How to Build and Manage Distributed Sales Teams. With Bridget Gleason. #360

Welcome to another Front Line Friday with my very special guest, Bridget Gleason. On this week’s episode, Bridget and I discuss, among other topics, how she is hiring a sales team for her new position of V.P. of Sales at Logz.io, how to accommodate account executives with relocation issues, and how complex sales need a complex infrastructure.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[3:04] Bridget’s new job of V.P. of Sales at Logz.io has her looking for technical account executives in the Boston and

San Francisco areas. Her contact information is below!

[3:51] Bridget is, once again, setting up a sales organization from scratch. Challenge number one is time and geography. Her company is a startup, based in Tel Aviv, 10 hours ahead of San Francisco and seven hours ahead of Boston.

[4:56] Learning how to set up and manage distributed teams in a global market is something we will all have to learn to do well.

[7:53] The sales model Bridget is building, is an inside/hybrid role. There will be an SDR team, helping filter inbound and making outbound. There will be account executives, with some experience in SMB mid-market, looking to grow their careers.

[10:18] The biggest challenge of remote management is where people are located, vs. where they are needed.

[13:44] Great employees are requiring flexibility on where to live. Can they be accommodated and still cohere into a team?

[16:04] Bridget looks for people who are self-directed, motivated, smart, and curious, and who have integrity, that have some affinity for technology.

[17:10] Andy looks for big-picture ‘systems thinkers,’ for the kind of sales role under discussion. He looks at what they have done so far, and he asks them probing questions.

[20:26] In Bridget’s view, there is one team — not a U.S. team, and a Tel Aviv team. She looks for team-oriented people.

[22:03] Andy describes a $1B company that does not have a sales function. They have project teams that sell. That team mentality and cooperation are needed for complex deals.

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