Building Strong Sales Partnerships with Willem Hendrickx, CRO of Vectra AI

This week on the Revenue Insights Podcast we are joined by Willem Hendrickx, CRO at Vectra AI.

In this episode, Lee and Willem explore Vectra AI’s sales function, including their approach to partnerships, combining quality and quantity for the 2024 pipeline, and Willem’s approach to leadership.

Willem is CRO at Vectra AI, an AI-driven threat detection and response solution for hybrid and multi-cloud enterprises. He has been with Vectra for four years, and also acts as the SVP International. Prior to joining the company, Willem was Founder and Chairman of the Board at GIG Technology.

• Willem Hendrickx on LinkedIn
• Vectra AI Website
• Willem’s Book Recommendation: The Qualified Sales Leader by John McMahon
• Ebsta Revenue Insights Newsletter 

Time Stamps:

• 01:24 – About Willem Hendrickx
• 02:28 – Vectra’s outlook for 2024
• 05:27 – Vectra’s partnership approach
• 11:33 – Planning for the long term across your sales function
• 17:47 – Leading high performers
• 22:22 – Underrated characteristics of high performers
• 23:44 – Combining quality and quantity for 2024’s pipeline
• 26:25 – Using qualification methodologies
• 29:54 – Why customer partnerships are important
• 32:13 – Why leaders need to be there for their teams
• 33:27 – Willem’s book recommendation: The Qualified Sales Leader by John McMahon
• 34:21 – Where to find Willem

Highlights:

Running Successful Partnerships

In order to have a successful partnership function, you first need to be consistent with it. At Vectra AI, 100% of their business goes through partnerships to ensure there is no ambiguity. You also need to ensure that your entire team is engaged with the partner and recognizes that they are important. Thirdly, you should ensure you are partnering with the right people. You want to ensure they have the right skills, but also they are as committed as you are. 

Combining Quality and Quantity for the Sales Pipeline

In building your sales pipeline, both quantity and quality are important. The market is in a tougher place than in previous years, so it’s important to ensure that every customer has more value through both quantifying and qualifying your leads better. This means that sometimes you will have to say no, which is hard for reps, but, the better your pipeline, the easier it will be. 

Being There for your Team

To Willem, a good leader is there for their team. He ensures that he is ‘walking the talk’, and working just as hard, if not more so, as his team, exemplifying the strategic vision he has for them. At the same time, he is there for them to reach out to as and when they need help. This intricate balance helps to foster a culture of growth in his team, which leads to top performers.

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