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Welcome to the Sales Transformation Podcast, the definitive stop for leaders driving change in the sales world. Hosted by Kevin Warner, we dive deep into the minds of Founders, CEOs, VPs of Sales, and Sales Development Leaders from trailblazing startups to industry-leading public companies.
Our mission is simple: to illuminate the path to extraordinary sales leadership. We explore a broad spectrum of sales territories, from the intricacies of Founder Led Sales and Outbound Sales to the transformative potential of Technology in Sales and Social Selling. Whether it's mastering your CRM, optimizing conversions, scaling sales teams, or engineering a complete Sales Transformation, our conversations are set to challenge the status quo and redefine sales success.
With a new content every day of the week, we bring you unfiltered interviews with the luminaries of sales, people who have not just succeeded but transformed the way we think about sales. Kevin Warner also shares sharp, tactical sales tips every week, packing decades of sales wisdom into bite-sized insights.
So, if you're ready to rewrite the sales rulebook and learn from the best in the business, the Sales Transformation Podcast is your ticket. Write us a review, share the show, and join us on this journey of sales evolution. Let's transform the way we sell, together!
Welcome back to sales transformation brought to you by Leadium. Today, we have Chris Parker on to discuss his journey from technical marketing to sales leadership at customer IO. Colin, over to you.
Collin Mitchell:Alright. Welcome to another episode of sales transformation brought to you by Leadium. I'm your host, Colin Mitchell. Today, I've got Chris Parker on. Chris, welcome to the show.
Collin Mitchell:How you doing?
Chris Parker:Thanks, Colin. Doing well. Thanks for having me.
Collin Mitchell:Yeah. So give us a little bit of background on yourself, you know, kind of what is your sales journey look like, and then we'll get into the topic we planned out for today.
Chris Parker:Sure. Absolutely. So a little atypical. I actually began my career on the technical marketing side. So I was managing websites, kind of a jack of all trades in terms of website development, email marketing, everything in between.
Chris Parker:And in around 2010, I joined an ad tech startup in Boston. I ended up spending about 8 years there. I was one of the first 20 employees, and I did come into that organization, kind of wearing that type of hat. So jack of all trades, kind of working on their publisher network that they owned and operated. They were a media focused company.
Chris Parker:And over the years, you know, I decided I wanted to kind of center myself with the core business. And, I took on a product marketing role, and then, that kind of just naturally somehow, turned into sales leadership. So I kinda jumped straight in and, haven't looked back since.
Collin Mitchell:Interesting. So your your your journey kinda started more in the technical marketing side of the business and then, ended up in in sales. Curious if if is there any or sales leadership rather, any skills working on the marketing side of the house that you feel have made you a better sales leader?
Chris Parker:Yeah. Definitely. I mean, I think early on, around, I would say, 2,007, 2008, affiliate marketing and SEO was very big. And, you know, there's a lot of revenue to be to be had there, really. And, you know, that was kind of always the focal point of these types of companies back then.
Chris Parker:It actually was the early days when HubSpot was, I think they had a tool called WebsiteGrader, and that's how they kicked off. And, everybody was really kinda centered around how do you optimize the web experience for revenue. So that naturally led pretty well into my sales career. But I think, you know, as it relates to product marketing, there's definitely a lot of synergies. It's all about storytelling.
Chris Parker:It's all about meeting the customers where they are and, just ensuring that they have a great experience. So, you know, naturally, that plays very well into sales, and that's definitely what we focus on here.
Collin Mitchell:Got it. Okay. And so now you're the, vice president of global sales at Customer. Io. Tell us a little bit about kind of what your journey's been like there and and what exactly it is that, Customer.
Collin Mitchell:Io does.
Chris Parker:Yeah. Absolutely. So I'll start there. So we like to, again, start around the customer problem. And the problem that we solve for is that customers of SaaS applications or any mobile or app based products, they're bombarded with noise.
Chris Parker:So they're bombarded with transactional messages, notifications, emails, push messages. And what we do at Customer. Io is we really help, brands. We have over 7,000 brands. We help them solve this challenge by directing directly leveraging their first party data, so that they can craft engaging experiences that are based on intent and, help, break through the noise and, create more personalized customer moments.
Collin Mitchell:Interesting. Okay. And so you you've been there a little bit over 2 years, it looks like. Yep. And, what are some of the the challenges that you've taken on as growing a global sales team?
