Jason M. Lemkin (YouTube, May 13, 2024) argues that the best VPs of Sales should focus exclusively on sales and not also own other functions such as customer success or marketing. He frames this as a common mistake among first-time VPs who take on extra responsibilities, emphasizing that top VPs are closers, that sales is an especially hard and tiring job, and that not everyone can sustain it long-term.
Okay, penultimate point on the mistakes that first time VPs of sales maker all penultimate point. And I know a lot of people are going to challenge me on this, but I am so right. The best VPs of sales do not own anything other than sales. Okay? The best VPs of sales do not want to be head of sales and customer success. They certainly don't want to be own sales and marketing. They don't want to own sales and something else. Because the best VPs of sales are closers. Trust me, you're going to hear challenges. But the folks that don't like this, the folks that frankly don't want to be a VP of sales anymore, It's a hard job. Sales is a very, very hard job. And it's tiring. And not everyone can do it for year after year and even decade after decades.
