{"id":1662,"date":"2018-04-20T09:59:30","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T13:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.comblog\/vp-sales-the-1-mishire-5-things-a-great-vp-sales-does\/"},"modified":"2019-10-04T19:39:12","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T19:39:12","slug":"vp-sales-the-1-mishire-5-things-a-great-vp-sales-does","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/vp-sales-the-1-mishire-5-things-a-great-vp-sales-does\/","title":{"rendered":"VP Sales – The #1 Mis-Hire + 5 Things A Great VP Sales Does"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Early stage companies are painfully \u201cmisfiring by mis-hiring\u201d the most important role on the sales team. Don\u2019t hire one until\u2026<\/h3>\n

In Tech, The #1 Most Common Mis-hire is the VP\/Head of Sales<\/h4>\n

In fact, there\u2019s a venture capitalist saying I\u00a0hate that goes something like \u201cYou\u2019ve Got to Get Past Your First VP of Sales\u2019 Carcass\u201d or \u201cThe Second VP of Sales Is When You Really Start Selling\u201d or variants thereof.<\/p>\n

It especially bugs me\u00a0because I\u2019m a\u00a0firm believer in hiring & training fewer, more committed people rather than taking a \u2018churn and burn\u2019 approach.<\/p>\n

But\u2026but\u2026those VCs are right. Because in start-ups \u2013 especially Software-As-A-Service (SaaS)\/ tech, it seems like the majority of first VP Sales fail. They don\u2019t even make it 12 months (we\u2019ve heard that the average tenure for VP Sales<\/a> of early companies in the valley averages 18 months \u2013 and\u00a0that includes the winners \u2013 ouch!).<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at what those Sales VPs\u00a0should do since most founder\/ CEOs are looking for the wrong things \u2013 especially first time founders, or founders who haven\u2019t spent much time in or with sales.<\/p>\n

Top 5 Things a Great VP of Sales Does At An Early, Growing Company (In Order Of Priority)<\/h4>\n

#1) Recruiting<\/strong><\/p>\n

You hire a VP Sales not to sell, but to recruit, train and coach other people to sell. So recruiting is 20% + of their time, because you\u2019re going to need a team to sell. And recruiting great reps and making them successful is the #1 most important thing your VP Sales will do. And great VPs of Sales know this.<\/p>\n

Peak Insight:<\/em><\/p>\n

Depending on the industry, between 20 and 33 percent of salespeople aren\u2019t capable of hitting their targets.<\/p>\n

#2) Backfilling and Helping His\/ Her Sales Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

Helping coach reps to close deals (not doing it for them). Getting hands-on when needed, or in big deals. Spotting issues before they blow up. Seeing opportunities ahead of the horizon.<\/p>\n

Peak Insight:<\/em><\/p>\n

Great Sales VPs boost a team\u2019s confidence during sales slumps and rally them to work together.<\/p>\n

#3) Sales Tactics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Training, onboarding. Territories (you need them). Quotas, comp. How to compete. Pitch scripts. Coordinating FUD and anti-FUD. Segmenting customers. Reports. Ensuring they and the team can get what they need from the sales \/ CRM system. Etc.<\/p>\n

Peak Insight:<\/em><\/p>\n

Create systems \u2013 simplify the sales process so reps can develop strong sales habits and tactics.<\/p>\n

#4) Sales Strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n

What markets should we expand into? What\u2019s our main bottleneck? Where should our time & money go? What few key metrics tell us the most about the health of our team & growth?<\/p>\n

Peak Insight:<\/em><\/p>\n

Monitor Activity Volumes \u2013 are calls, meetings, proposals, etc. in line with typical ratios required to hit targets?<\/p>\n

#5) Creating and Selling Deals Him\/Herself<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is last of the Top 5. Important, yes for select deals. But last on the list because if your VP Sales (or CEO, for that matter) is doing the closing rather than their team \u2013 you\u2019re bottlenecked. No scaling for you, sir.<\/p>\n

Peak Insight:<\/em><\/p>\n

A founder has to accept that a salesperson in a start-up is sometimes like a boxer fighting with one arm.<\/p>\n

SO: don\u2019t hire a VP Sales<\/strong> until you are ready to scale and build and fund a small, growing sales team.<\/em><\/p>\n

And any VP of Sales that doesn\u2019t see this themselves \u2014 probably isn\u2019t a great long-term Sales VP for you. Instead, he\/she is either just a great individual contributor, a great builder \u2026 or a simply a flawed or desperate candidate.\u00a0One challenge in hiring salespeople is that they\u2019re often extra good at\u00a0\u201cselling\u201d themselves too\u2026whether or not they\u2019re actually a good fit!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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