SOAR SALES STRATEGY & SOAR GROWTH ENGINE
Sales growth is usually a strategy problem, not a sales problem.
Most companies try to grow revenue by pushing their sales team harder. The real opportunity is in knowing which customers, markets, and growth levers deserve your team’s time, making sure you have a compelling Value Proposition and building the organizational structure that turns strategy into execution.
8
Proven growth levers in the SOAR Growth Engine
95%
Of companies don’t know their wallet share with top customers
3X
Revenue and profits tripled for a construction products distributor
10X
Growth in 24 months for a focused product strategy
THE REAL PROBLEM
If a salesperson is knocking on doors with a me-too product and no clarity on which customers to prioritize, even the best salespeople will struggle. Most sales problems are really strategy, positioning, and organizational issues.
Before you blame the sales team, look at the strategy behind them.
A DISCIPLINED APPROACH TO GROWTH
Most middle-market companies pursue the same two or three growth plays their competitors are pursuing. The result is incremental gains in a crowded field. Parkland’s growth methodology helps leadership teams evaluate a much wider set of options, prioritize the ones with the highest return for their specific situation, and build execution plans the team can actually run. The work is organized around three strategic questions every growth plan has to answer.
Finding the growth you’re not seeing
HOW WE WORK
A structured approach to finding and capturing your best growth opportunities.
We don’t just coach and train salespeople. We help leadership teams build strategy, structure, and accountability systems that make sales growth predictable and sustainable.
BEYOND THE PIPELINE
Sustainable sales growth requires more than a better sales plan.
Revenue targets only get met when the organization behind the sales team is aligned, accountable and culturally ready to execute. That’s why our sales growth work always connects to the bigger picture.
Culture drives execution
A sales strategy only works if the team believes in it, has the tools to execute it, and is accountable. We help build the culture that makes growth stick.
Right people, right roles
Hunters and farmers have different skill sets and need different jobs. We help you identify who is who and restructure roles for maximum effectiveness and increased morale.
Operational effectiveness matters
Sales growth falls apart when operations, service, or delivery can’t keep up. We make sure the business behind the promise can deliver on it.
Family dynamics affects sales decisions
In family businesses, sales leadership transitions, territory disputes and governance issues directly impact sales performance. We address these alongside the commercial strategy.
Larry Explains Sales Coaching and Training
Your sales team is only as strong as the strategy behind it. In this video, Larry Goddard breaks down the difference between hunters and farmers in sales, explaining why companies often misplace their salespeople in the wrong roles. Hunters thrive on new business development, actively seeking and securing new clients, while farmers excel at building and maintaining relationships with existing customers.
Many businesses unknowingly assign farmers to hunter roles, leading to disappointing sales performance. Larry also highlights the importance of a strong value proposition, showing how even the best salespeople will struggle if their offering isn’t compelling. He shares practical training techniques to help sales teams improve their negotiation skills, time management, and customer engagement.
If you want to transform your sales strategy, ensure your team is in the right roles, and maximize effectiveness, this video is a must-watch.
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I've worked with over 500 companies,
and I've yet to find companies
that cannot improve
if they do the right things.If they identify the right strategy
and they implement the right execution,
almost every business can improve
and improve significantly.My name is Larry Goddard.
I'm the CEO of the Parkland Group,
a consulting firm based in Cleveland,
Ohio, that works with companies
to improve their performance, profitability and value.One of the services that Parkland provides is sales coaching and training.
So we work with companies to improve the effectiveness of their sales force.
And a key part of this is number one,
to make sure that the sales team is being put in a position to win.The reality is, if the salesperson is
knocking on a door and all they have is a me-too product,
even the best salespeople in the world are going to struggle.
But if you give a salesperson a differentiated value proposition,
even mediocre salespeople can be successful.But at the same time,
you also need to make sure that you are using the right salespeople for the right job.
And there's the concept of hunters versus farmers.
If you want to develop new business,
it's vital to have hunters focus on new business.
But farmers are very important to growing relationships with existing customers.We also teach salespeople time management skills.
A salesperson's highest and best use is when they're in front of customers,
not preparing presentations,
not doing estimates and quotes.
If you only have 1 or 2 hunters on your team,
the last thing you want them to do is be doing paperwork.
You want them in front of customers.And most companies are quite surprised to find out that the people they think are hunters are not hunters.
And they're also disappointed because those people end up focusing on servicing existing accounts.
A lot of times the people they think are hunters are the ones that have the biggest book of business.
But really what they're doing is they're just servicing existing accounts.The best way to sell is to ask the right questions.
What are your needs? What are your problems?
What are your pain points?
And if you ask the right questions, the customer will do the selling for you.
And then you swoop in with your value proposition
to explain to them how you can solve all their problems
that they've identified for you.There are some salespeople that are lazy and are not effective.
So sometimes it is the salesperson's fault.
But as I said, that's the last place I look before I blame the salesperson.
I look to see whether they've been put in a position to win
and whether they understand how to optimize their time and their negotiating skills.
SOAR changes how companies think about sales growth.
These outcomes reflect what Parkland clients have achieved through disciplined strategy and execution.
10X
Revenue growth in 24 months, $100M+ exit
3X
Revenue and profits tripled
$200M
From $50M revenue
25%+
Shipment growth driven by team alignment
Want to know your biggest growth opportunities?
Take our Free SOAR Strategic Growth Assessment
Partner with Us
Sales growth rarely comes from effort alone.
It comes from clarity of strategy, disciplined execution, and the right structure within the sales organization.
Parkland works with leadership teams to identify the strategic and organizational issues that limit sales performance and to implement practical solutions that drive measurable growth.
The result is a stronger sales organization and a clearer path to sustainable growth.
If you would like to explore how Parkland can help improve your sales performance, we would welcome the opportunity to speak with you.