Meet Tiffany, Senior Manager of Enterprise Sales at Hootsuite
“I never lose. I either win or learn.” - Nelson Mandela
This is the quote that came to our mind when we spoke with Tiffany Shurr, Senior Manager Enterprise Sales at Hootsuite. Sales is the backbone of any organization — but what’s crucial to the success of the sales team is an exceptional leader.
Tiffany Shurr is an Ontario-born Canadian who has lived in Vancouver for the past four years. Together with her husband and their Great Dane, she embarked on the adventure of moving to the west coast when a great opportunity to relocate came up through a previous employer.
Tiffany has had a long and successful sales career spanning 15 years. Her first sales role was as a lead generator, where she helped the sales team to build a funnel. She then moved into a direct selling role, and also had a short stint in sales enablement. Her passion to learn and help people to grow, combined with the experience in both presales and sales support, set the foundation for her to take on a sales leadership role at Hootsuite.
We sat down with Tiffany to learn a little bit more about her journey into sales leadership, as well as what it’s like to be a woman in a male-dominated profession. Here’s what she had to say.
Why sales and what made you want to come to Hootsuite?
I am a competitive person, I like to win and I thrive well in fast-paced, high-energy, high-pressure scenarios. That’s probably why sales is a good fit for me! What I love the most about sales is the amount of variety. I like the challenge of listening first.
In every role I take on, I’ve wanted to be passionate about the product. I believe that often a product or service intended for corporate consumption can have an impact on people for personal growth as well. I was selling a learning management system (LMS) before Hootsuite and it enabled people to have access to education where they may not typically have had it. This was super exciting to me!
For me, Hootsuite was a similar opportunity, I love social media and am a believer that social gives a voice to people that often don’t have a platform. This is true both for business and to be able to share fundamental personal values. Also, businesses become more human through social media and it’s a cool way to grow and share their philanthropic efforts. Social media also helps people realize which company they want to work for. All of this made Hootsuite feel like a good fit.
You’re currently building out a large team. Can you tell us how this team fits into the Hootsuite ecosystem? What impact does the team have at Hootsuite?
Logistically speaking, the Enterprise Sales West team sells to large strategic customers in western North America. We focus on large, strategic account acquisition and growth. Our contribution has a massive impact on organizational growth and customer maturation.
We have the opportunity to bring excitement and energy to the organization through new logo acquisition and strategic expansion. For example, we can bring in a customer from a new vertical that we have not sold to or a customer that wants to do something innovative and that can become a project for solutions, professional services, and customer success. It is a really cool way to find opportunities for the organization to grow.
An important part of building a successful team is fostering diversity and inclusion. How do you lead inclusive teams?
For me, the number one priority as I build any team is hiring the strongest candidate for the job. The person who will be able to hit the results. I am passionate, however, about creating opportunities for women in sales and women in sales leadership.
There is significant disparity where women in sales — and even more so, sales leadership — are concerned. I see the role I have as an opportunity to move further towards equality, open up opportunities for strong female sales candidates, and help evolve the male-oriented sales culture that exists in SaaS. I seek to create a space where women in sales — and even more so, women in leadership — don’t feel they have extra gates to pass for their experience and skills to be seen.
Tell us three reasons why someone would want to join Hootsuite as an Account Executive and three reasons why they wouldn’t.
Three reasons someone should join us:
- The Hootsuite brand reputation. We have a great reputation in the industry. Everyone knows who we are and has respect for our product and company. This is a huge benefit when prospecting.
- Strong people prioritization. Leaders across the organization care and foster work-life balance and flexibility. The opportunity to make each role work around your life activities is a priority.
- Opportunity. Be it the chance to move and work in a new region or seek out a promotion, Hootsuite believes that growth is a fundamental part of supporting our people.
Three reasons why they shouldn’t:
- Pace. Like most SaaS organizations, Hootsuite moves quickly. We make decisions quickly and pivot fast.
- High level of accountability to own and manage your book of business. This is a common sales strategy and expectation, but one that Hootsuite takes seriously. Each employee is expected to take initiative, be accountable to results, and come up with new ideas.
- Social industry. The social media industry is 11 or 12 years old and is still young. A lot of big businesses do not quite understand or see it as a fundamental piece of revenue generation, so there is an education piece of the value of social media and then selling them on the product.
What advice do you have for women wanting to start their career in sales?
I love this question! There is so much I wish I’d been told as I started out.
- Trust. The first thing I’d say is trust yourself. Trust that you have both the skill set and the confidence necessary to do the job as well as anyone around you, and don’t let anyone shake your confidence and belief in self.
My first sales role was fresh out of university. I was 22 years old and I heard far too many casual off-the-cuff comments about not being taken seriously as I was a “young girl” and needed a “suit” beside me to have the senior customers listen to me. At that time, I didn’t quite realize the impact those comments were having on my view of myself.
- Build a strong community of both men and women. Understand the importance of diversifying your community across gender and title. Seek out people at levels you want to achieve one day and ask for advice and guidance. Also, begin to build a network of people you’d love to hire one day.
- Understand that you don’t have to be the smartest person in the room. Don’t mistake not having an answer or not knowing how to do something with inability. Sales is a hyper-competitive environment and it takes time to learn all of the processes and refine your craft. This is the exact same for leadership.
- Create space for fellow female hustlers. When women entered the workforce, companies began hiring one female on every sales/leadership team to “check the female box.” It’s not a myth; it’s a fact. Of course, organizations hire more equally now, but we female top candidates are left with the baggage of old practices. I see it so very often and realized it in myself several years ago.
I actually wrote an article about it when I reached a peak of frustration from being repressed by women beside me at the table who should be my greatest ally. We fear that there is only one seat at the table for a woman, and as a result we don’t want another woman to be equal to us. It’s okay for them to be just one step below, but should they meet us where skill, experience, and perception are concerned our role becomes at risk.
Shake it off, ladies! How exciting would it be to see as many skirts at a sales kick-off as suits?
This is an exciting time at Hootsuite. If you’re interested in working in enterprise sales, let’s talk!
