Tactical Advice For Scaling Sales Organizations with Andy Byron

03/24/22 • 61 min

In this episode of the Revenue Builders podcast, John Kaplan and John McMahon talk to established sales leader and current President of Lacework, Andy Byron. Andy gives actionable advice for scaling sales organizations, especially in defining your ideal customer profile.

HIGHLIGHTS

The prerequisites of scaling a sales organization
How to define your ideal customer profile
Are geographic territories still relevant?
Challenges of the Chief Revenue Officer role
Founding CEOs aren't always the best leaders
Don't rely solely on advice from venture capitalists
Be open to evolution
Scaling strategies can be repeatable
Common mistakes that companies make when trying to scale up
Don't try to change how customers want to buy your product
Team players are essential in scalability
Master the playbook and improve it
Advice for new sales leaders
Your actions as a leader impact other people

QUOTES

Andy: "When you think about the CRO's role, it's so hard because you're navigating a market of sales teams scaling the company, hitting the number. But then also part of the job a lot of people don't talk about and you both know this really well, is you also have to set expectations and navigate with your constituents in the executive team, the board, the CEO."

Andy: "When you have an executive team that's aligned and has patience and frankly has the ability to evolve over time and just kind of say 'alright, what's working and what's not', and it's an open line of communication, and that strategy doesn't change, that's when you see companies that win."

Andy: "For the first time leader, it's not about you, and what value are you gonna impart to the team? And the third thing, how are you gonna create a winning culture? Because people are gonna want to come work for you, people are gonna want to generate pipeline. People are gonna want to really inspect the forecast. If you're gonna create a winning culture, they're gonna want to do those things. I think, as a first time leader, any leader, but definitely a first-time leader, how are you gonna inspire people to go in?"

Andy: "It takes some really hard times to really reflect back and say 'well, am I really giving everything I can to not just work but to myself and to others that support me?' And when you have those three things really working for you, that brings out the best in you, which by definition brings out the best in everybody else. When one of those is lacking, everybody can see."

Connect with Andy with the link below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-byron-417a429/

Learn More about Force Management here: www.forcemanagement.com

Taking on a New VP of Sales Role? Key Resources: | https://forc.mx/3KTEism
More about Force Management | www.forcemanagement.com
Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064

HIGHLIGHTS

The prerequisites of scaling a sales organization
How to define your ideal customer profile
Are geographic territories still relevant?
Challenges of the Chief Revenue Officer role
Founding CEOs aren't always the best leaders
Don't rely solely on advice from venture capitalists
Be open to evolution
Scaling strategies can be repeatable
Common mistakes that companies make when trying to scale up
Don't try to change how customers want to buy your product
Team players are essential in scalability
Master the playbook and improve it
Advice for new sales leaders
Your actions as a leader impact other people

QUOTES

Connect with Andy with the link below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-byron-417a429/

Learn More about Force Management here: www.forcemanagement.com

Taking on a New VP of Sales Role? Key Resources: | https://forc.mx/3KTEism
More about Force Management | www.forcemanagement.com
Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064

Previous Episode

Healthy Growth And Taking Risks with Hope Cochran

In this episode of the Revenue Builders podcast, John Kaplan and John McMahon talk to Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group Hope Cochran. Hope serves on the board of three public companies, Hasbro, Inc, MongoDB and NewRelic.

She is the former CFO of King Digital, the developer behind the phenomenal game Candy Crush. She is also the co-chair of OnBoarding Women, an organization that supports talented accomplished women in their journey to the boardroom. Website: https://onboardingwomen.org/.

Hope pulls the curtain back on what drives CFOs and gives sage advice on various areas of business, particularly in raising funds and ensuring that you can achieve healthy growth. However, Hope also advises that people should not be afraid to take risks and be open to learning. If it makes you nervous, she says, you’re in the right place.

HIGHLIGHTS

There's more to one's LinkedIn profile
Advice for entrepreneurs looking to raise money
Lessons learned in launching Candy Crush
Balancing overachievement and predictability
Always aim for healthy growth
Solutions vs cost justification
CFOs need to be the ears of the company
Working with Onboarding Women

QUOTES

Hope: "I am very mindful of markets and I am very mindful that when a market is open, I'll figure out how to get money. Because when the market turns off and that's when you need money, it's a rough spot."

Hope: "I'm always quick to stop talking about how much money are we taking in and what is the plan and what's our frame of mind of what we're doing with it. Meaning, what I want to see is money being applied to areas of growth labors. If we can spend more money and get more users or more adoption of the product, that makes a lot of sense."

Hope: "Lately, really what the markets have valued is growth. You have to be mindful about what we're looking at in terms of the markets, as well as the strength of the balance sheet. Assuming that the company has a good cash balance and we're not dealing with debt or areas of losing too much cash, clearly we want to propel growth."

Hope: "As a CFO, my most important thing is that my numbers are right. And I can do that by making sure my systems and processes keep up with the size of the organization. So I'm constantly ensuring that my systems are not too far behind my growth trajectory."

Hope: "Take a risk. When I think of the big movements in my career, they've been when I've jumped while taking a risk, when I've been nervous. I don't think I've ever taken a job that I felt like I was qualified for. Whenever it pushed me and made me uncomfortable, I knew that was the right job."

Learn More about Force Management here: www.forcemanagement.com

Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064

Next Episode

Weathering Recruitment Challenges with Mike McSally

In this episode of the Revenue Builders podcast, Kaplan and McMahon talk to Mike McSally, a recognized and accomplished business leader with deep expertise in aligning people, operations and technology. Mike, who spent more than 30 years with Allegis Group, talks about the current state of recruitment and the situations that are causing the problems hounding the industry. Mike also shares practical tips for job seekers looking to stand out and not get lost in the shuffle of resumes.

HIGHLIGHTS

Starting out as an accidental recruiter
Recruiters are not reading your resumes
Cultural fit is almost more important than technical skills
Today is the best and worst time to recruit
Try to look internally before recruiting outside
Hiring managers need to own the whole process
The Rule of 3: Always be recruiting
How to stand out in a bureaucratic world
Tips and best practices when using references
Look for an internal advocate
Mike's favorite things (If you golf, you’ll like his advice on what to spend money on)

QUOTES

Mike: "I believe that most of what's done in recruitment is broken. It doesn't take the candidate's background and the candidate's skills, goals, and desires and doesn't put that in the forefront. And we do that by relying on some methodologies or processes that have just been around since the beginning of time."

Mike: "There's never been a better time to recruit, at least in my 30 years in the US history, at least in the labor market right now. And there's never been a more dangerous time to recruit and the reason that is is we're just seeing unbelievable data that says 8 out of 10 people that are gainfully employed today are willing to entertain a new opportunity."

Mike: "If you want to stand out, find somebody from the inside of that organization that knows your skills and past performance and see if they'd be willing to at least talk to people inside the organization that are hiring for that skill set."

Mike: "The advice I give to anybody that's looking for a job is, if you're looking for a job posting, it's already too late. They've already got 70 applicants and you're gonna get lost in the shuffle. So use your connections, use LinkedIn to see who you know that now is working at that organization that will be your internal advocate."

Mike: "Your resume is not gonna make you stand out. It's doing something uniquely different. And very quickly, LinkedIn is an incredible tool. I can find out who John Kaplan has worked with in a past life. And if I ever work in and around that person, could I have that person call John Kaplan."

Connect with Mike McSally on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemcsally/

Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064

Additional Resources: