You want to find people that are happy to be sales reps who love the trade, who can possibly scale up to be a manager, and then can really contribute to your own skillset. Have they been individual contributors? Do they take pride in being a representative of your company and doing what’s best for your customer or are they more interested in title? If they come in and say I want to be known as the Chief Revenue Officer, then that’s a flag for you. If you’re a technical startup entrepreneur, hire your first salesperson, when you’re ready to have revenue, and look for certain things. For example, if I was starting a company today because I have strong sales experience, I would probably hire a CFO before I hire a sales rep. ![]() But as far as bringing in someone from the outside to be in sales versus doing it yourself, that’s completely dependent on the skill set of the individual. You’re going to touch each and every single one of those customers. If the founders are technology people and are software developers themselves, they may not be comfortable running sales initially.īut whether you hire salespeople or you do the first $2 million of ARR, yourself, you’re going to be involved with your first 10, 50, or 100 customers. Joe: That’s very dependent on the founder. If I’m a founder and I’m trying to set up my sales engine, what’s a good time to bring in the first few salespeople from outside? So doing research on their industry, asking questions and listening to what their concerns are, and being able to add value are some of the things that worked out really well for me in my career early on. And I try to make that time as valuable to them as possible. I understood that the most valuable asset is our customers’ time and when you secure that meeting - that 15-minute call, or that half-hour meeting, or the one-hour lunch - you’re getting the most precious thing. Joe: I adopted a consultative sales approach very early in my career because I had more of a technical background. Tell us what made you successful at sales? Joe, you were raised by first-generation Italian immigrants in Montreal, started your career as a software developer, moved to sales, worked at startups and multinationals. The top traits and abilities he looks for in salespeople, the metrics with which to track a sales team, how companies can wed an inside sales motion along with a product-led growth motion, and the lessons learned from the acquisition of his previous company Highfive. ![]() In this episode of The Orbit Shift Podcast, we talk to him about his journey and the need to continuously evolve as a manager. He has over 25 years of IT and communications experience in the enterprise and global carrier markets, gained at organizations such as Avaya and Cisco.įor several years now, Joe has had a ringside view of the transformation in the selling process. Joe Manuele is the Senior Vice President of Corporate and Business Development at Dialpad and former Chief Executive Officer of Highfive which was acquired by Dialpad in August 2020.
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