Grit

Chief Sales Officer at Brex, Sam Blond: Recruiting Talent

Sep 8, 2020

51:08

If there’s one person who knows a thing or two about sales growth, it’s Brex Chief Sales Officer Sam Blond, who has been a part of some legendary sales runs during his career. Sam joined Zenefits in 2013, and helped transform the company into the fastest SaaS business of all time. Then, he left and joined Brex, and was part of a team that scaled from 46 to 455 employees in just two years.

Was it luck that led Sam to these companies, or is Sam naturally gifted in discovering opportunities? In this episode, Sam explains his approach to sales and growth, while also explaining how to scale effectively from the inside.

In this episode of Go to Market Grit, we cover:

Sorting through the noise, and recognizing greatness when interviewing.
Sam’s advice for advancing and bettering yourself at a company, and capitalizing on luck when it happens.
Sam’s thoughts on determining good reps versus good leaders.
How companies like Brex are using the pandemic to refocus and rebuild, while planning to scale again in 2021.
The importance of trying to hire the best possible people for sales roles.
Sam’s thoughts on why he is a strong recruiter, and why he has been so successful in building high performance sales teams.
The strategy of using above market compensation to attract and retain top talent.
Sam’s philosophy on quota, and why he likes 70 percent of his team to be over 100 percent of quota.
Creating a winning sales culture, and why it’s one of the most important things to strive for.
The challenge of scaling a sales team without chopping up territories or lowering quotas, and how businesses can avoid this pitfall.
Why company leaders need to temper growth expectations.
How Sam goes about setting future growth targets.
Earning respect through performance and taking on leadership roles.
Why it’s everyone’s job to recruit. Sam talks about the strategy of using internal recruiting, and only bringing aboard new team members who can be vouched for — and why this helps mitigate risk.

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