headhunter

Interviewing at a SaaS start-up, recommendations for things to ask/consider?

So aside from the magical 3 words E-Quit-Y what else would you sales savages recommend to ask a SaaS startup while interviewing there? Things to consider/know prior to accepting an offer?

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mistamor

Opinionated

VP of Sales

Great question - here is a list of things you should ask:

1. What is the sales cycle?
2. What is your current demo conversion rate?
3. What is the current lead distribution system?
4. What does ramp-up/onboarding look like?
5. What initiatives does the company have for the sales dept in this quarter?
6. How many reps are there?
7. What is quota?
8. What % of reps hit quota?
9. What makes the top rep hit quota?
10. What's your current tech stack?
11. Do you have an existing sales playbook?
12. What's something the product doesn't currently do that you lose prospects to?
13. What would success look like to you in the first 90 days of a new sales rep joining the company?
14. What is the management style?
15. What sales resources are there?
16. Do you have a competitor analysis (assuming they don't have one online)
17. What is the avg revenue per user?
18. Are leads inbound or require outbound calling (usually you'd see this in the job description)?

* Since they're a startup, you need to make sure of 3 things:

1) Do they have funding and what is their runway? (e.g. 6 months worth of runway is a red flag).

2) Do they have demand for the product? (e.g. existing reviews, demo requests, etc.)

3) WIP? (Work in Progress) - are you joining them at the ground floor or do they have a product worth demoing and selling?

4.) Luxury or not? Is the product a need to have or a luxury?

5.) Growth - do they have established plans for growth for new people or work in progress? If work in progress, what are they offering?

These are some things to keep in mind - best of luck!

LordBusiness

Politicker

Chief Revenue Officer

Damn - basically covered all the bases here - well done.

slaydie

Big Shot

Account Executive

Stealing this! Such a great list

mistamor

Opinionated

VP of Sales

go for it

mistamor

Opinionated

VP of Sales

thanks Lord :)

headhunter

Great list! The "luxury or not" is a great one to know in particular. Thanks!

mistamor

Opinionated

VP of Sales

enjoy :)

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Nice list

M3guy

Good Citizen

Pivoting into Sales

Thank you for this thorough list - I'll be using it for sure in my future interviews!

GlenRoss

Politicker

Account Executive

Run rate, how many reps are hitting quota, general quota attainment, what their sales process is like (if they have a formalized one at that point). I’m sure there’s more that people will add. Good luck!

TheRealPezDog

Notable Contributor

Account Manager

Be cool, most SaaS interviews I’ve had they were all SO cool!

CFry

Entry SDR

Great list def using this on my interview I have!

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headhunter

Interviewing at a SaaS start-up, recommendations for things to ask/consider?

12 comments

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