From Common Roles in a Startup, I mention an excerpt from Predictable Revenue, specifically the batons (“processes”) that crosses functions. To keep our teams aligned and to ensure the best service and delivery for our customers, our teams overlap during the sales process.
Here’s how this might look:
- Business Development Rep (BDR) àAccount Exec (AE) – the BDR ensures the prospect is sales qualified and ensures the demo with the AE is performed.
- AE à Onboarding – the AE works hand-in-hand with the onboarding team on who and what is needed to launch a pilot. This starts when the AE has received verbal confirmation of a pilot.
- AE à Customer Success (CS) – the AE involves the CS upon verbal agreement of a buy decision. CS now has the who, the pain points, the pricing needs, and other educational aspects of the deal.
Each prospect and customer is hard-earned, and so it’s crucial each transition point is seamless for the customer while enabling better engagement from the internal teams. Some overlap provides the benefit of redundancy and alignment… and ensures batons are smoothly transitioned.