Post on 16-Jul-2015
Developer’s Guide
to Running Sales
Teams…
Jeff Szczepanski
Chief Operating Officer
http://developingsales.com
Offices in Denver, New York & London
• 70 Sales Reps across 9 Teams
• 6 Sales Managers
• 2 Sales Executives
• 6 Marketing People
Common Startup Plan
1.Idea!
2.Technical Co-Founders
3.Raise Money
4.Build Great Product
5.Hire VP of Sales
ie: ‘Needz Sales’
6.Profit!!
Common Startup Outcome
1.Idea!
2.Technical Co-Founders
3.Raise Money
4.Build Product
5.While( Cash Remains )Hire VP of Sales
<some stuff happens>
Wait 12 to 18 months
Fire VP of Sales
6.FAIL!
Common Startup Outcome
1.Idea!
2.Technical Co-Founders
3.Raise Money
4.Build Product
5.While( Cash Remains )Hire VP of Sales
<stuff happens>
Wait 12 to 18 months
Fire VP of Sales
6.FAIL!
Add More Features!!?
Best Way to Increase Sales???
Add More Features!!?
Best Way to Increase Sales???
No, it’s cheating because it expands your addressable market, it doesn’t increase actual rate of penetration.
Good sales execution is what sits between your Product
and a Great Business
ProductSales
Execution
Great
Business
Building Sales Orgs in 3 Phases
Proving Product Value
Understanding your Pitch
Scaling the organization
Essence of Phase 1
Proving a Market Exists for your Product and that people will pay
money for it.
Phase 1 Goal
Several paid customers who are getting value out of the product
Phase 1 -> Challenge
Your Product Really, Really
Stinks
Phase 1 -> Implication
Customers are buying into your vision more than your product
Phase 1 -> Activities
• Product is rapidly evolving
• Founders need to be out there selling and proving the vision
Key Point: Professional Sales People Not Needed (nor desired) in this phase
Phase 1 Best Practices
• Lean Startup Concepts– Getting to Minimum Viable Product
• Founder selling of the vision
• Tight Feedback Loops without Filters
• Talk to BUYERS, not just Users– all the personas in the value chain
• No Free Stuff: Prove Value
• Test your Pricing
Phase 2
Proving Product Value
Understanding your Pitch
Scaling the organization
Phase 2 Entry Foundations
• A product that is proving useful
– Doesn’t completely suck anymore
– Graduating from beta phases
• Multiple Paying Customers
– People Have paid real money
• Lists of Possible Future Customers
• Good sense of a Workable Price Point
Goal of Phase 2
Multiple Sales Reps Closing Deals on their Own
Phase 2: Sales Rep Hiring Profile
• Not their first Sales Job– Proven ability to sell something
– At least modestly consciously competent
– Smart, Hungary, buy into your vision
– Genuinely like solving problems
• BUT Avoid Very Experienced Reps– Expect to make tons of money immediately
– Expect too much from the product
– Preconceived notions on how to sell product
Common Phase 2 Problem
FOUNDER: “I can close customers myself without any problem, but the reps I’ve hired can’t close the
deals on their own”
Common Phase 2 Problem
SALES REP: “I can’t close customer X without feature Y”
andSALES REP: “If I had Feature A, then I
could sell way more”
Phase 2 Best Practices
• You product will always suck to some extent– Admit it to yourself, Admit it to the Sales Reps– Sell what you have
• Get to at least 3 Sales Reps as fast as possible– You want multiple petri dishes
• Aggressive Compensation Plan– Want successful reps making a ton of money
• Fight all urges to use discounts to close deals• Sales Manager not Needed yet
– But a good idea to be looking!!
Phase 3
Proving Product Value
Understanding your Pitch
Scaling the organization
Phase 3 Entry Foundations
• Multiple Self Sufficient Reps Closing Deals
• Happy Reps Making good money
• Lots of Positive Testimonials
– Product doesn’t totally stink anymore
• Lots of Paying Customers
– Repeat business
• Lots of Identifiable Prospects to Attack
Phase 3 Goal
Jetting to your vacation home in Aspen, Colorado
Phase 3 Goal
Predictable Revenue that
is Scaling
Phase 3 Concepts
Must Read Book!!
