MANHATTAN Talent Agency’s Post

If the first person attempting to sell the product at your company is an AE or an SDR, you are doing it all wrong. Why didn't you try to sell as a founder? Why didn't the head of sales [if you hired one] try to sell? It's a recipe for disaster when you provided no training to the team and it's completely unrealistic for them to hit some arbitrary large number you pulled out of a hat. 🆘 One thing that drives me crazy is when the head of sales comes in [regardless of stage] and does not take the time to learn the product and pitch and makes zero effort to sell. Don't be that sales leader. Get in the ring and earn your stripes.

I led a 60 person sales org with no sales experience. It was a disaster, but I came out stronger. I had just joined Souq[dot]com as Head of Business Development and was tasked with building a huge sales team. With no prior experience managing a team, I knew I was in over my head. But this is what you get in a hyper-growth startup 🤷♂️ I was interviewing tens of candidates every day. Some much older and more experienced than I was. 60-days in, things were already out of control. My team was gaming the system, and exploiting my lack of experience. 💡 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳. I focused on my strengths, not my weaknesses. Not as a sales leader, but as a data and process-driven operator. Instead of pressuring my team with sales targets, I focused on optimizing sales operations and allowed my team to thrive doing what they know best. Over the next few months, I was able to bring down seller onboarding time by 80%, and most of my team were hitting their targets. Unfortunately, shareholders decided this headcount was too inflated and we had to shutdown the team – again... hyper-growth pains. But I came out as a better person and had proven myself against this challenge. Why? Because I did not succumb to adversity and I played on my own strengths. 🚀 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱. What matters most is how you face and overcome adversity. If you want to be unstoppable, stop focusing on what you CAN'T do, and start focusing on what you CAN do. Were you ever in a similar situation? How did you overcome adversity? Comment below 👇 -- 🥷 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗲 for more tactical insights on how Product Managers achieve unstoppable performance. 📣 Join the waitlist for the 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 email course.

🚨 SaaS Founders🚨 Before you hire a VP of Sales, SDR Manager and 10 SDRS⬇️ 2025 will be huge🚀 Whereever your ICP is we will find them and have conversations with them around your product. I am a heavy believer in the phones always have been. Our team us trained and ready to go have conversations around your product. We are offering multi-channel outbound via: Phone, Email and Linkedin Outreach We are your SDR team. We have the talent and the processes. Your math of sales is important. Let us connect with your ICP and figure exactly what you need to do to turn outbound efforts into revenue. Lets connect🚀

🏄♂️ Scott Leese You tickled my non-Diddy fancy with another topic that's close to my heart. This reminds me of the age-old question: What came first, the chicken or the egg? How in God's name can a sales leader manage a team if they can't sell the product themselves? Who in their right mind thinks that makes sense? How are you going to tell someone what to say or how to approach a prospect when you're living in La La Land? Yes, La La Land is real! It's that dreamlike mental state where people wander around detached from reality. And man, is it overcrowded with non-selling sales leaders. These folks strut around with their chests puffed out, barking orders like, "Get your dials up!" or "Why haven’t you hit quota?" Meanwhile, they haven’t closed a deal since MySpace was a thing. But they’re quick to put you on a performance improvement plan—oh yeah, the PIP shuffle, the last dance of a leader who doesn’t sell. You’re not a rockstar because you can critique a call or read a report. You’re a rockstar because you can sell it, teach it, and manage it. So ditch the fancy suit, toss those shiny cufflinks in the trash, and grab the damn phone! If you can't, then maybe it's time to consider managing greeters at Walmart. They're Hiring!

I'm in tech sales. But I'd be lying if I said I succeed alone. The truth is, success is a team sport. Here are the key players in my sales journey: 1. Mentor: Guides the journey 2. Sales Manager: Keeps me on track 3. SDR: Source well-qualified leads 4. Product Specialist: Offers deep product insights 5. Family/friends: Emotional backbone Even as an individual contributor, you need a village. And your network is your net worth. So, who are you surrounding yourself with? P.S Share one person who's been crucial to your sales success 👇🏼

When we crossed $900K in ARR about a month back, I had a major dilemma. Everyone in the team was super stoked and asked if we could touch $1M in the same month itself. It wasn't an unfair ask. However, I realized that I could do one of two things: Either press the pedal for $1M myself with a founder-led sales motion [I was the only sales rep] or... Hire a good sales AE, delegate the process and teach them how to sell our productized service. And I chose to prioritize the latter. We have our founding sales hire now - Gokul K.! We pushed our targets by a month or 2, but the goal is not just to hit the target, but hit it in a way that can scale beyond that target. Trust the process. 🚀

I went from quitting my SDR job to 3x’ing my income as an AE. Starting in tech sales, I hated doing sales dev. It was grueling I felt sick on the drive in I was scared of the phone I thought the AEs were too hard to work with Was I alone? Absolutely not. The more salespeople I talk to, the more I see that I was just like everyone else. The difference maker was embraced sales as more than cold calling or setting a demo: → I started to run mock demos → sitting as a fly on the wall during AE demos → reading AE/SE email threads with prospects → connecting online with people in my shoes 6 months into your 1st BDR role? Just started as an SMB AE? Hang in there, be part of the few that embrace hard and win. PS- what’s your biggest piece of advice to your younger self starting out?

I was super excited to dive into my new sales territory for 2025... and then the flu knocked me out for almost a week! But now, it's game on! 🚀 This is THE moment to go all in on identifying your top accounts and crafting a solid strategy for the months ahead. For me, that starts with focusing on accounts with the greatest potential—and to do that, you really need to know your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) inside and out. 💻 The goal? Build the biggest, cleanest pipeline of opportunities (without inflating, of course). Having a clear focus now will pay off in the long run. 🎯 As we head into the new year, I will be dedicating at least 1-2 hours per day to identifying new accounts. Whether I’m working on them myself or handing them off to my partner in success SDR Yonathan Levy ⭐ => no opportunity slips through the cracks!

Being an SDR means constantly Improving and developing your skill set. Logan Summers on our team here embodies that. He breaks down 3 things that’s made him better every day since joining my team. What’re some of the things you’ve improved since starting in sales? #sales #SDR

I started as a BDR with a dream. Now, I lead sales in SaaS. The journey was never easy. But every challenge taught me something valuable. Sales is more than just closing deals. It's about building relationships. It's about understanding needs and providing solutions. In the SaaS world, transformation is constant. Every day brings new opportunities and challenges. I believe in the power of persistence. In the value of continuous learning. And in the impact of genuine connections. To all salespeople out there: Never underestimate the power of your role. You are the bridge between problems and solutions. Keep pushing boundaries. Keep seeking growth. And remember, every step forward is progress. What's a challenge you've overcome in sales?