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Sounds like he's going against all the things that make a startup fun. Reading a 'sales bible' sure isn't on my list of exciting things to do when I join/create

by rheide 15y ago

Sounds like he's going against all the things that make a startup fun. Reading a 'sales bible' sure isn't on my list of exciting things to do when I join/create a startup.

mrkurt 15y ago
If you're going to do sales, you need some kind of sales religion whether you read a bible or not. If you're not doing sales...
sriramk 15y ago
I think you're being harsh. This is no different from someone making people read Steve Blank's book when they join or some other book (a very common practice). Sales is hard.
abiekatz 15y ago
With sales, in the very beginning you can just work in whichever way makes the most sense and test many different things out, not worrying too much about process. Mark Suster calls this "evangelical sales" http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/10/12/startup-sales-why-hiring-seasoned-reps-may-not-work/ http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/10/12/startup-sales-... Though as a sales team scales, a sales team need to become more process driven so that the company can keep better track of everything that is going on and make sure that everything can be kept track of and organized.
jeremymims 15y ago
We have lots of fun. In fact, in many ways, processes like these allow for our team to focus on innovating and doing cool things instead of just "winging it" every time.
- ChuckFrank 15y ago
  Clearly Sandler Sales Tech and just winging it are not the only two options. Understandably, it's important to get your sales team up to speed, and using various sales systems might help, but the team itself should really be the focus in which to discover the speed. Mentoring, performance transparency, strategic incentives, and regular recognition of top performers will have more benefits that some 'off the shelf' system. What I found most revealing was that when the sales team was flying blind without a marketing plan, no matter what system they were using (hello cold calls?) they were spinning their wheels. Instead, building a comprehensive marketing / sales program resulted in better client outreach. This reinforces the basic fact that every product or service should have a marketing plan attached to it to lay the groundwork for the sales process that follows. And that question is simply answered by asking 'Who wants it, and how will we best let them know about it?'. To that answer, I doubt - cold calls 'brrr' - will ever be a top choice. Otherwise, thanks for sharing your team members stories. ps. here are the 2 starred reviews from the 'you can't teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar' book (what kind of title is that anyways? Surely you CAN teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar. How better to teach a kid? By having them read a book? Maybe it should be called 'you can't teach a kid to ride a bike by reading a book'. Regardless, my point is that some of these concerns appear rather valid (though I've not read the book myself.) http://www.amazon.com/Cant-Teach-Ride-Bike-Seminar/product-reviews/0967179904/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_2?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addTwoStar http://www.amazon.com/Cant-Teach-Ride-Bike-Seminar/product-r...
minimax 15y ago
It sounds like he's trying to turn a fun Austin startup into Dell. For those who aren't from Austin, Dell is basically the worst place you can end up as an Austin tech person. It's the bottom of the barrel -- the employer of last resort. He's saying to document everything and to lock in a rigid process. That makes absolutely no sense for a startup. A startup is all about trying new things and giving up on them if they don't work out. Dumping huge amounts of resources into documentation and process runs completely counter to that idea.
- jeremymims 15y ago
  Hardly turning a fun Austin startup into Dell. We are a fun Austin startup. But Dell has built a very effective Business sales channel. And nothing we do is "rigid". It is documented and we're learning and making changes all the time. We're a B2B company that's figured out some very difficult sales challenges (like how to sell into the local space effectively). I'd bet money that we try more things more often than most startups because we're trying to optimize solutions for software and human performance that no one has been successful at before. Think of it this way. If you never had analytics on your sites or applications, how would you recommend scaling?
ig1 15y ago
Startups aren't about "fun" and "excitement", startups are about building scalable businesses that solve problems. You might not find sales or accounting fun but they're critical parts to running a startup. Don't join/start a startup because you think you'll like the startup culture because when the reality of hard-work and stress hit you you'll end up giving up.

by rheide 15y ago

Sounds like he's going against all the things that make a startup fun. Reading a 'sales bible' sure isn't on my list of exciting things to do when I join/create a startup.

mrkurt 15y ago

If you're going to do sales, you need some kind of sales religion whether you read a bible or not. If you're not doing sales...

sriramk 15y ago

I think you're being harsh. This is no different from someone making people read Steve Blank's book when they join or some other book (a very common practice). Sales is hard.

abiekatz 15y ago

With sales, in the very beginning you can just work in whichever way makes the most sense and test many different things out, not worrying too much about process. Mark Suster calls this "evangelical sales" http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/10/12/startup-sales-why-hiring-seasoned-reps-may-not-work/ http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/10/12/startup-sales-... Though as a sales team scales, a sales team need to become more process driven so that the company can keep better track of everything that is going on and make sure that everything can be kept track of and organized.

jeremymims 15y ago

We have lots of fun. In fact, in many ways, processes like these allow for our team to focus on innovating and doing cool things instead of just "winging it" every time.

ChuckFrank 15y ago
Clearly Sandler Sales Tech and just winging it are not the only two options. Understandably, it's important to get your sales team up to speed, and using various sales systems might help, but the team itself should really be the focus in which to discover the speed. Mentoring, performance transparency, strategic incentives, and regular recognition of top performers will have more benefits that some 'off the shelf' system. What I found most revealing was that when the sales team was flying blind without a marketing plan, no matter what system they were using (hello cold calls?) they were spinning their wheels. Instead, building a comprehensive marketing / sales program resulted in better client outreach. This reinforces the basic fact that every product or service should have a marketing plan attached to it to lay the groundwork for the sales process that follows. And that question is simply answered by asking 'Who wants it, and how will we best let them know about it?'. To that answer, I doubt - cold calls 'brrr' - will ever be a top choice. Otherwise, thanks for sharing your team members stories. ps. here are the 2 starred reviews from the 'you can't teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar' book (what kind of title is that anyways? Surely you CAN teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar. How better to teach a kid? By having them read a book? Maybe it should be called 'you can't teach a kid to ride a bike by reading a book'. Regardless, my point is that some of these concerns appear rather valid (though I've not read the book myself.) http://www.amazon.com/Cant-Teach-Ride-Bike-Seminar/product-reviews/0967179904/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_2?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addTwoStar http://www.amazon.com/Cant-Teach-Ride-Bike-Seminar/product-r...

minimax 15y ago

It sounds like he's trying to turn a fun Austin startup into Dell. For those who aren't from Austin, Dell is basically the worst place you can end up as an Austin tech person. It's the bottom of the barrel -- the employer of last resort. He's saying to document everything and to lock in a rigid process. That makes absolutely no sense for a startup. A startup is all about trying new things and giving up on them if they don't work out. Dumping huge amounts of resources into documentation and process runs completely counter to that idea.

jeremymims 15y ago
Hardly turning a fun Austin startup into Dell. We are a fun Austin startup. But Dell has built a very effective Business sales channel. And nothing we do is "rigid". It is documented and we're learning and making changes all the time. We're a B2B company that's figured out some very difficult sales challenges (like how to sell into the local space effectively). I'd bet money that we try more things more often than most startups because we're trying to optimize solutions for software and human performance that no one has been successful at before. Think of it this way. If you never had analytics on your sites or applications, how would you recommend scaling?

ig1 15y ago

Startups aren't about "fun" and "excitement", startups are about building scalable businesses that solve problems. You might not find sales or accounting fun but they're critical parts to running a startup. Don't join/start a startup because you think you'll like the startup culture because when the reality of hard-work and stress hit you you'll end up giving up.