What’s life like on the Productboard Sales team? Here’s everything you need to know

At Productboard, we don’t like to stand still. Just last year, our team doubled in size from 170 to 360 people following our $72 million Series C. This year, we continue to grow rapidly as we work towards our mission of helping companies make products that matter. 

Of course, sales plays a critical role in us realizing this mission. That’s why we’re on the lookout for talented and enthusiastic salespeople to push our fast-growing team to the next level. If you are interested in joining us, we’ve done our best to answer any questions you might have about life as a Productboard salesperson below.

What’s it like working on the Productboard Sales team?

Our goal on the Sales team is to help customers and prospects realize the unique value proposition that Productboard offers. But just like other Productboard departments, our work is underpinned by the company’s core values, meaning that we:

• Seek clarity
• Relentlessly improve
• Act with empathy
• Foster transparency
• Work together

While the job of a salesperson can be demanding, it is extremely rewarding. You will have a direct impact both on Productboard and on the companies you sell to. You will be on the frontline of a movement to make better, more customer-centric products.

You can expect lots of autonomy in your work, balanced with a strong focus on teamwork, collaboration, and open and honest communication. We’re also an international company, so you can expect a culturally diverse environment where we celebrate our differences.

Can I work flexibly and remotely? 

Yes! As a salesperson, it’s all about results. When you start and finish your day is up to you, and you can work remotely whenever you want. That said, we are an international company with teams based in San Francisco, Vancouver, and Europe, so you can expect some morning/evening calls and meetings, depending on where you are based.

What skills would I need to succeed on the team?

We believe that great salespeople are naturally inquisitive, creative, and positive. You have to like people and be a strong communicator, but it’s equally important to be able to listen and empathize. 

Great salespeople also have plenty of mental resilience. You have to be able to thrive in a results-driven environment where targets matter. At the end of each month, you have to be able to wipe the slate clean and start over again. We’re looking for people who are able to leverage the tools at their disposal to achieve excellence in all aspects of the job, including keeping the CRM up to date.

Beyond selling, we expect our salespeople to be brand ambassadors, helping to build the community and offer new ideas for growth. And we expect them to think strategically when it comes to selling into new markets and raising awareness.

How is success measured? 

Sales is a results-driven field, and it’s no different at Productboard. Ultimately, we measure success in relation to the sales targets we set. Each person on our team has a monthly quota that they should hit. 

Of course, not everyone is able to hit their targets all the time, and we do everything we can to support our people if they are struggling in this regard. But naturally, our salespeople must be able to rise to the challenge and thrive in a results-driven environment.

What type of companies do you sell to?

We currently have over 5000 customers worldwide across a wide variety of industries. Depending on your role, you might be selling to fast-growing, forward-thinking startups, established global enterprises, or anything in between.

We’re typically in touch with product managers, heads of product, and even C-suite executives, so understanding their language and needs is an important part of the role. 

What’s it like selling Productboard?

Productboard is a pioneering product in a relatively new software category. In addition to solving a real-world need, it is beautifully designed and easy to use. All of this makes it one of the easiest products to sell. 

We take a very consultative approach to sales at Productboard. Instead of just pitching the product, we also want to talk to our customers and help them grow long after the deal is done.

How long is a typical sales cycle?

It depends on the size of the company you are selling to. For companies of up to 500 employees, a typical sales cycle would be 2-6 weeks. For companies with over 500 employees, it might be 1-3 months. And for large enterprises, a typical cycle would be 3-6 months. 

Do you deal mostly with inbound or outbound sales?

Again, it depends on your role and the types of companies you are selling to. For small companies of up to 50 employees, it’s inbound only. For SMBs, it’s roughly 60% inbound and 40% outbound. And for larger companies, our sales development reps are responsible for both inbound and outbound, while our account executives handle qualified leads. Outbound is definitely an important part of our work as we want to reach out to potential customers who haven’t heard about us yet.

Who do your salespeople work with during the sales cycle? 

As a member of our Sales team, you’ll work closely with other departments to improve customer satisfaction and maximize sales, including Customer Success, Support, Engineering, Design, and Marketing.  

What tools do you use?

We use a range of tools and platforms to improve the way we build relationships, communicate, and optimize the sales cycle, including: 

• Productboard – besides selling Productboard, we use it to collect customer feedback and pass it on to our product teams. This helps us play a central role in making it more customer-centric.
• Salesforce – this is our main CRM platform, which we use to connect with customers and prospects.
• Intercom – we use this messenger-based platform to engage and build relationships with our customers.
• Outreach – this platform helps us engage with customers in a meaningful way, automates some of our processes, and provides us with valuable engagement-related metrics.
• Chorus – this invaluable tool records and transcribes our sales calls, then provides us with instant feedback, insights, and suggestions for improving our calling technique. 
• LeadIQ – this tool streamlines the prospecting process by allowing us to add contacts directly from LinkedIn.
• RevOps – we use this tool to speed up the process of creating quotes. 
• Zendesk – this is our go-to tool for customer support. 

Do new starters receive any training? 

All new starters go through a two-week training program designed to bring them up to speed on our processes, systems, and tools. Once you are up and running, you’ll get regular feedback from your manager, who is there to guide and support you. 

We also have a buddy system in place, so you’ll be paired with another teammate who will be there to answer any questions you might have and give advice along the way.

Over to you… 

So now you’ve got a feel for what life is like on the Productboard Sale’s team, why not pop over to our careers page and check out our current vacancies? We’d love to hear from you!