The Agony & Ecstasy of Building and Scaling Inside Sales

The Agony & Ecstasy of Building & Scaling Inside Sales Isaac Garcia CEO / Co-Founder Central Desktop May 17, 2010 / MESHU

Purpose of This Session To Understand What It Takes to Build and Scale an Inside Sales Team and Whether or Not the Inside Sales Model is Right For Your Business

In This Session We Will….. • Answer “What is Inside Sales?” and “Who Needs it?” • Examine Different Types of Sales Models • Study the Profile of Successful Inside Sales • What does one look like? • Look at the People Behind Successful Inside Sales • Understand the Metrics That Matter • Provide a Framework for Getting Started

First of All, Who The Heck am I? • First “Tech Job” Was B2B Inside Sales • First Sales Rep / Inbound / Outbound / Demos / Learned from Founder • Software Consulting Firm • Rookie of the Year! • Founded Enterprise Data Services Company • Price Points Were $50k - $400k • Founded B2B Marketplace • Inside Telesales Team / Low Price Point High Volume

First of All, Who The Heck am I? • CNET Networks • Inside Sales ($200/mo - $3k/mo) • Enterprise Sales ($100k - $3 million) • Landed Google, Ebay, BestBuy, Microsoft • Central Desktop • Self-Service / Ecommerce Model ($25 - $249/mo) • Inside Sales Model ($4k/year - $25k/year) • Currently in “Scale Mode”

First of All, Who The Heck am I? • Never Sold Anything Before In My Life! • BA and Masters in English Literature! • Never Took a Business or Accounting Class in my Life! ANYONE CAN DO THIS!

What Is Inside Sales? Its Not a Boiler Room!

What Is Inside Sales? Inside Sales is a Progression

Wise Nugget #1 As Your Business (Product) Evolves, So Will Your Sales Model

Types of Sales Models

It Depends On Your Market Consumers SMB Mid-Market Large Companies B2C B2B B2B B2B SOHO “Small Business” “Medium Business” Enterprise VSB Departments Departments Fortune 5000 1-5 Employees 100-1000 Employee 5-100 Employees 1000+ Employees E Commerce Phone / Inside Sales Face to Face

Don’t Forget The Cost!

Tale of Two Companies Upgradebase Vendorbase 1. $100k+ 1. $25 - $149/month 2. 180+ Days Sales Cycle 2. <30 Days Sales Cycle 3. Face to Face 3. Phone 4. Expensive Reps 4. Ecommerce / Telesales 5. Few Customers 5. LOTS of Customers 6. Net Terms 6. Credit Card! 7. Integration 7. 100% Web Based 8. We Raised Capital 8. We Bootstrapped

Dot Com Crash • 2001 • Cash Crunch • Customer Crunch • Business Crunch • Upgradebase Hurt • Vendorbase Did Well

Wise Nugget #2 It is Possible to Bootstrap Inside Sales To Success!

Inside Sales: What Does It Look Like?

Inside Sales: Simplified Leads (Inbound/Outbound) “Potential” Opportunity “Accepted” Opportunity Pipeline Measure at Close! Each Stage! $

Inside Sales: What Does It Look Like?

Lead Gen: Inbound • Reps Qualify Inbound Leads • Trials, Whitepapers, Email, Chat, Phone, Tradeshows • First line of defense / Sift Sand • SCORE Leads To Be Efficient! • Create “Potential” Opportunities • Comp’ed on Qualified Opps & Closed Won • Collaborate with the Account Executive (Closer) • Ratio is 1 Rep to 3-4 Closers • SF.com Gives ~250 Leads Per Month / CD 1000 Leads

Wise Nugget #3 The Secret to Inbound Lead Qualifying is to Listen to Your Customer’s Needs – and Solve a Problem.

Lead Gen: Outbound • Sales 2.0 / Cold Calling / Prospecting • Proactive Outbounding • Find New Opps for Closers • Target Higher $$$ Prospects • Target Ratio is 1:3 • This is NOT Calling the Phone Book! • Segments with Higher Propensity to Buy

Wise Nugget #4 The Secret to Outbound Lead Development is to Respect & Care about the Prospect! You Have No Right! Date Them!

