Recently, I had a discussion with a sales manager about how to connect with customers. This was no casual conversation; it was serious, because he was with a start-up company who had 18 months at best, to achieve critical mass. The sales manager knew me well from my work with him at a previous company. The longer the conversation, the more animated we both became. Everyone around us could clearly see that we were having a good time.
One thing that made our time meaningful was our complimentary view of sales. Neither one of us think of sales as a job. This became evident when we began scoping out the ideal salesperson for him to hire in the coming weeks. With an 18-month window to scale the company in a highly competitive vertical, the last thing we needed was to hire people looking for just a job.
I remember part way through
