Stop saying yes to every "jump on this call." Write down the bar — and point to the page, not the person.
An SE leader pulled his utilization numbers and found 31% of customer-facing hours going to deals that never made it past stage two. The fix wasn't more discipline — it was a written, signed-off definition of what must be true before a deal gets SE time.
What Nate and Ava discuss
- The four green-light criteria — and the explicit red-list of what does NOT qualify
- Why aligning the criteria with your sales counterpart removes the politics from SE pushback
- How to start when you don't have a peer-level sales relationship — pilot with one AE, then bring the numbers up
The move
Sit with your sales counterpart and define, on paper, what must be true before a deal gets SE time. Four green-light criteria, four red flags. Share it with both teams. And when someone pushes back, point to the page — not the person.
🔗 Resources & Links: paths.to/presales
📅 Book a Discovery Call: calendly.com/serockstars-tim/discovery-call
Your hosts
Nate Hargrove
The Seasoned Pragmatist
Ava Vasquez
The Modern Builder