What are the key traits you look for in hiring enterprise PMMs?

Great question! I generally look for folks that have a bit more of a technical background or have worked with products that are a bit more technical in nature. Specifically I’m not looking for them to be technical, but I want them to understand when they need help, and when to turn to a sales engineer or PM rather than struggle through it, or ignore a concept. 

Another key component is experience working with large companies, understanding the nature of how a big company is structured and how deals work through a bigger company is key. Having analyst relation experience is also valuable. When dealing with Enterprise companies, they often turn to Gartner, Forrester and other analyst firms for their opinion. 

Finally I look for the traditional PMM components. Are they a good writer, do they understand how to do positioning and messaging, can they train sales teams on new features and how do they handle a product launch?

I'm currently recruiting for Enterprise PMMs, so if you're interested (and want to make a move to Amsterdam) in joining Miro, reach out!

When it comes to hiring a segment PMM like an Enterprise Product Marketer, one key trait I look for is someone who is problem-solver. As an enterprise PMM, you’ll need to identify and investigate business issues, read through the data, and solve challenges or make appropriate suggestions and be able to pivot when needed to get the desired results. I would also prioritize communication and story-telling abilities. From internal enablement to GTM functions-– a PMM needs to tell a compelling story with a POV to spur action.

There are a few things I look for when recruiting enterprise PMMs in a product-led growth company going upmarket (with a sales team):

- Have they done enterprise PMM work before? This usually means both have: 1) owned the product marketing work for the enterprise pricing plan (in a PLG company this plan often includes security/privacy features like SCIM, SSO etc.), and 2) gained experience targeting enterprise-sized companies (what's "enterprise" varies at every company but let's say 10,000 employees or greater for discussion sake).

- Do they have positive experiences working with internal sales and customer-success coworkers? And do they enjoy it? I can't tell you how many PMMs have worked with sales and customer-success teams on enablement and more, yet don't enjoy it. I like people to enjoy their jobs, so this question is critical for me.

- Do I think they'd be successful in working with our particular sales and customer success teams? Every culture is different. Who will impress our sales and CS team may not work well at another company. For example, at one company the sales team might have its own sales enablement team — and not need much help with training. Yet, at another company, the sales team might not have their own enablement team and need a lot of help. Are you willing to adjust as a PMM to our particular situation?

- Do you have a growth mindset? In some PLG companies, being an enterprise PMM is more difficult from a personal resilience perspective than a non-enterprise PMM — particularly in a PLG company — because you have more stakeholders to deal with. Not only do you have to work with Product, Marketing, and Support, but you also have have customer-success managers (with important large accounts) and salespeople (trying to close bigger deals than your average deal size for self-serve credit-card sales). Therefore, you need to have a thick skin and be proactive.

• Understanding of an enterprise sales motion - Enterprise buying is complex . I look for PMMs who understand this complexity and have experience dealing with it. Do they understand that buyers and users and influencers are not the same ? Do they understand the concept of a buying committee ? Do they understand the varied nature of sales collateral by different stages of the sales process ? Do they understand the number of meetings/weeks/time it takes to go from discovery to closed won ? Have they worked with sales frameworks like Command of message or Challenger sales or something similar ? Do they understand the role of partners in this complex sales motion ? Do they understand the importance of ABM in enteprise selling ? I look for someone who has practical experience dealing with these scenarios

• Messaging complexity - Enterprise sales often requires a messaging hierarchy that is more complex than SMB led sales. You need messaging for different personas. You need messaging that is extremely value oriented in some cases (e.g. first meeting) but still focuses on feature differentiators in other cases (e.g. detailed RFP responses). I look for PMMs who have experience developing complex messaging and bringing it to life in various content forms

• Sales engagement experience - The level of engagement that enterprise PMMs have with sales and sales engineers is often deeper than in motions with a higher velocity GTM motions (e.g. SMB selling, or PLG style scenarios). Enterprise sales leaders are also more tenured, and often have rigid expectations around sales enablement. I look for experience in managing complex enablement situations, but also for evidence of strong relationship management with enterprise sales leaders.

This doesn’t take away the core traits that I look in every PMM. Strong storytelling. Strong collaboration skills. Ability to be a GTM orchestrator. And someone who is not shy to romance the product