In this blog post, we will discuss how to create a sales pod structure. A sales pod is a dedicated team of people within a company that focuses on one specific customer segment. This can be done by either assigning the entire team to one segment or by dividing the team into smaller pods and each focusing on their own segment.
Sales pod definitions are simple, they are a relatively new structure for scaling up revenue from enterprise-level accounts. If you're not familiar with what a sales pod is, think of it as an alternative to the traditional sales model which in most organizations consists of field reps and inbound marketers dedicated to lead generation.
A sales pod usually features distinct teams that work together towards the common goal of driving revenue through large deals, using "sales enablement" tools like Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics CRM software.
The rise in popularity has been attributed to Marc Benioff's vision at Salesforce when he helped them figure out how to scale successfully. It was also popularized by Eric Pulier when he wrote about sales pods at InsideView, before joining Salesforce as its Chief Strategy Officer.
Now the question is, what makes a sales pod worth exploring? And how do you implement one successfully? We'll answer these questions below.
The theoretical sales pod definition is a set of sales professionals who are organized into teams that focus on selling large deals.
The definition also has to include the fact that each team has its own lead generation engine, usually made up of their sales enablement tools like Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics CRM software, account executives work with different types of leads generated by sales development representatives (SDR), so they can pitch the prospect at the right time in the buying cycle.
The first thing you should know about a sales pod is it's not just an organizational structure. It's actually a combination of teams that work together under one umbrella, with the responsibility to identify lead generation opportunities and convert them into deals.
Here are some other key points:
It consists of field reps (usually Enterprise Account Executives or AE), inbound marketers (usually Sales Development Reps or SDRs), and customer success mentors (sometimes called account executives). There is no dedicated inside sales team; they rely on partner companies for this function.
Although there can be multiple pods within an organization, typically each individual business unit will have its own pod. For example, if you're selling into large enterprise accounts like GE and HP, you'll likely work with their respective sales pods.
If you're selling to smaller accounts, it's possible that there will only be one sales pod in the organization supporting multiple small business units.
Pods for sale are typically aligned along with large, complex deals like enterprise-level SaaS or high-volume hardware OEM services contracts. Because of the difficulty involved in managing these types of deals (and also because they can yield higher profits), larger organizations tend to break them up into stages and spread the deal across different teams; one for each stage.
The reason is that specifically dedicated team members within this kind of structure can help make sure everyone stays on track and keep communication lines open between all relevant players at every stage (sales, marketing, customer success).
If you're selling high-value services or products (over $100,000), then a sales pod could be the right fit for your organization. Here are some other factors to consider:
As soon as you have the green light to start implementing your own sales pod, there are six steps you should take to make sure it's successful:
Decide which accounts will be part of each pods for sale. Make sure that your account planning is accurate and that each team has enough resources (people, time) to manage the number of accounts they're responsible for. Pick an account executive or customer success manager who will oversee their respective pod.
Although this person may not take on any specific roles, they'll set standards and hold people accountable for achieving results. Assign female role models within the organization to serve as mentors for all team members involved in selling high-value services or products.
These mentors should have a track record of success and be strong negotiators. Link the sales pod to customer success to make sure account management is ongoing throughout the entire lifecycle. Although these two groups may work closely together, make sure there's always someone from sales involved in every conversation with a prospect or existing client.
In order for a sales pod structure to be sustainable, it needs to be adaptable. Monitor your teams' progress to ensure they're on track and adjust as necessary for ongoing growth and improvement.
If you're not careful, your sales pod structure can be easily sabotaged. Here are three mistakes that must be avoided: Make sure team members know their own roles and responsibilities inside out.
When everyone understands what's expected of them, it helps prevent misunderstandings down the road. Hiring lower-level people for high-level jobs can damage morale. If folks aren't happy working in this kind of structure, they may take it out on their teammates. Poor planning leads to poor performance—period.
Sales pods need to have clearly defined goals and metrics to track success. Without these things, there's no way to tell if the pods are effective or if they need reworking.
Success with pods can be measured in two ways: short-term and long-term. For the former, set a goal for a certain number of deals to close by a specific date. Then create metrics that determine whether or not each pod's team is on track to meet these goals every step of the way from lead generation to closing deals.
These metrics should focus on things like how many meetings account executives have scheduled per month, how many demos call customer success managers to make each week, etc. In addition to these types of internal measurements, it may also be beneficial to use an outside sales consultant as a third-party observer during this time frame.
Setting up sales dashboards will help you monitor your team's progress and stay on track.
The long-term success of your sales pod depends upon how well you've defined the structure and whether or not it's scalable. If your organization is SaaS or has a similar business model, this should be easier than if you're selling traditional products.
With the latter, you'll need to work closely with customer support to make sure each account continues receiving consistent service throughout its lifetime—even after it moves from one salesperson to another due to attrition.
In addition, remember that cultural fit matters as much as experience when hiring for roles in a sales pod. Your customers will become used to working with people who are like them, so only hire those who genuinely fit into this mold.
