Don’t Hire the Best Senior Sales Leader Resume or the Most Impressive Interviewee at a Startup of SMB Company

A technical founder starts 66% of startups. ?The top five educational backgrounds of technical founders of startup companies include computer science/engineering, electrical engineering, information technology, mathematics/statistics, and physics. These educational backgrounds equip founders with the technical expertise to innovate and succeed in delivering visionary solutions to the marketplace.

The “blind spot” for over 65% of technical founders is their struggle with organic sales development and creating new sales due to their lack of sales experience, focus on product development, limited network in sales, and resistance to the selling industry.

• It doesn’t interest them.
• It’s an afterthought.
• It’s a necessary evil that investors often require for additional funding.
• Many technical founders detest developing effective sales processes.

Startup and SMB companies' technical founders need to hire a competent, focused, determined Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) who is not a "yes man" to lead their sales and marketing departments. This CRO must bring experience in a startup environment, sales expertise, a technology tool bag, current knowledge of AI presales, strategic leadership, a 1% work ethic, independent thinking, and accountability to drive revenue growth quickly and effectively.

Senior Sales Leadership Insights: Navigating Hiring and Retention Challenges

Sales leadership, particularly the role of Chief Revenue Officer, President of Sales, Senior Vice president of Sales, or Head of Sales at startups and SMB companies, is among the most challenging positions to hire successfully.

The average tenure of a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) is remarkably short. It is the most volatile C-suite position among all C-level officers. Despite advancements in recruiting technology, retention rates for senior sales leadership have been declining since 2006. My experiences and research explore the hiring and retention challenges faced by companies.

Watch This TEDx Talk Video / Why the best hire might not have the perfect resume | by Regina

Hartley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiDQDLnEXdA&t=330s

The Impact of New Recruiting Technology: Technology has revolutionized how companies recruit senior sales leaders. From applicant tracking systems (ATS) and automation to virtual interviewing and recruiting chatbots, technology has been harnessed to streamline the hiring process. However, despite these advancements, senior sales leadership retention rates have yet to improve significantly. I want to explore the potential reasons behind this and examine how technology can be better utilized to enhance C-level sales leadership retention.

Did you know that annual company turnover in sales departments is 35%, while in other departments it is only 13%? If startups and SMB companies want to retain senior leadership beyond two years, they must interview sales department hires differently than other departments.

Overvalued Hiring Criteria in Mis-Hiring: Despite the evolution of hiring practices, many companies continue to overvalue industry experience, culture fit, formal education, a likable personality, and a good interviewee and perfect resume during the recruitment process for a new senior sales leader.

"The estimated cost of a bad senior sales leader hire ranges from 5 to 27 times the amount of a person's salary." Dr. Bradford Smart (Author of Topgrading)

Undervalued Competency Traits in Hiring Senior Sales Leaders: Competency traits are often undervalued in senior sales leaders' hiring processes.

These are some of the questions that are seldom asked but need to be asked during the interview of a senior sales leader.

• (Q1)What is your GTM (go-to-market) strategy to grow our quarterly sales and annual revenue?
• (Q2) What is your plan to dramatically increase pre-sale sales activities?
• (Q3) What is your plan to shorten the sales cycle and optimize our current sales process?
• (Q4) How will you increase the conversion rate of interested prospects to new customers?
• (Q5) How will you implement new technologies to increase sales and lower departmental costs?
• (Q6) What do you know about omnichannel prospecting?
• (Q7) Do you have experience where you had to step in (telephone call/Zoom meeting) to take control of a sales conversation or interaction to close a deal?
• (Q8) Can you provide a specific example from your experience where you successfully exceeded sales targets in a startup or high-growth environment?
• (Q9) What strategies did you implement to achieve this success?
• (Q10) How do you approach setting ambitious yet achievable sales targets for a startup company?
• (Q11) What factors do you consider when establishing these goals?
• (Q12) Can you share a situation where you had to pivot sales strategies quickly to respond to market changes or unexpected challenges?
• (Q13) How did you ensure the team stayed motivated and focused during such transitions?
• (Q14) How do you ensure strong cross-functional alignment and collaboration to maximize sales opportunities and customer satisfaction?
• (Q15) Startups often face resource constraints and limited budgets. How do you prioritize sales initiatives and allocate resources effectively to maximize revenue generation while optimizing costs?
• (Q16) Can you give an example of a successful resource allocation strategy you implemented in the past?

These questions help evaluate the candidate's strategic resource management skills and ability to drive revenue growth efficiently within the constraints of a startup environment.

They also answer a Chief Revenue Officer's qualifications, past experiences, strategic thinking, leadership abilities, and alignment with the startup company's goals in exceeding new sales expectations.

The interviewer needs to quantify these valuable business traits during the interview process. These traits should be on a paper or your technology device, prepared for the interviewer to write a yes or no next to each business trait throughout the interview.

These business traits are common among senior sales leaders with tenure beyond two years.

