February 2016 H OUSING N EWS R EPORT
Using Data and Technology to Accelerate Real Estate Sales BOOK REVIEW
By Octavio Nuiry, Managing Editor
“These four components represented my formula for sales acceleration,” writes Roberge in the introduction. “If I could execute on these four elements, I believed I would achieve my mission of scalable, predictable revenue growth. For each of these components, I devised a repeatable process, leaned into metrics, and ran calculations, making each of these tactics formulaic in nature.” The book is divided into five easy-to-read sections. At the end of each brief chapter is “recap” section which underscores the key points in the chapter. In Part I, Roberge describes what he calls the “Sales Hiring Formula,” where he explains how to find “the ideal sales hire.” He gives readers tips on how to hire world-class top sales performers. “When you are scaling a sales-team, the to-do list is endless,” writes Roberge, an MIT-trained engineer who teaches entrepreneurial sales at Harvard Business School. “Hiring, training, coaching, pipeline reviews, forecasting, enterprise deal support, leadership development and cross-functional communication are all part of the day-to-day. Dozens of urgent fires are blazing around you at all times. Unfortunately, you only have enough water to put out a select few. Choosing the right fires to extinguish might dictate your ultimate success … or failure.” Roberge was the fourth employee hired by the two co- founders of HubSpot — Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah. “The first bet I made: I would attempt to build a world- class sales hiring program. To this day, I’m glad I prioritized sales hiring excellence. World-class sales hiring is the most important driver of sales success.” TheSalesHiringFormula: HireTop-NotchSalespeople
If you’re looking to super charge your sales force in 2016, I highly recommend you read “The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million,” by Mark Roberge, the vice president of sales at HubSpot, a company that uses content to draw potential customers to their website — a practice known as “inbound” marketing.
The book provides a behind-the-scenes look at how HubSpot built a data-driven sale juggernaut, scaling annualized revenue from zero in sales to $100 million in revenue and expanded their sale and marketing team from 1 to 450 employees in seven years. According to Roberge, businesses that successfully make the transition to $100 million dollar ventures are those that master five basic tasks: hiring motivated salespeople, training the sales team, managing sales, generating demand and experimenting with new technologies. When building your sales team, Roberge argues, hire professionals with the right personality traits that line up with your company’s values. Roberge used engineering methodology to scale the sales team in four areas: Hire the same successful salesperson every time; train every salesperson in the same way; hold your salesperson accountable to the same sales process; and provide your salesperson with the same sales quality and quantity of leads every month.
The Sales Training Formula
In Part II, Roberge outlines the Sales Training Formula. “I
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