Recruiting and structuring sales teams at different stages

Discussion: Recruiting and structuring Sales teams at different stages

Key takeaways from Sonnar's Sales leaders and CROs dinner on "Recruiting and structuring sales teams at different stages."

Scaling a startup is a challenge, with 80% failing to reach critical size, according to McKinsey. Demand for Chief Revenue Officers (CROs) has risen sharply, with over 2,000 open positions on LinkedIn. Fortune 100 companies with CROs are growing 1.8 times faster than their competitors, benefiting from the advantage of combining marketing and sales in a single position.

The CRO's responsibilities include managing the entire revenue function, from digital marketing lead generation to sales closing. He/she takes care of the strategic market vision, ensures the quality of the customer journey and initiates strategic turning points. He/she ensures alignment between employees, internal processes and technology throughout the revenue cycle.

This panel explores :

• The impact of CROs: Identifying critical areas where CROs can make a difference.
• When to recruit a Sales leader: Determining the right time to hire.
• Ideal profile for the job: Understand the ideal profile.
• Why CROs are essential to growth: Discuss their growing importance.

Expert speakers

• Veselin Penchev, VP Sales @MyTraffic
• Charles Beneteau, VP Sales Europe @PlayPlay
• Jonathan Trepo, ex-Chief Revenue Officer @Alma

Moderators

• Antoine Freysz, Entrepreneur & Cofounder @Kerala ventures
• Cyrille Lafont & Thibaut Dousset, Co-founders @Sonnar

Heard during the discussion:

• "If the founder has no commercial DNA, it quickly becomes complicated to grow."
• "Initially, with only 3/4 Sales in the team, we didn't need to hire a Sales manager. They have to manage at least 10 people."
• "I should have recruited a Sales leader earlier, capable of closing deals and explaining to 10 Sales people how to do the same. At that point, I had to manage too many people directly, being only a co-founder, and I wasted a lot of time."
• "In the early days of the company, you need entrepreneurial profiles, not éxecutants, but "dirty entrepreneur" profiles are very rare."
• "The key to success for companies at this stage is customer contact. You need to understand your customers' expectations in depth, so that product marketing can evolve quickly. Structuring too early loses this link, which is damaging."
• "A founder is so passionate that he could sell anything to anyone. But that can only last temporarily and doesn't solve the PMF (Product-Market Fit) issue."
• "Even with fixed processes, Sales will always be creative and manage to work around them!(laughs)"
• "In recent years, we've tried to structure too early and too quickly. We've created ready-made kits, coaches with very elaborate, but inapplicable playbooks."
• "Regarding the collaboration between Marketing and Sales, what worked well was having a VP Sales Ops who acted as a link between the two teams and presented issues rationally to the CRO/CEO."
• "The mantra of a Sales leader should always be "simplify".
• "At Napta, we've made the opportunity qualification process as objective as possible, which helps maintain alignment between Sales and Marketing teams for as long as possible. And it works."
• "When Sales and Marketing teams don't communicate, it's often a people problem."
• "The ability to recruit highly experienced profiles is one of the main reasons for the success of the companies I've invested in from the outset. These profiles are going to change the game."
• "Most of the time, you don't need a CRO. A good VP Sales and a good VP Marketing are better than a CRO, unless you're launching new markets or geographies or need to optimize a very elaborate funnel."

Main ensiegnements

1. Timing for hiring a Sales leader :

• Founder's sales role: At the outset, founders often take charge of sales. They have a unique connection with the product and their customers, which makes them effective. Staying in charge of sales until there are 5/6 people on the sales team is essential, because the key to success at this stage is customer contact. You need to have a deep understanding of your customers' expectations if you are to rapidly evolve your product marketing. Structuring or recruiting too early can break this link, which is detrimental to the company.
• Scaling too early: As the company grows and LCA increases, co-founders should consider hiring a Sales leader. When LCA is between €50,000 and €100,000, a "business entrepreneur" profile is ideal for building and refining sales processes. This profile is capable of working in the field, as well as building playbooks and helping the team replicate early successes. However, if you hire someone too senior too soon, he or she will often struggle to fit in.
• Key accounts: To target key accounts, a proactive leader capable of being creative, not too script-dependent, and able to handle complex negotiations is crucial.

2. Sales process structuring :

• Simplicity and efficiency: From the outset, leave room for creativity and adaptability in sales approaches. Implement structured processes gradually to ensure consistency and scale without stifling innovation. Remember, the mantra of Sales leaders should always be "simplify."
• Progressive playbooks: Start with basic processes (e.g. lead qualification, elevator pitch) and build on them. Avoid over-complicating things right from the start, to avoid creating confusion and inefficiency. It's already a good challenge to get the whole team to follow the basic processes.

3. Collaboration between Sales and Marketing :

• Shared objectives: Establish shared goals for Sales and Marketing to ensure alignment. CROs can act as a link between the two teams, reporting issues to the CEO if necessary. As they are neutral, they can approach the situation rationally.
• Role of a CRO: A good VP Sales and a good VP Marketing are better than a CRO, unless you're launching new markets or geographies, or need to optimize a very elaborate funnel. The CRO is not a miracle solution and is all too often a stopgap measure.

4. Role of experienced profiles :

• Impactful leaders: The contribution of experienced leaders is one of the primary reasons for the success of startups. Combining marketing and sales teams can help attract a profile that is looking for a large team to manage, but also has the ability to adapt and work with younger members of the team.
• Motivational dynamics: Experienced recruits also send a signal to the team that the company is entering a new phase, which can boost morale and productivity.

In summary, the timing and nature of hiring a sales leader, the balance between flexibility and structure in sales processes, and the collaboration between sales and marketing are crucial to scaling a startup. Co-founders need to leverage their unique sales role at the outset, gradually introduce processes and ensure alignment between teams to achieve sustainable growth.