Dear SaaStr: How Should I Actually Set the Sales Plan for the Year For My VP Sales?
Try the C10, C60, and C90 framework. C = Confidence.
You’re essentially building three layers of planning to balance ambition, realism, and risk management.
Here’s how I’d break it down:
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C10 (Stretch Plan): This is your moonshot. It’s the plan where everything goes right—your team overperforms, the market aligns, and you hit the jackpot. There’s only about a 10% chance of achieving this, but it’s important to define it because it sets the upper boundary of what’s possible. For example, if you think you can realistically hit $9M in revenue next year, but there’s a scenario where you could stretch to $12M, that’s your C10. It’s aspirational and keeps the team motivated to push beyond the base plan.
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C60 (Base Plan): This is your core plan and the one you communicate to your team. It’s the plan you have about a 60% chance of hitting—more likely than not, but still ambitious. This is where you build your operational model: sales hiring, marketing spend, product investments, etc. If you’re aiming for $9M in revenue, this is the plan you’re betting on to drive the company forward. It’s ambitious enough to push the team but realistic enough to avoid setting them up for failure.
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C90 (Conservative Plan): This is your safety net. It’s the plan you’re 90% sure you can hit, even if things go sideways. This is critical for managing your burn rate and ensuring you don’t run out of cash. If sales slow down or the market shifts, this is the plan that keeps the lights on. For example, if you think there’s a risk of only growing 70% instead of 100%, this is the plan you use to ensure survival. It’s not the plan you share widely, but it’s the one you use internally to manage risk.
Why This Framework Works
The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think through multiple scenarios and plan for both upside and downside. Too many founders either overpromise (and burn out their teams) or underpromise (and miss opportunities). By having a C10, C60, and C90, you can balance ambition with pragmatism.
The C60 plan should be the one most of your sales reps can hit. And the one your VP of Sales’ OTE should be based on, most times.
You want a culture of winners, where 80% of your team is hitting their targets. If too many reps are missing quota, morale will tank, and you’ll lose good people. So, make sure your C60 plan is challenging but achievable for the majority of your team.
Then pay up well — and beyond OTE — when they hit or at least approach the C10 Plan.
More here:
C60 is the sweet spot for planning and execution. Use C10 as your stretch goal for bonuses and incentives, and keep C90 as your quiet fallback plan for cash management and risk mitigation.
