The Science of Scaling
How to Integrate Your First Sales Hire w/ Kyle Parrish ( VP of Sales, Figma)
Wed Jun 21 2023Description
This episode explores the integration of sales leaders in rapidly scaling companies, with a focus on product-led growth (PLG) companies like Figma. The importance of choosing founders with strong moral compasses, identifying successful PLG companies, and evaluating PLG execution metrics is discussed. Building trust and technical aptitude at Figma through support teams and sales culture is highlighted. The role of sales in a PLG company, including the skills required and the impact of variable compensation, is explored. Insights on sales success and leveraging AI for outbound content generation are also shared.
Insights
Integration of sales leaders is often overlooked
In discussions about the first sales hire, the integration of sales leaders is often overlooked. This is a crucial aspect that should not be neglected.
PLG companies offer exciting opportunities
Product-led growth (PLG) companies like Dropbox and Figma offer exciting opportunities due to their large user base and strong customer satisfaction.
Retention of weekly active users is a key metric
When evaluating PLG execution, retention of weekly active users is a key metric to consider. It reflects the success of selling to existing users rather than starting from scratch with cold calling.
Technical aptitude is important in sales hires
At Figma, early sales hires were chosen for their technical aptitude and relevance to the company's critical software. This highlights the importance of technical knowledge in sales roles.
Sales requires specific attributes and desire
Sales is a skill that requires specific attributes and desire, which may not be found in designers or customer success managers. It is important to have salespeople who can conduct effective discovery calls and progress the sale forward.
Variable compensation is common in sales roles
Variable compensation is common in sales roles but not in other professions. This incentivizes salespeople to perform well and can drive creativity.
Founder CEO's role is critical
The role of the founder CEO is critical to the successful integration of sales in a company. How they talk about sales and engineering sets the tone for the entire organization.
AI can be leveraged for outbound content generation
AI can be used to drive pipeline for a sales team through personalization at scale. Leveraging AI can help increase activity and move faster without appearing spammy or overly automated.
Figma's story is remarkable
Figma's journey in entrepreneurship is remarkable, showcasing the importance of sales and go-to-market strategies in bringing an exceptional product to market.
Chapters
- Integration of Sales Leaders in Rapidly Scaling Companies
- Key Factors in Joining a Product-Led Growth Company
- Building Trust and Technical Aptitude at Figma
- The Role of Sales in a Product-Led Growth Company
- Insights and Strategies for Sales Success
Integration of Sales Leaders in Rapidly Scaling Companies
00:00 - 07:09
- Kyle Parrish, VPS sales at Figma, shares his experience in integrating sales leaders in rapidly scaling companies.
- Integration of sales leaders is often overlooked in discussions about the first sales hire.
- PLG (product lead growth) companies are exciting to work for because they already have a large user base and strong customer satisfaction.
- Kyle's advice for identifying successful PLG companies like Dropbox and Figma is to look for trends and user value.
- Retention of weekly active users is a key metric to consider when evaluating PLG execution.
- Working at PLG companies like Figma involves selling to existing users rather than starting from scratch with cold calling.
- Choosing leaders and founders with strong moral compasses is important when joining a company.
- Kyle built a unique sales culture that defied negative stereotypes associated with sales bros.
Key Factors in Joining a Product-Led Growth Company
06:45 - 13:39
- The founder of a company is an important factor in the decision to join.
- A good founder is coachable and data-driven.
- Early on in a product-led growth company, self-serve is key.
- Building trust and relationships with internal teams is crucial for success.
- Engaging with engineers and product folks starts with listening and learning the product.
- Selling the roadmap requires understanding where the product is at today.
- First sales hires should align with what modern products and engineering teams want.
- Starting in support can help build technical aptitude and earn trust.
- Spending time in bug bashes and support queues helps understand customer needs.
Building Trust and Technical Aptitude at Figma
13:13 - 20:22
- Figma, a series B company, focused on building trust and technical aptitude
- Spent time in support to learn the product and gain respect from support team members
- Support team played a critical role in Figma's early journey by being responsive and providing product feedback loop
- Sales team helped tie customer conversations with support feedback to improve the product
- Avoided recency effect by implementing a system to collect and organize customer feedback requests
- Built a sales culture that prioritized consultative selling, listening, technical aptitude, collaboration, and connection with customers
- Early sales hires were chosen for their technical aptitude and relevance to Figma's critical software
The Role of Sales in a Product-Led Growth Company
20:04 - 27:17
- The technical aptitude of the first hires at Figma was very high, even though they were not traditional salespeople.
- Figma created a team called the designer advocate team, which was equivalent to a sales engineer role.
- As Figma made the pivot from inbound to outbound sales, they needed people who wanted to be part of that journey.
- Sales is a skill that requires specific attributes and desire, which may not be found in designers or customer success managers.
- Salespeople need to have the ability to conduct effective discovery calls and progress the sale forward.
- Sales is a full-time job that requires relentless focus and attention to detail.
- Variable compensation is common in sales roles but not in other professions.
- The role of the founder CEO was critical to the successful integration.
Insights and Strategies for Sales Success
26:47 - 33:12
- Variable comp still outperforms in terms of creativity.
- Dylan paved the way for Kyle to speak in front of the company and talk about metrics, sales performance, challenges, recent hires, customer feedback, etc.
- There was a missing link at the company in terms of customer communication and working with customers.
- Founder CEO's role is important in how they talk about sales and engineering.
- Sales should be appreciated equally as engineering when going to market with exceptional product and go-to-market strategies.
- AI can be used for outbound content generation to drive pipeline for a sales team through personalization at scale.
- Leveraging AI can help move faster and increase activity without looking spammy or overly automated.
- Figma's story is remarkable in the context of entrepreneurship.