Sales from a CEO Perspective, Recap From Pendo Sponsored Event

Tonight we reviewed the topic of sales with a perspective on what the CEO thinks of the role of sales professionals and growth implications for a company. An all-star cast filled the stage for a stellar panel consisting of Scot Wingo (CEO, Spiffy & Founder/Executive Chairman, ChannelAdvisor), Doug Kaufman (CEO, TransLoc), Darren Pierce (CEO, etailinsights), and Todd Olson (CEO, Pendo). The tech CEO’s provided valuable insights on sales management and keys to success in sales results. An engaging and stimulating sales-related conversation. Here are some wisdom points shared at the session:
How do you define sales?
*Sales is all about driving growth. Help find customers and close them.
*Sales is about trust earned. Be honest and committed to genuinely help your customer and sales result.
*First starts with a great product then sales helps ensure the great product cuts through the clutter and gets into the hands of buying customers.

• How involved should the CEO be in sales?

*CEO should hire a good head of sales and then back out and get out of the way. Be there to support, help remove impediments, and be a resource, but let the head of sales manage and lead sales!
*Create a sales driven culture. Listen to the customer and have a feedback loop into company to help serve the customer better through sales process. Everyone in company is part of the sales quota. Everyone plays a role in sales achievement. Every deal counts no matter what group or source. Everyone should care. Collaborate.

• What are the metrics for judging sales results?

*Quota obtainment! Activity level. And right customers and right deals.
*Making sure the sales are healthy and not selling ahead of product or having hairy deals with bad terms.
*Reviewing the demo to close ratio and understanding how good the prospects in sales funnel are for what's best for business.

• What are the most important sales traits?

*Brilliant skilled sales people who are also team players. Sales professionals who also help others around them be better and support company growth overall.
*Hard worker. A networking champion. Relationship builder. An excellent listener.
*Ability to work your way up the food chain at companies to get to the executive level for buying decisions and then ability to navigate meetings, listen, and get customer to talk about price. What do they think the service or solution is worth to them?
*Sales professionals who are problem solvers and authentic. Real deal rain makers with proven success obtaining results for companies.

• What are characteristics of a successful sales person?

*Ability to explain difficult concepts clearly. Handle pressure and rejection.
*Strong energy and passion.
*Four main things: Proven past performance, Intelligent, Creative, and Positive Attitude!
Per Chris Damico's favorite insights, "Remember the mind shift you have to make as a CEO vs Employee. As a CEO it's all about working "on" the business vs. working "in" the business (CEO/Leadership position vs. Employee). This is why the CEO needs to let sales management own their role and stand back to work on company having good sales culture. The panel also noted that the sales profession is a great career path worth doing per gaining valuable people, relationship, and team building skills. The sales profession often leads to important executive roles at companies so worth a go!
Overall a great event. Thank you Pendo for hosting and the great panel members for sharing insights!

---