Tag Archives: Producer

How Do You Build and Develop the Right Team? Four Points

Situation: A CEO has two issues. One concerns her COO about whom she is receiving complaints from staff as new processes are implemented, and the other is beefing up the sales team. On the latter issue she is concerned about both her ability to pay the high-level seller-doers that are needed to support growth and potential turnover. How do you build and develop the right team?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The COO has already put the right process in place. Coach this individual to lighten up and allow everyone to adapt to the new regime.
    • As new processes are implemented coach him not to implement them rigidly at first. Allow people time to get used to the new process. Allow some flexibility in implementation so that the new processes can be adapted to the individual styles of the key players.
    • Over time tighten expectations gradually until each process is fully in place and running smoothly.
  • Have the COO communicate to the company that it’s growing, the focus is now on hiring, and the task facing the company is revenue growth.
  • For new salespeople, the investment cycle can be 6 months to full function.
    • In the mix of salary and bonus, weigh the bonus side heavily – the side that won’t become payable until the new individual produces.
    • This becomes an incentive for new salespeople to get up to speed quickly. It also helps to weed out those whose talents aren’t as sharp as they represented in the hiring process.
  • The salespeople are the key marketers for this company as well as the rainmakers and producers. It may be necessary to commit to this investment to ensure future growth and adjust the company’s annual earnings forecasts accordingly.

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How Do You Recruit a VP of Sales & Marketing? Seven Thoughts

Situation: A company has grown to five times the size that that were when they hired their last Vice President of Sales & Marketing, and are looking for a new VP of Sales & Marketing. What is your advice as they embark on this search? How do you recruit a VP of Sales & Marketing?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Think coach as opposed to star player. You are a much larger company, and at this phase of growth you need an individual with good marketing skills combined with sales management skills. You need a brand builder.
  • Recently, another CEO went through a similar process. His mistake was hiring a person with deep domain experience, when what they really needed was a person with process/methodology experience in complex sales. In your case, consider an individual from a larger company in your industry, or an allied industry. Somebody with knowledge of similar technical sales processes to your company with similar complexity and similar lead flows.
  • Skip head hunters. Based on your knowledge of good companies in your industry use LinkedIn to find who’s who. You can look at three pools of candidates – those that you can hire away from these companies, those who have worked there but are out of work, and early retirees who have found that they now need to go back to work.
  • Research current salary ranges in your industry and plan to be competitive, both base and bonus target.
    • As this individual will be a doer-manager make bonus qualification a combination of personal quota and team performance (overall new sales growth vs. existing projects).
  • While another CEO agrees that you don’t need a head hunter, find someone who can organize the process – review resumes, perform screening interviews, schedule higher level interviews, follow-ups, etc. – and who will work on an hourly basis.
  • Have a job application and be sure to ask for the following:
    • Criminal records,
    • Copies of last W-2s.
    • State on the application: falsehood is grounds for immediate termination.
    • Do or outsource formal background checks including verification of education and degrees.
  • Personally call references for your finalists. Ask these references who else knows this person and speak to them, as well.

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