When it comes to succeeding in sales — a field that demands strategic thinking, perseverance and adaptability — being multidimensional certainly helps: There are clients to secure, expectations to manage and important relationships to navigate.
With that territory comes a suite of skills that sets one up to thrive. And there’s no lone trait that is the clincher, but rather a web of attributes that lay out a strong foundation. That said, every sales team is different, as each organization prizes certain strengths which speak to how their cultures go about the craft in their own unique way.
Just ask Pat Ryan, the senior director of sales development at Mendix. His team invokes a novel description for what they seek in sales talent: “empacuriogrit” — that is, empathy, curiosity and grit. Meanwhile, Jennifer Sherry, senior director of sales at CarGurus, identified an individual who touts critical thinking and humility as a successful addition to the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based team.
Looking to learn how to make an impact on a sales team like the aforementioned organizations? Sherry and Ryan shared with Built In Boston the skills that help facilitate success for incoming talent, how interested professionals can shine while interviewing and how they seek to set up newcomers for success post-hiring.
CarGurus is a platform for purchasing and selling automobiles.
What is the number one skill you think new hires need to be successful on your team?
The CarGurus sales team strongly values ongoing learning and continuous improvement. We are constantly discussing what we can start, stop and keep doing to support our customers and drive success. To foster this environment of continuous learning and improvement, we look to hire people who have the critical thinking and humility needed to reflect on their work and any feedback they receive and to translate their takeaways into action steps they can apply moving forward. This may not come naturally to everyone, but most find that embracing the opportunity to grow this way is both energizing and rewarding.
The CarGurus sales team strongly values ongoing learning and continuous improvement … we look to hire people who have the critical thinking and humility needed [for this].”
How can sales candidates demonstrate those skills in a job interview?
I love to hear specific examples of past successes — and failures too! — when I’m meeting with prospective Gurus. What were you trying to achieve and how did you approach it? What worked, what did not and what did you learn along the way? How did this impact your approach moving forward? The best stories showcase thoughtful planning, clear action and the ability to make the most of lessons learned.
What kind of training do you offer sales team new hires to set them up for success?
We’re so proud of our immersive onboarding program for new sales team Gurus. It’s designed to help them grow their confidence, skills and connections in our community through a variety of experiences. These include shadowing others, role-playing, listening to both live and recorded calls and receiving ongoing support from a seasoned sales team “buddy” and helpful teammates. A robust resource library, including a comprehensive wiki and playbook, complements hands-on training.
New hires are wowed by our investment in their learning and development, and established team members continue to leverage learnings from their own onboarding in their day-to-day work as they progress months, and even years, into their roles.
Mendix is a platform for low-code app development.
What is the number one skill you think new hires need to be successful on your team?
“Empacuriogrit”: it’s the perfect combination of empathy, curiosity and grit! Empathy is so important because our customers operate in unique and complex environments, with equally unique and complex challenges and opportunities. Every member of team Mendix must use empathy to walk a mile in each customer’s shoes in order to best serve them — especially our sales development representatives, who so often create our “first impression” with our next generation of customers.
Curiosity is equally important: The only way to develop empathy for each unique customer is through genuine interest and curiosity. Our research, messaging and conversations need to be geared toward building understanding and alignment around unique customer value and urgency. Genuine curiosity is far and away the most important tool in this.
Finally, grit is important because our SDRs are counted on to be a constant source of forward momentum for both future customers and for Mendix. Countless forces emerge every day to try and knock this momentum down — everything from a tough rejection to a simple distraction. A truly gritty SDR will create success, with great urgency, despite all of this.
Genuine curiosity is far and away the most important tool.”
How can sales candidates demonstrate that skill in a job interview?
Demonstrate “empacuriogrit” by driving a conversation with us to discover anddevelop an understanding of what we’re looking to accomplish as an organization, as well as why we’ve decided to make the commitment and investment in bringing on a new teammate to help us get there.
Help us understand your own personal goals and aspirations and where they do or do not overlap with ours.
Finally — if this is indeed the case — help us understand why we’re the best possible next stop on your career journey and why you’re the best new teammate to help us on our journey. It’s critical that it’s a great fit for both of us.
What kind of training do you offer sales team new hires to set them up for success?
While we look to hire folks who already possess it, we also invest in the continual growth of “empacuriogrit” in our sellers. For example, in addition to our own internal training, we’ve partnered with two leading training firms whose methodologies put the customer first and foremost in very specific and actionable ways.
Furthermore, we have a highly supportive and collaborative culture with terrific managers responsible for reasonably-sized teams (meaning lots of facetime and coaching) and a highly collaborative team-selling approach with our account executives. Lastly, our go-to-market approach itself rewards those who best embody “empacuriogrit” — be sure to ask how!
