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Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)

AMA: HubSpot Head of Corporate Sales, West Coast, Sarah Mercedes (Osborne) on Developing Your Sales Career

March 12 @ 10:00AM PT

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  1. What hard skills are must haves to be a sales leader? What are nice to haves?

    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)
    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)

    HubSpot Director of Sales • 1y

    Must-Have Sales Leader Hard Skills: Data Analysis and Decision Making Decisions can't be made on a whim-they need to be based on data You need to be able to analyze data to understand the health of your business and the businesses of those who report to you You need to be able to pull key insights from data to drive strategy and as a way to get your team bought into executing on the strategy you set Communication Skills With customers, other leaders, cross-functional partners, and reps You need ...Read More

    814 Views
    1 request

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

    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)
    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)

    HubSpot Director of Sales • 1y

    In my opinion, it isn't one specific metric, but rather your consistency across all of the key leading indicator metrics. Attainment is one thing, but the "how" and what you do and accomplish consistently to maintain a steady business is far more impressive and indicative of long-term success and your value as a leader than a one off performance defined by outputs.

    524 Views
    1 request

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

    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)
    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)

    HubSpot Director of Sales • 1y

    I'll never forget what my VP said to me when I was first kicking off my sales career: You know you're meant to be in sales if the end of the fiscal year excites you more than stresses you. Sales is a grind. There will always be ups and there will always be downs. If you are going to commit to being in sales long term, you have to love and appreciate the hustle. You can't get too high and you can't get too low. An additional tip I often find myself giving reps who are in one of those lows, who ar ...Read More

    672 Views
    2 requests

  4. What type of skill sets and experiences do I need to build in order to strengthen my career and move from being a sales manager to Director level and above?

    What type of leadership career tracks do you see people continue their careers?

    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)
    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)

    HubSpot Director of Sales • 1y

    There are a number of critical skills required to be successful in sales leadership, but these four are most critical in my opinion. Time Management When leading a team of reps or managers while also working on the business and not just in it, time becomes even more sparse and it's critical to manage it effectively. Highly recommend getting familiar with the Eisenhower Matrix and using it as a mechanism to decide what gets your time and when. I'm always working on improving in this area personal ...Read More

    636 Views
    1 request

  5. What framework do you use when assessing a new opportunity at a different company?

    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)
    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)

    HubSpot Director of Sales • 1y

    The most important thing you can do when assessing new opportunities is first getting really clear on what matters to you most. Comp, remote-friendly, leadership, size, industry, etc. Once you are clear on what matters most and in what order, it's easier to narrow down what opportunity it is you want to prioritize.

    585 Views
    1 request

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

    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)
    Sarah Mercedes (Osborne)

    HubSpot Director of Sales • 1y

    With any job you want, the best thing you can do is to do the job without having the job. You want to show the hiring manager that you are a de-risked candidate. If you are a sales rep wanting to become a sales manager, you could start doing things like driving broader org initiatives based on problems and opportunities you or the business identify. You could start coaching other reps, booking time with existing managers and learn how they forecast or use data to understand the health of their b ...Read More

    1,055 Views
    1 request