Nataly started her career in logistics for an international fashion company after completing her studies in international trade in Spain. She then moved into sales 18 months later, in a start-up in the fintech and travel industry. After being trained as an SDR and moving into an Account Executive role, she recently joined the rockstar sales team at Sales Impact Academy, a role which she found via Kandidate. We asked Nataly to share her experience in the new role.
What does your typical day in your new role as the Partnerships Executive at Sales Impact Academy look like?
In a start-up, things change all the time. Normally, I dedicate the mornings to the UK calls, and then, in the middle of the day, I work on follow-ups for those calls. In the afternoons, I do the US calls because it’s when the market is up.
My role is both outbound- and inbound-focused. We get a lot of inbounds who attend our events and masterclasses monthly. It’s a good mixture of cold calling and having conversations with warm leads.
What’s your experience of remote onboarding to the Sales Impact Academy?
The company aims to train salespeople to access many great coaches and courses during the onboarding. In general, it has been terrific meeting everyone in the team, getting all this knowledge, and learning to communicate that to the prospects.
Before the lockdown, we had a coworking space to go to work in if we wanted. Typically, I’d meet my team there once or twice a week.
What’s been the most exciting thing that you’ve worked on so far?
Before my experience was more in fintech, payments, and the travel industry, I’m now learning everything about the SaaS space. So far, I’ve been training myself, having lots of conversations with CEOs, CROs, and other executives, and just learning everything about SaaS.
I am mainly focused on working out the best way to approach these companies and learning as much as I can to provide value to them.
What did the recruitment process look like?
I was approached by Stina (ex-talent partner at Kandidate) via the Kandidate platform. Stina was accommodating and professional, and this made the whole process smooth. I had a call with her and then a one-hour meeting with Ben Wright, one of SIA’s founding coaches. He learned a lot about me and shared some insights about the company and what I should expect in this role.
The next step was a video task and an essay. I had to create a two-minute video teaching them something that I’m passionate about. I also had to write a 500-word essay about a technology I really like. The goal was for them to see if I could communicate well on camera and in writing.
After that, I prepared two presentations: a 90-day action plan for my role and a 10-minute sales pitch. I did the presentations for the Head of Commercial and the CEO. They were happy with how the conversation went and asked for a referral to talk with someone who had managed me before. So, I gave them the contact details for my ex-sales director, and they made an offer. The entire process took about one month.
Do you have some tips for someone who would like to get a job at Sales Impact Academy?
Be proactive, and show that you want to bring value to the company and the SaaS sector!
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