Jeff Szczepanski Pipeline Summit
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Transcript of Jeff Szczepanski Pipeline Summit
JEFFERY SZCZEPANSKI
COOSTACK OVERFLOW
How a Developer Builds a Sales Team
(Scaling Sales the Agile Way)
Jeff Szczepanski, COO
What is the Objective?
Objective
Predictable Revenue that is Scaling Fast
(Building a Billion Dollar Company)
What is the Plan?
Typical Startup Plan1.Idea!2.Technical Co-Founders3.Raise Money4.Build Great Product5.Hire Head of Sales
ie: ‘Needz Sales’
6.Profit!!
Typical Startup Outcome1. Idea!2. Technical Co-Founders3. Raise Money4. Build Product5. While( Cash Remains )
Hire Head of Sales<some stuff happens>Wait 12 to 18 monthsFire Head of Sales
6. FAIL!
Typical Startup Outcome1. Idea!2. Technical Co-Founders3. Raise Money4. Build Product5. While( Cash Remains )
Hire Head of Sales<stuff happens>Wait 12 to 18 monthsFire Head of Sales
6. FAIL!
Building Sales Orgs in 3 PhasesProving Product Value
Understanding the Sale
Scaling the organization
Essence of Phase 1
Proving a Market Exists for your Product and People will Buy It
???
Phase 1 -> Challenge
The Product Probably Really,
Really Stinks
Phase 1 -> Implication
Customers are buying into your vision more than your product
Phase 1 Best Practices• Lean Startup Concepts– Getting to Minimum Viable Product
• Founder selling of the vision• Talking to BUYERS and USERS– all the personas in the value chain
• No Free Stuff: Prove Value, Test Pricing
Stack Overflow Careers(Proving Product Value)
Proving Product Value
Understanding the Sale
Scaling the organization
Phase 2 Goal
Multiple Sales Reps Closing Deals on their Own
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”and
SALES REP: “If I had Feature A, then I could sell way more”
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.
Understanding The Sale• <Web Direct> || <Use Humans>
• <Inbound Leads> || <Outbound Prospecting>
• <Split Sale> || <Full Stack>
Phase 2 Best Practices• You product will always suck to some extent
– Admit it to the Sales Reps, Sell what you have• Get to at least Three 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!!
Proving Product Value
Understanding the Sale
Scaling the organization
Phase 3 Goal
Predictable Revenue that is Rapidly Scaling
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
Good!
Just Like Software Development!!
Phase 3 InsightGood Sales Management
approaches parallel Good Software Development approaches!!
Properties of Successful Software
Development
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 DevelopmentSoftware 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
Cadence and Team Morale• 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
“Full Stack” Sales RepEach 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
Sales Manager• Primary Responsibility is Skills Development• Parallel to the Engineering Manager• Removes Operational Barriers– Helps define and build common infrastructure
• Works with a Longer Term Horizon– More Quarter to Quarter than Day to Day
Team Leads• 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 CrewSales Management => Garage Mechanics
SCRUM Sprint Based Process• Team Based & driven by the Team Leads• Operated as Joint Retrospective and Standup• Monthly Forecasting Cycle into Four Sprints• Reinforces Team Work and Shared Best Practices• Friendly competition between Teams and Offices
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• Autonomy and empowerment is the name of the
game
Three Things You Can Do Tomorrow• Proving Value: Make sure you understand the
niche you are serving and stay focused on that• Validate Your Understanding of Your Pitch by
showing that others can do it as well as you• Forecast from the Bottom Up: Top down
projections are just wishful thinking
Thank you!!!
@inscitekjeff
Blog: DevelopingSales.com