Dear SaaStr: What Should I Look For in a 30-60-90 Day Plan for My First VP of Sales?
I think there are 2 components that are most important:
#1. How much, and when, sales will increase.
This will be tied to sales cycles, to some extent, but also to increasing close rates. A great VPS will increase close rates in her first quarter. So I’d hope by Day 90, she’s closing at a faster rate than Day 0. Even with the same # of leads, same lead velocity. More on that here: How the VPs of Sales of Talkdesk, Zenefits, Showpad and GuideSpark all Doubled Sales in One Sales Cycle
Now here’s the thing — rarely will a VP of Sales truly get this 100% right before they start. Hopefully, they know a lot about your business at this point, when they are putting together a 30-60-90 day plan. But some of their ideas here won’t be quite right. More important is that in general they are, and the ideas are good, and you’re aligned here.
#2. Hiring. How, why, whom, and when.
The #1 job of a VPS at your stage (and really, always) is hiring. Getting great reps in to close more, and better, so you can hit the plan. If she doesn’t bring in a group of great reps in the first 90 days, and really, at least 1-2 good reps in the first 30-60 days … she’ll never make it. More here: What a Great VP Sales Actually Does. Where The Magic Is. And When to Hire One.
Who will they hire? How will they find them? And when? If they can’t do this … then you didn’t hire a real VP of Sales. Hit Undo.
A few things that are actually flags in a First 30-60-90 Day Plan:
Flag #1: It’s All About Process. The Plan is Just “Process”.
Until you are at $20m+ ARR, maybe even $50m, there only so much process you need. And more importantly, process alone isn’t the #1 thing a VP of Sales should be thinking about.
Flag #2: The Plan is Just What They Did At Their Last Company.
Yes, you want to leverage the playbook they last used. But it needs to evolve. Your startup is different. If all they want to do is run 100% of the last playbook — those folks are rarely learners.
Big Flag #3: The Don’t Plan to Meet Customers Themselves The First 30 Days
The best VPs of Sales, Product and Customer Success all make this Job #1. All of them. The ones that don’t really want to sell themselves? That don’t really want to learn? That just want to “run a process”? They don’t see a need to meet customers their first few weeks. Trust me here. Trust me.
And doing the plan is important before they start. Don’t skip this. Here’s why:
(plan image from here)
