"...Step in himself as vice president of sales and devote the necessary time."
If you are a founder and your company is struggling to bring in revenue/sales it doesn't matter if you call yourself VP of sales or CEO of the world, your job is to make sure sales come in.
I've been in business for 5 years, been profitable for 2. Every single day is devoted to sales. I have a VP of sales and his job is dedicated to sales 60 hours a week. That still isn't enough.
No one is going to manage your company's sales funnel the way a founder does.
This is b2b sales, which is a totally different world than b2c sales. Business owners are very hard to reach, convince, and keep on the phone. In my experience the best people to hire for this job are the people that have a record of bringing in revenue in your niche. Your reps have to beleive in your product. This NYT article is not going to help their confidence. He is really going to need to go in there and make a huge Glen Gary speech to his sales people to get some blood pumping through their veins.
If you're thinking of Alec Baldwin's "Coffee's for closers" speech when you say "a huge Glen Gary speech," I hope you're aware that most people view that speech as "this is what an abusive boss looks like, if you see this behavior, quit ASAP."
Most people including the highest performers, who are generally aware of not having to put up with that shit.
If you are a founder and your company is struggling to bring in revenue/sales it doesn't matter if you call yourself VP of sales or CEO of the world, your job is to make sure sales come in.
I've been in business for 5 years, been profitable for 2. Every single day is devoted to sales. I have a VP of sales and his job is dedicated to sales 60 hours a week. That still isn't enough.
No one is going to manage your company's sales funnel the way a founder does.
This is b2b sales, which is a totally different world than b2c sales. Business owners are very hard to reach, convince, and keep on the phone. In my experience the best people to hire for this job are the people that have a record of bringing in revenue in your niche. Your reps have to beleive in your product. This NYT article is not going to help their confidence. He is really going to need to go in there and make a huge Glen Gary speech to his sales people to get some blood pumping through their veins.