TennisandSales

Head Of Sales

Acclaimed Answer

My first week not being an AE

So for those who dont know i just took my first leadership role this week.

The onboarding experience/ expectation has been SO different than any onboarding Ive done as an IC.

a few learnings from this week:

The language that is used internally is super important for alignment. If Strategy has a different name for a demo than Services does, or if "the sales process" means something different to two different groups it will be hard to move forward. I have been shocked by how much this has happened.
Non sales people REALLY dont get sales. the VP of strategy has taken on sales over the last year and just in this week its clear that how sales people have been trained (hopefully) to understand prospects, identify pain, and qualify them is very different than how other departments would do it.
It feels really good when people ask for my opinion and its respected. this is the biggest difference ive noticed this week. A number of times in meetings *in week 1* i have been asked what I think, and then that has been discussed and implemented. Never as an IC has that really happened. (now of course this is suppose to be the case but its just really cool to experience)

Im excited to share more learnings and I am curious if there is anything specifc people would care about hearing?

Context:

head of sales role
major saas company,
division is considered a "start up" in the org.
team is around 50 ppl
selling to Mid Market

🎈 Mentorship

🧢 Sales Management

🚀 Career Goals

11

23 comments

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poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

3

☕️

What is your management skills development plan/does your company offer something like that to prepare you for the curveballs that humans throw at you?

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

yes they do, they have a whole "being a manger at XYZ" type of course. I most likely wont be looking to add anyone to the team until next year though. So i dont have a skills development plan yet.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

1

☕️

Nice that they have it built out! Do they provide any reimbursement for hiring a coach or education?

detectivegibbles

Politicker

2

Sales Director

Dude props to you man. Sounds like an awesome group.

How do you guys define mid market?

Keep posting updates, you always bring fire Tennis.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

thanks homie.

and its based on volume the customer would use. (hard to specifically define without kinda doxing my self haha)

detectivegibbles

Politicker

1

Sales Director

You're good haha.

I feel like an outsider being in healthcare med device sales. I could sell a MRI system to a private practice that only has 3-4 docs and I could sell a MRI to a 30 site hospital system.

Gotta love sales jargon.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

With regard to your first comment about internal language - are you in a position to create and align the terminology and processes?

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

yes, thankfully I am. Its been interesting to see HOW this happens. when teams work too siloed they start referring to the same thing in different ways, and its not till they come together do we notice this.

I expect this will be an easy fix thankfully.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

That's good. Finding common ground for important motions is going to be critical. You're aligning expectations internally. Glad you're in a position to affect change.

SaaSsy

Politicker

2

AE

Can you talk more about the problems or misdirection the current sales team has since you mentioned non-salespeople were in charge of that before you? Also what are you addressing first and are the AEs aligned with your thoughts or do they feel nervous about changes? Kinda broad but happy for anything you’re willing to unload #startupprobsoverhereforme

TennisandSales

Politicker

2

Head Of Sales

there is currently no other sales ppl besides my self. there had been 2 others that quit (thats why non sales ppl were doing sales activities)
So i am really charged with building this function and team from the ground up.

In the past, there was a HUGE misdirection. The goals of the sales team were NOT the same as the goals of the whole organization. This caused a lot of friction and why it all went down hill. Now that the priorities have been established more clearly, we can actually move forward.

SaaSsy

Politicker

2

AE

Ohhh got it, I was like damn, you started scaling the team quickly! Kudos for getting goal realignment established and I look forward to hearing more when you bring on your new hires.

Maximas

Tycoon

1

Senior Sales Executive

Apparently with comparison with your old company it's like getting to heaven , you must be lucky to join the new role and the best to know that your opinion is being heard and respected which is the most important thing to me, good luck!

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

thanks! yes it is a NIGHT AND DAY difference hahaa

Maximas

Tycoon

1

Senior Sales Executive

I C😃Good luck my buddy bud❤️

YinYang

Contributor

1

VP of Sales

Yep: do you have a 30/60/90 day plan as a new leader?

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

no.
I was not asked to prepare one thankfully, and to be honest SO much is going to change in the next 90 days that its hard to tell you what I will be doing. BUT
the general frame work i have today is this:
Phase one:
-Establish WHAT the sales process will look like: (this is more than Disco, demo, pricing, close. its looking at:What constitutes a target account,What does qualification look like, how will we determine an account to be "qualified", when do we need to notify Services, what does implementation look like ect.)
-Establish renewal process for the renewal team- Work with services to outline the out of the box implementation project plan.- Align with Solution consultants on the demo flow (we are thinking through if we will continue to use SCs or not)- connect with all department heads and each Customer success manager.

Phase 2:- out reach- get as many new groups in the door as possible and see what breaks in the process and what needs to be adjusted.
I will be asked to pick a date on when this will start but i am unsure yet.
Phase 3:
tweak and continue.

im sure this will also change but this is what it looks like after week 1.

1

Leadership Development coach & Regional Sales leader

A lot on your plate. Have you prioritised deeply getting to know your team in the Frist 30days in particular? Everything else follows that: your strategy, understanding their motivations, designing collaborative coaching plans together etc.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

yes. that has really been my first priority. majority of last week of having initial meetings to just get to know each other and put a face to a name and under stand their areas of focus. This week we are all getting together in person which will be a great chance to deepen those realtionships.

1

Leadership Development coach & Regional Sales leader

Good luck with your new team. If you ever need advice or someone to bounce ideas off of as you Jumpstart your leadership role, I'm here 👋🏽 (leadership can be TOUGH oftentimes, you're not alone!)

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

1

Rolling 20's all day

Thanks for sharing! Are you planning to change your name to TennisandManagement?

TennisandSales

Politicker

0

Head Of Sales

hahah! maybe when the team has ppl for me to manage. right now its more like "tennisandSalesProcess"

Pachacuti

Politicker

0

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

First off - congrats on the promotion. I hope you’re a good fit for the role and I wish you success.

The people you manage are not your friends. It’s sucks but it’s the truth. If you get buddy-buddy with a few of them you’ll be accused of favoritism. Happened to me before. So keep things business like in your conversations.

Also, it’s often best to stay quiet. Remember that you have 2 ears and 1 mouth. Use them proportionately. Listening to others is an incredible skill for a leader to master.

Good luck!

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