Sales veteran Jennifer Lawrence warns startup founders against hiring polished big-company sales executives who rely on pre-built playbooks.
Insight
Lawrence: Hire a VP of Sales at $8M to $10M ARR
“Like, I have an opinion. It should be between eight to 10 in ARR. If you want a really solid VP of sales, they're gonna want to come in. They don't want it to be too scrappy, and they don't want it to be too far ahead”
Insight
Lawrence: Sales organizations should target 50% to 70% quota attainment
“Culture of success is when lots of reps are hitting their number. I've got a number in my head, you know, we want to have between 50 to 70% of reps hitting their number.”
Insight
Lawrence: Walk away from top candidates who play coy at offer stage
“And even if you get up until the very end, where you have an A player, and they've just done great, and you're so excited, and you're at the offer stage, and they start playing coy, just walk away. Like, it just isn't worth it.”
Insight
Lawrence: Backchannel references are the only executive interviews that truly matter
“And then obviously, you go through all these interviews, the only one that really matters is the back channel.”
Insight
Lawrence: Startups should hire sales reps before hiring a VP of Sales
“I mean, no. I would have reps first to show that your stuff works, that customers are interested, that prospects are interested. You're gonna find a couple amazing reps, and you're a startup, and you're gonna hire for aptitude at first. So, I would start with …”
Insight
Lawrence: Startups should hire sales reps before creating playbooks
“I mean, I don't think it's important. I'm a big fan of being a doer, like, action. I'm not a big fan of, like, lots of meetings and plannings and PowerPoints and playbooks, because by the time you put all that together, like, your business has changed, right? …”