As a company grows and evolves, the sales strategies and tactics that have been effective at one stage may no longer be effective any more. A VP of Sales that is skilled at driving revenue growth in an early-stage startup may not have the experience or skill set needed to lead a sales team in a more mature company.
Additionally, the size and complexity of a sales organization also increase as a company grows, requiring a leader with experience managing and scaling teams of people. So, the different stages of growth require different skills and experiences in a VP of sales.
There are several common stages of company growth, each with its own set of challenges and corresponding skills and experience required for a VP of Sales:
Start-up (0-1M ARR): In the early stages of a start-up, the VP of Sales is often a co-founder or one of the first hires. They typically have to wear many hats and be comfortable with ambiguity. They need to be able to create marketing materials, run email campaigns, generate leads, build relationships, close deals, and build your go-to-market model from scratch. They should be comfortable with working in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment. These people need to intimately understand the problem you solve and rapidly experiment to find the value proposition that meets this problem/pain.
Early growth (1-5M ARR): As the start-up begins to gain traction, the VP of Sales will need to focus on building and scaling the sales team and the process they follow. They should have experience in recruiting, training, and managing salespeople and have a deep understanding of sales processes and key metrics which they can help to embed within CRM. They should also be able to create and implement sales strategies that align with the company's overall goals and objectives. At this stage it's also important to understand the need for a Revenue Operations function to support growth and align the core commercial teams.
Rapid growth (5-20M ARR): As the company enters a phase of rapid growth, the VP of Sales will need to be able to manage and lead larger teams of salespeople (managing managers) and have experience in forecasting, budgeting, and managing revenue operations. They need dashboards and analytical tools to help them stay on it. They should also be able to use the data gathered by these tools to adapt to a rapidly changing market and be able to create and implement sales strategies that are flexible and can evolve with the market.
Maturity (20M +): As the company reaches maturity, the VP of Sales will additionally need to have a deep understanding of the market, the company's customers, and the company's competitors. They should have broad experience in sales strategy, account management, and sales leadership, and be able to create and implement sales strategies that will help the company maintain its market position.
Decline: In the decline stage, the VP of Sales will need to have experience in sales turnarounds and be able to lead the sales team through challenging times. They should be able to identify the root causes of the decline and develop and implement a plan to improve sales and drive revenue growth.
It's important to note that the stages of company growth are not always clear-cut and can overlap, so the skills and experience required for a VP of Sales will depend on the specific circumstances of the company.
If you need help with stages 2 and 3 then we'd be very happy to have a chat.