SaaSy Talk S01.E01: Building a Successful Sales Team, Key Tips for Founders
About The Guest: Matt has led sales and operations for multiple hyper-growth, venture backed tech companies. In these roles, he oversaw personnel management, strategic planning and sales leadership in multiple markets across the U.S. He now helps run Sales Assembly, an organization trusted by the GTM teams of hundreds of B2B SaaS companies.
He's also a pretty good husband, an even better father, an international travel enthusiast, and if there's a Simpson's quoting competition he would undoubtedly place in the top 3 (provided the focus was on seasons 1 through 11). ------------------------------------------------------------ Episode Summary: Matt Green, co-founder of Sales Assembly, shares his insights on building successful sales teams and developing a strong sales playbook. He emphasizes the importance of finding the right people for your team, rather than relying on big logos or established organizations. Matt also discusses the challenges of transitioning from a founder-led sale to a true go-to-market motion and the need for consistency in training and development. He highlights the shift in Sales Assembly's focus from training for job titles to training for skills, and the impact it will have on their organization. ------------------------------------------------------------ Chapters: (00:00) Mistake of founders thinking big logos guarantee success in hires (01:09) Accidental entry into sales after studying criminal justice (03:40) Sales Assembly started as a solution to common sales complaints (06:46) Importance of finding the right people when building a team (08:45) Sales playbook should be written by the first sales hire (10:28) Critical elements of a sales playbook: process, methodology, language (14:25) Onboarding new sales teams can be challenging without consistency (20:57) Hiring slower and firing quicker improves team quality (22:07) Focusing on hiring A players only is crucial for success (26:44) Revenue being seen as a team sport, but sales getting blamed in tough times (31:36) Excelling in sales as an introvert (33:06) Excitement for training for skills rather than job titles (35:31) Quick-Fire Round ------------------------------------------------------------ Key Takeaways: - Finding the right people is crucial when building a sales team, rather than relying on big logos or established organizations. - Transitioning from a founder-led sale to a true go-to-market motion requires careful planning and consideration. - Consistency and alignment towards a mission are essential for building a strong sales team and company culture. - Building a sales playbook should focus on defining the sales process, methodology, and language used in communication with prospects. - Hiring slower and firing quicker can lead to better long-term success in building a sales team. ------------------------------------------------------------ Quotes: - "A mistake that we see a lot of founders make when they start making their first hires on the go-to-market team is they think that working at big logos or established organizations like Salesforce is going to automatically translate to success." - Matt Green - "If it's not a fuck yes, it's a fuck no. We're A players only over here." - Matt Green - "Consistency and alignment towards a mission are crucial for building a strong sales team and company culture." - Matt Green ------------------------------------------------------------
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