Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Building a world-class sales org | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr)

Feb 18, 2024

02:01:57

Snipd AI

Explore the world of B2B sales with Jason Lemkin, covering topics like hiring salespeople, scaling sales orgs, and improving sales-product team relationships. Learn about effective sales leadership, optimizing sales collaborations, and the power of kindness in leadership. Discover insights on B2B marketing, founding successful conferences, and navigating startup sales strategies.

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Quick takeaways

Success in sales requires founders to close the first 10 customers and dedicate 20% of their time to sales.

Hiring at least two sales reps and extensively interviewing candidates focuses on passion and understanding of the product.

Effective compensation plans prioritize motivating sales reps to close deals over top-line numbers.

VP of Sales hire should occur after two reps hit quota; VP role involves active selling and understanding product.

Consistently defining next steps in sales meetings maintains momentum and progress towards closing deals.

Deep dives

Hiring the First Sales Rep

When hiring the first sales rep, it is important to close the first 10 customers on your own as founders and spend more than 20% of your time on sales. You should hire at least two sales reps instead of just one, and thoroughly interview around 30 candidates. Look for quirky individuals with a genuine passion for your product, who have put in the effort to understand it and can effectively sell it. Consider offering an on-target earnings (OTE) package where they keep 100% of what they close in their first three months. Focus on whether a sales rep can close more than they take home rather than worrying about top-line numbers. The key is to create a win-win situation with a comp plan that aligns with your business goals.

Leverage is essential for founders with 10 customers

00:36

Recommendations for Sales Improvement

01:38

Specialization and Division of Labor in Sales Teams

02:06

Practical Approach to Compensation for Sales Reps

01:05

Introduction

5min

Navigating Sales Team Building and Avoiding Common Mistakes

4min

Navigating Sales Strategies for Startups

25min

Effective Sales Leadership and Hiring Strategies

26min

Evolution of a Sales Organization

5min

Insights on B2B Marketing and Sales Team Roles

4min

Optimizing Sales and Product Collaboration for B2B Success

19min

Strategic Sales Tactics for Founders and Product Leaders

14min

Rapid-Fire Questions and New Discoveries

5min

10.

Exploring the Power of Kindness in Leadership and Life

3min

11.

Building a Successful Conference Journey

12min

Jason Lemkin created and runs SaaStr, the world’s largest community for B2B/SaaS founders, and is the managing director of SaaStr Fund, a $90 million venture capital firm specializing in early-stage enterprise investments. He is also the mastermind behind two major tech conferences each year—one in the Bay Area, drawing in over 15,000 people, and another in Europe, with a crowd of more than 3,000 SaaS executives, founders, and entrepreneurs. Before SaaStr, Jason wore many hats: CEO and co-founder of EchoSign (later bought by Adobe), vice president at Adobe Systems, co-founder and president of NanoGram Devices Corp., vice president of NeoPhotonics, and a senior director at BabyCenter. In our conversation, we discuss:

• How far you should go without a salesperson

• Signs it’s time to hire salespeople

• Why you need to hire two salespeople

• How to compensate your salespeople

• How to interview salespeople

• When to hire a VP of Sales

• How to prevent their flaming out

• How to scale your sales org

• How to improve the relationship between your sales and product teams

• Much more

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