We just launched a 27-page eBook, Building the Startup Sales Team. The eBook was written for founders and other early startup employees who find themselves at the helm of the sales team without any prior experience. It’s the handbook I wished I had, just to point me in the right direction and get me focused. […]
Management
Dangers of Myopic SaaS Metrics Management
Just before we left for Europe a few weeks ago, we launched a couple of eBooks. One was Anna’s guide to Building the Startup Sales Team and the other was my Guide to SaaS Growth Metrics. While I’m grateful for how they’ve been received, being away from everything for a couple of weeks has given […]
How to Create a SaaS Sales Compensation Plan
When I was a new sales manager, compensation planning was one of the biggest gaps in my knowledge. Having not been a sales rep myself, and only a founder who sold, I had never personally had a comp plan. When I created my first SaaS comp plan, not only did I have no clue to […]
How Long Should a Founder Sell?
A question that gets tossed around a lot among start-up founders who are selling is, “How long should I be involved in sales?”. Exactly how founders participate in selling varies depending on the company, of course. Some founders are the first salesperson in their startup and keep personally selling as they grow a team. Others […]
How to Lead Your Company With Transparency
“But how best to accomplish transparency? It’s a delicate balance — you want to keep employees in the loop, but you also want the company to function smoothly.” – TinyPulse Many modern companies, particularly tech startups, have transparency as a core value. Transparency as a core value for all stakeholders including employees, customers, partners, vendors […]
Video: Want Your Sales Team to Sell More? Hire and Train for Curiosity.
The best sales people are naturally curious. They instinctively ask the right questions, at the right moment, in the right tone. This trait helps them gather key information, bond with their prospect, sell consultatively and win more deals. Here’s how to help your team be more curious.
How to Implement a Meeting-Free Week at Your Company
I’ve written about how important it is to be deliberate about your company’s meeting culture, and how debilitating it can be to your staff when you aren’t. One of the ways I like to “reset” a company’s meeting culture is to institute a company-wide meeting-free week every six months or so. It’s like a vacation […]
(Un)sustainable Content Strategies
To stay clear of undermining your good name and brand, it pays to create a sustainable content strategy that’s intentionally designed to have a lifecycle that makes sense.
Video: The Difference Between a Sales Pipeline Review and an Opportunity Huddle (and why you need both)
Many sales leaders consider Pipeline Reviews and Opportunity Huddles to be synonymous. These two terms are often used interchangeably to describe one-on-one meetings managers have with their reps. But these are two different, and equally important, meetings.
The Value of Process
Documentation and process are the keys to proving performance, maintaining deal momentum and mitigating risk. Claims made in a book or business plan become the basis of valuation, conditional bank approval or terms.
