TMT’s Post

Just read a compelling article on how to hire a VP of Sales. Despite being titled "10 Questions," it's actually 13 questions now - that's how much has changed! Here's a glimpse of the questions that will help you identify the right candidate for your SaaS business: - How big a team do you think we need right now? - What deal sizes have you sold to, on average and range? - Tell me about the teams you’ve directly managed, and how you built them. - What sales tools have you used and what works for you? - Who do you know right now that would join you on our sales team? - How should sales and customer success work together? - Tell me about deals you’ve lost to competitors. - What should my revenues look like 120 days after I hire you? - Should the VP of Sales sell themselves when they start? Dig into these and more to find your perfect match! https://app.quuu.uk/r/0rK

Yesterday, I posted: "What's next for me? Stay tuned!" Of late, that question is all the rage on here - which makes sense because who doesn't love being kept in the dark about strangers' career changes? So, getting in on the trend and announcing what's next for me: 1) I *may* cut back on salt & sugar. Unclear, as both make things tasty. 2) I'll continue to satirize posts on here. 3) I'll make more sales & sales development leaders aware that I have a program (a self-paced course built in SalesHood + coaching hours) designed to: Help sellers start more and have easier, better conversations. Because the only thing colder than your outreach... ...is the shoulder prospects give it :) Together, we'll master understanding of: ⭐ Your target persona's objectives, responsibilities, stakeholders, and more. ⛈ How they and their key stakeholders are impacted by problems you solve 😫 How their emotions are affected by those impacts ...followed by a process to craft short, quick, hyper-relevant humor based on all that knowledge that: - Shows your prospects you understand their challenges and/or objectives within 5-10 seconds of engaging your cold call, email, connection request note, etc. - Helps you stand out from the pack - Breaks the ice, gets them to let their guard down and engage you in conversation. - Empowers sellers to have more meaningful conversations because they understand more pertinent stuff! I've used the same few bespoke openers on prospect after prospects - and it lands me conversations. Linque to "Cold Openers" in c0mm3nts. "Sounds awesome. What's this cost, Jon 🤔 ???" All you'll pay for is the coaching time I spend with you (which depends on # of participants). The course/content is included. Happy to share more over call. I'll leave a way for you to get in touch there too.

We all know the saying, "practice makes perfect."  Well, with so many people in SaaS & IT sales on the job search right now (like me) we may not be doing demos/presentations for prospects but it doesn't mean you can't still practice on your own or with a family member or friend. I actually did this with my wife last week. Simply take a presentation you've used before at a previous job and use it or put a new one together.  While we're trying to find our next role, as sales people, we need to try and stay sharp with our sales skills and one of those skills is presenting. Additionally, if you get asked to do a mock presentation during the interview process you'll be much more prepared and confident than the majority of other people you're competing against. That reason alone should be enough incentive for you to make the point of staying sharp. Lots of luck to all of us currently on the job search. The right opportunity is right around the corner. 🙂  

This controversial perspective sparked a conversation with a CRO last week... Sales people should stop doing industry research as part of their cold calling prep, it's a waste of time. Do this instead... 1. Identify your 5 best customers 2. Interview 3 different roles who are impacted by your product/solution 3. Ask them to describe how things were before you came along 4. Now ask them to describe what happened after they implemented your product/solution 5. Catalog their response by role 6. Write out 3-5 problem statements you can use in your outreach 7. Target your ICP by speaking to the problems that may be impacting them right now 8. Repeat this process every quarter People care deeply about the problems THEY are facing, not what their industry might be facing. You got this! ✌️

When I'm interviewing enterprise AEs, there are 3 things I'm looking for: 🤑 That you can sell. Obviously. But not just whether you hit your quota or not - how did you segment and prioritise your accounts? How did you multithread and build champions within those accounts? Were you relying purely on SDR or marketing leads or were you out there smashing the phones yourself? What was the most complex deal you were responsible for, and how did you bring it to a successful conclusion? 🙌🏼 That you're human. Don't be afraid of small talk - if you don't feel comfortable having a chat with me, how are you going to build relationships with customers? I'm English, so I'm duty-bound to tell you about the weather but if that's not your cup of tea then what did you get up to at the weekend? How did your football team get on? What ridiculous thing did your dog do? ❓That you're curious. Yes, questions about the interview process and the next steps are important, as is compensation. But everyone asks those! Ask me about the challenges we're facing in the market, why we're winning and why we're not. Dig into the team you're going to be working with, and the management style you should be expecting. Better yet, ask me something that's really going to make me think - show me you've done your research on us and that you're genuinely interested in the job!

If you are interviewing for a sales role with little to no experience, you have to get creative and bring value to stand out and become the top candidate. To do this, I’d first recommend following Doug Lotierzo on LinkedIn and going through his posts. He’s a sales training expert and provides value every week. One to really take notes on is the post he discusses the KARE method. Second, once you have an interview lined up, message reps at the company and ask for a 5-minute call. If someone has an interview at my company, it’s in my company’s best interest that I speak with them. So your likelihood of landing a call is probably 5x higher than a normal networking call. Ask reps how they’ve been successful and what they do to hit their number every year and what’s their plan this quarter to hit their number. Once you have notes from 5-10 people, include them in your research and business plan you present to hiring manager. If you’re already providing value before being hired, you’re in a great spot. Most other applicants aren’t doing this. Good luck!

When you’re growing your business, it can be hard to figure out who to hire next. When it comes down to it, that decision can be make-or-break for your business! Especially within a sales (both inside and outside), do you fully understand their individual responsibilities or the metrics to track their progress? After all, your sales team is the backbone of your organizations growth! If you're ready to take this next step, we are here to help you understand each critical sales role so you can hire for genuine success while also learning the best metrics for each role in order to guarantee business. Try out the course "Roles and Responsibilities - Sales," to feel confident in your next sales hire! Check out the lesson when you're ready to grow. https://lnkd.in/eAdaxbbQ

Thanks McKinsey & Company for the interview! A sales superstar will significantly boost your Top Line Growth. Yet finding the right one is never easy. Read the full interview on how to build a sales engine here. Special thanks to Philipp Hillenbrand, Pablo Hernandez, Emanuel Kirchhoff for having me.

In some of our recent sales meetings "touchpoints" for prospects have been a huge focus. Eight seems to be the magic number, it’s the average of how many (consistent) “reach outs” you will need to make before getting a meeting with a client. I have always had the same approach with candidates. For instance, I have an Operations Manager that I first reached out to in November, after consistent reach outs we were finally able to connect last week and she now has an interview lined up with my client next Thursday. When I first started in the industry I had the wrong mindset, I thought that if a candidate didn't call me back after one or two calls they weren't interested. I wasn't taking into consideration that they too had busy lives, that they may have meant to call me back but forgot OR that I was NOT the most important thing to happen during their busy day. Now I try to operate in the candidates "operating reality" and the results have been way better. I've said it before but I play the "long game". #thingsiwishiknewasajrrecruiter #recruiterlife #engineering #manufacturing #fulldesk