Being excellent — the CEO track starts here
Know your numbers cold, own outcomes not activity, multi-thread every account, become the DACH expert, learn the adjacent stack, certify early.
Know the numbers cold
Quota, pipeline coverage (aim 3× quota), win rate, average deal, sales cycle, renewal rate, net revenue retention. Keep a personal dashboard; forecast weekly with commit / best case / pipeline.
Own outcomes, not activity
Every account gets a measurement plan on day one (tag → conversion → CRM). Clients who can prove ROI renew; you get promoted on renewals and expansion, not first bookings.
Multi-thread
Marketing + sales + finance + agency at every account. Use Sales Navigator on your own book — practise what you sell.
Be the DACH expert
Track German B2B marketing news (OMR, W&V, Horizont, t3n), the trade-fair calendar and DSGVO rulings. Post in German on LinkedIn weekly — your SSI is a sales asset.
Learn the adjacent stack
Salesforce basics, HubSpot, GA4, Google Tag Manager, Excel/Sheets pivot tables. AEs who can read a GA4 report get invited to the CMO's meetings.
Certify and repeat
All three Marketing Labs certifications in the first quarter, then Sales Navigator and Google/Meta fundamentals for comparison fluency. Ask for a mentor in Enterprise DACH.
Books to read next: "The Long and the Short of It" (Binet & Field), "How Brands Grow" (Sharp), "Gap Selling" (Keenan), "The Challenger Sale" (Dixon & Adamson), "The Qualified Sales Leader" (McMahon).
- Renewals and expansion get you promoted, not first bookings.
- Practise what you sell: run Sales Navigator on your own book and post in German weekly.