Sales Teams

Michael is the CEO and President of SmarterHQ, a customer-centric behavioral marketing platform. He is the Co-Founder and former CRO of myDocket (Handshakez). Michael was formerly the Chief Revenue Officer at Bazaarvoice (NASDAQ: BV) and led the company from under $1 million in revenue to its IPO in February of 2012. During his time at Bazaarvoice, Michael held a number of other positions including Senior VP of Worldwide Sales and Chief Customer Advocate. Prior to Bazaarvoice, Michael was the Director of Client Services at Coremetrics, a provider of web analytics and marketing optimization solutions. He is currently on the Board of Advisors at ShopSocially and Nomi.

Summary Notes on Sales Teams

What to look for in talent?
Start by looking for passion, intelligence and communication ability
Relevant experience in the given industry is crucial
Youth vs. experience does not matter as much as characteristics about how individuals will engage with customers
What traits to look for by position?
Market development
Look for candidates straight out of college or with one to two years of experience
Salesforce outside rep
Look for someone with five to ten years of experience in the market
How to structure a sales teams
For the first six years, use a one to one market development to sales rep ratio
Later on employ a pooled model
When did Bazaarvoice transition to a pooled model?
When they had about 50 reps globally
What is a typical sales rep compensation plan?
Use a simple plan that reps can calculate mentally
Ideally have a 50/50 base/commission split
In his experience, the best reps would ask for more upside over base, but he tried to stick to 50/50
What were typical quotas?
Outside Rep: $1.35M per year
Market Development Reps: target of 40 net new meetings per quarter
How do you know when it is time for reps to go?
Two quarters missed in a row and out