What's the Company Culture Like at Toast?

Some of our programs may be tailored to specific regions, but our commitment to fostering international collaboration remains consistent across the organization. It all comes down to fostering a culture of flexibility, inclusivity and continuous feedback. We effectively navigate these challenges and maintain a cohesive, productive international team at Toast.

At Toast, our international culture is vibrant and inclusive, characterized by regular events that bring together team members from around the world. We host research and development snack talks, town hall meetings and coffee chats with leadership — all of which foster open communication and idea sharing.

It can be difficult to maintain a sense of culture when being separated by both location and time zones, so we are very dedicated to keeping our teams connected. Despite being so far apart, regular meetings and tight communication has kept us united.

We are building a very strong international organization with the mindset of winning as a team. That means we have each other’s backs, celebrate the successes and embrace the diversity that makes us unique.

How does your sales team approach the end of the year to ensure targets are met? What strategies are most effective during this period?

The emerging markets team was formed to address a vast target market in the restaurant industry with English as a second language or other language preferences. The team serves customers in Spanish, Mandarin and Korean. We are helping these restaurants leverage modern technology to boost their businesses and grow. 

End-of-year targets are met through preparation and planning. We set realistic goals weekly that will feed into our annual goal. We plan at the beginning of the month and estimate our wins for each week. Preparation comes from our analysis of the pipeline, creating new opportunities and moving prospects through the sales funnel.

To help meet our goals towards the end of the year, we leverage special end-of-year sales promotions, customer referrals, Toast’s competitive advantage and ambitious prospects. It is important to use internal resources to be informed and prepared to win customers against our competitors. For budget-friendly buyers, it’s helpful to use promotions. In terms of highlighting Toast’s competitive advantage, I like to introduce the Toast ecosystems, which allow customers to maximize efficiency and grow their revenue.

How does Toast support and motivate employees to maintain high performance throughout the year, including during traditionally slower months?

Toast motivates employees by cultivating a “One Team” mentality. This is one of our core values, and it means we lead with empathy, treat one another with respect and work together. Managers remind us of our goals and create paths to success. Toast keeps us engaged throughout the process by celebrating our wins and cheering us on. 

One way we stay motivated throughout the year is through sales competitions and sales performance incentive funds — or SPIFFs.  Each quarter, there’s a different theme. The friendly competition amongst the team keeps us all motivated, even during slower months.

What sort of celebrations does your team have for salespeople who hit their quotas?

On the emerging markets team, we give shoutouts to one another on team messaging channels and celebrate each other’s successes as a group. 

Toast also has a recognition program where you can award “toasts” to one another, which can then be redeemed for gift cards, charitable donations and more. We use “toasts” to congratulate each other and recognize big wins.