Closers: Account Executives • Focused on New Business • “Accept” Opportunities • Manage a Territory / Patch • Develop Territory Plans • Carry a Quota ~5x Total Comp • Might Manage 10-30 Key Accts • Incentivized to Close Deals Monthly / Collect Cash Up Front

Wise Nugget #5 The Secret to Closing a Sale is to Not Sell To them!

Nurturers: Acct Management • Focused on Adoption • Customer Success • Nurtures Accounts • Be Trusted Advisors • Find Referrals / Upsells • Manage Renewals • Collaborate with Sales Closely • Comp’ed on Retention / Renewal Rates • This Could Be Two Teams Upsell / Acct Management

Wise Nugget #6 You Don’t Do All of this at Once – You Iterate Your Way Into Inside Sales!

Who & How To Hire / And When?

Hiring Leadership

Your Sales Leader Needs To: • Sell • Manage • Coach • Lead • Schedule • Report • Present • Prospect • Hire • Close

Be Careful When Hiring Managers! • Sales People Are Good At Selling Themselves! • Are They Precise With Their #s? • Take EXTRA Time When Hiring • SF.com Managers Spend 50% of Their Time Hiring • Unanimous Hiring (With Multiple Interviewers) • Ask Them To Present! • Make Them Give You A Plan! • Check Their W2s! • Did They Try to Close You In The Interview?

Hiring Reps • Develop a Training System (Starts w/Founder) • Give Them the Equipment They Need • Good Phones • Headsets (w/long battery life!) • Good Chairs • Good Computers • Give Them the Tools They Need • Linkedin / Jigsaw / Hoovers / Insideview • Give Them Career Paths

What About The Profile of Reps? • Finished College • Competitive (Sports) • Driven / Leaders • Extra-Curricular Activity (Music, Sport, Hacking, etc.) • Can Relate to Others • Quick On Their Feet • Organized / Professional (Did they followup? Try to close you?) • Sense of Urgency • Likes / Wants to Win

Sales Culture Musts • Ethical • Fair • Professional • Competitive • Supportive • Driving • Fun • Money-Centric Sales Is Not For Everyone

What About The Metrics? • CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) • Churn • Life Time Value (LTV) • MRR / CMRR • Renewal Rates • ACV (Average Contract Value) • Cash Collected Notice These Are Business Metrics?

So, Where Should You Start? • YOU (the Founder) are the BEST Sales Person! • Learn, Learn, Learn! • Listen, Listen, Listen! • Iterate, Iterate, Iterate! • Your Involvement Will Influence the Company Forever! • You Can’t Outsource Passion • If You Can’t Sell Your Own Product – You Have No Passion • No Passion – No Sales – No Success

Start Slowly • Founder’s Should Always Sell In the Early Days (Especially if Bootstrapped) • Learn How To Train Others • Hire a “Whale Hunter” once you’ve got something repeatable (multiple sales). Bring In Cash! • Separate the Job Functions / Don’t Expect Your Hires to all be like you! • Focus on Market Fit! This is who you Outbound too! • Measure / Iterate • Manage to Results (Not Behavior)

Most Importantly • YOU CAN DO THIS! • This isn’t just for “other people” • YOU CAN DO THIS! • Building a Product Isn’t Good Enough! • You Need To Go To Market With Your Product • Inside Sales Can Be One of the Most Effective Ways to Bring Your Product to Market

“Go and Do Likewise!”

Resources & Special Thanks: • The Central Desktop Sales Team • @isaacgarcia / igarcia@centraldesktop.com • www.Balsamiq.com for mockups • David Skok @ www.forentrepreneurs.com • Mark Suster @ www.bothsidesofthetable.com • Aaron Ross @ www.pebblestorm.com • Salesforce.com for Inspiration • Alec Baldwin Cameo in Glen Garry Glen Ross

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The Agony & Ecstasy of Building and Scaling Inside Sales

by Isaac Garcia on May 18, 2010

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The Agony & Ecstasy of Building and Scaling Inside Sales — Presentation Transcript