How to survive and succeed in high-pressure SaaS companies

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How to survive and succeed in high-pressure SaaS companies with Jeremy Auerbach

Scale-ups have figured out how to get from A to B in sales.

In such a demanding environment, how can you keep the momentum — and get these companies from B to Z?

Whether you’re an IC or AE, you can succeed by using certain methodologies. Just look into these tips shared with us by Jeremy Auerbach.

Jeremy is a top dog in sales leadership for scale-ups and has worked at Salesforce, Mulesoft, and UIPath.

While there’s no single formula for success in scale-up sales, Jeremy has given us wonderful sales insights and frameworks.

Want to achieve club like Jeremy and have a rewarding sales career?

We listed our favourite insights from our conversation below!

Read now so you can start reaching your quarterly goals ASAP:

1. Work at scale-ups that create real, tangible value

Jeremy finds working for scale-ups rewarding because they create new opportunities for themselves and their customers while offering concrete value. In fact, his journey in scale-ups excited Jeremy more than closing potential deals. Since these companies often move agilely, they often eventually overcome challenges such as lack of resources and brand awareness.

Actionable tips

1. Be on the lookout for valuable scale-ups. If you want the same experience as Jeremy, go for those scale-ups that have proven track records of offering tangible value to their customers and investors.
2. Develop strong problem-solving skills. To thrive in great scale-ups, be proactive in identifying obstacles, developing solutions, and collaborating with colleagues.
3. Embrace resourcefulness. Develop a mindset that lets you find creative solutions, leverage available resources effectively, and maximise your work’s impact.

2. Be an “owner” if you want to succeed

Jeremey also shared this insight from Justin Borgman, CEO of Starburst. Justin emphasises that if you want to succeed working at a scale-up, you have to be an “Owner” or someone who can wear many hats. If you’re an owner, you can easily collaborate with different teams within an organisation, which exponentially grows your expertise in the business.

Actionable Tips:

1. Build strong cross-functional relationships. Gain exposure to different areas of the business. Take time to understand the company's operations and make sure you contribute effectively.
2. Take initiative and demonstrate leadership. To make sure you create impacts quickly, take the lead on initiatives that align with your skills and interests.
3. Continuously learn and adapt. Stay up to date with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices relevant to the scale-up environment.

3. Clarity is a superpower

Pree shared that people who are clear about what they want are far more likely to get it. More importantly, people who are specific about their wants and dislikes can easily avoid situations where they’re not a good fit. That’s why clarity increases your chance of succeeding in scale-ups. Working in scale-ups can be a rollercoaster ride, with expectations constantly changing. That’s why it’s important for you to clearly define your goals if you want to succeed.

Actionable Tips:

1. Cultivate clarity in your professional goals and preferences to avoid mismatched situations.
2. Embrace the dynamic nature of scale-ups where expectations can change frequently.
3. Prioritise clear communication and ensure that your goals align with the organisation's objectives.

4. Use C-A-T Framework to survive and thrive

Jeremy suggests a framework for success in scale-ups, which involves acting like a C-A-T. C stands for curious. You have to be inquisitive about products, solutions, people, customers, and verticals. A as in Acumen, or big business acumen, is crucial for overcoming challenges and understanding the market. T as in Tenacity, or mental fortitude, is essential in scale-up sales. You need mental fortitude to overcome challenges, keep an eye on the prize, and drive growth.

Actionable Tips:

1. Get involved in customer research initiatives. If you don’t want to actively participate, at least strongly advocate for initiatives that focus on uncovering opportunities from customer insights.
2. Sharpen your business acumen. This will enhance your credibility as a leader or team member. Investors and stakeholders are more likely to have confidence in your ability to manage the business effectively.
3. Work on gaining mental strength. This helps you bounce back from setbacks, maintain focus, and persevere through difficult times. To foster a resilient mindset, see challenges as opportunities for learning and growth rather than insurmountable barriers.

5. Have a sales methodology to exceed quotas

Sales methodology is crucial for success in today's market, as it provides a common language for teamwork and underpins larger strategic deals. With the average number of stakeholders to close an enterprise increasing to 15 people, Jeremy believes that sales methodology helps create a rhythm and common language for the team. Key principles like listening, communication, and being interested in people have been effective in combining sales methodologies with Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" book.

Actionable Tips:

1. Learn from Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" book. Avoid passive listening. Actively listen to people and take an interest in what they do. This will help enhance your sales approach and build strong relationships with customers and stakeholders.
2. Regularly train your sales team. Ensure everyone has the knowledge to effectively implement the sales methodology into their day-to-day activities. Your teams should share access to databases or documents about the methodology.
3. Encourage feedback-sharing within your sales team. Conduct sessions or initiatives where everyone can share insights, personal success stories, and challenges related to the sales methodology. This will foster a culture of learning and refinement.

6. Grow as an Individual Contributor (IC) by solving three challenges

Jeremy identifies three challenges to scaling up Salesforce as an IC: brand awareness, time management, and cutting out the noise. Brand awareness is crucial for rapid customer base expansion. Time management is essential for setting targets and navigating the complexities of scale-ups. Meanwhile, noise from various sources can create excitement, but it should be filtered and used to extract insights for moving up from being an IC. By focusing on these three aspects, ICs can contribute to the success of a scale-up.

Actionable Tips:

1. Put yourself out there. Promote brand awareness as an IC by actively engaging in networking activities, participating in industry events, and sharing insights on social media.
2. Balance is key. Improve your time management skills by setting clear goals, using productivity techniques, and adjusting your schedule to balance your responsibilities in a fast-paced environment.
3. Set aside things that don’t matter. Filter out the noise by identifying the most relevant, impactful information. This could be sales enablement materials, strategy changes, and new management directives. Focus on extracting the essential essence that aligns with your role and contributes to your professional growth.

