducing unnecessary risk,” he says.
The best sales teams remove guesswork from the equation. They use data to measure pipeline health, identify coaching opportunities, and ensure reps are executing the right behaviors at the right time.
But here’s where many sales orgs go wrong: they have too much data and no way to use it effectively. Paul believes technology should simplify decision-making, not complicate it. When sales leaders focus on the right data (conversion rates, activity consistency, pipeline progression) they can coach more effectively and drive more predictable results.
Coaching Beyond Deals
One of the biggest mistakes managers make is only coaching around deals. Paul sees it all the time—sales managers who jump from pipeline review to pipeline review, never actually developing their reps’ skills.
Great coaching isn’t about inspecting the forecast. It’s about teaching reps how to run better calls, ask the right questions, and handle objections more effectively. It’s about developing the behaviors that lead to better results, not just measuring the results themselves.
If your managers only talk about deals, you’re missing the bigger picture. True coaching drives long-term improvement, making reps better at selling, not just better at reporting.
Want a More Efficient, Effective Sales Team? Start With Coaching
- Stop treating sales like an art form. Build a structured, data-driven process that removes guesswork and drives repeatable success.
- Eliminate wasted sales calls. Make sure reps are calling the right people, at the right time, with the right message.
- Unlock work ethic in your team. You can’t teach grit, but you can create an environment that rewards discipline and consistency.
- Invest in your frontline managers. If they don’t know how to coach, your reps won’t improve—and your pipeline will suffer.
- Coach beyond the deal. Great sales teams don’t just track numbers; they develop the skills that drive better numbers.
If you want to dig deeper into Paul’s insights and learn how top CROs are using data and coaching to build high-performance teams, listen to the full episode of Coach to Scale.
