The word ‘Ohana’ means “family” in Hawaiian – a simple concept that highlights how families are bound together for life, ensuring that all members prioritize and cooperate with each other. Perhaps that’s why Salesforce refers to all their stakeholders as the Ohana of Trailblazers – be they customers, associates, communities, or employees. That’s how powerful culture is for them, so no wonder thousands of sales reps want to work with them.
As a leading recruitment firm, we’ve worked with countless companies who say that a strong culture fit is one of the most important considerations for them when interviewing sales reps. Would you fit in the sales culture at a major tech company like Salesforce?
One of the best ways to make bank in sales? A career as an enterprise-level Account Executive. The thing is: it’s also one of the hardest. Learn more in our guide.
What it takes to be in the Ohana of trailblazers at Salesforce
Salesforce is one of the top SaaS (Software as a Service) companies in the world and hires only the most talented individuals to be a part of their team. With more than 150,000 paying customers, this company commands over 20% of the market share.
So if you want to be a sales rep with this team, you’ll have to demonstrate leadership, innovation, and accountability. You aren’t getting the job unless you show that you’re aligned with their V2MOM (vision, values, methods, obstacles and measures), open to communication, act with integrity and take every project as an opportunity to learn and grow.
If you want to be a sales rep with this team, you’ll have to demonstrate leadership, innovation, and accountability.
It’s all about doing the Ohana proud as a sales team member. Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, puts it best when he says, “The secret to successful hiring is this: we look for the people who want to change the world. Customers want new functionality, but they don’t want the traditional complexity that has marred products in the past.”
If you’re thinking of sending in your resume to Salesforce to be a part of their sales team, understand that it’s new territory. But here’s the good news: We coach all our sales candidates with skills mentioned above so they can perform in interviews. Here are some tips from our experts:
Never stretch the truth
It might be tempting to get a sale, but it will get you nowhere fast at Salesforce.
Expert tip: When approaching a prospect, don’t focus solely on fulfilling the quota you’ve been assigned. Work on doing what’s best for the customer in the long run.
That’s why it is important to stress your integrity and the fact that you believe in doing things the right way. When approaching a prospect, don’t focus solely on fulfilling the quota you’ve been assigned. Instead, work on doing what’s best for the customer in the long run.
Interestingly, 79% of business buyers express that they want to interact with a salesperson who is more of a trustworthy advisor and cares about their business— not just someone who keeps pushing their products on them willy-nilly. You’re a part of the Ohana and so are they. Think about their welfare and the well-being of their business. Customer satisfaction should be your top KPI and fulfilling quotas comes a lot later on that list.
Learn all you can about your Ohana
Show a commitment to learning more about the customers and teams you work with. Research the likes, dislikes, needs, and overall profile of each stakeholder you come across.
Expert tip: As Salesforce knows, the leading sales teams here are two times more likely to use data to prioritize leads – so they don’t just rely on their intuition but have cold hard facts to back up every step they take.
As part of the sales team, you should know how to talk to prospects about the business challenges they face and offer the SaaS software as a way to overcome those challenges. And this information is readily available to you if you know just where to look. As Salesforce knows, the leading sales teams here are two times more likely to use data to prioritize leads – so they don’t just rely on their intuition but have cold hard facts to back up every step they take.
Last point: You have to want it!
Finally, it’s not just about what’s on your resume. You must love sales if you want an excellent career, whether it’s at Salesforce or any other demanding company looking for top sales talent. If you’re in it just for the money, it’s not going to be long before you burn out and give up.
At the end of the day, make the commitment to live and breathe sales while ensuring that it’s not just about the numbers – and Salesforce will give you the tools and resources to grow your talent.
We’ve helped countless talented professional find their places at some of the hottest businesses in SaaS. Get in touch with us today and we’ll help you discover new opportunities.