The Makings of a Successful Sales Organization: A conversation with Jon Hume
Our team at CFW has spent 47- years working with sales leaders across industries. In a world where everything is uncertain, one thing has remained constant: sales organizations change rapidly, and that change is accelerated by sales technology. In our most recent conversation with Jonathan Hume, a Business Development Advisor who has spent the last 15+ years in sales leadership, we discuss what it takes to set up the structure, launch, grow, and support a successful sales organization.
What three things are top-of-mind when you’re setting up a sales team structure?
What stage is the company and where is it in the market: Every stage of a company requires different strategies. So if you understand where you are and where you want to be in 5 years, you can build a team structure that supports this vision.
People and culture: Once you understand the stage (be truthful about your stage), you need to understand the person that will fit the company stage and culture. At any stage, the ability to collaborate and work cross-functionally is crucial. Specifically, with early-stage companies, this is a critical lever for success. Functional teams need to support each other, so there has to be collaboration and open communication across the organization to become successful.
Setting Goals: Think about where the company wants to be 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 60 months. We know that change is the only constant, especially over five years, but if you holistically look at where the company wants to be, you can start to get granular on what you need and when you need it. Thinking long term helps you define your true north and create a path to get there. It is about iterating along the way as market dynamics may impact the company/ industry.
Many sales managers are highly focused on setting up the right metrics and processes, considering them the key to effective management. As you’d be quick to note, managing is about people, too. How do you balance the two?
I think metrics and processes are essential, don't get me wrong. The success of a company depends on the people. When a company succeeds or fails, it is always related to the people that make up the organization. So it’s essential to consider who you hire and retain.
When thinking about building a sales organization, I emphasize people skills over sales skills. I’ve debated this point many times, but if you hire people who have empathy for the customer, are invested in the company mission, and have the drive to succeed, you can overlay any necessary sales training. You have to support salespeople, and I would prefer to support and manage people who are committed to the company vision rather than someone looking for a payday. Ultimately, I believe we should be working towards our goals collaboratively.
Additionally, you have to support your people not by just looking at the metrics and process but understand how they engage with the information and what they need to succeed. It's really about coaching, mentoring, and supporting around the WHY, so you have individual growth in support of company growth.
Over time, the metrics become more important, and the team should understand this as well. What you are tracking at the beginning of your sales journey to your 2nd or 3rd stage of growth changes immensely because the organization changes.
With more organizations moving towards a remote-first approach, is there anything in particular that high-performing, remote-first teams you’ve worked with have in common?
Communication, full stop. If communication breaks down, you have problems, so this should be a priority. Consistent communication gives you the ability to implement accountability measures, which is critical for a successful distributed team.
I’ve worked as a distributed employee for a large portion of my career, and I’ve managed teams all over the world in about every time zone. As long as there is constant communication with clear expectations, you’ll be successful as you’ll create a natural feedback loop for all areas of the organization.
What’s a common challenge faced by remote sales organizations, and what’s your advice on how to overcome it?
To become a successful distributed sales organization, success is reliant on both the organization and the individual. The organization has to set up the infrastructure to support a distributed team so the communication can flow both ways. The individual has to take the initiative to engage throughout the organization. For example, a lot of companies have sales reps distributed across the U.S. and those reps need support in terms of understanding products, services, and expectations/accountability, so they do not feel like they are on an island. When you have the right processes and infrastructure in place, your reps understand they are a critical part of the organization and empowered to tell the company's story. And that can lead to amazing results.
Our firm has been focused on helping organizations build diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplaces since our inception 47 years ago. While there’s undoubtedly been some progress since then, we know there’s still a lot of work to be done. How do you think sales organizations can catalyze progress towards workplace equality?
By not just doing the status quo and by setting a higher standard for building for equality. One example is demonstrating a commitment to hiring people from various backgrounds and then helping them succeed.
This has been a foundational principle of Abl from the beginning, which was one of the reasons I was initially attracted to the organization. Something as simple as adding a statement on our job descriptions changed how we attracted, hired, and retained quality talent. Below is what Abl adds to the bottom of their job postings:
“A Note to Candidates - Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every one of the qualifications described in a job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may be one who comes from a less traditional background. We would encourage you to apply, even if you don't believe you meet every one of our qualifications described.”
Sales organizations are made up of people from various experience levels, how do you build a scalable and sustainable coaching structure for the myriad of backgrounds?
Understanding individual needs and personal goals. Things like:
What motivates your folks to get out of bed in the morning?
Where do they want to be in 3-5 years?
Why are they here?
Most people I have hired, coached, and mentored have never written down their personal goals or completed any self-awareness exercise. If you do not understand what you are trying to accomplish personally, you will struggle to excel professionally.
A quick story: coming out of college, I had no clue what I wanted to do. My dad “strongly encouraged” me to write down what I liked and disliked (examples: Liked = travel, disliked = cubicles). Additionally, he suggested I write down a paragraph that answered the question, “Tell me about yourself” (I ask this question in every interview and very rarely will someone not recite their resume - and that isn’t telling me who you are). By completing the exercise with my little knowledge of the professional world, I was able to align my personal goals and desires with jobs and industries. I’ve kept this exercise with me throughout my career and use it to support individual professional growth.
Over the last decade, Jon Hume has focused on building global teams in education technology companies, including Schoology, Abl and Soapbox Labs.
Our firm was founded 47 years ago as a career school to help women realize their potential to excel in executive sales, empowering them socioeconomically. Over the past 47 years, we have helped hundreds of organizations attract, hire, and retain top-performing teams. We have also helped thousands of individuals launch and navigate successful careers via our job placement and career coaching practice. To learn more about our unique process, please contact maria@cfwcareers.com.