Biggest Challenges Faced by a Director of Sales for Strategic Accounts at Ouster Lidar
Max's biggest challenge as Director of Sales is managing the inherent pressure to meet financial targets and maintain strong internal communications, acknowledging that "there's not always a great time to push harder," requiring nuanced interaction with clients and careful expectation management within Ouster Lidar Inc. The success hinges on navigating this stress and communicating effectively to avoid negative consequences.
Sales Management, Stress Management, Communication, Leadership, Strategic Thinking
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
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Traits
Max Coates
Director of Sales - Strategic Accounts
Ouster Lidar Inc.
University of Colorado, Boulder
N/A
Economics
Electronics & Semiconductors, Technology
Sales and Client Management
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Managing time and priorities effectively, focusing on end goals, and understanding when to push versus when to wait.
2. Balancing the pressure of high sales performance with the need to manage customer relationships effectively and avoid unnecessary stress.
3. The importance of clear and proactive communication to manage internal expectations and prevent issues from escalating
Transcript
What is your biggest challenge in your current role as a sales director?
Staying focused is important. I mentioned flexibility and time, and that you don't always have tasks. You have to keep the end goal in mind and realize that sometimes you can't push things.
Sometimes you just have to wait. You have to consider if you want to stress the customer out by pushing them harder, or if there's a more nuanced way to interact. This is probably it. It can grow on you, right?
There's always pressure on high performers in sales to come through for the business. This is because the business reports its financials to the street. If they miss targets, shareholders and the board get upset, and things go south quickly.
I think managing the stress of that is the biggest challenge. It's realizing that it's not always the best time to push harder or do something. There are many ways to achieve a goal, but it's about managing that and also managing internal expectations.
You have many people looking to you to finish things out. If you don't communicate well or manage those expectations, things can get ugly fast. As long as you handle that, things are typically fine.
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