In the looking glass: how to hire sales managers
He is the big wild wolf next door.
Wild is not in the sense of "bad", but in the sense of "good."
- Run DMC, Peter Piper
Perhaps, this is the most common mistake that technical founders make when building a sales system: hiring "sales" on the same principle as the development team is created. Perhaps this is shocking to someone, but sales managers are significantly different from engineers, and if you treat them as engineers, nothing good will come of it.
The article by Ben Horowitz, one of the most experienced and respected entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, was transferred to Alconost .
')
It all starts with hiring. If you try to hire "sales", using the same tricks that worked with the developers, everything will go wrong with you.
A good interview with the developer includes a set of complex tasks. Or maybe the applicant will even have to write a small program, which will allow him to check his knowledge of the tools used. A small part of the interview can be devoted to personal traits, but smart managers are tolerant of a variety of personalities to find the best engineers.
A good interview with a sales manager is the exact opposite. You can perplex them with troubled sales all day, but only the most incompetent salesman will not be able to get out of the most complicated task of selling a complex project. On the other hand, good “sales” usually have very specific personal qualities. In particular, they should not be afraid of anything, love rivalry and be insatiable. And yet: their intellectual level should be sufficient to do the job. Here it is - a magic formula. Hire a developer with this profile - and you will burn. Hire very smart "sales" capable of solving complex tasks, but without having the courage, insatiability and competitive spirit - and your company will fly out of business.
This is how Dick Harrison, the head of Parametric Technologies , the company with the best sales department ever created, ”was interviewed by Mark Cranney, the best sales manager I’ve ever met:
Dick: - I bet you fought a lot in your youth. It's true?
Mark: - Oh, yes, Dick, there was a couple of fights.
Dick: - And what, you were good?
Mark: - Well, somewhere around 35 wins and one loss.
Dick: Tell me about the defeat.
Mark tells a story that scared Dick.
Dick: - What do you think, could you kick my ass?
During a short pause, Mark asks himself: “Dick asks about my courage or my intellect?” - and answers him: “Could or would you?”
Dick hires Mark to work.
Ask the same set of questions to the engineer, and at best he will be embarrassed, and at worst he will be horrified.
Asking these questions to Mark, Dick quickly found out:
“Sales” really need to hire otherwise.
When selecting developers, more valuable specialists should recognize those who have worked in large companies. If you have two job seekers with the same profiles, always talk first to the person who worked for Google, and not to a former employee of Quest Software. Why? Yes, because as a developer he should be much better to get a job at Google than at Quest. In addition, Google's engineering environment and technology brought to the level of art, that is, the developers from there went a good school in an environment with high standards.
Anyone who so desires can sell a universally successful product like Google Ads or VMware hypervisors. But people who consistently sell Lanier copiers on the same market as Xerox are the elite. A good sign may be that “Sale” was successful in a bad company. To succeed in selling a losing product, you need to develop a truly excellent sales technique. And we also need competition with insatiability to survive in this environment.
Large engineering companies are trying to never make personnel mistakes, because they can be very expensive. Not only do you lose the productivity that you could get as a result of hiring, but you also have the risk of earning a substantial technical debt . And it happens even worse: the manager is aware of a personnel error, but often does not correct it, which leads to an increase in debt and delays. In addition, too rapid growth of the engineering company leads to various communication problems, which makes a slow set of engineers a really smart approach.
On the other hand, you cannot afford to create a sales department that is too slow, especially in a highly competitive environment. “Sales” compared to developers work relatively separately, and although the loss of productivity will still arise, long-term debt or problems of rapid growth will be minimal. Sails usually have no problems with dismissing those who work poorly, so they leave quickly. One of my friends likes to repeat: "We have two types of sales managers: rich and new."
Attempts to use engineering-oriented hiring techniques to fill the sales force are like trying to eat poison ivy to increase green consumption. The result will be the opposite of the one you seek.
About the translator
The article is translated in Alconost.
Alconost is engaged in the localization of applications, games and websites in 60 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any formats of string resources.
We also make advertising and training videos - for websites selling, image, advertising, training, teasers, expliners, trailers for Google Play and the App Store.
Read more: https://alconost.com
Wild is not in the sense of "bad", but in the sense of "good."