Chris Parker:Yeah. Absolutely. So, just a couple months back, I think we publicly announced that we reached over 60,000,000 in, ARR. When I joined, it was around 20. So almost 3 years now.
Chris Parker:So quite quite the ride in terms of success, especially during this pretty difficult time for SaaS. Yeah. So kinda, you know, classic, you know, growing a team from 4 reps to 14, you know, adding leadership layers, adding, sales operations, solutions architects, partnerships, everything in between, and just really standing up, a really durable, you know, and multifaceted sales org. So a lot of, lot of obstacles along the way, but, yeah, it's been fun.
Collin Mitchell:Yeah. But it sounds like you you run a fairly lean team for the the amount of revenue that you guys are doing.
Chris Parker:Yes. Yes. We definitely do. And, you know, we can, dive into this if you'd like as well. But we're very methodical in our growth, and, that kind of, you know, goes straight to the DNA of the the company.
Chris Parker:And I think, you know, in many ways that we're fortunate that that has always been in the DNA of the business because, it's kind of the way you you need to operate these days. So, you know, again, we're we're blessed by just the the fact that our leadership has always kind of taken that approach instead of, you know, just trying to grow at any cost. So we kind of have continued to follow that strategy as we've grown globally. So that's that's kind of the the way we operate.
Collin Mitchell:Yeah. Which is very different than the way a lot of, SaaS companies were operating, and, frankly, that's what got a lot of them in trouble. And, you know,
Chris Parker:why a lot of
Collin Mitchell:companies are having, you know, a lot of challenges. But so, yeah, curious to to kinda dig into that a little bit. You know, how have you, you know, essentially tripled revenue in the time that you've been there while growing a global sales team and operating lean? Like, what are some, you know, kind of things that have worked well for you guys, and we'll kinda go from there.
Chris Parker:Yeah. Absolutely. So I mean, 1st and foremost, I think it comes, down to just meeting our customers and our prospects where they are. So one example of that is, opening up, availability, not, you know, before we even expanded globally, availability across United States, making sure that we have coverage and we're meeting our prospects where they are. You know, from an sales operations point of view, that means using clever routing tools, you know, making sure that our tooling is set up appropriately.
Chris Parker:And then it obviously comes down to the team that you build and bring in. Having that growth mindset, making sure that everybody is oriented around the business objective, is key. And, you know, we we definitely have a very tight and solid culture. So that's been incredibly important for us. And, everybody is, very used to change, and, I think they embrace it.
Chris Parker:So that that's been great for us.
Collin Mitchell:Yeah. And is is everybody remote, or is there any partial in office? Or kinda you know, what is the,
Chris Parker:team lead up? So so, again, back to the the DNA of the org, it was actually founded to be a globally distributed company, back in 2012. So, you know, ahead of the curve there in many ways, and, we continue to scale in that way as well. So, again, just being intentional around being remote has been, a benefit and a blessing for us as well because, you know, a lot of companies did kind of have have to go remote during, the COVID era. And, you know, even kind of having that partial in person remote environment, you know, sometimes it is challenging because you don't really know which way to build your culture.
Chris Parker:And, we certainly have always, been building it intentionally to be remote and asynchronous. So, that's that's how we operate.
Collin Mitchell:Yeah. And what are some things that have helped you in building a good culture with a, you know, fully distributed global team?
Chris Parker:Yeah. Absolutely. So, obviously, you know, you can't really you can't solve for the gap that in person does, you know, kind of deliver in terms of just the relationships that you can build when you are in person. So we do, a in person SKO, like many traditional, you know, companies that do operate within offices. We do have some, events that we do run, that are in person as well.
Chris Parker:So just starting with that foundation of just knowing each other, not only from behind Zoom, but also being able to meet each other in real life and develop those relationships has been super important. But then also just, again, you know, working asynchronously, when we can is, something that we default to. And, you know, everyone, you know, very much enjoys and loves and adopts and embraces our culture. So, you know, they want to do the things to help support that. So just, again, having everyone kinda be oriented around those goals is super important.
Chris Parker:And it just makes communication that much easier, you know, when, again, you're not trying to juggle multiple kinda intentions or priorities.
Collin Mitchell:Thanks for tuning in. Please don't forget to like and share so we can help more people transform the way they sell.