Internet Tech Boston

The founder of Hubspot, Dharmesh Shah, recently wrote a blog post about hiring a startup sales team. Dharmesh is a really smart guy, and Hubspot’s success is well chronicled. His contributions to the local internet technology and startup culture through activities like his blog are invaluable.

But, as I read his top tips for building startup sales teams, I saw descriptions of marketing folks, project managers, consultants, and tech-type folks – but no sales people in there.  At least, not the type of sales people that you and I know. You remember those guys – they have big titles and big smiles. They don’t work very well as a team. They don’t really understand your product very well. All they care about is . . themselves. Up until recently, a company’s sales team was comprised almost exclusively with these alpha-male-hunters. The bad ones used pressure tactics and fast talking to trick customers in buying stuff they didn’t want, and promised them things your product couldn’t do. The good ones were characterized by such descriptors as “Well, he’s an arrogant jerk that couldn’t care less about anyone but himself, but he at least he’s selling a lot of the right product.”

Let’s face it – selling is something you do to someone else. You sell a person in the same way you invade a country or drive to the hoop. Your success in these endeavors is almost 100% predicated on how bad you want it. And what do the recipients of all these actions do in return? They put up their best defenses to keep you out. Only the fastest, strongest, and smartest are successful.

But these days, buyers are in control. They weren’t found by the sales team in a phone list. They found your company through a web search. They didn’t listen to your sales team’s pitch about how great your product is. They watched your webinars and read your whitepapers and educated themselves. Your sales team didn’t sell them. They purchased you. These are all hallmarks of what is now being referred to as Sales 2.0.

Still out playing the Sales 1.0 game with a core cadre of sales heroes? You’ll probably find that it’s getting harder and harder to be successful, even if you have an All-Star lineup. It just may be that you’re playing the wrong game now.