The hidden path: How one sales leader turned product-led DNA into a revenue machine

Should you be product-led or sales-led?

I've had this conversation countless times with sales leaders. Like a lot. Everyone seems to be wrestling with this question.

That's why my chat with Doreen Pernel hit different because we got to dig into a real transformation she led firsthand.

When she stepped in as Chief Sales Officer, Doreen had to evolve their entire go-to-market. 

We all know that's no small feat. 

The way she described that moment stuck with me:

"We were crushing it with self-serve, but enterprise was calling. And nobody tells you how lonely that decision feels."

"Everyone talks about product-led versus sales-led," she continued, "but nobody discusses how painful the transformation really is."

Instead of rushing in, as we all tend to do sometimes, Doreen spent weeks analyzing market trends, customer behaviors, and competitive landscapes. 

She was adamant about this part. It's about knowing your data, not just gut feelings.

"Most leaders rush this part," she explained. "They see enterprise deals and dollar signs. But we needed to understand exactly what was working in our self-serve model before changing it."

What they found surprised everyone. 

Their product-led motion was already landing them in enterprise accounts, but they weren't equipped to expand there.

Here's where things get really interesting.

Transform your people

Once they knew they needed to level up, Doreen flipped the typical playbook on its head. 

I thought this was a pretty gutsy play until she explained it.

She dropped this truth bomb that really captures their philosophy:

"Your product-led team? They're gold. But they need new skills for enterprise," she explained. "Most leaders just replace people. We chose to transform them."

The training program they built wasn't your usual sales training. It was very unique and smart. 

Honestly, you should emulate it.

We're talking about deep product knowledge, enterprise architecture, and solution consulting. 

"We lost some people," she admitted. "But not as many as you'd think. The key was celebrating every win, even the tiny ones. Daily progress updates, gong ceremonies, quiet acknowledgments of growth."

And if you're wondering if this actually works, check this out:

One SDR went from sending product trials to orchestrating a $2M enterprise deal in six months.

That's when she knew they were on to something.

Now, this next part might sound completely wild, but stick with me.

The craziest move you've never heard of

Doreen swapped roles with the CTO.

I thought she was crazy at first, until she explained it.

"Best decision ever," she said. "Now sales and product actually speak the same language. Our product team understands enterprise requirements, and sales gets our technical constraints."

This kicked off regular cross-department sessions they call 'Revenue Rooms' – weekly meetings where product, sales, and customer success share insights. 

No boring slides or death by PowerPoint. 

Just real conversations about how everyone can learn from each other.

I still think it's crazy, but hey, sometimes the crazy stuff works.

You might be wondering what tied all these bold moves together. 

Well, Doreen had a framework that changed everything.

The leadership framework that changed everything

Doreen shared three principles that guided everything:

• "Founder's mindset" – Everyone thinks like an owner. "We gave each team member P&L responsibility for their segment. Even SDRs understand unit economics now."
• "Balance teaching and doing" – Know when to explain and when to execute. "We created a rhythm: learn Monday, execute Tuesday through Thursday, reflect Friday."
• "Let data drive decisions" – Every move backed by metrics. "We track just three numbers per role. Nothing else matters."

Most people give zero ownership to their team. Give it to them so you can build trust through transparency. 

When you share everything – the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

That's how you build real trust.

But this evolution went way deeper than just modifying how they worked.

Building enterprise DNA

This wasn't just about changing sales tactics. It was about creating new organizational muscles:

"We turned our sales team into market intelligence sources," Doreen explained. "Every call gets recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Product and marketing teams mine these for insights."

They revamped their entire feedback loop with:

• Weekly customer advisory boards with enterprise buyers
• Monthly product sprints driven by sales insights
• Quarterly strategy adjustments based on market signals

Once you get feedback, you can modify it in real time to get the results you are looking for.

The results

So what happened? Check out these numbers:

• Enterprise deals closing 40% faster
• Average deal size up 5x
• Customer acquisition costs down 30%

But Doreen wasn't done dropping knowledge bombs: "The numbers don't tell the whole story. We built a new company DNA. One that can adapt to whatever the market throws at us next."

Then she shared something that tied it all together: "Our biggest enterprise win? Came from a self-serve customer we nearly ignored. That's when everything clicked – it's not about choosing between product-led and sales-led. It's about building bridges between them."

Now, I know you're probably thinking: "This sounds great, but how do I actually do this?" Let me break it down for you.

Make this work in your company

Want to put this into action? Here's exactly what you need to do:

First 30 days:

• Dig deep into your product-led metrics
• Spot where enterprise deals might be hiding
• Kick off cross-functional training
• Pick your three core metrics per role

60-90 days:

• Start your own role-swap experiments
• Launch weekly revenue rooms
• Build your customer advisory board
• Track your transformation metrics

By 6 months:

• Complete your initial team transformations
• Land your first enterprise wins
• Get those feedback loops humming
• Scale what's working

Here's why all of this matters more than you might think.

Why this matters

Here's what really hit me after talking with Doreen: 

We don't have to choose between product-led and sales-led growth. 

The real magic happens when you build an organization that can do both. 

And she showed us exactly how to do it.

"The biggest lesson?" she reflected. "Transformation isn't about processes or org charts. It's about people, cross-functional collaboration, and letting data light the way."

Want to hear more from Doreen and other sales leaders like her? Catch the full conversation on the Revenue Rebels: On the Record sales podcast.