(But ignore half of it)
Phase 3 Bad News
• Nature of Sales is Changing Rapidly
• Classic Management Methods Failing
• Experience != Expertise
• Poor at Predictions of Outcomes
• Seemingly More Art than Science
• No Magical Processes to Follow
Phase 3 Bad News
• Nature of Sales is Changing Rapidly
• Classic Management Methods Failing
• Experience != Expertise
• Poor at Predictions of Outcomes
• Seemingly More Art than Science
• No Magical Processes to Follow
Phase 3 Scaling Solution
What if we put an experienced
CTO/VP of Engineering
in charge of Sales!!??
WTF – Does that really help?
Phase 3 Insight
Good Sales Management
approaches parallel Good Software Development approaches!!
Properties of Successful Software Development
Smart and Gets Things Done
Empowered Autonomous Individual Contributors
Understand Performance != Results
Software Development
• Discovering, Developing and Finalizing Requirements
• System Architecture, Design and Code Construction
• Quality Control including effective testing and validation
• Task Estimation and Project Management
• Deployment and Ongoing Maintenance
A bunch of Separable Skills that individuals
and the team must be process capable of
Phase 3: Skills Development
Software Development
• Discovering, Developing and Finalizing Requirements
• System Architecture, Design and Code Construction
• Quality Control including effective testing and validation
• Task Estimation and Project Management
• Deployment and Ongoing Maintenance
• Team Morale and Cadence
Sales Development
• Prospecting
• Questioning
• Proposal Development and Pitching
• Objection Handling
• Closing Skills
• Negotiation
• Time and Pipeline Management
• Team Morale and Cadence
Team Morale and Cadence
• Bottom Up Schedule Estimates
• Strive for Continuous and Steady Output
– Team Goals but No death marches
• Using Peer and Social Pressure vs. Edicts
– Setting Cultural Norms and Expectations
• Compensation Fairness
• Merit not tenure based Advancement
Phase 3 Sales Rep Role
Same as Phase 2 Rep!!
….but you can loosen up the constraints a little
…this is just like on your dev team as it grows.
Phase 3 Sales Rep
Each Rep runs their Own Small Business:
• End to End ownership of the relationships
• Sets their Own Forecasts
• Picks their Own Accounts
• No scripts, No quotas
• Works under shared best practices
• Supported by Team Leader and Sales Manager
Phase 3 Sales Manager
• This is the Line Manager of the Sales Reps– Parallel to the Engineering Manager
• Primary Responsibility is Skills Development• Removes Operational Barriers
– Helps define and build common infrastructure
• Works with a Longer Term Horizon– More Quarter to Quarter than Day to Day
• Tends to Specialize as you Grow– Splits into Operational Aspects and Skills Development
Aspects
Phase 3 Team Lead
• Drives Cadence and Morale of the Team
• Parallel to the Technical Team Dev Leads
• Walking Personification of Ideal Sales Rep
• Natural Leaders that enjoy Mentoring
• Player and a Coach -> Carries full account load
• Eyes and Ears for Sales Management
– Spot treatments not skills development
Phase 3 Role Separation
Team Leaders => Track Racing Pit Crew
Sales Management => Garage Mechanics
Phase 3 Tools and Process
Phase 3 Tools and Process
SCRUM Sprint Based Process
• Team Based & driven by the Team Leads
• Operated as Joint Retrospective and Standup
• Breaks Monthly or Quarter Forecasting Cycles into Week Long Sprints
• Reinforces Team Work and Shared Best Practices
• Friendly competition between Teams and Offices
Phase 3 Tools and Process
Phase 3 Tools and Process
Phase 3 Tools And Process
Phase 3 Tools and Process
Phase 3 Goal
Predictable Revenue that
is Scaling
Phase 3 Best Practices
• First Phase with Professional Sales Manager(s)• Separate Performance from Results• Developing Suites of Skills in Each Rep• Empower the Reps and Teams to Self Manage• Each rep is running their own little business• Real Time information: No Static Reporting
• PS: All Current CRM Systems Suck!!!
• Autonomy and empowerment is the name of the game
REMEMBER: Compensation System is a way to Reward people. It is NOT a Management Tool.
Thank you!!!
talljeff@stackoverflow.com
@inscitekjeff
Blog: DevelopingSales.com