Don't expect an AI agent to invent a successful sales process. First, have your human team identify and document what works—effective emails, scripts, and objection handling. Then, train the AI on this proven playbook to execute it flawlessly and at scale. The AI is a scaling tool, not a strategist from day one.

Your best reps are often "unconsciously competent" and can't explain their own success. Before an SKO, leaders must help these individuals deconstruct their process and build a prescriptive presentation, translating their individual "art" into a replicable science for the entire sales team.

Many companies mistakenly hire salespeople and then define their job and compensation. The correct sequence is to first determine the business need, then construct the specific job role to address it, and finally design a compensation plan that incentivizes the required activities before ever posting the job.

Sales experience on a resume can be a 'false positive.' When hiring SDRs, prioritize untrainable qualities like work ethic, mindset, and resilience over specific past roles. These character traits are a better predictor of long-term success than skills that can be taught.

Sales skills like handling objections are useless if you can't get in front of prospects. The primary bottleneck is securing meetings, not closing them. Therefore, 80% of sales enablement efforts should target this top-of-funnel challenge.

A breakthrough for new salespeople is changing their mindset on initial calls. Instead of trying to immediately find a problem to sell against, focus on making a human connection and leading with genuine curiosity. This approach lowers pressure and fosters a more collaborative discovery process.

Instead of scrapping your entire sales script after a bad call, make one small tweak. Test that change over a significant number of conversations (e.g., 10) to validate its effectiveness with data before making further adjustments. This prevents overreacting to single failures.

First-time leaders often feel pressure to have all the answers. Instead, they should embrace a "beginner's mind," openly admitting what they don't know. This creates a safe environment for the team to share mistakes and learn collaboratively, which is crucial for building a playbook from scratch.

Successful sales leaders don't just copy-paste their old playbook. They adapt it using first principles, considering the new company's specific product, user behavior, and GTM motion (like PLG). Rigidity is a common mistake that leads to failure.