Small Business Owners Need to Learn How to Hire for Sales

As a small business owner, your resources are precious, and maximizing leverage is key to your success. One of the most effective ways to achieve this leverage is by hiring a great salesperson. An exceptional salesperson can drive growth, enhance your customer base, and significantly increase revenue. However, the wrong hire can be a costly misstep.

The stakes are high. On average, the cost to recruit, hire, train, equip, pay, and manage a salesperson is about $240,000. This investment should yield positive returns, but a poor performer can drag your business down, consuming resources without delivering results. This makes the hiring process critical—far more important than making a quick decision.

So, how do you ensure you hire the right person? It's essential to remember that seasoned salespeople are often adept at handling typical interview questions, presenting themselves in the best light possible. To find a true fit, you must reverse the script. Instead of focusing on what they say, pay close attention to what they do. Observe their behavior, how they interact with your team, and their approach to real-world scenarios.

Consider practical assessments, role-playing exercises, or an obstacle course that mirrors real-life sales challenges. This method can reveal their problem-solving skills, adaptability, and true capabilities beyond rehearsed answers. The goal is to see their genuine performance and how they handle pressure—traits that are crucial in a high-stakes sales environment.

Taking the time to find the right hire is not just a recommendation; it’s a necessity. The right salesperson will not only meet but exceed your expectations, driving your business forward and providing a return on investment that justifies the effort and cost.

For a more detailed guide on how to implement a practical assessment in your hiring process, contact me at [email protected]. Let’s ensure your next hire is a catalyst for your business's growth and success.

Attract and Retain Top Sales Talent With a Vision

Hiring top-notch salespeople is one of the most critical investments a company can make. The process, however, doesn't end with finding someone with the right skill set and experience. One often overlooked, but essential, aspect of recruitment is visioning the candidate's journey within the company. When you're fortunate enough to engage with a talented seller, it’s imperative to paint a clear picture of their future with the organization.

Great salespeople are always in high demand. They are the lifeblood of any company, driving revenue and fostering corporate share growth. However, the best sales talent often leaves for better opportunities or higher compensation. To prevent this turnover and secure long-term commitment, it’s crucial to articulate a compelling vision of their career progression and potential within your organization during the interview process.

When interviewing a promising candidate, go beyond the initial job description. Share detailed insights into the potential promotions they could achieve, the milestones they need to hit, and the timeline for these advancements. This approach not only demonstrates that you value their future but also helps them see a clear path to their personal and professional growth.

Moreover, discuss the financial rewards tied to their achievements. Talented sellers are motivated by money, success and recognition.  Helping them to understand the financial upside of their performance can be a significant motivator to secure a great talent for the long term. Be transparent about commission structures, bonuses, and any other incentives that reward high performance. This transparency builds trust and excitement, making them more likely to choose your company over competitors.

When presented with the opportunity to recruit a great sales talent you need to consider this an investment in a long-term partnership.  By laying out their potential journey with your company, you show that you are committed to their growth and success. This not only attracts top talent but also fosters loyalty and reduces turnover. Remember, a well-communicated vision can be the difference between a short-term hire and a long-term asset to your team.

Mercenary Mindset- Crafting a Winning Job Description for Salespeople

Job Description for the Mercenary Mindset of Great Sellers.

Hiring salespeople can be a daunting task for any organization large or small. Sales professionals are often likened to mercenaries in the corporate world, driven by financial incentives and constantly on the lookout for better opportunities. So, how do you entice them to your job listing and, more importantly, keep them engaged and motivated to work for your organization? The answer lies in crafting a compelling job description that not only offers lucrative opportunities and benefits, but also outlines a clear trajectory for professional growth within your company.

Understanding the Mercenary Mindset: Great salespeople are motivated by financial rewards and incentives. They thrive in competitive environments where their efforts are directly tied to their earnings. As such, traditional job descriptions that focus solely on the responsibilities of the role may not be enough to attract top talent. To entice sales professionals, you need to highlight the earning potential and advancement opportunities available within your organization.

