The true test of your VP of Sales should never be: "What do you know of the domain and what do you know of the customer" particularly when we're talking about a

The true test of your VP of Sales should never be: "What do you know of the domain and what do you know of the customer" particularly when we're talking about an early-stage company, still searching for a repeatable sales model. It's my view that best test of the VP Of Sales is the following question: "What do you do when no one is buying our product?" Sales executives that are trained and deeply experienced in sustaining innovation sales models are great when the repeatable sales model has already been discovered, documented and integrated into the entire organization, including the marketing and product. At this level, the role of the Sales VP is there to "caretake" the sales organization through the maturation stage of growth and dependable business objectives led by the CEO. Their rewards are aligned with the ability to keep the engine humming or fine-tune it for increased sales revolutions. In a startup, prior to full discovery of the repeatable sales model, one should avoid any sustaining innovation Sales VPs like the plague. One should take a bigger risk on high-energy, untrained sales reps/managers, who are capable of learning disruptive sales models and can be trained (and retrained cheaply) to patiently listen to the customer buying cycle and business circumstance around which a new marketing model must be built. It is my view that most VP of Sales are not trained for disruptive and innovative sales roles because their experiences were anchored around very predictable revenue models. At the VP of Sales level, there are many ways to vet a candidate and those methods should align with the corporate structure and the corporate culture. However, let’s be clear. The first VP of Sales or VP of Marketing are high-risk hires who the CEO should be prepared to replace as quickly as possible as the product market fit process, customer segments, and customer buyer-cycle and buyer-profiles continue to change and settle. Don’t get obsessed over your first VP of Sales as “The One” Obsess that you have athletes that are capable of running a hard sales race and that your organization is nimble enough to adapt and change, as needed to survive the sales discovery process!