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posercloser

VP Sales

Valued Contributor
Contributor
Fire Starter
+1

Would you hire a salesperson outside of software for an AE role at a software company

I'm really struggling with a candidate who definitely has sales chops, but they're selling hardware (non-tech). I think they're a good fit, but I'm concerned with aptitude. We're an early stage start-up so can't take a lot of risk.


Any thoughts?

👥 Hiring
🧢 Sales Management
34

45 comments

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CuriousFox
WR Officer
25
🦊
Yup. Industry can be learned. The "it factor" cannot be taught.
1nbatopshotfan
Politicker
6
Sales
100% this. If you find talent, teach it the product or service. 
E_Money
Big Shot
2
💰
And if they have "it" then they will learn quickly! 
UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
10
SaaS Eater
You can always teach a new industry and new vertical, you cant teach natural talent. Hire the hell out of them, train them properly and you have a rock star on your hands. 

If you can sell you can sell, the SaaS requirement is bullshit IMO. Do they have a process they can speak to that is repeatable? Can they build rapport? Do they ask thoughtful questions? Are they humble and ready to learn a new industry? Can they think on their feet? If so youre good. 

You mention not being able to take risk and I get that part. Does this candidate have experience at a startup? Or a smaller company with less well defined processes? if so I think you might have a rock star in the making, especially since it sounds like you believe  in them. 

We stopped requiring SaaS experience about 6 months ago and have hired 2 of the best reps on my team to sell SaaS. 
TheOverTaker
Politicker
2
Senior Account Executive
As someone who is outside of SaaS, I have always wondered about that. 
posercloser
Valued Contributor
1
VP Sales
Super valuable feedback. I left the idea of they need to sell my industry a long time ago, but this is the first time I've been faced with this delima.

Thank you!
UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
3
SaaS Eater
Just hire the talent. If its there like it sounds, youll make it work. 
InQ5WeTrust
Arsonist
6
No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL
If you can't take the risk, it sounds like it's worth moving on to the right candidate. 

Will you be able to give them the appropriate level of support they might need as someone with a non-tech background? They may be phenomenal, but if you guys don't have the bandwidth then you're doing a disservice to both parties. 

My first startup had no justification to be hiring fresh grads, but I managed to stumble my way through. It was close. 
Justatitle
Big Shot
4
Account Executive
100%. At a company I was at 4 years ago the top rep came from being a sales rep for the Padres ticket office. Guy came in and closed deals the company hadn’t dreamt of. There’s a reason you train them on the software after their hired. What can’t be taught is the drive and acumen that you know is there.
SaaSguy
Tycoon
4
Account Executive
I think there is a ton of talent in other industries that would crush in software sales roles.
ScorpionZD
Executive
0
Enterprise SDR
Agreed
Diablo
Politicker
3
Sr. AE
We hired a few from other industry but their drive resonated with ours. Its working very well.
CaneWolf
Politicker
2
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
Yes.
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
2
☕️
I'll be the naysayer here and tell you to move on. The time-to-production and ramp-up will likely be longer and shallower than you need at your stage. The only way around this is a sharp evaluation project that assesses the candidate's ability to sell your solution.

Try setting up a mock prospecting scenario. You're an inbound lead, here is your use case, here is all the info they need to know about what your solution does and how your price/go-to-market. Can they run a successful discovery and get you to move forward to the next steps?
UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
3
SaaS Eater
I agree with this, but this highlights my point. If they can sell, they will make it work given these parameters. I dont think you should hire them blindly but if they have the ability to sell, they will make it work. 
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
4
☕️
I've been burned by "instincts" twice, so now I evaluate non-traditional career paths.
UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
3
SaaS Eater
Yup makes perfect sense. 
posercloser
Valued Contributor
0
VP Sales
This is exactly my struggle point which lead to posting this!
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
2
Rolling 20's all day
Recently I saw IQ + EQ + AQ = sales potential. 

Are they smort, able to speak super good and connect, and can they adapt like Bear Grylls on day 5 of drinking piss in the jungle???

 Maybe this is true, maybe not. But if someone has skills and all that is different is learning the market and product a bit, then they should be able to make the shift.
TheRealPezDog
Notable Contributor
2
Account Manager
As someone who has sold successfully in many different sectors I can assure you that industry and skill can be learned... Sales chops is something you either have or don't have.
userdungeon
Opinionated
1
Director
Tech sales is learned through years of SADNESS and "naturals" are the worst reps ever.  
ScorpionZD
Executive
0
Enterprise SDR
Haha why are naturals the worst?
SweetLeaf
Fire Starter
1
Relationship Manager
Coming from the insurance world I was able to still settle in nicely to saas. Same fast paced environment; a lot of it the will to be self taught/developed/ coached to be any good in saas or insurance. So depending on the vertical I’d say yes.
thalassophile888
Opinionated
1
Enterprise Solutions Engineer
I’ll be a naysayer here too. I’ve had to carry three enterprise reps as an SE. These people were unwilling to be coached and saw me as glorified tech support. If you can risk the hire for talent and have the proper support systems then go for it but these non-SaaS sellers need to show you that they are curious and a willingness to learn. Can you ask them to present a demo? Are there other tests or scenarios that you could implement during the interview process?
Cornholio
Opinionated
1
Account Executive
I went through this transition myself just recently. The majority of my career has been in renewable energy, selling equipment for solar and wind projects. Now an AE at a large software company. If they have the soft skills you are looking for I would not hold back. I would give him a hard ramp up date for when they are expected to know the technical side and the tools to do so. 
posercloser
Valued Contributor
1
VP Sales
Fantastic feedback - similar background with this candidate actually. The only difference is we're a really small software company and we don't have a lot of resources. As an example we don't even have an SE yet, and I'm basically onboarding. No HR, etc. Do you think you'd still be successful with your background without any support besides what I described?
Cornholio
Opinionated
1
Account Executive
I do, I think at the end of they day the customer experience through the process is what will get the deal closed. The first couple jobs might be a bit clunky but you potentially have some one that will have your process down and could be a valuable member of the org as you continue to scale. You should expect to help them out more than you would some one else. But I suspect the reason they have got this far is you really like them and they are really good. 
posercloser
Valued Contributor
1
VP Sales
really appreciate this - Thank you!
saasesforthemaases
Tycoon
1
Account Manager, West
Yes definitely. I crossed over from consultancy to SaaS. It's a shift, but it's not insurmountable.
itwasluck
Opinionated
1
Account Executive
Bain of my existence when I was trying to transfer from hardware sales into software. Nobody would take me seriously. First year in software and every year after I've crushed my targets. 