Crafting the Job Description:

1. Lucrative Compensation Package: Start by outlining the competitive base salary and commission structure offered for the role. Be transparent about the earning potential, including bonuses, incentives, and performance-based rewards. Highlight any additional perks such as company car, expense account, computer, phone or stock options to sweeten the deal.

2. Clear Career Path: Salespeople are ambitious by nature and want to know that their hard work will be recognized and rewarded. Outline a clear career path within your organization, detailing the opportunities for advancement, additional responsibilities, and leadership roles. Emphasize that top performers will have the chance to progress quickly and take on more valued and compensated opportunities.

3. Professional Development Opportunities: Highlight the training and development programs you will make available to help salespeople hone their skills and stay ahead of the competition. Whether it's sales training workshops, mentorship programs, or access to industry conferences, demonstrate your commitment to investing in their professional growth.

4. Supportive Work Environment: Sales can be a high-pressure job, so it's essential to emphasize the supportive culture and team environment within your organization. Highlight any team-building activities, collaborative projects, or supportive management styles that foster camaraderie and success.

5. Company Culture and Values: Showcase your company's values, mission, and culture to attract sales professionals who align with your organization's ethos. Whether it's a commitment to innovation, customer-centricity, or social responsibility, emphasize how your company's values resonate with the ideal candidate.

Crafting a job description for salespeople, in particular, requires more than just listing duties and responsibilities. To attract and retain top talent, you need to appeal to their mercenary mindset by offering lucrative opportunities for earning and advancement. By outlining a clear promotion trajectory, emphasizing professional development, and showcasing your company culture, you can entice sales professionals to join your organization and keep them motivated to stay.

Who Chases Who? The Dance of Recruiting Great Sellers

If you are hiring a salesperson, a perpetual question that is undoubtedly lingering in your mind is, “Who should be the one doing the chasing?”  Is it the responsibility of the hiring manager to seek out and woo potential candidates, or should candidates be the ones actively pursuing the opportunity? The answer, as it turns out, is a delicate balance of both.  Recruiters should be actively identifying talent and prompting interest; however, you must now judge that candidate based on their ability to demonstrate that they are a fit for the role.

Beyond interviews, a candidate's behavior and proactive engagement are key indicators of commitment and interest. Recruiters must assess not just their scripted responses, but the candidate's relentless pursuit of the position.  This is how you know you have a winner.  They will pursue the job the same way they will pursue selling prospects for your company, if given the position.  The true narrative of a candidate's suitability unfolds in their behavior, communication, and proactive engagement throughout the hiring process.  Don’t feed them the answer key as how to win the job…. unless they ask!

Recruitment, in essence, is a two-way street. Recruiters must cast a wide net, attracting diverse candidates to ensure a comprehensive selection. Yet, the real litmus test lies in the candidate's initiative. A candidate who actively seeks information, follows up promptly, and displays genuine eagerness for the role stands out as a promising prospect.

In the realm of sales, where proactivity is a coveted trait, candidates who showcase persistence and initiative during the recruitment process signal their potential success in the role. The recruitment journey, therefore, becomes a joint effort - recruiters identifying potential, and candidates actively pursuing opportunities.

DON’T HIRE Until You First Craft the Ideal Salesperson Avatar

In the fast-paced world of sales, discovering the perfect salesperson is like catching all green lights when you’re running late – rare, but when it happens, it quickly and profoundly changes your revenue trajectory.  It requires discipline, a dash of intuition, and a healthy dose of science. I always find that before I begin the hiring journey, I have to write down the key aspects of the candidate by building my perfect salesperson avatar.  Here are some keys you may want to consider.

Seniority

In strategically building your sales team, the imperative is to precisely delineate the experience level sought. Is the objective to recruit an entry-level candidate, primed for intensive training and rapid development, or a seasoned senior seller, equipped with a proven track record and a network of contacts, for immediate impact. The choice demands a careful analysis of your team dynamics and the specific challenges at hand. A judicious alignment of expertise with organizational objectives will ultimately dictate the success of your recruitment strategy.

