Future-Proof Your Sales Career by Building Leverage
The Guide to Unlocking Unstoppable Confidence
This week will be the last installment of a 3 part series providing perspectives from Sam Marelich and myself on how to best evaluate a new AE role. If you missed the last two, feel free to start off on The Hidden Trap of OTE, or last week’s installment, Better Network, Better Info.
Today, we’ll cover how to best position yourself for long term, and continued success, in your AE role and beyond.
As a quick reminder, Sam has provided all Hacking Sales subscribers a limited time offer of 50% off with the promo code “HACKING” expiring tomorrow Sunday, November 17th.
The worst position to be in, outside of not having any prospects for income, or a role where you can’t scale commissions, is being in a position where you NEED. In sales, and in life, the best way to handle taking risks and be comfortable with those risks is having leverage.
How Do You Get Leverage?
This isn’t a situation of “one upping” someone. It’s more the mindset of knowing that you can take a hit if something goes wrong. Understanding the business mechanics of a sales org is critical - so you know how to assess risk and potential success.
You also need to have the right mindset to be comfortable with making those decisions. Below, Sam has provided a blueprint here which outlines the key metrics of what it takes to scale a $100mm sales org. You can check out the free resource and plug your own numbers into the calculator below
How Many Salespeople Do You Need To Scale To $100m+ ARR?
Here’s some ideas that we’ll cover to give you the leverage you need:
Save Your Money
Domain Expertise
Managing Your Career Proactively versus Reactively
Save Your Money
I can’t tell you how many tweets or reddit posts I’ve come across where sellers are in the undesirable position of having to find a job FAST to get their next paycheck. This isn’t a knock on anyone who’s in this situation, I’ve been there before. It sucks.
It’s just that it adds the pressure of having to find your next role. That said, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I remember speaking with one rep who landed a new job WITHIN 16 days with pure grit and hustle.
“I don’t have time to cry on LinkedIn, I have kids who need insurance and a family to provide for so once I got wind of layoffs I cold called hiring managers as soon as I saw the posts come up”.
If you’re in a position where you’re pressed on timelines to get income, I feel for you. But take action. See above.
The next best thing you can do?
Save your money.
I personally try to have at least a 3 month buffer for unexpected situations. Allowing me time to decompress, assess, and be confident knowing that I can be patient in selecting a new opportunity.
Note this isn’t financial advice. However, saving your money is a pretty safe bet.
This mindset applies to sales as well. Think about the scenario where you have one deal that will make or break your quarter versus playing with a few deals to get to your number.
In which scenario are you more confident?
Domain expertise
Understand that the further you move up in your career the more specialized you become. The more specialized you become, the more value you can bring, and with it, the more dollars you can command.
This doesn’t necessarily need to be industry focused. For example, if you can sell SaaS, it’s a valuable skillset. I’d encourage you to think through your skillset. Some questions to help:
Do you sell a very technical product?
Are you well versed in selling for start ups vs larger, well established orgs.
Do you understand an industry intimately?
Can you navigate large organizations and either expand or sign a new logo?
The answers will be different for everyone. And there may be more questions you can ask. The above is a starting point to continue building and understanding your niche and with it - leverage.
Managing Your Career Proactively vs Reactively
As the saying goes, it’s much easier to find a job when you HAVE a job. See above: what are you good at and do you have money in the bank for weather a rainy day?
Confidence is knowing that you can weather the storm.
Now, some things are unpredictable but I find often that many sales reps are comfortable and *don’t* want to be proactive. A few things to help :
Brush up your resume every month - key accomplishments, logos, or other contributions to the business you’re proud of?
Have convos with your network
Be in the know on industry and enterprises - where is the money going?
How to be in the know:
I’ve mentioned some resources before, but some starting points on where to start:
Matt Harney - does excellent write ups on industry trends as a whole on SaaS Letter
VC Reports - like this one from Tidemark or this one from OpenView
Industry publications
Thought Leaders like Sam Jacobs and others.
I’m sure there is more and others that I may have missed but these are starting points for you to quite literally, “be in the know”.
Finally, if there’s one last thing I’d leave you with - is TALK TO PEOPLE. Research and publications are great.
It’s the insiders who know what’s going on.
Resources for reference:
Check out Sam’s newsletter here - it’s once a week and aimed at hiring managers (but reps can learn a lot too).
Finally, remember to use the promo code “HACKING” at checkout for 50% off (Expiring Tomorrow).
As always, thanks for reading. If you have any questions or thoughts, shoot me a DM or email andrew@hackingsales.xyz.
See you all next week.
-Andrew K
PS - if you liked this article, feel free to give a “like”, “comment”, or “share” with your network.
Good stuff + thanks for the mention