You've been there before. The board meeting ends, and you're walking out with a number that makes your stomach drop. The CEO just handed you a revenue target that seems impossible to reach. Your first instinct? Start hiring more sales reps.
But what if there's a smarter way?
Ned Arick, Director of Business Strategy at Acquisition.com, who helped build and lead Beam Solar Co's revenue team to 8-figure year-one growth, has a different approach. Instead of immediately expanding headcount when faced with aggressive targets, Ned relies on a data-driven framework that starts with one simple question: "What can we actually achieve today?"
In this article, we'll analyze Ned's proven 5-step blueprint for turning seemingly impossible sales targets into achievable goals through strategic analysis and cross-departmental collaboration.
When leaders receive aggressive growth targets from the board, the natural response is often panic. The CEO promises ambitious numbers, and suddenly everyone's scrambling to hire more sales people without considering whether that's actually the solution.
"Often leaders panic and start hiring more people instead of using the available resources," Ned explains. This knee-jerk reaction can be costly and ineffective. Adding headcount without understanding your current capacity and conversion rates is like throwing money at a problem you haven't properly diagnosed.
Ned's philosophy centers on a crucial principle: "Get as close to that number as possible with current headcount, current conversion rates, current stack." This isn't about settling for mediocrity – it's about being strategic with your resources and understanding your baseline before making investments.
Instead of immediately hiring, Ned starts with a reality check that answers three fundamental questions:
This data-driven approach not only saves money but often reveals opportunities that would be missed in the chaos of rapid hiring.
When facing an impossible target, communication with leadership becomes critical. Ned uses what he calls the VVP framework to structure these conversations:
Vision - What the CEO wants (the ambitious target)
Victory - What success actually looks like (realistic expectations)
Programs - The specific steps to get there (your action plan)
"When you come with data-driven VVP, you'll see the board go: 'If you hit 90% of target, we're good,'" Ned shares.
This framework helps set realistic expectations while demonstrating your strategic thinking.
The key is presenting data rather than opinions. Instead of saying "this target is impossible," you're showing exactly what's achievable and what it would take to get there. This approach builds credibility and often results in more flexible expectations from leadership.
Before implementing any sales enablement strategies or hiring decisions, Ned conducts a comprehensive analysis of the current state. When he joins a new revenue organization, he asks three critical questions:
What's the goal and timeline? Understanding not just the target number but the timeframe gives context for what's actually possible.
What's our current capacity? This means looking at your existing team's bandwidth, current conversion rates, and productivity levels.
Where are the conversion gaps? Identifying where prospects drop out of your funnel reveals the highest-impact improvement opportunities.
"I want to understand what changes can be made versus what changes should be made," Ned explains. This distinction is crucial – just because you can implement a change doesn't mean it's the right priority.
The data check phase often reveals that the biggest opportunities aren't about adding more sales reps, but about optimizing what you already have in place.
One of Ned's most powerful strategies is splitting the revenue gap across departments rather than placing the entire burden on sales. This collaborative approach often uncovers solutions that wouldn't be visible if you're only looking at the sales team.
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Marketing can contribute to closing the gap through:
Your existing customer base represents significant revenue potential:
When you frame the challenge as a company-wide initiative rather than just a sales problem, you often discover that the "impossible" target becomes much more achievable through coordinated efforts.
Transparency builds trust, especially when dealing with aggressive targets. Ned recommends presenting your findings to leadership with complete honesty about what's realistic and what's not.
"Here's the number you gave me. Here's realistically what we can do," Ned explains. This conversation should include:
This approach positions you as a strategic partner rather than someone making excuses. You're not just identifying problems – you're presenting solutions and realistic scenarios.
When you do need additional resources or tools, the CFO conversation becomes much easier when you have concrete numbers to back up your requests.
Ned contrasts two approaches:
"I want this $20K tool, buy it for me"
vs
"Spending $15 more per lead doubles our close rate, putting $1,500 back in your pocket"
The second approach works because it demonstrates clear return on investment. When you can show that an AI sales coaching platform or other sales enablement tool will generate specific results, the business case becomes obvious.
This data-driven approach to resource requests builds credibility and makes future conversations easier. CFOs appreciate leaders who think in terms of investment returns rather than just expenses.
Throughout this entire process, Ned emphasizes the importance of daily metrics monitoring. "Daily metrics should be your early warning system," he advises. This means tracking not just lagging indicators like closed revenue, but leading indicators that predict future performance.
Key metrics to monitor daily include:
When you have real-time visibility into these metrics, you can make adjustments quickly rather than waiting until the end of the quarter to realize you're off track.
To implement Ned's data-driven approach in your organization:
Remember, the goal isn't to lower expectations – it's to create a realistic path to ambitious targets while building credibility with leadership.
Facing impossible sales targets doesn't have to lead to panic hiring or unrealistic promises. Ned Arick's data-driven approach shows us that the smartest leaders start by understanding what they can achieve with current resources, then strategically identify the highest-impact improvements across the entire revenue organization.
By using the VVP framework to manage up, conducting thorough data analysis, collaborating across departments, and proving ROI for any investments, you can turn seemingly impossible targets into achievable goals. Most importantly, this approach builds long-term credibility with leadership and creates sustainable growth rather than short-term scrambling.
The key is to remember that daily metrics should be your early warning system, allowing you to make course corrections before small problems become big ones. When you combine this proactive monitoring with strategic thinking and cross-departmental collaboration, even the most ambitious targets become realistic.
In this episode of SellMeThisPen Podcast, Michael and Ned dive into the data-driven approach for hitting aggressive sales targets without panic hiring. They discuss how to use the VVP framework for managing up, the importance of cross-departmental collaboration, and why starting with current capacity analysis beats immediate headcount expansion.
Ned Arick is the Director of Business Strategy at Acquisition.com and helped build and lead Beam Solar Co's revenue team to 8-figure year-one growth. He's known for his data-driven leadership approach, operational excellence, and team enablement strategies that turn impossible targets into achievable goals.
