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A small note of caution. I did a startup some time ago where we were four founders. One of them was an excellent enterprise sales guy. In his previous job he h
by mixmax 17y ago
A small note of caution.
I did a startup some time ago where we were four founders. One of them was an excellent enterprise sales guy. In his previous job he had managed sales in excess of $100 million on a yearly basis. His job was, of course, to push the product. It didn't work out because he was used to a big organization that took care of everything from planning his meetings to serving him coffee. He simply didn't get the startup culture where you have to save every penny you've got, and do everything yourself with noone to delegate to.
We ended up buying his shares and he went back to big-corp where he was more at home.
I'm not saying that all enterprise sales people are like this, just that it's something to be aware of.
- shafqat 17y agoThis is really great feedback - thanks. We have do everything ourselves. We've met sales guys that don't even want to do lead-generation. They think they are only "closers." Anyway, finding someone great who fits into the entrepreneurial atmosphere and needs of a startup is another challenge.
- jsares 17y agoYou don't want your outside sales person doing lead generation. Buy quality lists and then have an inside sales person qualify them and setup the appointments for the outside sales rep. The good inside sales reps have different skills than the outside ones.
- sdesol 17y agoSomething worth noting that is along the same line is. I was told that you should avoid sales people that have come from very well known companies like IBM. The reason for this is they aren't the ones attracting the clients. The IBM brand is what is attracting the clients. This is not to say there aren't good sales people from well known companies, it's just that they probably had it pretty easy so they wouldn't know what to do if they had to fend for themselves.