SaaStr Annual 2024: Making the Transition: Going from Founder-Led Sales to Building a High Performing Sales Team with SVB

SaaStr Annual 2024: Making the Transition: Going from Founder-Led Sales to Building a High Performing Sales Team with SVB

1. Making the Transition Going from Founder-led Sales to building a High-Performing Sales Team Renuka Kumar MD, Investor Coverage SVB Ben Maitland-Lewis Director, Startup Banking & Founder Success SVB

2. Hiring | Find your "Hamilton" 83% of companies plan to grow their sales teams in 2024 compared to only 23% in 2023. Prioritize individuals with creativity, enthusiasm, resourcefulness, a hunger for success, and relevant industry experience Individuals with drive, empathy, a solutions-oriented mindset, and the ability to contribute to a “one team, one dream” approach Build a team that communicates quickly and honestly (calm, clear and data-driven), and who aren’t afraid to seek feedback Sales leaders with an SDR, BDR, AE, or other "in the trenches" experience is a must for this vital hire Avoid unnecessary top-down management at this stage to maintain velocity and drive growth while in transition (a doer who can make process improvements along the way that benefit the team and customer experience) Examples:

3. Find an individual who will amplify your talents , create efficiencies without bottlenecks, and fuel future, repeatable growth .

4. Strategizing | What gets measured gets managed. 77% of enterprise software buyers complain that their sales experiences are overly complex – leading to stalled and lost deals Empower sales teams to prioritize rapid customer feedback integration Be strategic in guiding sales teams on how to build a solidified pitch, formal pricing, qualification questions, processes, and timelines Constantly iterate alongside your sales teams and think long term -  revenue growth doesn’t happen overnight Put in place processes to enable your team's success Leverage various software tools to help teams identify and contact leads at scale, conduct regular check-ins with the team, track progress and manage growth effectively Stay involved as long as necessary to ensure new leadership is dialed-in and articulating your value as good or better than you, the founder

5. Empower sales teams to prioritize rapid customer feedback integration

6. Delegating | The flex of a true leader. When transitioning from focusing on sales to leading a sales team, delegating work and stepping back is crucial to being a good leader Share your expertise. Allow salespeople to shadow you as you educate prospects about the company. Give your new hire the ability to make the pitch their own and try a few times without judgement. Iterate. Repeat. Then let them take over the front line Create a live feedback loop from salespeople on what conversations resonate well with customers and prospects Incorporate those insights into a sales playbook of patterns that lead the team to success – as well as support marketing and positioning In the world of enterprise, delegation is a fine balance that can be achieved through proper infrastructure and open communication

7. Key Takeaways Empathetic leadership wins.   Put in place processes that scale. Train, delegate, and inspire.