Each company has a history of hiring, but some can be very similar. The most classic is that in which a group of people – usually friends or former co-workers – end up having an innovative business idea, develop a solution proposal that solves a market problem and deals with a consumer pain, but , when they need to sell this, they don’t know how to face the commercial side of sales.
Some companies may even develop good products, but if they don’t know exactly how to hire a sales team that knows how to deal with their market, they can never succeed in this endeavor. They will need help.
Hiring the first salesperson is always a very cloudy notion. There are no rules for setting up commercial teams. However, it is possible to track some facilities when setting up a killing team.
Keep the sales process clear
Nowadays, with the complexity of competitiveness, it is not possible to simply hire through trial and error. For there to really be an expected result, you need to be mature with your sales process and even if you are at the beginning of a commercial operation you will always need to be clear on the appropriate profile of people for the job.
We heard many entrepreneurs telling us that they made big mistakes when hiring salespeople because there was no minimum planning for how this team would run on a daily basis. Understanding the ideal moment is essential to plot the future of your team.
Before hiring, be aware of what you are selling
In order to guarantee success in sales, more than knowing the commercial process, and ensuring that it is validated, it is essential to know your product well . There is no point in choosing the best salespeople if you do not have a clear idea about their services and products.
What often happens is that, in the emergency of seeing their business take off, companies forget to validate their products correctly and provide training, and as a consequence, they end up throwing salespeople into the operation in the hope that they will manage to “organize the house”. It is necessary to be clear what sells before any new hiring.
Focus on the seller, but on production and CS too
It is quite common that before hiring sales professionals, your business is prepared to also increase its capacity to produce what it sells. It does not make sense to invest in obtaining more sales without an ideal condition of delivery in greater volume.
After that, it is also worth investing in Customer Success . Sales need to be tracked to have good results. Today, it is impossible not to think about how the customer will succeed with your service or product. Think about sales, produce more, but train your sales support. Ever.
Time to think about the budget
Instead of just looking for experience, look for potential new sales talent. Let’s think about football. It is no use for a small team to hire a big star if they will not have enough support or budget to provide playing conditions for this player.
One of the first things you will need to plan for is how much you should spend to hire these professionals and how to remunerate them in a way that keeps them active and excited.
Get out of the backward mindset. There is no point in investing a lot in someone who is just a name in the market, but who does not understand your industry, just as there is no use just worrying about spending little because soon you will have a team that is unmotivated and without commitment.
Undoubtedly, the best time to hire a salesperson is, one that you have already organized your products and services, that managed to understand a little of your market and that can give your team an appropriate condition to keep them motivated and wanting to be part of the company .