• (Q1) Do they have the skills and will necessary to fulfill the sales quota requirements?
• (Q2) Do they have a 1% work ethic and focus?
• (Q3) Are they trustworthy?
• (Q4) Are they resilient enough to deal with hard coaching?
• (Q5) Can they excel and not shut down under pressure from the CEO or business owner?
• (Q6) What is their motivation to break sales records?
• (Q7) Are they 100% dedicated to reaching sales and revenue goals?
• (Q8) Do they have tactical business development skills (make a cold call, close a deal, write good sales copy, create effective sales FAQs, write a telephone script, deal with an angry customer, win a head-to-head deal against a formidable industry competitor)?
• (Q9) Is their life outside of work stable enough to succeed at this job?
• (Q10) Are they physically healthy enough and have the endurance to succeed at this job?
• (Q11) Can they personally sell and close C-level decision-makers?
• (Q12) Are they competitive and passionate about winning?
• (Q13) Do they have a GTM business plan?
• (Q14) Will they work enough outside of work to gain a thorough understanding of the company and its competitors?

Understanding the significance of these traits can help startups and SMBs make better-informed decisions about hiring senior sales leaders.

The Reality of Senior Sales Leadership Tenure and Retention: The statistical data validate the challenges of tenure and retention in senior sales leadership roles. It explores the decline in average tenure, including the shrinking duration of senior executive sales leadership roles and the high turnover rate among sales leaders. Insightful statistics demonstrate the precarious nature of these positions and the need for a strategic approach to hiring and retaining senior sales leaders.

• Tenure / Retention Statistic #1: In 2006, the average VP of Sales held on to his (or her) job for about 26 months. In 2023, that tenure/retention number has dwindled to just 18 months.
• Tenure / Retention Statistic #2: In 2006, the 7% shrinkage happened for three straight years. Interestingly, the average sales leader’s tenure is shrinking at roughly the same rate that inside sales jobs in the U.S. are growing.
• Tenure / Retention Statistic #3: “70% of SaaS First VP Sales don’t make it to 12 Months. It’s one of the most common and devastating mis-hires in start-ups.”- Jason Lemkin (CEO and co-founder of EchoSign).
• Tenure / Retention Statistic #4: In 2021, 85% of sales leaders would consider leaving their jobs if the economy doesn't improve.
• Tenure / Retention Statistic #5: 50% of sales leaders have taken a new job in the last two years. (Source: Xcatly).

In Conclusion, don’t fall in love with the resume or the candidate; fall in love with their business plan, competency, and focus.

Hiring and retaining senior sales leaders pose significant challenges for startups and SMB companies. By understanding and acknowledging this process's trends, pitfalls, and complexities, these sized companies can improve their strategies for identifying, hiring, and retaining top talent for over two years.

I hope these statistics and information can serve as a comprehensive guide, providing valuable insights and practical solutions for navigating the intricacies of senior sales leadership recruitment and retention in the modern business landscape.

Warm regards,

Ruben Corona / Level 7 Sales Leader

Call or Text:?(702) 300-9279

Call or Text:?(702) 505-6319

Email:?[email protected]

LinkedIn URL:?https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/ruben-corona-0b73661/

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Please Invest Time Reading My Articles

I encourage LinkedIn readers to explore my published articles to gain deeper insights into my unique strategies and technology acumen, which consistently delivers proven results.

These pieces showcase my expertise as a Chief Revenue Officer and demonstrate a consistent track record of meeting ambitious sales quotas—a distinction that sets me apart in the field.

Article Title 1: AI-Powered Pre-Sales Strategies with Ruben Corona?

• Article URL 1: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/exploring-ai-powered-pre-sales-strategies-ruben-corona-ruben-corona-d7bkc/

Article Title 2:?Unveiling the 2024 Hidden Quota Attainment Key: A Transformative Solution for Sales Underperformance Your Owner or CEO Never Knew Existed

• Article URL 2: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/unveiling-2024-hidden-quota-attainment-key-solution-sales-corona-uyqoe

Article Title 3: The Top Equity Firms Hire Ruben Corona, Why Shouldn't Your Company?

• Article URL 3:?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/why-hire-ruben-corona-re-my-primary-business-areas-ruben-corona-g4eec/

The Hiring Problem / The Goal of Hiring a New Senior Sales Leader / My Solution ?

Most companies struggle to find, hire, and retain a senior sales leader who consistently grows sales, is up-to-date with scalable sales technology, and works as hard as the company's CEO. ?

Over 70% of businesses hiring a new senior sales leader try to accomplish one or more of these three goals.

1. Propel quarterly sales revenue.
2. Scale the effectiveness of sales operations.
3. Foster more profitable and strategic partnerships.

I have a proven process to deliver all three goals without dramatically increasing your sales resource headcount.?Hiring me will increase sales and lower overhead while increasing your company’s value. ??

"My NorthStar as a senior sales leader is to elevate the integrity and performance of our sales department to mirror the excellence of the products, services, or solutions we offer. I am committed to aligning the quality of our sales practices with the exceptional standards set by our company's offerings, ensuring that every interaction with our customers reflects the true essence of our brand."

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