Shahid Nizami

APAC Vice President of Sales, Braze

Content

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

Shahid Nizami

Braze APAC Vice President of Sales • January 10

LIke most professions, you can not lead a team well if you haven't done the job yourself. Must Haves : * You should have been a quota carrying sales rep for at least 3 to 5 years before you can transition into sales leadership. * Have a good understanding of the product. You don't want ......Read More

2252 Views

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?

Shahid Nizami

Braze APAC Vice President of Sales • January 10

My mantra on career advanement has been always around doing the role before you get the title. I have always asked my manager that apart from delivering on my targets what more can I do for him/her. Specifically around a sales manager moving to a sales director, the biggest difference is from m......Read More

1843 Views

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

Shahid Nizami

Braze APAC Vice President of Sales • January 10

The biggest reality of sales is that you are as good as your current quarter. No matter how well you may have done in the previous quarter, the meter comes back to zero at the beginning of the new quarter/new year. I have been in sales for more than 2 decades and have seen numerous quarter en......Read More

1782 Views

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

Shahid Nizami

Braze APAC Vice President of Sales • January 10

I stronly believe that sales people are one of the most likely people to get to the highest position in any business right upto the role of a CEO. In fact, many CEOs in global companies either come from either sales or product background. * A sales person would start their sales career somewhe......Read More

1631 Views

What is your favorite sales interview question and the best answer you've heard?

Shahid Nizami

Braze APAC Vice President of Sales • January 10

My favorite sales interview question is meant to figure out if a sales rep has really run complex deals regularly. * I ask them to name their top 3 large and complex deals they've closed. * Then I ask them to tell me in more detail about a large & complex deal which is not in the top 3 li......Read More

1486 Views

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

Shahid Nizami

Braze APAC Vice President of Sales • January 10

In today's world it is relatively quite easy to make a very well informed decision when assessing a new role in a different company. These are some of the things I look at and advise my mentees to do too : * If it's a public listed company, look at their financials to figure out their yea......Read More

1433 Views

What metrics do you use to justify a pay raise?

Shahid Nizami

Braze APAC Vice President of Sales • January 10

I am a firm believer of meritocracy. So when it comes to pay raise especially in sales roles it should be very black and white for a sales rep to determine when would they qualify for a pay raise. It should be very easy for sales people to chart out their salary hikes based on their performance......Read More