If you're not sure how to get started, here are four things that should be considered before taking any action: Define the roles and responsibilities of each position involved. This way, it's clear what the expectations are for the account executives, customer success managers, etc.—as well as anyone who reports directly to them. Create a method for monitoring performance.
As mentioned earlier, having dashboards is ideal for this aspect. Find resources outside your organization to assist with implementing these methods. You'll need someone objective who can provide essential insight into how everything works together.
Do initial testing on three different types of deals—small ones, medium ones, and large ones—to see if your sales pod structure is the right fit for your business. If so, scale it up to other deal sizes after reviewing metrics and getting sign-off from senior management. If it doesn't work, scrap the idea and start over.
Before you implement a pod structure, be sure to: Outline your goals and measure results. This will pay off in the long run. Create an internal training and onboarding process that delegation is only part of. These new roles should include mentorship and on-the-job learning as well so new hires can hit the ground running from day one.
Don't rush! Spreading out implementation can help prevent mistakes, but it's important not to wait so long that internal momentum stalls as people forget why this change is necessary.
The biggest obstacle for many organizations is changing their mindset. For example, some CEOs will not allow moving inside sales personnel out from under them because it means less control over revenue targets.
If you're keen on trying this new approach but are having trouble changing mindsets, try this: Bring in a third-party consultant with experience implementing pods at other organizations.
This way, the CEOs of those companies can speak on how it worked for them and why they recommend your organization gives it a shot as well.
Create an incentivized environment to reward employees who embrace change. Incentives could include cash bonuses, stock options, or some other type of recognition that's valuable to specific people within your company.
In addition, it will be easier to implement a sales pod if your staff is well trained and treated as professionals. This must include having resources available to help them work smarter so they don't have to work longer.
Sales pods are a great way to scale your organization's performance without adding too many new people or growing overhead much faster than revenue. Everything depends upon how well you structure the roles and responsibilities of those involved, however.
Here are some things for you to keep in mind: Remember that cultural fit is important during vetting, especially because different members of the sales team will need different types of personalities depending on their roles (e.g., account executives vs. customer success managers).
Keep an eye out for sales reps who can easily transition between consumer and business-to-business sales, especially for account executives. Minimize downtime by keeping the whole pod together, rather than splitting it up into separate groups that are too far away from one another.
Sales pods also require a large time commitment. Take advantage of any onboarding programs already in place to help new hires understand their roles within the team structure as well as the vision/mission statement of your company overall.
Make sure everyone has access to training programs designed to improve skillsets necessary for long-term success (e.g., CRM proficiency). If all goes according to plan, you'll see improvement in multiple areas: deal velocity, conversion rates, and close rates.
People leave managers, not companies. It's important to have a strong manager who can develop new hires so they become self-sufficient in their jobs, and help existing employees improve. The idea behind sales pods is that it takes managers to grow great salespeople —not the other way around.
Therefore, we recommend investing in management training and development programs for your pod members and leaders.
Some salespeople will likely see the addition of customer success managers as more overhead rather than something designed to better serve customers. It's important to get these perceptions out of the way during hiring processes because there will be no room for excuses later on if this attitude hinders performance (i.e., increased churn rate).
When you hire people with flexible mindsets, they'll look at new initiatives like working with a CSM as a way to better-set customers up for success. In turn, this will help the company as a whole by increasing customer satisfaction and hopefully inspire referrals from those customers.
Sales development representatives are the ones who find potential customers, educate them on your product, and get them to sign up for a free trial or demo version of your software. After they convert this lead into an opportunity, it's handed off to someone else within the sales team—usually one of your account executives.
Account executives are responsible for managing existing accounts. This includes managing relationships with customers, selling new products/features/upgrades, and helping clients solve problems. A good account executive knows everything about their accounts because these represent the majority of their revenue (i.e., top 20% of total bookings).
Some companies also require AXs to interact with current clients in person, which is why it's important to balance needs here and provide sufficient resources for account executives to feel confident that they know everything about their accounts.
Customer success managers are responsible for managing relationships with customers who have multiple products/features/upgrades. This includes helping them solve problems and become successful in using the product or service they've purchased from your company.
CSMs also identify customer pain points, help specify requirements for potential new features, cross-sell additional services/products, provide fast & reliable support, and potentially onboard new customers. The idea behind this structure is that you'll get better at delivering value to existing customers once you start acquiring them faster (i.e., increase monthly recurring revenue ).
By dividing up work in this way, you'll also see increased deal velocity.
Having a true cross-sell/up-sell program is truly understanding the sales pod definition and is critical for success. By this, I mean delivering value to existing customers so they don't churn out before long (i.e., show them how they can be more successful if they invest with you rather than taking their money elsewhere).
If your CSMs are doing the job right, your customer churn rate should plummet once you implement sales pods. It's also important that everyone has access to training programs designed to improve skill sets necessary for long-term success (e.g., time management, CRM proficiency).
