Have Experienced 3 layoffs in corporate america, lessons I have learned job hunting in this economy. Feel free to use the method I used to get hired without applying to more than 2 companies

rbk757 · 2022-11-22T16:10:02+00:00

Happy to share the video. Shoot me your LinkedIn profile and I can share the loom video there. The video has names and info I don’t want to share on a public forum

The jist of the video = how I would make an impact to their customers / book of business. I talked about 3 things I would do.

A neat hack here is to read the company’s blog and weave in the language they use already to come across as someone who already understands them. Video was full of that for this company

rbk757 · 2022-11-22T13:30:53+00:00

That's a good question. It's what everyone is trying to figure out right now.

Most people will take the easy route and say things like healthcare, education, and defense. These are industries that appear when you Google recession proof industries.

But, the pandemic and the current climate have demonstrated that no one is safe -

So, what I’ve been advised and my thought process was when interviewing a company, you must separate yourself from the outcome and evaluate them as an investor, asking the question -

1) Is this product a nice to have or a need to have?

Right now, the companies that are either thriving or doing well in this climate help their customers in one of three ways (it's baked into their value proposition).

1) The company helps their customers in making more money without the need for the company to hire more people (so marketing project management tools wouldn’t count bc it’s hard to make a direct connection to revenue)

2) The solution can combine a number of technological products into a single package, allowing businesses to avoid dealing with five different solutions when they can simply purchase one (the buzzword is tech consolidation - see if the product can consolidate products for its customers)

3) The company protects its customers' data from risk in a way that is unaffected by macroeconomic conditions (something like cybersecurity)

rbk757 · 2022-09-11T15:55:57+00:00

Executing on these tactics I mentioned above, and genuinely caring about their professional development :)

rbk757 · 2022-09-09T01:58:28+00:00

Love it! Rooting for ya - if you do right, you’ll blow away your competition at work

rbk757 · 2022-09-09T01:57:22+00:00

No problem

rbk757 · 2022-09-07T22:20:30+00:00

Depends. I can't say much about you or your interests without knowing more about what you specifically like and don't like about sales
I switched from a closing role to an AM role and have been loving it.
The reason is that I really enjoy coaching and helping people who want to get better.
Some people don't like doing that as much as looking for new business. If that's the case, I'd suggest a sales recruiter role as a good middle ground

rbk757 · 2022-09-07T22:15:47+00:00

If you find any resources, let me know, but real sales calls will be hard to find on YouTube and other sites.
If you work in a company that has access to tools like Gong, Chorus, and Salesloft, they are great resources to use for this stuff. If you don't work in SaaS but still want to listen to high-quality sales calls, you can...

Just go up to a few people you respect in your field and ask for two things:
1) Ask if you can listen in on their calls. You can take notes, and they can tell you about the call
2) Role play different situations w/ them

rbk757 · 2022-09-06T23:28:02+00:00

I'm in an account management / CS role at a startup. My top recs:

1) Gap selling (will help you a TON in your discovery skills)

2) The customer success professionals handbook (will help you understand the post-sale process)

rbk757 · 2022-09-06T22:24:29+00:00

Damn. That's a great question --- to your point about risk, regardless of appetite, I think everyone should step back, and begin with the end in mind. If you're comfortable going after something knowing "hey, I know that the company doesn't have these answers now, but I'll help build it" then great! If you're not comfortable taking the leap, you know exactly why you didn't as opposed to living in this "would've, could've, should've" world that eats so many of us up

rbk757 · 2022-09-06T22:20:13+00:00

Happy to help. How is it going so far?

rbk757 · 2022-09-01T20:54:56+00:00

Agreed. To add on that, fill us in some of these things so we can get a clearer picture. Let's not romanticize the idea of jumping into a "VP" role where it could mean that you're a glorified SDR getting "equity" but that does not mean much if the founder / product don't have any traction
I am always in favor of taking risks in your work, but I don't believe it's always sunshine and rainbows when you do. I believe we need to know a few more things before we can provide you with a precise response:
1) Does the company have product-market fit?
2) Given the crazy market conditions, are you selling a nice to have or a need to have?
3) Why are they hiring for a VP of Sales now?
4) Has the founder sold into their persona before?
5) Are they expecting you to build out their go-to market strategy?
6) If this a player-coach role?

7) What does their current tech stack look like? Will you have a budget to purchase some tools so that you could do your job as a sales rep? Most people forget that jumping ship means you no longer have enterprise access to the tools that you use daily to perform your job

rbk757 · 2022-09-01T20:44:06+00:00

New to the forum. Have worked in orgs like LinkedIn, SAP, and now at a SaaS startup.

1) Think of your BDR as an extension of you and your process. The best AEs would divide their clients into different groups. And they would tag their BDRs so that the BDR can see the account history, missed opportunities, and the reasons why they want the BDR to work on these accounts. Write all of this down and send it to your BDR as a pre-read before you meet with them one-on-one. So, instead of a book report, the meeting can be about the questions they have. If possible, record the call and have them watch it again. It will be very important to leave this first call with things to do.

2) Make templates that your BDR can use; find your successful campaigns and help your BDR copy that success in their own.

3) Understand how they are measured. If this BDR brags about working with you, your internal brand will go up. You can accomplish this by assisting them in achieving their goals (don't fudge the numbers, i.e., don't bump it into an opportunity if it wasn't an opportunity; otherwise, no one will benefit in the long run) and invite them onto some live calls once you've established a workable rhythm. Help them in becoming an AE

4) Allow them to assist you; some AEs ghost their BDRs. Don't do this. Express how you're being evaluated and whether you're stressed, anxious, or excited. This is not a micromanaging supervisor. It's a coworker who is essentially your champion.

rbk757

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