Magnet Forensics: a forecast within 5% for eight quarters and average deal size doubled

The team

Magnet Forensics makes digital forensics software. The founder came from law enforcement and built the first version to help him do his own job. More than ten years on, the company has just under 1,000 people. Demand has spread from law enforcement into corporates and enterprises, who use it to gather evidence for investigations and to work out how attackers got in after a breach.

Asif Nabi joined as Director of Sales EMEA/APAC just under three years ago. He covers every region outside the Americas, with a team spread across EMEA and Asia.

What Asif walked into

The business wanted to stop selling in a reactive, transactional way. His boss's first ask was a forecast he could trust, because results typically came in 30% to 40% below the forecast committed at the start of the quarter.

Asif sat in on calls and ran a skills assessment. Everybody was doing their own thing, with the good and bad habits they'd brought from previous jobs. There was no common way to run discovery, demos or the forecast. One AE ran a demo on his first call with every prospect, because it was quicker.

Average deal size in his region was low compared with the Americas, so the team needed far more opportunities to hit the number than it was ever going to get.

He decided MEDDPICC would give the team a common structure to build on. Then he went looking for help.

How we worked together

As an AE, Asif once had half an afternoon of SPIN training that nobody mentioned again. He was clear this programme could not be a tick-box exercise. The business was paying for it and needed to see results.

We kicked off with two days in Berlin. The team worked through their own pipeline, including how long each deal had been open compared with how long it takes to win one. After the kick-off came weekly reinforcement and call coaching.

Asif did his own groundwork alongside the programme. He spoke to each rep one to one about what drives them and why they want to be in sales.

Some people were slow to change, but the reps who committed did really well. One started as a junior AE and now runs his own team.

What changed in the deals

Discovery went back to basics. Reps now map the customer's whole workflow and ask what success looks like to each person, from the user to the economic buyer.

The team built a Champion deck that reps share with the customer. It sets out the challenges, the business value and a close plan with agreed dates. The champion then takes it into their own business to make the case for buying.

Every week a different AE presents one opportunity to the whole team, following MEDDPICC. Peers chip in with what worked in their own deals.

The results

For eight quarters running, the team hasn't missed the forecast. It lands within about 5% of the number Asif gives at the start of each quarter. Before a deal is committed, reps check it against MEDDPICC, find what's missing and go back to the customer to get it.

The pipeline shrank first. Clearing out deals that had no chance of closing took coverage from 3 or 4 times the number down to 1.5 times. Asif would rather have a smaller pipeline he can close than one padded with deals that will never land.

Average deal size has doubled since Asif joined, and every territory now closes many more six-figure deals. The team works fewer opportunities and sells whole solutions. Before the programme, it sold licences.

What Asif would do differently

He'd bring in a peer at the start, someone who had already been through the change, to talk to the team. Reps relate to someone doing their job. A new leader or an outside trainer doesn't carry the same weight with them.