JEFFERY SZCZEPANSKI

COOSTACK OVERFLOW

How a Developer Builds a Sales Team

(Scaling Sales the Agile Way)

Jeff Szczepanski, COO

What is the Objective?

Objective

Predictable Revenue that is Scaling Fast

(Building a Billion Dollar Company)

What is the Plan?

Typical Startup Plan1.Idea!2.Technical Co-Founders3.Raise Money4.Build Great Product5.Hire Head of Sales

ie: ‘Needz Sales’

6.Profit!!

Typical Startup Outcome1. Idea!2. Technical Co-Founders3. Raise Money4. Build Product5. While( Cash Remains )

Hire Head of Sales<some stuff happens>Wait 12 to 18 monthsFire Head of Sales

6. FAIL!

Typical Startup Outcome1. Idea!2. Technical Co-Founders3. Raise Money4. Build Product5. While( Cash Remains )

Hire Head of Sales<stuff happens>Wait 12 to 18 monthsFire Head of Sales

6. FAIL!

Building Sales Orgs in 3 PhasesProving Product Value

Understanding the Sale

Scaling the organization

Essence of Phase 1

Proving a Market Exists for your Product and People will Buy It

???

Phase 1 -> Challenge

The Product Probably Really,

Really Stinks

Phase 1 -> Implication

Customers are buying into your vision more than your product

Phase 1 Best Practices• Lean Startup Concepts– Getting to Minimum Viable Product

• Founder selling of the vision• Talking to BUYERS and USERS– all the personas in the value chain

• No Free Stuff: Prove Value, Test Pricing

Stack Overflow Careers(Proving Product Value)

Proving Product Value

Understanding the Sale

Scaling the organization

Phase 2 Goal

Multiple Sales Reps Closing Deals on their Own

Common Phase 2 Problem

FOUNDER: “I can close customers myself without any problem, but the reps I’ve

hired can’t close the deals on their own”

Common Phase 2 Problem

SALES REP: “I can’t close customer X without feature Y”and

SALES REP: “If I had Feature A, then I could sell way more”

Add More Features!!?

Best Way to Increase Sales???

No, it’s cheating because it expands your addressable market, it doesn’t increase actual rate of penetration.

Understanding The Sale• <Web Direct> || <Use Humans>

• <Inbound Leads> || <Outbound Prospecting>

• <Split Sale> || <Full Stack>

Phase 2 Best Practices• You product will always suck to some extent

– Admit it to the Sales Reps, Sell what you have• Get to at least Three Sales Reps as fast as possible

– You want multiple petri dishes• Aggressive Compensation Plan

– Want successful reps making a ton of money• Fight all urges to use discounts to close deals• Sales Manager not Needed yet

– But a good idea to be looking!!

Proving Product Value

Understanding the Sale

Scaling the organization

Phase 3 Goal

Predictable Revenue that is Rapidly Scaling

Phase 3 Bad News

• Nature of Sales is Changing Rapidly• Classic Management Methods Failing• Experience != Expertise• Poor at Predictions of Outcomes• Seemingly More Art than Science• No Magical Processes to Follow

Phase 3 Bad News

• Nature of Sales is Changing Rapidly• Classic Management Methods Failing• Experience != Expertise• Poor at Predictions of Outcomes• Seemingly More Art than Science• No Magical Processes to Follow

Good!

Just Like Software Development!!

Phase 3 InsightGood Sales Management

approaches parallel Good Software Development approaches!!

Properties of Successful Software

Development

Understand Performance != Results

Software Development• Discovering, Developing and Finalizing

Requirements• System Architecture, Design and Code

Construction• Quality Control including effective

testing and validation• Task Estimation and Project

Management• Deployment and Ongoing Maintenance

A bunch of Separable Skills that individuals

and the team must be process capable of

Phase 3: Skills DevelopmentSoftware Development• Discovering, Developing and Finalizing

Requirements• System Architecture, Design and Code

Construction• Quality Control including effective

testing and validation• Task Estimation and Project

Management• Deployment and Ongoing Maintenance• Team Morale and Cadence

Sales Development• Prospecting• Questioning• Proposal Development and Pitching• Objection Handling• Closing Skills• Negotiation• Time and Pipeline Management• Team Morale and Cadence

Cadence and Team Morale• Bottom Up Schedule Estimates• Strive for Continuous and Steady Output– Team Goals but No death marches

• Using Peer and Social Pressure vs. Edicts– Setting Cultural Norms and Expectations

• Compensation Fairness• Merit not tenure based Advancement

“Full Stack” Sales RepEach Rep runs their Own Small Business:• End to End ownership of the relationships• Sets their Own Forecasts• Picks their Own Accounts• No scripts, No quotas• Works under shared best practices• Supported by Team Leader and Sales Manager

Sales Manager• Primary Responsibility is Skills Development• Parallel to the Engineering Manager• Removes Operational Barriers– Helps define and build common infrastructure

• Works with a Longer Term Horizon– More Quarter to Quarter than Day to Day

Team Leads• Drives Cadence and Morale of the Team• Parallel to the Technical Team Dev Leads• Walking Personification of Ideal Sales Rep• Natural Leaders that enjoy Mentoring• Player and a Coach -> Carries full account load• Eyes and Ears for Sales Management– Spot treatments not skills development

Phase 3 Role Separation

Team Leaders => Track Racing Pit CrewSales Management => Garage Mechanics

SCRUM Sprint Based Process• Team Based & driven by the Team Leads• Operated as Joint Retrospective and Standup• Monthly Forecasting Cycle into Four Sprints• Reinforces Team Work and Shared Best Practices• Friendly competition between Teams and Offices

Phase 3 Best Practices• First Phase with Professional Sales Manager(s)• Separate Performance from Results• Developing Suites of Skills in Each Rep• Empower the Reps and Teams to Self Manage• Each rep is running their own little business• Autonomy and empowerment is the name of the

game

Three Things You Can Do Tomorrow• Proving Value: Make sure you understand the

niche you are serving and stay focused on that• Validate Your Understanding of Your Pitch by

showing that others can do it as well as you• Forecast from the Bottom Up: Top down

projections are just wishful thinking

Thank you!!!

talljeff@stackoverflow.com

@inscitekjeff

Blog: DevelopingSales.com