The 'Right' Timing for recruiting Messiah/VP Sales
Plenty of theories around the question of what should be the right timing for bringing in the 'magician' .. that ultimate sales executive that brings with him this amazing Rolodex of only Fortune 5000 companies and has miraculous sales skills.. the guy that can turn our miserable pipeline into a bursting flow of deals...
We brought up that question in one of our CEO round tables and came back with interesting observations: Most of the participants stated the 'obvious'... that well- accepted common wisdom that a VP of Sales should NOT be brought to a company prematurely.. "the only sales executive in the 1st phase should be the CEO..." .." if you bring a mature VP Sales before there are real sales, you will lose him because these guys' salaries are based substantially on their performance bonus.." .. "the kind of guys you really want will not join an early stage start up..".
I agree NOT..
A VP of Sales is not a hired gun and should not be treated as such. On the contrary, a VP of Sales, the guy that we rely on so much in taking our product to market and to sell, is one of the few front runners of the organization. As such, he must be part of the core team that help define the product, talk with the market, reshape the product and then launch and sell it...
I like very much the way Yuval Ofek, the CEO of dbMotion (www.dbmotion.com), put it : a start up, just like a baby, should have all the necessary organs from the embryonic stage..
So now that we all agree that we need to get him on board ASAP, the only challenge remaining is to find the right guy... :)
We brought up that question in one of our CEO round tables and came back with interesting observations: Most of the participants stated the 'obvious'... that well- accepted common wisdom that a VP of Sales should NOT be brought to a company prematurely.. "the only sales executive in the 1st phase should be the CEO..." .." if you bring a mature VP Sales before there are real sales, you will lose him because these guys' salaries are based substantially on their performance bonus.." .. "the kind of guys you really want will not join an early stage start up..".
I agree NOT..
A VP of Sales is not a hired gun and should not be treated as such. On the contrary, a VP of Sales, the guy that we rely on so much in taking our product to market and to sell, is one of the few front runners of the organization. As such, he must be part of the core team that help define the product, talk with the market, reshape the product and then launch and sell it...
I like very much the way Yuval Ofek, the CEO of dbMotion (www.dbmotion.com), put it : a start up, just like a baby, should have all the necessary organs from the embryonic stage..
So now that we all agree that we need to get him on board ASAP, the only challenge remaining is to find the right guy... :)
Comments
Decisions – Decision making is a critical function at all stages of a start up however, receiving guidance from an experienced VP Sales at the earliest stage will guide the pace and trajectory of the company. Leverage wisdom early on, not the rolodex!
Context - A VP Sales need not deliver a rolodex of contacts at the outset; rather focus the early stage team on validating technology and business alignment. Strong sales people live to condense value proposition messages of their companies and this only comes from giving context of the technology within the relevant market. Use the VP Sales to align your raw technology to business needs as he/she will understand how these two factors will play out in an enterprise sales process. Finally, le the VP Sales position begin to infuse into the start-up a spirit of sales and execution. When is it ever too soon to build a culture of success?
Leverage - Leveraging people is a science often misunderstood, especially by eager and young companies seeking to show success. A truly great VP Sales is someone that will knows how to say "I disagree and here is why", is not scared to halt an enterprise sale process, and understands the true value of Social IQ. Use your VP Sales guru early in building your company not for his/her rolodex, but to receive wisdom that will project the company into a larger space and place it on a trajectory with a higher likelihood of success.
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A Maverick sales person, rain maker, Senior (sometime confused with VP), who has been there is rare and will usually NOT join an early start up as his commissions will not be close to what he is used to.
VP of sales needed from the early days and is crucial for market input (on your product and status), planning (production, financials) and then, before the product is ready to test CLOSE the first few deals. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY VP of sales is there to BUILD a sales team and lead them.
TEAM.
Get one early. You'll need 4-6 through the life cycle of the company anyway.
Sales is evolving from an "art" based on intuitive erratic steps into a PROCESS with well defined stages in sync with the buying processes of the customers, all this monitored by clear KPI (key performance indicators) far beyond the static "post mortem" sales vs. quota and similar rear mirror parameters. Sales Managment is being redefined as a discipline rather than an art...
Keep writing your interesting ideas !!
Sales is evolving from an "art" based on intuitive erratic steps into a PROCESS with well defined stages in sync with the buying processes of the customers, all this monitored by clear KPI (key performance indicators) and managed by CRM (Customer Relations Management software), far beyond the static "post mortem" sales vs. quota and similar rear mirror parameters. Sales Managment is being redefined as a discipline rather than an art...
Keep writing your interesting ideas !!
BTW- was in Israel a few months ago with the UJA Federation- NY Chapter- first time- amazing!