Samsara Sales Spotlight: Ana Herwitz

Samsara, the San Francisco-based Connected Operations Platform, is hiring in London.?

We have come a long way since being founded in 2015. We now employ over 1,500 people globally, and our over 20,000 customers have over a million devices out in the field. Despite its ups and downs, 2020 was a big year for us – to date, we’ve raised $930 million in funding to fuel our continued global expansion, with over 80% annual growth in run-rate subscription revenue.?

Even better, we’re only just getting started here in Europe.?

I sat down with Ana Herwitz (Manager, Account Development) to find out what it’s like to work in Sales at Samsara in London.?

“We have ambitious expansion plans,” explains Ana. “There’s going to be a lot of opportunities for Samsarians as we continue to accelerate in Europe. We see the Account Development team as the training ground for our closers of tomorrow, and we need smart people to join us on our journey.”?

“If you want to build a sales career, and you perform well here, we’re going to invest in you. You don’t reach the size and stage we are now without learning how to coach top performers. If you want to become a world-class closer, an Account Development Representative role with Samsara is the ideal place for you to start.”

What is an Account Development Representative (ADR)??

“There are a lot of opportunities for individual contributors to grow their sales careers at Samsara. You can go into mid-market, enterprise, become a field rep, or even Sales Engineering or Sales Ops – there are so many routes available,” advises Ana. “The first step to all of that is first to become an awesome ADR.”

“You have to be driven – the ADR job is not an easy one! You’re on the front lines of Samsara’s go-to-market strategy, cold calling leads and asking them about things they may not have thought about before. It’s a hard job, so to be successful at it, you have to be very persistent and very driven.”?

It helps that what we’re selling really resonates with the market – globally, we’ve hit $300 million in run-rate subscription revenue in just five years. “We believe we have a solid product portfolio with potential to serve a broad customer base, including diverse industries such as transportation, utilities, manufacturing, and the public sector.”

Working at Samsara?

“One of the standout reasons why people succeed with us is our culture,” continues Ana. “I’ve worked in other sales companies in which the top performers would be very cagey about their best practices because they want to maintain their position on the leaderboard. But here, the sales team is super open to collaboration.”

“Whenever I have a team member who’s struggling to learn a new skill or technique or is settling into a newly promoted position, they can reach out to any top performer and ask for their help. We incentivise this approach – one of the dimensions that we use to measure someone’s performance is their leadership and collaboration skills. Even if they’re an individual contributor, are they contributing to the team’s success? There’s a wealth of expertise within the business, and as a new starter, you have access to it all.”??

This approach is at the core of Samsara’s growth plans here in London. “We promote a lot – there’s plenty of people within the company who were ADRs that are now in leadership roles. We want to help people grow; we value their ability to be a leader and a mentor to others, but we also know that people can’t do that by themselves. We share the knowledge and experience so you can be your best self.”?

It’s not unusual for an ADR to be promoted to a Senior ADR after a year and then to Account Executive after two years. “When you become a Senior, you’ll get structured mentorship from leaders across the business, and have more involvement in the later phases of the sales cycle, so you’re preparing for what comes next.”?

What do you think has helped Samsara grow so quickly??

“Samsara’s leadership team actually listens to employee feedback. There are so many examples of times when those on the sales floor have seen where the business should go or things that need fixing, and our senior leaders make a point of hearing that and recognising it. They’ll go out of their way to listen to the people on the ground because they’re closest to their customers. In my experience, that’s pretty rare in other businesses!”???

Ana’s advice for anyone looking to start a career in sales? “I would want to make sure that I was joining an established company that still has plenty of room to grow. Our trajectory is very impressive – we’ve accomplished so much in the past six years, but we’re only just getting started.”?

“But aside from the company and from a personal development perspective, if you perform well, you will see rapid promotion and progression with us. We hire from within, recognise high achievers, and do all we can to help you develop.”?

Sounds exciting? Samsara is hiring in London now! Take a look at our live vacancies here or reach out to learn more.