I just finished reading the book Jungle Rules by John Imlay and really enjoyed learning about the origins of the technology community in Atlanta. What the book really did was drive home the importance of having a sales focused corporate culture. Here are a few anecdotes that emphasize the type of sales focus of a few companies:
- MSA, the largest software company in the world at one point in the 1970s, brought in exotic animals, especially tigers, at their annual sales kick-offs, among other events
- The CEO of Omniture, a company recently acquired by Adobe for $1.8B, had “QBSR” as his car license plate – Quota Bearing Sales Rep
- Salesforce.com, the largest SaaS company in the world, has approximately 3,000 employees, of which 1,500 are in sales
I recommend analyzing ways to make sales more top of mind in startup cultures.
Great post. While I don’t always like the culture created by a company so top heavy on sales people as Saleforce.com, I wholeheartedly agree that startups need to make sales one of their primary concerns.
Thanks Mike. I agree that startups don’t emphasize sales enough.
Good post and very true.
As a general rule of thumb, you want at least 20% of your company to be quota holding. Easier said than done when you are small but extremely important.
Thanks Joe. I hadn’t heard the 20% rule before but it makes sense. In my company we’re just under 20% QBSRs.
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