Let’s talk about activity, not hypotheticals, the kind that either shows up in your pipeline or doesn’t.
By the time most sales leaders start worrying about pipeline, it’s too late. Pipeline is a lagging indicator. It’s just a record of what your team did (or didn’t do) six to twelve months ago. That Q3 forecast? It’s just your April behavior on display.
The problem? Too many sellers are reactive. They focus on current deals and fires instead of consistently feeding the system that keeps their business alive. That’s where the KARE model comes in.
At Next Level, we utilize this simple yet powerful tool to reframe activities and make them measurable, repeatable, and balanced.
The Four Strategies of the KARE Model
Every month, your team's CRM or calendar should show activity in all four categories:
K – Keep
Retention isn’t sexy, but it’s everything.
Who’s vulnerable right now? Think about the clients who’ve been with you for years. The ones who love you—but only know one person on your team. What happens if that contact leaves or retires? Keep is about proactive conversations with current clients to protect what you’ve already earned. If they feel taken for granted, they’ll quietly drift toward someone else.
A – Attain
New business doesn’t happen by accident.
When’s the last time you set time aside to meet someone new? Too often, attain gets deprioritized because it doesn’t feel urgent. But nothing grows if you’re not planting seeds. Attain means outreach, coffees, networking, speaking engagements—anything that puts you in front of new people, new companies, or new conversations.
R – Recapture
The most overlooked bucket—and often the highest ROI.
Everyone has a list of “almost” deals. Former clients. Prospects who ghosted. RFPs that went nowhere. Relationships that fizzled out. Recapturing is about reconnecting. The relationship isn’t dead; it’s just been ignored. Don’t let yesterday’s silence become tomorrow’s missed opportunity.
E – Expand
Your clients only know you by what they buy from you.
That line hits hard for a reason. If your clients aren’t aware of your full capabilities, you’re leaving money and impact on the table. Expand is about bringing them new ideas, introducing them to others on your team, and showing them how you’re helping other companies like theirs solve real problems.
Turning KARE into a Discipline
You can’t control who buys or when they decide to act. But you can control your conversations. And your calendar should reflect that control.
This isn’t about chasing activity for activity’s sake. It’s about being intentional. Review your month. Look at every conversation. Categorize it: Keep. Attain. Recapture. Expand.
If one of those buckets is empty, your future pipeline will feel it.
The sellers and sales leaders we coach don’t just know this—they live it. They utilize tools like our KARE Tracker, Pre-Call Planner, and Debrief Tool to maintain focus on what matters most: owning your activity before your pipeline owns you.
If you want to get out of reactive mode, if your team’s activity feels lopsided or random, or if you’re not sure where to start, reach out. We’re happy to share the KARE tool and show you how to put it to work in your sales motion.
You don’t need more leads. You need more structure. And you need it now, not in Q4 when the panic sets in.
Let’s build something real.