The Sales DNA: Unraveling the Genetic Code of a Closer

First and foremost is the Sales DNA – the genetic makeup that separates the ordinary from the extraordinary in the world of sales. It's about having a sales gene that imbues the individual with an insatiable drive to always be first in their peer group while being very handsomely compensated.  They possess a set of habits, traits, and attitudes that make them consistently excel without external input.  This will be revealed through assessments and their interview conduct.

Track Record – Are They a Quota Killer

This is the indisputable proof that separates the great interviewers from great sales talent.    Their potential future at your organization is nicely predicted by their sales behavior in previous roles.  Their experience of successfully achieving or over-achieving previous sales quotas over a substantial period (say 3-5 years) is evidence of their long-term drive rather than episodic success.  Your ideal salesperson should be a quota killer, someone who thrives under pressure and consistently delivers results. If your candidate has a history of turning quotas into mere steppingstones, you're on the right track.

Cultural Alignment: The Secret Sauce of Team

A perfect salesperson doesn't just fit into your organization; they become an integral part of its fabric. Picture your ideal candidate seamlessly blending with your team, embodying your company's values, and enhancing the overall dynamic.  This isn't just about a shared love for remote work. It's about aligning values, work ethic, and a collective vision for success and the expectation of excellence.  A salesperson who not only understands your company culture but also contributes to its growth and evolution is an invaluable asset.

Your Avatar Will Be Your Guide.

So, now that you have well-defined your perfect hire, how do you know when you've found the right candidate?  As quaint as it may seem, it will feel like recognizing a long-lost friend in a crowded room – a gut feeling that transcends resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Trust your instincts but be disciplined to stick to your well-defined avatar.

As you embark on this worthy endeavor, remember, your perfect salesperson isn't just a hire; they're a catalyst for success, a driving force that propels your team toward unprecedented heights.

Experience is not always the key in hiring salespeople!

Finding a great salesperson is a noble quest that few get right.   Yet identifying a rockstar seller is literally a game-changer for any business.   As a buyer of products and services, each of us have worked extensively with salespeople as both a consumer and a business professional.  It is this experience set that we feel fantastically informs our hiring decision.  This is a misguided notion!  Rather, it is a crippling mindset that imbues us with unearned confidence.  Let’s digest that a bit.  How many of those salespeople that you worked with responded to your inquiry?   More importantly, how many found you?  (It is my hearty recommendation that you retain the contact information for this later group!).

According to Crunchbase, reps that don’t do cold outreach have 42% less sales growth.  However, cold calling has only a 2% success rate on average.  That is a huge dollop of rejection that few can endure over the long haul.  The revealing question, then, is what do these persistent cold callers have in common?  The answer is that it isn’t their experience, it is their “Sales DNA”.  It’s not what they learned, its who they are.

Very often as we embark on the arduous task to add or replace a seller, we invariably seek to find industry-experienced sellers with deep contacts among the buying community.  Make no mistake, this is hugely valuable.  But as you are looking to make a hire, it’s critical that one honestly explores where you need to be on the Experience – Sales DNA spectrum.  Ideally, we seek to find an individual that is strong on both measures.  However, the data does not favor that outcome.  In a famous research study of over 2,000,000 salespeople, only 6% were “elite.”  Their success had no known correlation to their industry experience.  It was their “Sales DNA”.  It was not only their ability to do the work – but their drive to do so vigorously and continuously over the long run.  So, it comes down to one clarifying question;

“How quickly and thoroughly can I teach a talented, natural seller to be successful in my business?”

Depending on the competitive advantage for your company’s products/services and your onboarding capabilities, you might have greater long-term success hiring a strong seller with no industry experience than a very experienced (and expensive) sales veteran.  These veterans tend to have great experience with decision makers who, at some point will graduate or retire out of their positions- leaving a veteran with less sway. While a tenacious seller will continually do the required activity to continue to bring new companies into your client portfolio.

Sales assessments are valuable but should only be about 25%-40% of your decision.  It is the sales hiring process that is the magic to creating an unstoppable sales force that will be the envy of your industry!