This week’s for the sales leaders and CROs (or those who want to know how they think!)

If your team is in the middle of annual planning (including setting targets and making hiring / growth decisions), CRO Dougie Loan shares a simple approach built around controllable levers, not headcount. 

Check it out!

In this edition:

• Why headcount doesn’t equal growth (w/ Dougie Loan, SourceWhale)
• ICYMI: Annual planning secrets from the experts
• Expert round-up: GTM metrics in a zero-click buyer journey
• This Week’s Silo-Smashing GTM Reads

🎥 Why headcount ≠ growth: a simple, 3-lever sales planning formula 

A lot of sales leaders still plan revenue backwards from a target… then try to “hire their way” into hitting it. 

But CRO Dougie Loan says that’s one of the fastest ways to build an unrealistic plan.

“Just adding more people doesn’t mean the number goes up and to the right.”

Instead, his team plans using a simple formula built around three controllable levers (headcount isn’t one of them).

1. Start with Qualified Held Meetings (QHMs)

As Dougie explains, “A booked meeting isn’t qualified and doesn’t even mean they’ll show up.” 

Instead of looking at booked meetings, Dougie suggested measuring against QHMs, or Qualified Held Meetings.

QHMs require:

• Show-up
• CRM fit
• 3+ potential users
• Staffing/recruiting firm
• Decision-maker or influencer

Only these feed the revenue model.

2. Model revenue using 3 inputs

QHMs are the first input. The others are close rates and average deal value.

Using a simple formula (we told you it was simple!), they calculate:

QHMs × Close Rate × Average Deal Value = New Revenue

3. Decide which lever to pull

To grow faster, Dougie says they don’t ask “Who should we hire?” Instead, they ask:

• Can we increase QHMs?
• Can we improve close rate?
• Can we raise ACV through product or segment focus?

With better defined levers, they can also better determine the best growth levers.

4. Set goals people can actually hit

“If goals are unattainable, you end up with deflated people who leave,” says Dougie. 

We’ve all been in that boat. Dougie emphasizes goals that are realistic and quotas that can be 100% attained – that is what motivated the sales team. 

5. Review weekly, recalibrate quarterly

Dougie puts a bow on the process by sharing how they regularly review and recalibrate based on their progress. 

“We look at 20 key metrics every Monday… it’s the trend we’re watching.”

The TL;DR? If your 2026 plan still starts with headcount, you’re already setting yourself up to fall behind.

📝 ICYMI: Annual planning secrets from the experts

While we’re talking about annual planning, make sure you check out the recording from our recent webinar with executive leaders, talking about annual planning do’s and don’ts.

Leaders Pete Caputa, Jen Spencer, Doug Davidoff, and Jeetu Mahtani shared their best strategies for how to:

• Build a smarter system, not just new targets
• Align your teams on clear objectives
• Make planning agile and ongoing, not a one-time event
• Use data to build realistic forecast models

👉 Get the recording

🤓 Expert round-up: what are GTM teams tracking in a zero-click buyer journey?

Buyer journeys increasingly take place in “dark social” and other untrackable channels. 

And that’s got GTM teams rethinking attribution reporting, marketing investments, and measuring pipeline. 

In our new expert round-up, 25 GTM and agency leaders describe how they’re operating when influence is real, but tracking isn’t. 

👉 Read the round-up

🤝 This week’s silo-smashing GTM reads

Share with a colleague and tear down those walls!

• 3 GTM Efficiency Trends Transforming B2B Sales Performance in 2025
• The Art of B2B GTM: Building Strategies That Scale and Succeed
• 35+ OKR Statistics for 2025 (Backed by Unique Data)

🤝 How’d we do?