If you are good at sales you can learn to transition to software in a few weeks. It's not that hard. 
softwarebro
Politicker
1
Sales Director
Normally I would agree that industry can be taught BUT you are at an early stage start-up - you don't have time to handhold. 
E_Money
Big Shot
1
💰
100% yes, anyone recruiting for people who only have experience in EXACTLY what they want is closing themselves off to a huge pool of potential talent. 
Panda4489
Politicker
1
Head of Some Shit
I guess if you're the one doing the hiring you should take a hard look at yourself. 

Do you have the chops and/or the time to be able to take someone who has been successful in sales and teach that person the necessary skills to be successful at software sales? 

I say this only because my opinion is the Frontline sales manager typically spends to much time doing things that isn't developing sales stars. 

If I have a candidate that has the chops to close. I'll take that person in a heart beat and will increase a good amount of time up front getting them up to speed with the fundamentals of selling software. 

They can always take the AWS certified cloud practitioner course on a cloud Guru on their own time to accelerate their learning too. 
Panda4489
Politicker
1
Head of Some Shit
I used to be in fitness and personal training sales 🤷🏻‍♂️🤣
CRAG112
Valued Contributor
1
Account Executive
Sales is sales bro.

If they talked to you clearly about a sales process and how they applied it to win, that’s what you need. if it’s relevant to the vertical you are in, that’s even better. If you think selling physical products is not as hard as software……

SaaS = flooded market space with a red ocean of competitors more often than not.

here’s another thought. Explain why SaaS all over their resume would mean something.
dcarb
Good Citizen
0
Account Manager
That's the beauty of sales! If you are good at what you do you can sell almost anything.  New product and industry can be learned.  It's much more difficult to learn the craft of selling.  That can take years!  I would reverse the question back to you...what is it about selling a SaaS product that is that different from selling hardware? Other than selling a physical product vs. an invisible one the process is basically the same, right?
posercloser
Valued Contributor
0
VP Sales
A lot of the things that caused me to pause was lack of knowledge on how POC/POV worked, ACV vs. TCV, renewals, etc. Just a different world. That said great feedback here that's given me something to think about for sure. Not just for this candidate but for others.
dcarb
Good Citizen
0
Account Manager
I get your point. I guess it really depends on the type of hardware. If you are are selling heavy machinery to construction companies that is MUCH different than selling a cloud-based solution that integrates with the customer’s Oracle environment.  The learning curve perhaps is too much in that case. So maybe I should modify my original answer to “it depends.” 😁 
bellaccione
Valued Contributor
0
Growth Consultant
Probably not, my guy.
I'm a computer engineer with 15 years quota-carrying sales experience. And another 3 before that as a sales engineer. 

NONE of the REALLY GOOD hardware sales guys I knew came without some technical background. Much less in a startup environment if you're blazing a trail or evangelizing to an audience remotely technical.


EDIT:: owait - i totally misread the OP. Candidate is CURRENTLY selling hardware, that's non-tech? Not "the startup is selling hardware"? Then this could work yes

Irishman
Catalyst
0
Business Consultant
YES
diet75
Big Shot
0
Enterprise AE
If they  

have proven work ethic

are coachable

own two ears that are capable of listening

and a good brain between them....

don't let them go elsewhere. 
TheHypnotist
Executive
0
Sales Manager
Hire for what cannot be taught (attitude, perseverance, work-ethic, coachability), then teach them the product/service and coach them on everything to ensure their success and yours.
DannyD
Good Citizen
0
Director of Sales
The software sales caste system has to end... and I am glad the shortage in AEs is helping that. 2 years ago I interviewed for a role with a great CV showing top 1% last 10 years in sales and he said but I did not have SaaS experience. I asked what is SaaS, a cloud based software that is made to be simple to the end user? This was not a complex product.  Look for someone who is  Genuine, Consultative, Creative, Driven, Grit, business acumen, Curious, and Growth Mindset rather than a average AE with SaaS experience.

Flippinghubs
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
Yeah, those are skills that can be learned. If they know how to sell then they know how to sell at the end of the day 
CRAG112
Valued Contributor
0
Account Executive
I would really like to know what you thought needs to be learned for software sales.

Picking up the phone and calling?
Being relevant to the person they are speaking to?
Managing a transactional sales cycle?
Managing a long sales cycle where multi-threading is needed?
Knowing what the acronym ACV or ARR means?
Learning the product? (Every good sales person knows this)
Learning the industry? (good sales people learn this too)

Someone below mentioned the SaaS requirement is bullshit. And every seller knows it truly is. It was designed for investors, that's about it.

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