SaaStr 2017: AI–Enabled SaaS - 4 Models for ML as Competitive Advantage
"Hiring that Great (First) VP of Sales" at SaaStr Annual 2016
Transcript of "Hiring that Great (First) VP of Sales" at SaaStr Annual 2016
BRENDON CASSIDYVPS HACKERRANK, TALKESK, ECHOSIGN, LINKEDIN
SAM BLONDVPS ZENEFITS
EMMANUELLE SKALAVPS INFLUITIVE
HOW TO HIRE A GREAT (FIRST) VP OF SALES
THE FIRST “VP SALES” PROBABLY HAS TO BE YOUYou Have to Sell It Yourself First. And Then Hire 2+ Reps.
The First “VP Sales” Probably Has to Be YouYou Have to Sell It Yourself First. And Then Hire 2+ Reps.
You You + 2 Reps Hire VP Sales
Hire ASAP Once you Have a Repeatable Process
• Before a repeatable process = exercise in frustration
• But just as importantly – if you wait even one month afteryou have Initial Traction – you are wasting time
• Wasted time = wasted leads & lost 2nd order revenue,delay in getting to Scale
TOO LATE IS—ALMOST—AS BAD AS TOO EARLY
Note Which One Comes Last
TOP 5 THINGS A SAAS VP OF SALES REALLY DOES
• #1 Recruiting the Team • You’re going to need a team,
and a good one. Quickly.
• Player-Coach sounds great — but at best, will be quickly obsolete as a role.
• #2 Backfilling and Helping His/Her Sales Team
• #3 Sales Tactics
• #4 Sales Strategy
• #5 Creating and Selling Deals Him/Herself
Source: Boston Search Group 2011 http://bit.ly/v2Sbgi
• A mediocre VPS is a cost center. Feels very expensive.
• But a Great VPS is Accretive
• Key: Great VPS Raises Revenue Per Lead
CHANGE YOUR THINKING: A GREAT VPS IS ACCRETIVE
WAYS YOUR VPS WILL INCREASE REVENUE PER LEAD
• Ask.
• Close.
• Hire.
• Sale.
• Position.
• Go Upmarket.
• Better.
• Fun.
For the Most $$$ Per Lead.
Closing is an Art – and a Science.
Better / Different Than You.
More Reps, More Quickly.
Give Prospects Right Context.
Drive to Highest Practical Deal Size
Great VPS Makes Your Product Better.
Great VPS Makes Your Product Better.
Hint: You Don’t Need New Prospects or Customers.
• Upgrade the Team to Proven Closers. ASAP.
• Get the Most Out of the Inherited Team – And Get Rid of the Ones That Aren’t Working.
• Get Outbound Going.
• Close Faster & Better.
• Know How to Compete and Win.
PLAYBOOK TO MATERIALLY INCREASE SALES IN 60-90 DAYS
• You Should Know Subjectively In Just a Few Months—Just 50% of The Way Through Your Average Sales Cycle
• Numbers Should Increase in 1 Sales Cycle—with Keen Focus on Revenue Per Lead
• First Few Hires Should be Clear Upgrades—and made quickly + seemingly effortlessly
HOW TO KNOW IF YOU’VE MADE A MISTAKE
The Costs of a Bad Hire▪ Leads Doubled in Year of Hell
▪ Yes, We Grew. But, Revenue Per Lead Declined.
▪ Whose Fault?
• Leads Doubled in Year of Hell
• Yes, We Grew. But, Revenue Per Lead Declined.
• Whose Fault?
THE COSTS OF A BAD HIRE
Hire Wrong, and You’re Set Back a Year
• A Bad Hire Can Be Far Worse Than No Hire at All—It’s True
• A Bad Hire Isn’t Just Hard Costs—It Involves Huge Soft Costs As Well
• A B-level VP Sales Hires a B-/C+ Team Under Him/Her
• Revenue Per Lead can actually go down dramatically
• Wastes Precious Leads, Wastes Time, Loss of Second-Order Revenue
• You’ll Lose a Year – At the Worst Possible Time • A Bad Hire is Often Made Just
as Things AreTaking Off
THE TOUGHEST HIRE OF ALL IN SAAS
YOUR VPS IS ALSO FEEDING SECOND-ORDER REVENUE
Wrong Hire = No Second Order Revenue, Not Just Suboptimal Sales That Year
• Hard to Get Stage Perfectly Right in Early Days
• Few Truly Scale Across > 1.5 Stages. Hence, Most SaaS Cos. End Up with Multiple VPS
DIFFERENT STAGES OF VPS. OFTEN, A DIFFERENT HIRE.
Hire ASAP Once you Have a Repeatable Process
• Sold at Next Year’s Target ACV – Controls for a Lot of Variables
• Sold at Next Revenue Stage (ARR)
• Similar Competitive Selling Background
• Outbound vs. Inbound Ratio
• First 3 People You’d Bring With You
• Less Important: Domain Expertise
KEY SCREENINGS FOR VPS
• It May Be Tempting to Hire a Placeholder VPS – especially if You Haven’t Done It Before
• But You’ll End Up With a Crummy Team, and Lost Opportunities.
• Start Early. Start Now.
SO, AS HARD AS IT IS—YOU CAN’T SETTLE
• Great Sales Teams Have Low Turnover—They Want to Stay Together
• Great Sales Teams Feed on Themselves
• Great Sales Teams Energize the Rest of the Company
• You Just Need a Great VPS to Bring it All Together
WHEN IT’S GOOD—IT’S REALLY GOOD