Gopal Bhutani’s Post

One of the easiest things to overlook is where people started. But it matters. William Padilla, Vin Matano and I all started our careers... ...in door to door sales. People like Jason M. Lemkin recommend to hire reps that sold a "harder product" before joining you. It's a strong indicator for personality traits you want in your sales org. They will likely have experienced tougher conditions, more headwind, longer sales cycles. Just think about it, if you can swim in the ocean, you wont drown in a pool. That got me thinking. Look for door to door experience when hiring for cold calling. Look for cold calling when hiring for cold emailing. Will, Vin, and I all faced the most direct, brutal, and exhausting kind of rejection. Like Danilo said: "The OG of sales" 😂 Moving forward in our careers, it made everything easier for us. That's why, when checking for what product your candidates sold before, check for how they sold it. When it's time for us to put together an outbound team, I'd love to work with people who did door to door. Full conversation on youtube, link below 👇

Hire a VP of Sales if you're not a founder who likes to sell They will build out your sales org & scale your revenue After you raise money, you have the funds to afford this person If they come from a big company, they can bring customers and sellers with them As a founder, you have more important things to do ... Many of the conversations I had in August where with founders and investors who hired VP of sales or want to hire VPs of Sales One of my favorite roles When and who you hire for this role is the challenging part Every company needs a VP of Sales When they need it should be the big question And when you figure out when, make sure you nail the who Want some help? 🙋♂️

Really interesting reading the comments here, this is why a fractional CRO/VP of Sales makes so much sense. Zero risk on either side, founders can implement a GTM strategy pre hire and it will help them identify the right person when the time comes.

It's one thing when a prospect responds to a message. It's another thing when they agree to a meeting. And it's just a great day all together when they compliment your approach. Robert Eustace is proving outbound is alive and well. He's hiring over here at Arta, too. Great opportunity to learn from a pro! #sales #hiring

Two things I love: Womxn in sales + leaders who think it's important to support womxn in sales. Danny Hodge + the team at Sweep are hiring sellers and while he's had a TON of interest in the role, most of the applicants identify as male. He reached out to me and asked if I could help. Danny is an empathetic and fantastic leader- you'll love working for him. Ido Gaver is a brilliant CEO and is building an incredible company/product. Some perks of this role: - Working with Danny and Ido - Solving an incredibly painful problem in the RevOps space - The opportunity to be a builder and owner at a company that is picking up speed - A really fun brand experience - Fantastic comp plan - Remote work 💁🏻♀️ If you're looking for your next sales gig and are interested, DM me- happy to intro. ♻️ If you know you have some bad *ss womxn in sales in your network looking for their next role, would you consider reposting this or tagging folks below? Let's get the word out! I love that Sweep is thinking about diversity in this way. I love that Danny reached out for help with this. These are the actions that I think drive meaningful change in our industry and profession. Let's get someone hired:)

When you have a senior position to fill, do you hire someone with the right experience or promote a proven performer? This is an area I made several mistakes when building the sales team at Zipwhip. Early on, we filled almost all our sales manager positions with internal promotions. Later, we realized we had become too insular and started hiring all our managers from the outside. This led to some of our best employees feeling like there was no room for promotion because we always looked outside the company. Don’t swing from one extreme to the other like I did. Keep a good mix of internal promotions and external hires so that your team sees they have an opportunity for promotion and you get a steady flow of ideas and best practices from outside your organization. 

What skills, traits, and experience do you look for when hiring for sales? Industry experience, having a list of contacts (aka a Rolodex), ability to make conversation, asking for the sale? With an endless number of criteria you can use to hire, it can be challenging to narrow down. So here are some surprising traits you'll want to look for. https://lnkd.in/ga2trYsy

A fellow founder asked me, "Hey Andrew, we're growing our sales team, any suggestions?" The best sales talent is not job searching, you have to attract them. Top performers want more than just a paycheck. They crave: - A culture that rewards innovation - An environment where their success drives company growth - The opportunity to own their role, not just fill a seat They’re not combing through job boards. So how do you attract top talent? Use LinkedIn to show them what you are doing. Offer them the chance to be part of something bigger. Talented salespeople want to know they’ll have the freedom to thrive, not just hit quotas. If you’re scrolling through LinkedIn and spot someone crushing it in their role, don’t be afraid to reach out directly.  If you want the best, you have to stand out as a leader worth following. If you're looking to build a kick-ass sales team, don't just post a job—post a vision. The right people will find their way to you.

Pre Season Blitz’s are where you over come your fears! For most sales people the first time cold contacting homeowners can be very nerve wracking. These brave souls are out here making it look easy in Phoenix this week! So many studs out here, looking to be the 1 in their family to make a difference for generations to come. Join an elite sales culture this summer and see what you can benefit from by learning the most valuable skill set in the world. #sales #hiring

No one would hire This 60-year-old salesperson.  Now, he’s a Commercial Director  and he's generated MILLIONS in sales: 6 years ago, I met a 60-year-old salesman looking for new opportunities. He’d been working for one of my client’s key competitors and knew the local chemical distribution industry inside out. But he was struggling to find a new role because of his age. No one would even look at him However I knew how much he brought to the table: He had years of valuable experience  A HUGE network in the industry Bags of drive and passion When a role opened up for one of my clients I knew he’d immediately impact the business with no training necessary. So I put him forward. Luckily, my client decided to go against the grain. They put all misconceptions aside and hired him. 6 years later, he’s still with the company. He’s moved into a Director role Built up their commercial team throughout South USA Driven Millions of dollars in revenue for the company And an invaluable member of their team. Hiring Managers… Please stop discounting older candidates. They’ll have a similar tenure (if not longer!) compared to younger candidates. And they’ll have far more experience and need far less training. If you want someone to hit the ground running, don’t rule out the older folks.