Coming soon · Book Profile
The Sales Acceleration Formula_ Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million
An MIT-trained engineer reveals how to transform sales from an unpredictable art form into a scalable, data-driven science by systematizing hiring, training, management, and demand generation.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Mark Roberge, who scaled HubSpot from zero to $100 million in revenue as its sales leader despite never having worked in sales, argues that building a world-class sales team is not an art but an engineerable process. Drawing on metrics, technology, and inbound selling, he presents four interlocking 'formulas'—the Sales Hiring Formula, the Sales Training Formula, the Sales Management Formula, and the Demand Generation Formula—that together create 'scalable, predictable revenue growth.' Rather than relying on charismatic gut-feel salesmanship, Roberge shows how to statistically identify the traits of top performers, build repeatable training with exams and certifications, coach through metrics-driven skill diagnosis, align sales and marketing with quantified service-level agreements, and get buyers to find you through content and social media. Filled with real HubSpot examples, compensation-plan experiments, and a culture of continual testing, the book gives entrepreneurs and sales leaders a blueprint for constructing a high-performing revenue machine tailored to their unique buyer context.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A founder, CEO, or sales leader who wants to build a sales team that produces scalable, predictable revenue growth.
- The problem
- Scaling a sales team that reliably converts interest into revenue and grows from startup to a $100 million business. They feel helpless and hopeless, believing sales is an unteachable art form they can only 'wing.'
- The plan
- Engineer a sales hiring formula tailored to your buyer context using scorecards and regression analysis.
- Build a scalable training program around a defined sales methodology with exams and certifications.
- Coach with metrics, diagnosing and developing one high-impact skill per salesperson per month.
- Design compensation plans and contests that are simple, aligned, and immediate to drive strategy.
- Flip demand generation to inbound so buyers find you through content and social media.
- The payoff
- A predictable, scalable revenue machine that grows from $0 toward $100 million. · A team of top performers who win under any circumstances, hired and coached systematically. · Sales and marketing working in aligned, accountable harmony.
See our guide
Related profiles we’ve built
- Spin Selling the Best Validated Sales →
- Predictable Revenue Turn Your Business Into →
- Crucial Conversations Skills →
- Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In →
- Never Split the Difference →
- Sources of Power How People Make Decisions →
- Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm →
- To Sell Is Human the Surprising →
Additional reading
- Attitudinal Variables and Behavior: Three Empirical Studies and a Theoretical Reanalysis · M. Fishbein & I. Ajzen
The book cites this work to support its research philosophy, which emphasizes observing actual behaviors over measuring attitudes, as attitudes are often poor predictors of performance.
- SPIN Selling · Neil Rackham
The book positions the Challenger model as the next major breakthrough after the 'consultative selling' era, which was largely defined by Rackham's research and the SPIN methodology. Rackham wrote the foreword, framing this book as a potential 'fourth breakthrough' in sales history.
- The Psychology of Selling · E. K. Strong
Referenced in the foreword as a foundational breakthrough in sales that introduced the idea of learnable sales techniques like questioning and objection handling. This provides historical context for the evolution of sales methodologies.
- From Impossible To Inevitable · Aaron Ross & Jason Lemkin
The sequel to Predictable Revenue, it expands on growth strategies for scaling a business, co-authored with the founder of SaaStr.
- First, Break All The Rules: What The World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently · Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
Referenced for its 12 key questions to measure employee satisfaction, which is crucial for retaining the star talent needed to run a sales machine.
- The Seven Day Weekend · Ricardo Semler
Recommended as a resource for CEOs looking to move away from command-and-control management and toward more democratic, employee-empowering organizational structures.
- Barking Up A Dead Horse · Tom Batchelder
Recommended for its focus on the importance of disqualifying poor-fit sales opportunities quickly, a key principle for sales efficiency.
- CEOFlow: Turn Your Employees Into MiniCEOs · Aaron Ross
The author's other work, recommended for deeper insights into creating self-managing teams and empowering employees.