7. Set yourself up for success in achieving club

Jeremy believes that to achieve club in the latter years of your tenure, you need to focus on new logo acquisition, understand your target markets, and prioritise cross-selling. In years two, three, and four, club success shows growth in your customer base, skills, and competition. Jeremy emphasises the importance of understanding your audience and setting yourself up for success to achieve club during your tenure.

Actionable Tips:

1. Prioritise cross-selling opportunities. Identify existing customers with potential for additional products or services. After that, start building strong relationships with them and proactively present cross-selling opportunities that align with their needs and goals.
2. Continuously develop and refine your skills. Spend time on training, self-studying, and seeking feedback from colleagues and mentors. Actively seek out opportunities to enhance your knowledge about the latest sales techniques.
3. Embrace healthy competition. Benchmark your performance against top performers, setting ambitious yet achievable goals, and regularly reviewing your progress. Leverage competition as a motivator for personal growth and achievement.

8. Balancing small deals and large enterprise deals

Jeremy discusses managing smaller deals versus large enterprise deals and achieving a run rate while pursuing more significant deals. How did he achieve this? He shared he used a sales methodology and understood stakeholders' personas and challenges. Jeremy also shared that Miller Heiman is a good tool for large strategic deals, as it helps in understanding stakeholders' personas and methodologies. Large deals can take time, so patience and collaboration are essential.

Actionable Tips:

1. Use the Miller Heiman. Apply this sales methodology’s techniques to understand stakeholders' personas and challenges in both small and large deals.
2. Practice patience and collaboration. When pursuing larger deals, maintain open lines of communication, nurture relationships, and proactively address concerns to keep the deal progressing.
3. Big deals first, small deals second. Prioritising activities and tasks related to larger deals while still ensuring smaller deals receive appropriate attention. Allocate resources and efforts strategically to maximise your success in both segments.

9. Prepare for the difficulties of enterprise sales

Jeremy has made several mistakes in his career, including not looking into the realities of the enterprise market. He learned that it’s different from SMB and commercial sales, as there are more people to sell to and more politics involved in the enterprise market. So, expect to have more direct and pointed conversations. Nevertheless, the sales skills you’d learn are priceless.

Actionable Tips:

1. Study the grey areas. Take the time to thoroughly understand the nuances of the enterprise market, including its unique dynamics, decision-making processes, and political landscape, to better prepare for the challenges you may encounter.
2. Seek mentorship. Get guidance from experienced professionals who have successfully navigated enterprise sales. Learn from their mistakes!
3. Be open to learning from mistakes. Use any past missteps as valuable learning experiences. This will help you make more informed decisions in the enterprise sales landscape.

10. Qualifying Out is almost as important as Qualifying In

According to Jeremy, a major mistake he made was not properly learning how to qualify customers in his early days at Salesforce, MuleSoft, and UIPath. He suggests expanding your business scope to include 15 stakeholders to improve customer qualification. He also stresses the importance of "qualifying out" when working with interested customers and avoiding assumptions about meeting plans and deal outcomes. Instead, he recommends keeping an open mind and trusting yourself to make the right decisions.

Actionable Tips:

1. Expanding stakeholder involvement. Get up to 15 stakeholders to get a more comprehensive understanding of customer needs. Identify decision-makers, influencers, and potential roadblocks early on.
2. Learn how to qualify out better. Recognise when a customer may not be the right fit. This way, you can invest your time and resources in prospects who are more likely to result in successful deals.
3. Avoid assumptions. To maintain clarity and objectivity, avoid making assumptions about meeting plans or deal outcomes. Instead, approach each interaction with an open mind and objectively assess the customer's needs.

11. Use the MASS framework to foster sales culture

Sales culture is crucial for employee success and productivity. Its key aspects are: Mindset, Ability, Structure, and Systems—or MASS. To cultivate a positive sales culture, you have to focus on hiring the right people, having the right structure, and having the right systems in place. The MASS framework can also help you identify your best strengths and weaknesses, ensuring that your team, whether they’re new or experts, can thrive beyond their limitations.

Actionable Tips:

1. Focus on hiring the right people. Look for candidates who possess the necessary abilities and demonstrate a growth-oriented mindset.
2. Establish the right structure. Define roles, responsibilities, and reporting lines to ensure clarity and accountability. This structure should support collaboration, communication, and efficient workflows.
3. Implement the right systems. Implement customer relationship management (CRM) systems, sales automation tools, and analytics platforms to provide insights and streamline workflows.

Final thoughts

Whether you’re an IC or a sales leader in a scale-up, you can succeed by becoming "owner," cultivating clarity, and learning the best sales methodologies. While you’re at it, don’t forget to use the C-A-T framework and the MASS framework.

About Jeremy Auerbach

Jeremy Auerbach is a top-performing Scale-Up AE and Sales Leader. He has worked with scale-ups like Salesforce, Mulesoft, and UIPath, where he achieved Club and Top Performances repeatedly.

About Pree Sarkar

Pree Sarkar is an Executive Recruiter and Talent Advisor to leaders at start-up and global technology companies. He is the Founder and Chief Advisor at?Switch Recruitment, a leading firm in the Asia Pacific Region.

LinkedIn rated him as a Top 1% Recruiter and he is also the #1 Best Selling Author for his book –?Switch, Stand out, Get noticed and Accelerate your career.

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