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Scott Barton

AMA: Bluevine Head of Sales, Lending & Credit, Scott Barton on Developing Your Sales Career

January 22 @ 10:00AM PT

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  1. What metrics do you use to justify a pay raise?

    Scott Barton
    Scott Barton

    Bluevine Head of Sales, Lending & Credit • 4mo

    The most important metric here is your attainment. Leadership is going to look here first as they'll want to understand how you performed against your target. They'll then compare that to the team average while factoring in things like ramp, seasonality, etc. In addition to this, you should think critically about how you contributed to the culture of the team. Are you a good team player? Do you add value in team meetings? Did you partner well with sales enablement? Did you help with a new proces ...Read More

    506 Views
    1 request

  2. How do you avoid burnout as sales professional when you feel like you have to start over again each quarter and year?

    Scott Barton
    Scott Barton

    Bluevine Head of Sales, Lending & Credit • 4mo

    The burnout can be very real here. Here's how I avoid it/manage it. Focus on what's in your control. I get less upset when things out of my control don't go my way. Take PTO This is especially hard when you're on a monthly quota. That said, it's still important to take time off. You'll be able to push harder when you're in-seat after some time away. Set goals for yourself. You'll always have a target to hit. While it can be common for your level of burnout to be tied to your progress against thi ...Read More

    469 Views
    1 request

  3. What's a typical career path for a sales professional?

    Scott Barton
    Scott Barton

    Bluevine Head of Sales, Lending & Credit • 4mo

    A typical career path for someone that wants to stay as an individual contributor (IC) looks like this:

    SDR, SMB Account Executive, Mid Market Account Executive, Enterprise Account Executive.

    Leadership can go a number of different ways, but I took this path myself and have also seen others follow it:

    SDR, SMB Account Executive, AE/SDR front line leader, AE/SDR second line leader, Head of Sales/VP Sales.

    471 Views
    1 request

  4. What's the best way to break into the tech industry as a sales professional?

    Scott Barton
    Scott Barton

    Bluevine Head of Sales, Lending & Credit • 4mo

    I'm a big fan of the B/SDR role. It's a great way to learn the basics of sales, including how to build pipeline. This is a skill that you can carry all the way to the C-suite, and you'll certainly need it if you start your own company. This role is a great way to learn by doing and really figure out if sales is the right path for you.

    You can also build really strong relationships in this role. I still keep in touch with people from my 2013 SDR class in 2026.

    658 Views
    1 request

  5. What communications framework do you use when communicating strategy 1) up to C Suite or 2) out to stakeholders?

    Scott Barton
    Scott Barton

    Bluevine Head of Sales, Lending & Credit • 4mo

    You can use the framework below when managing/communicating up to the C-Suite or to other stakeholders. With the C-Suite, it can sometimes be helpful to think of a TL;DR style update. In other words, how can you sum up the details that come out of the framework below in 1-2 sentences.

    1. State the topic or problem

    2. Explain the why - give context as to why we're here.

    3. Explain the strategy

    4. Share the expected results and how you plan on measuring it.

    1,170 Views
    1 request