BTM Event Video: Handshake CRO Kiva Kolstein – How do you build an enterprise sales team?

Building the Sales Machine (BTM) Event Series: we post clips of the best questions that where answered during our live events, so you can take the best ideas back to your teams and companies for further discussion.

Eric @ BTM:

How do you start from the beginning and build an enterprise sales team?

Kiva Kolstein:

I think the first thing that you need to think about is what are you selling, and how quickly can you sell it?

The reason you need to think about that is the profile of the seller changes depending on the product that you are selling.  It changes based on how much you are asking for it, and how long the sales cycle may be.  Before you begin building your sales team, determine the profile of the sales professional that you will need.

There are different kinds of enterprise sales professionals.  For example, you can have two people that look a lot alike on paper; both have sold to the same companies, both have exceeded their targets.  But one of these sellers expects to close a deal almost every time they meet with the client.  The other one understands that you need to weave your way through the hierarchy of complex companies.  You nee to build influence, advocacy and a business case that you then take to a very senior executive to close a much bigger deal.

I think you need both of these types of sellers in a sales organization, but you should know which one you are looking for.