It's easy to find information on what makes for great sales leadership in large companies. The classic examples, from Coca Cola, Cisco, Sony and others, illustrate the basics of sales leadership: establishing a good process for selecting and training the right sales team, developing and managing the pipeline, motivating the team, ensuring a strong lead generation program, etc.

That's all fine, and many of the same basics apply in "Startup Land". But there the environment is completely different. No infrastructure. No process. No tools. No collateral. And probably very limited lead generation. Most of all, no brand recognition.

How can a sales executive build a successful team in this environment? It takes a special kind of person, with a unique set of characteristics, work habits and personality traits. We have put together a checklist that identifies these, and gives a little background on why they are important, and how they can lead a startup to early and repeated success.

Checklist – Important Traits for a Startup Sales Executive

1.      Is in the trenches in the beginning but knows when to climb out

2.      Knows why the "usual suspects" are the wrong sales reps for startups

3.      Dynamically defines the sales process, and religiously manages the metrics

4.      Establishes the rules of the game to withstand product and market pressures

5.      Actively creates a collaborative environment among sales, marketing & development

Click here to request a copy of the full article.