The folks at Seedcamp recommended I listen to one of their podcast episodes the other day, Daniel King on the Startup Sales Process & Scaling. People sometimes scoff at sales and salespeople. Even startup founders. But if you’re running a startup, especially one that sells to businesses like I do, scoffing at sales is like appreciating oxygen but disliking red blood cells.
Sales can be brutal though. A salesperson’s success is measured in deals and cash and if you’re not closing deals, you’re not pulling your weight.
In the podcast, King explained what a well oiled sales machine looks like:
We knew exactly what the average selling price was, we knew exactly how many deals a salesman needed to hit in a month, we knew what the benchmark should be, we knew what the average sales cycle could be.
We called it groom them or broom them, you had to get rid of them quickly [if they weren’t performing]. It sounds quite cold but unfortunately sales guys live and die by their sales.
They knew what the benchmark for each salesperson should be and if someone didn’t hit his targets or didn’t close a deal in his first three months, they were let go. Groom or broom.
It’s a reminder of why running a startup can be challenging. Letting people go is not fun. Your team is climbing up a mountain and everyone is tied to the same rope. If someone isn’t pulling his weight you have to cut the rope and let him fall. Otherwise you won’t get to the peak.
So, next time you meet a salesperson in your organisation: instead of scoffing, pat them on the shoulder or even give them a hug. Because they have a hard job and yours depends on them performing it well.