24 Mar 2023
When starting in a (leadership) position and to maximise success, DYR is critical (and DIY - learning by doing).
DYR - Do Your Research
Always DYR (Do Your Research) when starting in a new VP Sales role.
No matter past experience, each company & context is different, even within the same industry.
Research as much as you can before, at start and still intensively for months into your new role.
Find peoole to help provide insights
from your network
eg with Linkedin:
1:1 DMs or emails to targeted person work really well too.
cold approach
also via Linkedin or email.
Search for ICP target people & Connect with them.
Connect message (300 characters max.) should be self-sufficient about what you are asking, and offer no friction to reply.
Easy to say, hard to do :)
Use the first people's email addresses you come across in your research of your TAM's websites to send simple calls for help - very short email.
ONLY ask for help / position their insights as expert as valuable to you. People like being called experts.
example questions
Selling
- what are the differences in selling to Y vs selling to X.
- good tactics when selling to X?
- what are effective Sales channels to sell to X? GPOs?
Budgeting
- how are budgets allocated usually / budget policy?
- is there room for a champion to unlock additional budget or strict budget policy?
- heard that financial year usually ends in July, and big buying window that month to get remaining budgets (”use it or lose it”) - true?
Decision Making
- how are X organised from a “business/operations” perspective?
- central decision-making or departmental level?
- what is a typical decision-making process at X for <$10k, $20k & $100k buy?
Reaching Out
- what are good data sources
- good tactics when cold contacting X?
- what tone to use when cold engaging X? (formal/informal, literate/simple, etc..)
- early results a few days in seem to show that removing any “Sales” aspect (eg title) in emails works better - accurate?
(Depending on people interviewed)
- potential synergy/collaboration/co-selling/co-marketing between my company & yours?
- can you introduce me to [insert ICP / buyer persona]?