Table of Contents. Introduction 2. Imagine Your Sales Team On a Boat 3. The Ideal Startup Sales Candidate 4. Interview Tips 6

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2 Table of Contents Introduction 2 Imagine Your Sales Team On a Boat 3 The Ideal Startup Sales Candidate 4 Interview Tips 6 Creating a Motivating Career Path 8 10 Hacks For Building a Startup Sales Team 9

3 2 Introduction Building a productive, motivated, inspired and successful sales team from the ground up takes a good deal of time, knowledge and best practices. Whether you are a beginning stage startup looking to make your first few sales hires or a later stage startup looking to scale your team, we have put together a guidebook to help make your job a little easier. Mike Andersen, our Vice President of Sales here at Hoopla Software, has over 15 years of experience managing and scaling inside sales teams. He has hired over 500 people over his career, and previously grew a team of 8 people to 70 at Aerohive in 3 years, while also growing inside revenue from $3M to $50M to drive the company to a successful IPO. In this Ebook he shares tips and tricks based on what he has learned over the years to help you build the best sales team imaginable.

4 3 Imagine Your Sales Team on a Boat A sales team is like a crew team each member pulls their own weight while also moving the entire boat forward. Of course on the boat there are the star performers and there are those who are struggling to keep up; but after some time, practice and shared techniques a good team will become in sync. When a new member joins and steps off the dock into the boat for the first time, they may have no idea what they are doing and may have never even seen a boat before. A good team will hand the new member an oar, go over the basics and encourage them not to worry. As the new member gets his or her footing, the rest of the team continues rowing forward. After a week the new member will be sore, exhausted and overwhelmed yet relieved that they can rely on their team. After a month they will become more comfortable. A few months down the line they will be in a confident groove, ready to help the next new teammate settle into their spot on the bench. The best sales teams operate just like that. The teams where the group pulls everyone along with them are the most successful. Each member is willing to pay it forward months later, when they are no longer the new kid on the block, and share what works. It can t be every man or woman for themselves that won t sustain.

5 4 The Ideal StartUp Sales Candidate The type of sales person you would hire in a startup company is very different from one you would hire in a later stage or large company. The startup sales person is helping to create the wheel from scratch. There is more risk and more mistakes to be made. Working in the startup world is like going camping and sleeping in tents, catching your own fish to eat, building your own campfires versus being in an RV with a satellite TV, showers and espresso machine. Make sure you hire people accordingly. Here are some great characteristics to look out for: Starting out in their Career: Those who are just starting out in their career and are looking to make a name for themselves tend to have ideals aligned with the startup mentality. They want to grow their career along with the company and are likely to put in the extra effort to do both. Scrappy, Self-starter: In a startup company, resources are limited and processes are rarely well defined. It is important to hire someone who can make the most out of limited resources and who isn t in need of finely detailed instructions to get started.

6 5 Willingness to Learn: You don t need to be an expert on how copiers work to be good at selling them, same with technology or any other product. How a product or software works can be taught, the willingness to learn can t. Look out for individuals who are excited about learning new tasks and being outside of their comfort zone. Team Player: Going back to the boat analogy, everyone you hire needs to be able to work well with and support their team. It is better to hire someone who likes to learn from and encourage their peers than someone who is only focused on their own success, no matter how bright brilliant jerks as we call them. Without a great team dynamic the learning process for everyone will be much slower, the culture in the office will be grim and progress will be stagnant. The boat, eventually, will sink. High Energy, High Integrity: The role of a sales person is changing. No longer are sales people seen as the disingenuous car salesman archetype. A good sales person s charisma and integrity is evident, especially over the phone. Today 92% of all customer interactions happen over the phone according to SalesForce, so it is important that your sales person has great energy that carries through all mediums.

7 6 Interview Tips Be very intentional about culture fit Decide what attributes you are looking for to go along with your company s unique culture. As mentioned before, it is important for your sales hire to play well on a team and get along with others in the office in order to move your boat forward. Multiple rounds phone and in-person A candidate can change drastically from a paper resume to speaking to them on the phone to actually meeting them in person. It is important not to skip on any interview rounds especially the in-person. In order to truly see if a candidate is a good culture fit, charismatic, full of integrity and willing to learn, it is important to meet in person and have the rest of the team meet the candidate as well. Suggested Question: What are your career goals? This will help you see if your candidate s goals line up with your company s goals. The question will also help you to read how passionate, driven and excited the candidate will be in this position. If your company cannot provide a platform to help assist in the candidate s career goals then it is probably not a good fit.

8 7 Suggested Question: Why are you interested in this role? This is a good way to weed out those who are just looking for a quick salary. Those who have thoroughly researched the role and have great interest will expand on this question passionately. Suggested Question: What do you think of xyz content on our website? Speaking of research, this is a good way to see if your candidate did any research of their own. A candidate who really wants the position will have done their homework and come to the interview prepared to answer this question. Remember, if they can t take a few minutes out of their day to prepare for an important job interview, how can you expect them to prepare for an important prospect call or meeting? Suggested Question: If I ran into your last boss outside of the office, what would he/she say about you? This is a good way to determine the brilliant jerks from the team players. If a candidate raves about how they have no flaws and their boss would have nothing negative to say about them, then they probably feel they don t have much to learn and will not be a great addition to the team. Sales is a team sport, it doesn t work if one feels they have nothing to gain from interacting with the others.

9 Creating a Motivating Career Path 8 Too often we see entry-level sales reps or sales development reps (SDRs) become demotivated and disheartened overtime. I often attribute at least part of this to an unclear career path. To alleviate this issue set up a two-tier model using the SDR position as an entryway to the higher, Account Executive (AE) position. Your SDR s are your biggest talent pool to choose from when you are looking at hiring AE s, there should be little reason to hire from the outside. When a company makes it a point to hire AE s from the outside, that s when SDR s become discouraged. They don t see any clear path to success. When they are working towards the AE position they are determined, motivated, energetic and thorough. The two-tiered system is also more cost-effective for you in the long run. You don t have to spend much money on re-training your sales rep and you can promote employees in salary increments rather than shelling out the much higher cost for a more experienced, outside AE. Once you integrate this into the career path you will not only see a change in the attitudes of the employees you hire, you will also see a difference in the type of candidates who come your way. Quality candidates are looking for a way to substantially progress their career and the promise of an esteemed position down the line will make your company more appealing to them.

10 9 Wrap Up: 10 Hacks For Building a Startup Sales Team 1.Hire with the team in mind imagine a crew team, everyone matters and everyone helps to pull the boat along. 2.Create an environment where everyone is learning from each other and excited to pay it forward to the next new hire. 3.Be sure to hire people who intentionally fit well into your company culture. 4.Look for candidates who are self-starters, charismatic, willing to learn and unafraid of failure. 5.Don t skip the in-person interview; it is important to see if someone is truly a great fit. 7. Gauge how well your candidate prepared for the interview, it is indicative of how they will prepare for important calls or meetings in the future. 8. Find out how the candidate feels others perceive him or her, it speaks a lot to their character, integrity and teamwork abilities. 9. Make sure to create a clear career path within your sales organization. When your company is known for promoting from within it becomes more attractive to quality candidates. Your best pool of sales talent lies with your own reps. 10. If you create a culture of learning, progress, motivation, encouragement, integrity and energy the rest will speak for itself. Being a great place to work is the best way to start. 6. Make sure a candidate s career goals are in line with your company s goals. It is okay to pass on someone who has too much experience and may not have anything to learn from your company.

11 START WINNING TODAY! Download Hoopla For Your Sales Team And Create a Culture of Recognition and Reward Find out more at