Before I launched Inside Sales Dude almost a year ago, I was contacted by a CEO who wanted to hire me as his VP of Sales.
We had an in-depth discussion about his business, his need for a structured sales organization and his revenue projections.
Although we had an interesting discussion, at the end of the call I told him I wasn’t interested in the job. His company simply couldn’t afford me. Nor did I want to commit myself 100% to another startup.
He then asked if I would consider a consulting project to help him build his sales organization. I put together a plan and we got started.
And that my friends is how Inside Sales Dude began.
If your company has a sales problem, you too might be considering hiring a proven VP of Sales to come in and turn things around.
A high-caliber, experienced VP of Sales is going to cost you $250K-$300K (plus equity and benefits).
Not to mention, you’ll likely be paying a recruiter $60K-$100K to help you find and hire a candidate.
A good VP of Sales can be worth his weight in gold… when he is the right candidate hired at the right time for the right job.
But you probably don’t need a new VP of Sales to solve your sales problem. Most companies do not.
Instead they need:
- Better Sales Reps
- Improved Prospecting & Closing Techniques
- Methodical Sales Processes & Management
- Training for the Sales Managers
- Trusted Advisor for the Executive Team
While a VP of Sales can help with all of these, there’s a faster and better way to solve your sales problem while ensuring a higher ROI:
Pay an expert who can solve your specific problem. (Hint: that would be me)
The problem with hiring a VP of Sales
You want someone to come in who will solve your sales problem. Ideally he’s got industry experience, startup experience, market contacts, a rolodex of contacts, lives in your locale, can be hands-on as well as “high-level, and so on.
Of course you need him to make an immediate and meaningful impact on revenues. So you may be tempted to rush through the interview process. Even so, it will take months to get him onboard.
What’s worse is that you won’t know whether your candidate is working out for about 12 months. By that time, you’ve invested heavily in recruiting, relocation, building out the team, ramping him up, creating sales processes, and giving him time to deliver.
In the meantime, your company has now lost a year of valuable sales time.
Fast track your sales by hiring Inside Sales Dude to help with specific projects.
Here are some real-world examples:
- Relaunch Sales Team – $30K, 3 month project – Assessed existing sales people, processes and systems for a private biotech firm. This led to revamping the entire sales organization which included: implementing new sales practices, migrating to a new CRM, developing sales processes, hiring experienced sales reps, and training the sales manager.
- Setup Inside Sales Sales Org for SAAS Product – $60K, 5 month project – Built, trained and managed an Inside Sales Team dedicated to launching a new SAAS product for an established tech firm. Once established, this team was transitioned to existing management.
- Assist Startup with Setting Up Inside Sales Organization – $15K, multiple short term projects – Projects included evaluating organization structure, selection and rollout of the CRM, strategic input on the business plan, and providing guidance for the VP of Sales & CEO.
I might be able to help solve your sales problem too – for a lot less than you’d spend to hire a VP of Sales.
There’s no doubt, a full-time VP of Sales can be a necessary and integral part of your business. I’ve been one myself. And at Inside Sales Dude, I am frequently contracted to help the existing VP of Sales with a project.
But before you go down the long and expensive route of hiring a new VP of Sales, give me a call.
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