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Sales Excellence Trajectory

Your managers know what needs to change.
They rarely have time to make it happen.

An embedded, multi-month engagement where I act as the rep development function that should exist but doesn't — directed by the VP, executed on the ground.

For VP Sales, Head of Sales, CRO B2B SaaS & AI scale-ups · 50–300 FTE 4–5 months · 1–2 days per week embedded
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How the engagement works

VP+ sets direction. I handle execution. You get visibility throughout.

You set the direction

Target KPIs agreed upfront — win rate, discounting, pipeline quality, forecast accuracy. The engagement is built backward from outcomes you commit to.

I handle the execution

Baseline, individual rep coaching, manager development, group training — embedded with your team for 4 to 5 months. No status meetings about the work; just the work.

You get milestone visibility

Structured check-ins throughout. KPI progress tracked in Coachboard in real time — no status requests needed. Sign-offs at three milestones across the trajectory.

What this is

Not a training. An embedded commercial development programme.

Most companies invest in training sessions and find habits revert within weeks. The Sales Excellence Trajectory is different: I embed with your team for 4 to 5 months, acting as the rep development function that managers should own but rarely have the bandwidth to execute. The VP+ sets the direction and the target KPIs. I build and run the engagement from the ground up — baseline, individual coaching, manager development in parallel, and a codified commercial system handed over at the end.

The manager sets the ceiling

I work with managers in parallel throughout — not to explain the method, but to build their coaching capability so the system runs independently after I leave.

Every rep gets individual North Star KPIs

After the baseline, each rep gets one coaching focus per month — a leading KPI tied to the VP's high-level targets. Specific, measurable, agreed with the rep directly.

Nothing begins without a baseline

Intensive call reviews, KPI analysis, manager shadowing — 2 to 3 weeks of assessment before a single coaching session runs. The engagement is built on evidence, not assumptions.

Everything tracked in Coachboard

Call review scores, KPI progress per rep, coaching session logs — tracked in real time. The VP+ has visibility at any point without needing to ask for a status update.

The engagement

Four phases across 4–5 months

The structure is consistent. The content is built entirely around what the baseline reveals and the KPIs agreed with the VP+ at the start.

Phase 1Baseline Assessment
Phase 2Training & Standards
Phase 3Coaching Trajectory
Phase 4Codification & Handover
Phase 1 Weeks 1–3

Baseline Assessment

Before anything is built, I map the real gaps — rep by rep, manager by manager. I start with a commercial maturity assessment to understand the company's processes, pipeline quality, and management structure. Then intensive call reviews (minimum 6 per rep), KPI analysis, and manager shadowing. After 2 to 3 weeks I present findings to the VP+ for sign-off, then hold individual sessions with each rep to share my assessment and agree their North Star coaching KPIs — creating explicit buy-in before coaching begins.

Rep assessment
  • Commercial maturity model — process, pipeline, people, playbook
  • Minimum 6 calls reviewed per rep on a standardised framework
  • KPI review: conversion rates, deal velocity, discounting
  • North Star KPI agreed individually with each rep
Manager assessment
  • Coaching cadence, inspection depth, enforcement assessed
  • Pipeline reviews, forecast calls, 1:1s shadowed
  • Forecasting accuracy reviewed against CRM data
  • Findings aligned with VP+ before plan is confirmed
Milestone 1 — VP+ sign-off on baseline findings
Phase 2 End of Month 1

Group Training — Setting the Standard

Before individual coaching can work, the team needs a shared language and a common quality bar. The first group training is built around the most commonly encountered issues from the baseline — every example comes from the team's own calls. A second training block follows 6 to 8 weeks later as new focus areas emerge from the ongoing coaching work.

What this establishes
  • Non-negotiable selling standards the whole team operates to
  • A shared language that makes 1:1 coaching and peer feedback consistent
  • A quality bar managers can inspect against in pipeline reviews
  • Live roleplay and feedback using the team's own calls — not generic examples
  • SETUP methodology — Spot, Explain, Fix, Use — applied across every session
Phase 3 Months 1–4

Individual & Group Coaching Trajectory

After the first training, the weekly rhythm begins — alternating between group training, 1:1 coaching, and group coaching sessions. Each rep works on one North Star KPI per month with structured homework between sessions. Managers are coached in parallel: high-touch shadowing and direct feedback in month one, moving toward independent execution by month three. By then, managers are running their own sessions using the same framework.

Rep coaching
  • One North Star KPI focus per rep per month
  • Weekly or bi-weekly 1:1 sessions (~30 min each)
  • Homework: call reviews, AI roleplays, live deal work
  • Group coaching sessions on shared focus areas
  • All sessions logged in Coachboard
Manager coaching
  • Weekly shadowing + direct feedback in month 1
  • Bi-weekly from month 2 as ownership transfers
  • Managers join rep sessions to learn the method
  • Standardised deal inspection checklist introduced
  • Pipeline review and forecast discipline reinforced
Milestone 2 — mid-term review with VP+
Phase 4 Months 4–5

Codification & Handover

The goal is a system that runs without external input after the engagement ends. By this point managers are coaching independently. The final phase documents everything built and hands it over so the work persists — and new hires ramp into the same standards from day one.

What gets documented
  • Sales playbook — standards, frameworks, non-negotiables
  • Manager coaching playbook — cadence, inspection checklist
  • Onboarding framework for new hires
  • Individual KPI baselines for continuity
The handover goal
  • Managers run structured coaching independently
  • VP+ has full visibility via Coachboard
  • New reps ramp into the system, not around it
  • Standards persist beyond the engagement
Milestone 3 — final review and handover sign-off with VP+
Coachboard

Real-time visibility — without asking for a status update

Every coaching session, call review score, and KPI movement — tracked live

Coachboard is a purpose-built tracking tool that logs every coaching session, call review score, and KPI movement throughout the engagement. The VP+ has access at all times — progress is visible, not just reported at milestones.

Each rep has a live coaching plan showing their North Star KPI, current score versus target, recent call review trends, and upcoming homework. Managers have their own view showing team-wide patterns and coaching session activity.

Coachboard tracking tool — North Star KPIs and AI coaching suggestions
From 20+ commercial assessments

What 20+ commercial assessments show about where GTM teams break down

The pattern is consistent across companies. Static, RevOps-driven elements score well — they can be built once and left running. The closer a capability gets to daily management practice, the lower it scores. The Sales Excellence Trajectory closes that gap by working on reps and managers simultaneously, with the VP+ holding the direction.

0.52
Lowest score — management capabilities and structures. The hardest capability to build, the easiest to neglect.
1.56
Average score for static, RevOps-driven elements. Build once, score well — but it's not where competitive advantage lives.
0%
Of companies analysed had formal management training in place. Reps get enablement. Managers get a title.
What the data shows

Across 20+ B2B SaaS companies assessed, the picture is the same: strategy is in place, the playbooks exist, the tooling is mature. What's missing is the daily management layer that turns all of that into rep behaviour. Without it, the same gaps reappear quarter after quarter.

Why training alone does not fix it

A training sets a standard. Without a manager reinforcing it in 1:1s and pipeline reviews, reps revert to their habits within weeks. This engagement builds the management layer in parallel — so standards are enforced long after the final session ends.

Scores from the B2B SaaS Commercial Maturity Report — assessments of 20+ B2B SaaS companies across the Netherlands, Belgium, and DACH, conducted between 2019 and 2026. Scale: 0 to 2.

Is this for you?

This engagement is right for you if any of this sounds familiar

You can see the numbers but not the cause
Win rates are slipping, discounting is creeping up — but you are one step removed from execution and do not have the bandwidth to diagnose and fix it yourself.
You have done training before and it faded
Good sessions, strong feedback — and three months later the team was back to old habits. You need something that stays in the room after the workshop ends.
Your managers are not developing their reps
They know they should coach more, but pipeline reviews, forecasting, and escalations eat the week. Rep development is always the thing that falls to the bottom of the list.
The team ceiling is the manager ceiling
Some managers run tight, high-performing teams. Others are inconsistent. That variance costs you pipeline, forecast accuracy, and talent — every quarter.
You are scaling and need a commercial system
New hires ramp slowly and inconsistently. Best practices live in the heads of your top reps. Without codified standards, every new hire figures it out on their own.
You need outcomes, not activities
You want measurable movement on win rates, discounting, or pipeline quality — not a training day, a slide deck, and a hope that something changes.
What clients say

Results that speak for themselves

"
Nils has trained and coached our young Sales team super professionally in less than 4 months and helped them tremendously to become real Sales professionals.
IT
Igo Trampe
Co-founder · Trengo
"
The baseline analysis alone was worth it. We finally understood what was actually holding the team back — not what we assumed was holding them back.
MR
Michel Rasing
Sales Lead · Channable
"
What made the difference was that Nils worked with our managers in parallel. The coaching stuck because the managers were reinforcing the same standards in their 1:1s.
MW
Matthias Wolf
CCO / Co-Founder · Firstbird
FAQ

Frequently asked about this engagement

How is this different from a standalone training?
A training sets a standard. This engagement embeds one. The difference is what happens after the session — individual rep coaching, manager reinforcement, tracked homework, and a documented commercial system. Training is an event. This is a change in how the team operates.
Who does this engagement involve from our side?
The VP+, Head of Sales, or CRO sets the direction — target KPIs, context, and what success looks like. They are involved in the baseline sign-off and milestone check-ins, but not in the day-to-day. Reps commit approximately 60 to 90 minutes per week. Managers commit 60 to 90 minutes in the high-touch phase, reducing as they take ownership of the coaching cadence.
Can we start with just the baseline assessment?
Yes. The baseline concludes the first milestone, after which you can decide whether to proceed with the full trajectory, a lighter coaching engagement, or simply use the findings internally. There is no obligation beyond the first milestone.
What size of team does this work for?
The engagement works best for teams of four to fifteen individual contributors with one to three managers. Smaller teams benefit from full individual coaching intensity. Larger teams use a combination of individual and group coaching, with the cadence adjusted to maintain quality without diluting impact.
How do you measure success?
Against the KPIs agreed with the VP+ at the start. These are typically leading indicators — call quality scores, pipeline multithreading rates, discount frequency — that predict the lagging metrics like win rate and deal size. Coachboard tracks progress in real time, and each milestone check-in includes a before-and-after view of where each rep stands against their North Star KPI.
Is this remote or on-site?
Both. Most coaching sessions and manager work run remotely. On-site presence is typically 1 to 2 days per week depending on the engagement scope — particularly during the baseline phase and key training sessions. I work across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Let's start with a conversation

Tell me what you are seeing in the numbers and what you have already tried. I will come back with a view on whether a Sales Excellence engagement is the right fit.

Start the conversation → Free Rep Gap Analysis first