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Michael Buscemi

AMA: Zip Sr. Director of Sales , Michael Buscemi on Establishing the Sales Function

August 20 @ 9:00AM PT

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  1. How do you retain good talent, especially when sales roles are in such high demand across the industry?

    Michael Buscemi
    Michael Buscemi

    Zip Sr. Director of Sales • 9mo

    Great question. This is becoming increasingly hard in tech. The “next best thing” is always around the corner! I think there are a few fundamental things that retain top talent. First, is your quota actual attainable? Top talent won’t stay around if they can’t make their OTE. Make sure to create a plan people can hit. Second, are you helping them progress in their careers? Are you teaching them? Do they have a path to promotion? That’s critical to ensuring talent stays for years to come. Top tal ...Read More

    1,421 Views
    3 requests

  2. What's your framework to prioritizing needs/deliverables when you're the first sales leader at a company establishing the function?

    Michael Buscemi
    Michael Buscemi

    Zip Sr. Director of Sales • 9mo

    This is a good one! Many ways to answer this one. You have to ask yourself:

    • How important is this to the business, my team or myself?

    • Who will benefit the most - business or team?

    • What’s the impact to the business or team?

    I would always default to the impact the business. Remember, you were hired to make a business impact and quick. The quicker you impact the business the better

    1,234 Views
    2 requests

  3. Question about org structures - what does your sales team org structure look like?

    Michael Buscemi
    Michael Buscemi

    Zip Sr. Director of Sales • 9mo

    Great question and I believe this depends on the maturity of your business. If you’ve already established and perfected pre and post sales you have a single owner over pre to post sales. If you’ve already have not perfected these motions you need specialization on the motion. I’ve led both motions and maturity is key. Double down on specialization early to define and perfect the motion.

    1,106 Views
    2 requests

  4. What's the earliest stage a startup should consider hiring a sales manager?

    Michael Buscemi
    Michael Buscemi

    Zip Sr. Director of Sales • 9mo

    Assuming you are maturing from founder led growth, once the founder has more than 6 direct reports. AND, you think you don’t need founder involved in each deal.

    1,083 Views
    2 requests

  5. What are the biggest surprises when going from a company where sales was established to one where you have to establish sales?

    Michael Buscemi
    Michael Buscemi

    Zip Sr. Director of Sales • 9mo

    It’s not necessarily a surprise but it’s always eye opening how much there is to build when you get into the weeds. You tend to think there is more built than actually exists. To me, it boils down to sales process. Is it established, is it Wild West? What coaching do you need to do? What rigor needs to be put in place? I always aim to be on 30 calls in 30 days to learn this. I always get a good sense of what needs to happen and why. This is critical to 1. Getting up to speed and 2. Making an imp ...Read More

    1,070 Views
    2 requests

  6. How does sales leadership differ between a small and large company?

    Michael Buscemi
    Michael Buscemi

    Zip Sr. Director of Sales • 9mo

    I’ve only worked at “small companies” or what would be considered small vs a large enterprise. Based on that experience, small orgs move fast, iterate and are nimble. The org is flatter and your ability to make an impact is bigger and quicker.

    551 Views
    1 request

  7. What is the best way to create and roll out a repeatable and scalable renewal process when joining as a revenue leader?

    Michael Buscemi
    Michael Buscemi

    Zip Sr. Director of Sales • 9mo

    LOVE this question. Map the customer journey. I’ll say it again. Map the customer journey. When do they go live, when do they see value & how, when can they upsell, etc…. What’s the typical sales cycle? Use that to get in front of churn since you know it take X months to pick a vendor.

    Then, coach to it. Build reports. Build tracking. Drive accountability.

    494 Views
    2 requests

  8. What is the best way to align sales and customer success to increase positive outcomes for customers?

    Michael Buscemi
    Michael Buscemi

    Zip Sr. Director of Sales • 9mo

    This is so hard. The best way to do so is to make sure your sales team understands what a good customer looks like.

    • What a good customer looks like.

    • What are the typical pain points.

    • Can we solve them consistently.

    • Can our product deliver.

    • Can we deliver ROI

    These are so crucial in the sales process

    482 Views
    2 requests

  9. What is your advice for creating and/or improving the sales process when joining a small but growing team? Particularly for a small company with no or little structure?

    Michael Buscemi
    Michael Buscemi

    Zip Sr. Director of Sales • 9mo

    Join as many calls as possible in as little time as possible. Learn and map to whatever process you subscribe to. In my experience, it’s best to co-build this process with your best reps. They will intuitively know the steps to push a deal forward. This is the way to building out a more sustainable process.

    545 Views
    2 requests