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Secrets to Scaling a Saas Business →

June 21, 2015

“What got you here won’t get you there” is a recurring theme in start-up success stories.  It’s the realization that the old way of doing business can’t sustain a company’s growth trajectory.  This is often a defining moment in a company’s history.  In the face of change, start-ups are confronted with two options: 1) to clutch their formulas of success and sink slowly to the bottom of the pack or 2) to evolve their model and process to enable the next stage of growth. 

The transition from early-stage rapid growth to at-scale sustained growth is challenging.  It requires letting go of “what got you here” and adopting new habits, developing more sophisticated processes and attracting seasoned talent to navigate the complexities of high growth.  This in turn means more layers of management, new training tools and the infrastructure to support demand. 

Learning from those who have successfully scaled their Saas businesses is a valuable exercise.  Here we’ve summarized how three sales executives successfully accelerated the growth of their start-ups. 

Mark Roberge, Chief Revenue Officer at HubSpot Sales

Impact: As the first sales hire at HubSpot, Mark increased revenue by over 6000%.  He challenged the traditional buyer-seller relationship, which tended to force buyers through the sales process vs. supporting buyers with their buying journey.

How he did it:

  • Streamlined outbound sourcing using technology (e.g. web browser plug-in indicates a prospect’s industry/location/revenue, whether that prospect exists in CRM and the company’s connection to a prospect on LinkedIn.
  • Leveraged inbound marketing to 1) get in front of customers “in their context” and 2) engage with them around their interests (key to social selling)
  • Mapped out the customer’s buying journey and segmented customers based on size, needs and behaviors
  • Split the sales organization to specialize in different types of customers – meaning reps became experts in one particular customer profile, understanding and solving for their unique needs. 
  • Added in a layer of sales management between the executives and sales reps
  • Automated processes to hold the team accountable (e.g. daily dashboards were produced to illustrate where a sales rep was against best practice behavior)
  • Created programs to improve leadership training and rep mentoring

Dan Shapero, Head of Talent Solutions at LinkedIn

Impact: Dan helped scale LinkedIn’s sales team to more than 1,200 people. 

How he did it:

  • Split sales team into account acquisition and account success 
  • Developed separate processes and metrics for each team
  • Leveraged an inside sales team for mid-market by serving clients over the phone from regional hubs around the world.  Reps could then close business and service clients in a scalable way without the need for in-person visits

Parker Conrad, Founder and CEO of Zenefits

Impact: Zenefits is the fastest growing Saas company ever.  At the end of 2014, Zenefits was at just over $20M in run-rate revenue.

How he did it:

  • Developed automated processes “one step at a time”, e.g. form-filling…
  • Step 1: manually filling out forms
  • Step 2: mechanizing the process but manually setting up the automation
  • Step 3: Writing software to automate the form-automation process
  • Had SDRs report to Marketing to make sure they were all on-message and accountable for delivering leads that AEs could close
  • Shipped a half-baked product – recognizing that sometimes you have to sacrifice scalability/product to stay competitive
  • Looked for bottlenecks, which were often found in odd places

In Entrepreneurship, Sales Leadership
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5 Lessons From Successful Sales Managers →

June 11, 2015

Taking charge of your career trajectory is essential to future success.  Learning from those who have achieved your career ambitions is a great way to set the course.  That’s why we’ve compiled career advice from a few influential sales leaders.  They too started their careers in the trenches and are sharing their perspectives to help you navigate your own. 

Drawing from published interviews, blog posts and anecdotal stories, we’ve uncovered where these leaders failed and what they learned along the way.  Their stories have been shaped into five core lessons...

(If you’re interested in learning more about their backstories, click on the links to read the full articles at the bottom of the page.) 

Lesson #1: Identify your managers’ pain points and challenges

Jim McDonough, VP of Sales at Attendware

Hitting your quota is certainly an achievement, but won’t necessarily get you the attention you deserve.  Take the time to develop a rapport with your manager and figure out what keeps them up at night.  Finding ways to leverage your skillset to help out beyond what’s outlined in your job description will set you up for success.  What are your managers trying to accomplish (beyond making their numbers) and where could you alleviate their pain?

Lesson #2: Set others up for success

Brandon Cassidy, VP of Sales at Talkdesk

Taking credit away from others to shine the light on your own accomplishments is a big mistake.  No one wants to work with that guy.  Creating the conditions for others to thrive will help you get noticed and attract the right talent for your team.  Take the time to coach others and share your perspective on what it takes to grow and evolve as a leader.  You want to be inclusive in your success and make people feel like you have their backs.  It will pay off in the long run.

Lesson #3: Act like as a consultant

Rachel McLaughlin, Senior Sales Associate at Bloom Energy

The best sales teams are more like consulting teams.  You’re wearing many different hats by framing the client’s challenge and helping to solve their problem. Finding ways to add strategic value to the client’s business – such as being the first to identify a new product’s market potential – will help you transcend your job description and evolve into a leadership role.  Communication skills, business acumen and efficiency are essential to thriving in this capacity. 

Lesson #4: Shift your perspective on time management

Michael Weinberg, Sales Coach and Author of “New Sales. Simplified.”

Top sales performers are often “productively selfish” with their time.  To block out distractions, they often lock in on their goals and guard their calendars.  This is an essential tool to keep them focused and hit their numbers.  But when you become a manager, your time is no longer yours to own.  Instead of keeping others away, your job is to invest in those through whom you’ll achieve results. 

The transition from protecting your time to giving it away is challenging, but inevitable in a leadership role.  Be cognizant of this shift and its implications to how you manage your time.  Change your perspective by asking yourself, “How should I be investing in this hour to help my people achieve their goals”?

Lesson #5: Earn your leadership

Eli Martin, Director of Sales at eZanga

Moving up the ranks doesn’t mean you’re too good to get your hands dirty.  If you sit back and bark orders, you’ll just isolate yourself and deter others from wanting to work with you.   Effective leaders are willing to get in the trenches with their teams.  They wouldn’t ask something of their team that they wouldn’t do themselves.  So don’t forget where you came from and never lose the capability of rolling up your sleeves to get messy. 

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Sources:

Lesson 1:

http://www.insightsquared.com/2014/01/jim-mcdonough-the-career-path-of-a-sales-vp/

Lesson 2:

https://medium.com/@BrendonCassidy/10-rules-to-being-a-vp-of-sales-in-a-startup-23e42c7e8eb4

Lesson 3:

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-break-into-sales-business-development

Lesson 4:

https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/07/great-sales-managers.html

Lesson 5:

http://blog.hubspot.com/sales/sales-leaders-share-toughest-lessons

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