On this episode of the Sales Talk for CEOs Podcast, Alice speaks with Melanie Fellay, CEO at Spekit. Solving the problem of how to train employees is Melanie's specialty. By adding the best practices of sales to her entrepreneur's enthusiasm, Melanie was able to refine their customer profile and increase their product market fit. Melanie also shares the importance of hiring a VP of Sales and Customer Success and how this position influences everything from revenue to company culture. She discusses the hits and misses they experienced and the steps they took to reorganize their sales structure.
HIGHLIGHTS
01:47 Innovating the training process with Spekit
10:44 Melanie's background in supporting sales and overcoming self-limiting beliefs
18:39 Learning how to sell a product and being deliberate with hiring a sales team
26:55 Having a clear company vision and hiring the first head of sales
37:30 Creating an online presence to evangelize and attract clients
40:34 Building up the sales team and adapting to changing buyer behaviors
48:32 Sales advice for fellow CEOs
QUOTES
09:16 "How do we reimagine the way that employees learn at work? And how we make that easier, more personalized, more data-driven experience for them."
21:52 "I deeply, deeply, deeply believe that if you want to solve the problem better than anyone else, you need to understand the problem better than anyone else."
25:28 "I'd just be intentional about hiring your first head of sales because they're going to shape your culture, your sales culture, but at the end of the day your sales team shapes the culture of your company."
32:05 "For me to excel at my role, I need to grow personally to a level that's faster than the growth of the company and that's hard when you're on hyper growth mode. But learning how to be an effective sales manager is probably not the best use of my time."
50:06 "I think it's really important to get super, super clear on the psychology and characteristics or whatever you want to call it of your buyer so that you can map out the kinds of sellers that I think are going to be the most successful."
Connect with Melanie Fellay in the link below.
Website: https://spekit.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniefellay/
You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.
Website: https://AliceHeiman.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/