#33 Ollie the ‘Happiness Officer’ on Hiring for Sales

ABOUT THE GUEST: OLLIE SHARPE, VP OF REVENUE, EMEA AT SALESLOFT

Ollie Sharpe has an extensive leadership background in the technology space. He is known for developing high-performing sales teams with a strong focus on fostering talent.
Ollie is currently the VP of Revenue, EMEA at SalesLoft, following a tenure leading successful teams at LinkedIn in the UK. Ollie is passionate about the art and science of sales, delivering exceptional customer experiences, and shaping culture in hyper-growth businesses.

Learn more about and reach out to Ollie on LinkedIn here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/olliesharpe/


ABOUT THE EPISODE

After 20 years in and around the recruiting space in a sales context, Ollie has learned a lot about what works for him when developing role specifications, screening, interviewing, hiring, onboarding and, leading sales teams (hint, there is some happiness mixed in there). If you hire and manage sales teams, this will be an actionable and valuable interview for you to check out!

0:40 - What is the single best piece of sales advice that Ollie has ever received - it’s about being a business advisor

3:30 - David sets up the episode which will focus on recruiting salespeople and sales culture

4:08 - At a high level, how does Ollie approach recruiting salespeople 

7:08 - The importance of going deep on the role specification for a future sales hire and some key elements that should be considered

9:46 - The difference between selling “Why” and “Why me” and the value of simplifying the message to get that across

11:43 - What does Ollie look for during the interview process and how does he learn what he needs to as the interview goes a long - a great piece of advice about testing for coachability

14:05 - Ollie describes how he balances attitude and discernment during an interview

15:23 - Where does Ollie weigh in on the idea that Saas experience is required for selling Saas

17:26 - How role specification maps to specific sales roles and understanding how your specifications help to allow the flexibility to diverge from the list when you find a good candidate that might not be a complete match to the role ICP

18:23 - How the interview process is a funnel much like the sales process is a funnel

20:04 - Once you have someone on the team, how do you ensure that they will be successful? It’s about Ollie’s role as a “Happiness Officer”

22:50 - Ollie explains what he means by “Employer Brand” and how that helps recruit great salespeople and build great teams

25:24 - Where has Ollie found success projecting the Employer Brand that helps him succeed in recruiting great new team members

27:48 - What is Ollie reading right now?

28:50 - Where is the best place to reach out to Ollie?