- Run DMC, Peter Piper
Perhaps, this is the most common mistake that technical founders make when building a sales system: hiring "sales" on the same principle as the development team is created. Perhaps this is shocking to someone, but sales managers are significantly different from engineers, and if you treat them as engineers, nothing good will come of it.
The article by Ben Horowitz, one of the most experienced and respected entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, was transferred to Alconost .
')
It all starts with hiring. If you try to hire "sales", using the same tricks that worked with the developers, everything will go wrong with you.
Interview
A good interview with the developer includes a set of complex tasks. Or maybe the applicant will even have to write a small program, which will allow him to check his knowledge of the tools used. A small part of the interview can be devoted to personal traits, but smart managers are tolerant of a variety of personalities to find the best engineers.
A good interview with a sales manager is the exact opposite. You can perplex them with troubled sales all day, but only the most incompetent salesman will not be able to get out of the most complicated task of selling a complex project. On the other hand, good “sales” usually have very specific personal qualities. In particular, they should not be afraid of anything, love rivalry and be insatiable. And yet: their intellectual level should be sufficient to do the job. Here it is - a magic formula. Hire a developer with this profile - and you will burn. Hire very smart "sales" capable of solving complex tasks, but without having the courage, insatiability and competitive spirit - and your company will fly out of business.
This is how Dick Harrison, the head of Parametric Technologies , the company with the best sales department ever created, ”was interviewed by Mark Cranney, the best sales manager I’ve ever met:
Dick: - I bet you fought a lot in your youth. It's true?
Mark: - Oh, yes, Dick, there was a couple of fights.
Dick: - And what, you were good?
Mark: - Well, somewhere around 35 wins and one loss.
Dick: Tell me about the defeat.
Mark tells a story that scared Dick.
Dick: - What do you think, could you kick my ass?
During a short pause, Mark asks himself: “Dick asks about my courage or my intellect?” - and answers him: “Could or would you?”
Dick hires Mark to work.
Ask the same set of questions to the engineer, and at best he will be embarrassed, and at worst he will be horrified.
Asking these questions to Mark, Dick quickly found out:
- does Mark have enough courage, is he able to control himself and not be nervous;
- that Mark grew up in a rather tough environment and was not content with little;
- that the rivalry spirit of Mark rolls over, but he is smart enough to figure out the answer.
“Sales” really need to hire otherwise.
experience
When selecting developers, more valuable specialists should recognize those who have worked in large companies. If you have two job seekers with the same profiles, always talk first to the person who worked for Google, and not to a former employee of Quest Software. Why? Yes, because as a developer he should be much better to get a job at Google than at Quest. In addition, Google's engineering environment and technology brought to the level of art, that is, the developers from there went a good school in an environment with high standards.
Anyone can sell a successful product.
Anyone who so desires can sell a universally successful product like Google Ads or VMware hypervisors. But people who consistently sell Lanier copiers on the same market as Xerox are the elite. A good sign may be that “Sale” was successful in a bad company. To succeed in selling a losing product, you need to develop a truly excellent sales technique. And we also need competition with insatiability to survive in this environment.
Error price
Large engineering companies are trying to never make personnel mistakes, because they can be very expensive. Not only do you lose the productivity that you could get as a result of hiring, but you also have the risk of earning a substantial technical debt . And it happens even worse: the manager is aware of a personnel error, but often does not correct it, which leads to an increase in debt and delays. In addition, too rapid growth of the engineering company leads to various communication problems, which makes a slow set of engineers a really smart approach.
On the other hand, you cannot afford to create a sales department that is too slow, especially in a highly competitive environment. “Sales” compared to developers work relatively separately, and although the loss of productivity will still arise, long-term debt or problems of rapid growth will be minimal. Sails usually have no problems with dismissing those who work poorly, so they leave quickly. One of my friends likes to repeat: "We have two types of sales managers: rich and new."
Conclusion
Attempts to use engineering-oriented hiring techniques to fill the sales force are like trying to eat poison ivy to increase green consumption. The result will be the opposite of the one you seek.
About the translator
The article is translated in Alconost.
Alconost is engaged in the localization of applications, games and websites in 60 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any formats of string resources.
We also make advertising and training videos - for websites selling, image, advertising, training, teasers, expliners, trailers for Google Play and the App Store.
Read more: https://alconost.com
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/182048/
All Articles