Meet Daniele, a Senior Partner Manager in HubSpot Berlin. Before HubSpot, Daniele worked as an export manager in the coffee and wine industry in Italy. As a Senior Partner Manager, Daniele helps HubSpot partners grow across the DACH market. At home in sales, if he wasn't in his current role, Daniele would like to be .... and Account Manager! So, pretty much sales. 

We asked Daniele a few questions about what it's like working in Sales at HubSpot and the DACH market. Here's what he had to say: 

Tell us a little bit about your background and journey at HubSpot.

Five years in sales in three different industries have paved the way to my position in HubSpot. Previously I worked in the coffee industry (as an export manager from Italy), wine industry (as an export manager from Italy) and in e-commerce (in Berlin). HubSpot has been the best career choice so far. Fun fact, in my previous roles I used to do cold calling and email list blasting. In my 1.5 years at HubSpot I have been promoted once and made it to Presidents Club.

Can you talk us through what a typical day looks like for you as a Senior Partner Manager?

I started out at as a Hybrid Channel Manager. This means that my day to day job was split up into two different roles. The first was acquiring new partners (mostly marketing agencies) that want to use HubSpot’s software and strategy to help their customers reach their growth goals. The second part was to be the partners main point of contact for business development questions regarding HubSpot. Over time I shifted more and more towards managing partners while my book of business continued to grow. Now I manage 30 partners and help them grow as agencies together with us in the DACH market.

What are some skills you think are important to be successful in your role, especially working for the DACH market?

Anyone working in sales should love talking to people. To be successful in sales at HubSpot you also have to be very curious and motivated to understand your customer/lead so that you can really advise them on the best combination of software to help them grow better. So active listening and entrepreneurial thinking are in my view crucial skills. The DACH market is quite strict, driven by rules and politeness. So you need to be tidy, polite, organised and especially prepared on legal affairs to be successful.

What attracted you about a career in sales at HubSpot?

For me it was the product and the service itself. I love to talk about our mission and the features we offer. In addition the benefits we receive give you the freedom to work when, how and from where you want. Flexibility is a key aspect of my happiness at work.

What do you find most rewarding about your job?

As a Partner Manager I work together with agencies that in most cases see an interesting uplift and change in their business as a result of a partnership. What I see is not only the change in a business but also a change in the lives of the people working in it. My partners are friends and it is very rewarding to see my friends succeed.

What do you find most challenging about your job?

A career in sales means plenty of targets and deadlines. Self-organisation, forecasting and pipeline management is the most challenging part for me in my role. As much as I would love to only focus on helping businesses and partners grow, I have to also make sure to hit my targets and goals.

What is the best piece of career advice you ever received?

The best career advice I ever received is not to focus on stereotypes and standard career paths. Believe in your choices and decide for yourself when and what the right move is. Always absorb advice but execute on your own ideas and decisions.  And most important, the only way to know if you like a certain job or not is to try it out.

If you weren’t in sales, what would you be doing?

If I wasn’t working in sales I would be in consulting or account management (is that still sales?!) I always wanted to be either an  investment banker or a consultant. Who knows maybe I will make the shift one day!