Sales Talk for CEOs

From Reluctant Entrepreneur to Successful CEO with Justin Rende

Episode Summary

Growing your business by doing an exceptional job is something that Alice’s guest Justin Rende knows well. This may be overlooked by those companies with a race to land new logos. Having referenceable customers can help you grow your sales. In fact when you do an exceptional job, without prompting, your customers will tell others. But that won’t fuel all the growth you need. You might have to become a bike messenger and start dropping off packages. When Justin decided to branch out he focused on startups. Learn how Justin messengered his way into startups all over New York City and how that grew his sales before hiring a team of sellers.

Episode Notes

Growing your business by doing an exceptional job is something that Alice’s guest Justin Rende knows well. This may be overlooked by those companies with a race to land new logos. Having referenceable customers can help you grow your sales. In fact when you do an exceptional job, without prompting, your customers will tell others. But that won’t fuel all the growth you need. You might have to become a bike messenger and start dropping off packages. When Justin decided to branch out he focused on startups.  Learn how Justin messengered his way into startups all over New York City and how that grew his sales before hiring a team of sellers.

Chapters

02:38 Justin's journey from a consulting firm to starting his own business, Rhymetec

03:24 The concept and process of penetration testing

04:35 How successful penetration tests led to a referral and the start of Rhymetec

05:34 The opportunity that prompted Justin to start his own business

06:35 Justin's steps to become a CEO practically overnight

07:03 Gaining the first prominent client and the growth following that

08:57 The importance of doing a great job and how it led to a snowball effect in business growth

10:40 Justin's strategies for scaling the company, hiring new talent, and the responsibilities they brought in

17:39 The transition from bike deliveries to a global sales approach

18:23 The training and responsibilities of hired CSOs and their role in sales and customer success

20:05 Outreach strategies to engage technology startups

23:30 Justin's unique approach using personal touches in sales outreach and its impact

26:58 The evolution of sales tasks and hiring a sales team to support business growth

32:06 Discussion on the growth of the go-to-market team beyond initial outreach methods

34:49 Key takeaways on the importance of hiring people with the right mindset in sales

About Guest

Justin Rende is the Founder and CEO of Rhymetec, a cybersecurity firm providing cybersecurity, compliance and data privacy needs to SaaS companies. With over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity, Justin has focused exclusively on developing the most innovative and customizable cybersecurity solutions for modern SaaS-based companies.

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