How To Hire A Great (First) VP of Sales

HOW TO HIRE A GREAT (FIRST) VP OF SALES BRENDON CASSIDY VPS HACKERRANK, TALKESK, ECHOSIGN, LINKEDIN SAM BLOND VPS ZENEFITS EMMANUELLE SKALA VPS INFLUITIVE

The First “VP Sales” Probably Has to Be You You Have to Sell It Yourself First. And Then Hire 2+ Reps. THE FIRST “VP SALES” PROBABLY HAS TO BE YOU You Have to Sell It Yourself First. And Then Hire 2+ Reps. You You + 2 Reps Hire VP Sales

TOO LATE IS—ALMOST—AS BAD AS TOO EARLY 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

TOP 5 THINGS A SAAS VP OF SALES REALLY DOES Note Which One Comes Last #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

CHANGE YOUR THINKING: A GREAT VPS IS ACCRETIVE • A mediocre VPS is a cost center.   Feels very expensive. • But a Great VPS is Accretive • Key: Great VPS Raises   Revenue Per Lead Source: Boston Search Group 2011 http://bit.ly/v2Sbgi

WAYS YOUR VPS WILL INCREASE REVENUE PER LEAD Ask. For the Most $$$ Per Lead. • Close. Closing is an Art – and a Science. • Hire. Better / Different Than You. • Sale. More Reps, More Quickly. • Position. Give Prospects Right Context. • Go Upmarket. Drive to Highest Practical Deal Size • Better. Great VPS Makes Your Product Better. • Fun. Great VPS Makes Your Product Better. •

PLAYBOOK TO MATERIALLY INCREASE SALES IN 60-90 DAYS 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. •

HOW TO KNOW IF YOU’VE MADE A MISTAKE 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

The Costs of a Bad Hire THE COSTS OF A BAD HIRE ▪ Leads Doubled in Year of Hell • Leads Doubled in Year of Hell ▪ Yes, We Grew. But, Revenue Per • Yes, We Grew. But, Revenue   Lead Declined. Per Lead Declined. Whose Fault? Whose Fault? ▪ •

THE TOUGHEST HIRE OF ALL IN SAAS 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

YOUR VPS IS ALSO FEEDING SECOND-ORDER REVENUE Wrong Hire = No Second Order Revenue,   Not Just Suboptimal Sales That Year

DIFFERENT STAGES OF VPS. OFTEN, A DIFFERENT HIRE. • 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

KEY SCREENINGS FOR VPS 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

SO, AS HARD AS IT IS—YOU CAN’T SETTLE 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.

WHEN IT’S GOOD—IT’S REALLY GOOD 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