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20 Sales: Three Reasons Why Sales People Fail | The Two Things That Matter When Hiring Sales Leaders | Why Revenue, Discounting and Price Do Not Matter in the Early Days with Jordan Van Horn, Revenue Leader @ Monte Carlo

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Aug 17, 2022

Jordan Van Horn, a Revenue Leader at Monte Carlo with impressive stints at Segment and Dropbox, shares his journey from the wine industry to tech sales. He emphasizes that success in sales isn't just about pricing or revenue in the early days but optimizing for long-term relationships. Jordan discusses the importance of a well-defined sales playbook and when to hire sales leaders versus representatives. He also highlights insights on effective onboarding and the necessity of learning from past sales experiences to foster a high-performing team.

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ANECDOTE

Evaluating Sales Talent

Van Horn highlights the difficulty of evaluating sales talent using an example of a hypothetical Twilio rep.
This rep could boast impressive numbers due to early adoption by now-successful companies, not necessarily skill.

ADVICE

Structuring the Sales Hiring Process

Structure your sales hiring process around cultural fit, motivation, and skill set.
Go deep on past experiences and ask about specific challenges faced to assess true abilities.

ADVICE

Creating a User Guide for Effective Communication

Create a user guide to set clear expectations on how to work with you, your boundaries, and what is important to you.
This helps build trust and streamlines communication, especially in remote settings.

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Jordan Van Horn is a Revenue Leader @ Monte Carlo, the world's first data observability company. Prior to this role, Jordan spent an incredible 4 years in sales at Segment including as VP of Sales leading a sales team of 50+ Account Executives and leading the first international expansion for the company into Dublin. Before Segment, Jordan was at Dropbox for 4 years leading enterprise sales for Dropbox Business in California.

In Today's Episode with Jordan Van Horn We Discuss:

1.) Entry into the World of Sales:

How did Jordan make his way into the world of sales first with a vineyard?
What are 1-2 of the biggest takeaways for Jordan from seeing the scaling sales teams at both Segment and Dropbox? How did seeing that impact his mindset?
What does Jordan know now that he wishes he had known when he entered sales?

2.) The Sales Playbook:

How does Jordan define "the sales playbook"? What is it not?
What five core things should the sales playbook help you accomplish?
Should the founder be responsible for the sales playbook? Can it be created by a Head of Sales?
How does Jordan advise founders on three signals that now is the right time to bring in a sales hire?
How does Jordan advise founders on whether the first sales hire should be a rep or a leader?

3.) The Secrets to Pricing and Discounting:

Why does Jordan not care what price customers pay in the early days? If it is not about ARR, what should teams be optimizing for?
When does price discipline become important in a company journey? What are the dangers of not having price discipline?
What two tools do sales leaders have to use in order to create urgency in a deal closing process?
How should sales leaders think about building multiple champions within a potential customer? At what price point is it worth it?

4.) The Hiring Process:

How does Jordan structure the hiring process for all new sales hires?
What are the must-ask questions that Jordan asks all new candidates? What does he want to see in those answers?
Who else does he bring into the hiring process? At what stage do they get involved? What are they testing for?
Does Jordan use case studies with candidates? What makes the best? What makes the worst?

5.) The Onboarding:

What is the ideal onboarding process for new sales reps?
What should founders do and prep for when onboarding their first sales hires? What materials and recordings should they have ready?
What are some early signs that a new hire is not working out? How do we measure their impact?
For enterprise sales, it takes a long time to close new deals, how can one determine effectiveness of new reps when the sales cycle is so long?