A short interview segment (recorded July 2, 2023) exploring how important domain expertise is for sales representatives. Speaker A (a LaunchDarkly co‑founder/leader with a technical background) argues that positioning salespeople as trusted experts in the product (LaunchDarkly) builds confidence and helps them advise customers without needing to fully understand every customer system.
Question, because I don't think the answers are obvious. So what did you learn about domain expertise? Being technical.
So it's funny because I do have an engineering degree. My co founder has a PhD in CS, so I would say we were both considered technical. But when we started hiring our first salespeople, I remember telling them that they were an Expert in what LaunchDarkly did, they were trusted advisors, and that nobody knew as much as they did about LaunchDarkly. And that really helped them with the boost of confidence of hey, I'm here to help the customer. I don't have to understand everything about what they do, but I need to be able to understand how LaunchDarkly works with them. And that helps. Slot it in of I'm not here to lecture, I'm here to help.
