How to hit revenue targets in a recession | Sahil Mansuri (Bravado)
Executive Summary
A Lenny's Podcast conversation with Sahil Mansuri, CEO and founder of Bravado, an online community for salespeople, about how founders should plan, set quotas and sell in a downturn. The caption text is auto-generated and about 9,000 words long, so the summary rests on the portion available and may miss late sections. Mansuri says conservative planning with short-term milestones that unlock spending is the way to handle limited visibility, and that retention matters more than new acquisition.
Key Takeaways
Planning with limited visibility
Mansuri says boards are advising founders to plan conservatively, and that he sets a conservative plan with short-term milestones that unlock the ability to lean into growth.
Setting targets
He says cutting targets too much raises red flags about spend and burn, while visibility into the market is poor.
Being wrong
He says the response to uncertainty is to get comfortable with being wrong and to add new data to decisions regularly.
Retention over acquisition
He says acquiring new customers will get harder, so keeping existing customers happy is far more important.
The leaky bucket
He says that in the easy-money years nobody cared about the leaky bucket, and now teams should patch customer loss fast, putting their best people on it.
Prioritising accounts
He says great salespeople prioritise which accounts deserve their time instead of wasting it on companies that never buy.
His sales background
He says he started selling in September 2008, during the last financial crisis, and the host says he has closed big deals, including a cold email to a Facebook executive.
The Conversation Breakdown
Planning with limited visibility
⏱ Untimed topicMansuri says boards are advising founders to plan conservatively, and that he sets a conservative plan with short-term milestones that unlock the ability to lean into growth.
Setting targets
⏱ Untimed topicHe says cutting targets too much raises red flags about spend and burn, while visibility into the market is poor.
Being wrong
⏱ Untimed topicHe says the response to uncertainty is to get comfortable with being wrong and to add new data to decisions regularly.
Retention over acquisition
⏱ Untimed topicHe says acquiring new customers will get harder, so keeping existing customers happy is far more important.
The leaky bucket
⏱ Untimed topicHe says that in the easy-money years nobody cared about the leaky bucket, and now teams should patch customer loss fast, putting their best people on it.
Prioritising accounts
⏱ Untimed topicHe says great salespeople prioritise which accounts deserve their time instead of wasting it on companies that never buy.
His sales background
⏱ Untimed topicHe says he started selling in September 2008, during the last financial crisis, and the host says he has closed big deals, including a cold email to a Facebook executive.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
Conservative plan with milestones - Mansuri's method
Set a conservative plan and tie extra spend to short-term milestones being hit.
Retention first - Mansuri's view
When acquisition gets harder, protect existing customers before chasing new ones.
Prioritise accounts - Mansuri's view
Spend time on accounts likely to buy, not on ones that never will.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓Write a conservative plan with two or three milestones that would release more spend.
- ✓List your largest customers and check how engaged each one is.
- ✓Update your forecast on a regular schedule as new data arrives.
- ✓Rank your open accounts and drop time spent on those that never buy.
Notable Quotes
“the only response to which is to try to get really comfortable with being wrong”
“you don't want to bring down targets too significantly because that's going to raise a lot of red flags in terms of spend and burn”
“you got your leaky bucket you gotta like patch that Lake really really fast and really hard”
The One Thing to Remember
Mansuri says that when visibility is low, plan conservatively and keep customers happy before chasing new ones.