Pratik Dhingra, a veteran B2B sales leader, argues that navigating challenging economic periods requires a structured approach to sales rather than relying solely on brute force. His insights offer business professionals practical frameworks to identify issues, set targets, and manage sales pipelines effectively amidst market volatility and recessionary fears.
people mostly talk about their success stories but it's also very important to talk about the difficult situations and the difficult times.
Understanding the complete customer journey, from initial awareness to long-term retention, is crucial for sales success. This framework breaks down the sales pipeline into six distinct stages, providing a structured approach to track progress and identify potential roadblocks.
Pratik Dhingra, in his roles at Mercer | Mettl, utilized this map both as an individual contributor managing his own deals and as a team manager overseeing a larger sales force. It allowed him to visualize the flow of inquiries, pinpoint where deals were getting stuck, and gain a holistic view of the business's health at every stage of the customer lifecycle.
Top-Down Growth → Bottom-Up Reality
While management often sets aspirational top-down growth targets, such as 20-30% for SaaS companies, effective target setting demands a grounded, bottom-up approach. This framework emphasizes combining high-level goals with granular, real-world data to create achievable and robust targets.
Pratik's team at Mercer | Mettl exemplifies this by blending corporate growth expectations with detailed insights from account managers. They analyze current client momentum, evaluate the quality and volume of digital marketing leads, and factor in market realities to construct quarterly and monthly targets that are both ambitious and viable.
Physical Product Sales → SaaS Digital Delivery
Selling B2B SaaS solutions inherently offers significant advantages over traditional physical product sales. Since the product is software, it eliminates logistical complexities like physical travel, hardware installation, or commodity delivery, streamlining the entire sales process.
Pratik underscores this by explaining how selling HR tech software at Mercer | Mettl often boils down to providing a login ID. This simplicity allows clients to access features remotely and empowers a 24/5 digital sales team. Such a setup enables global reach, catering to diverse customer segments (SME, Enterprise, Professional) across regions like APAC, EMEA, and the US without geographical barriers.
Success Narratives → Reality Checks
The first critical step in navigating challenging periods is to accurately identify when "tough times" have truly arrived. This framework highlights that these triggers are not universal but vary significantly depending on one's role and the company's stage.
Pratik illustrates this with specific examples: for a startup co-founder, it might be the struggle to find first paying customers or scale from 1 to 1000. For an individual sales contributor in a larger organization, a clear trigger is consistently missing revenue or meeting targets. For a sales manager, it could manifest as difficulties in hiring or effectively training new team members, or the inability to meet acquisition goals for net new logos.
Survival & Fit → Growth & Structure
The sales strategy required for a startup's nascent "zero-to-one" phase is fundamentally different from that of a rapidly growing "one-to-hundred" company. This framework delineates the distinct priorities and approaches needed at each stage of organizational development.
Pratik draws from his own journey, having experienced the "zero-to-one" survival phase with early startups and the "one-to-hundred" growth trajectory at Mettl before its acquisition by Mercer. He explains that in the early stage, everyone sells, focusing on achieving product-market fit. As the company scales, the focus shifts to building specialized teams (SDRs, AEs) and refining structured sales processes to sustain exponential growth.
Pratik argues that while celebrating successes is common, true resilience and effective problem-solving stem from analyzing and learning from challenges. Understanding setbacks and "tough times" provides invaluable insights, better preparing individuals and organizations for future market volatility.
Given the varied nature of sales across B2B, B2C, and different sectors, Pratik asserts that generic frameworks provide a universal structure. These allow teams to systematically analyze performance, identify specific problems, and implement targeted solutions, moving beyond mere brute-force effort.
Beyond short-term revenue targets, Pratik emphasizes that a manager's ability to onboard and quickly enable new team members is a key indicator of long-term success. This proactive approach to talent development is crucial for preventing "tough times" within the team and sustaining net new client acquisition.
What specific market shifts or economic indicators are you observing that are impacting your customer's buying behavior right now?
Purpose: Market VolatilityBeyond revenue, what are the top 2-3 non-negotiable metrics your team must hit to ensure long-term stability in this climate?
Purpose: Core ObjectivesHow are we currently segmenting our pipeline, and where are the most significant drop-offs occurring from awareness to retention?
Purpose: Pipeline HealthWhat immediate, tangible value can our SaaS solution offer to clients who are actively trying to cut costs or optimize efficiency?
Purpose: Value PropositionWhen was the last time we genuinely reviewed our sales targets bottom-up, factoring in current account momentum and lead quality?
Purpose: Target RealismWhat specific training or support do new sales hires need to become productive within 30-60 days in this challenging environment?
Purpose: Team EnablementIn tough times, clients are scrutinizing every expense. Focus on deeply understanding their current challenges and demonstrating how your solution provides immediate, measurable value, not just a list of features.
For early-stage ventures, tough times are about survival. Relentlessly validate your product's core value, secure those crucial early customers, and manage your burn rate to extend your runway.
Mere brand awareness isn't enough. Focus your efforts on campaigns that attract prospects actively seeking solutions to specific problems, supported by content that immediately highlights ROI.
Use this period to master core sales principles, active listening, and objection handling. Understanding how businesses navigate economic shifts will make you an invaluable asset in any future role.
changes are exponential and as humans like we tend to move in a linear way.
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