Hiring for sales

When founders begin to grow their sales team, they often don’t have a lot of experience leading salespeople and it can all seem very daunting. Getting early sales hires right is important for a company’s success. Hiring the wrong person not only costs the company the money paid and time invested, but also the opportunity cost in lost sales. Here are a few tips for startups when planning for their early sales hires.

Before you hire

There are many things to work out before you hire or even post a sales position. Companies often rush to post a job ad and do not adequately prepare before doing so. First determine what type of sales hire you will be making. There are several roles to consider, including VP sales, account executive, business development representative (BDR) and customer success. What do you need this salesperson to do for your business? You may need a sales leader to plan the strategy and grow the team or a BDR to drive discovery calls. You must also consider how much time you have to support this sales hire and the funds available for compensation.

Compensation

Plan your compensation before posting. Your compensation should drive the efforts that lead to revenue. This could include salary, commission, variable pay based on activities and benefits. Do the math on what happens if the salesperson reaches different attainment levels. This should be based on realistic targets. Run the numbers to determine the cost for your business and the earning potential for the sales hire. You must balance your profitability and the salesperson making expected compensation.

Where to find candidates

Hiring for startups can be more challenging than a larger, well-known company like Shopify. Candidates might not know your organization and won’t be looking for a job there. Don’t despair, as there are many places to find salespeople.

• Use the MaRS Work in Tech job board.
• Universities and colleges have access to new and recent grads. Schools can post job openings through their career services departments. They can also help you navigate funding programs for hiring young people.
• Job sites like Indeed can bring in a lot of candidates, especially for junior positions. Set strong requirements to help weed out candidates.
• Promote the job posting through your LinkedIn profile. Your network may have the perfect candidate for you.
• Always be hiring. Look for candidates at networking events and other places. Connect and stay in contact for future roles.

Interview process

Plan the questions ahead of time and stay fairly consistent across candidates. Ask situational questions and request specifics. This could include asking, “Tell me something you are particularly proud of and why” or “Run me through your biggest sales win from the start of the engagement.” Grade each candidate immediately after the interview. When interviewing multiple candidates in a short period, it is easy to get them mixed up. Consider multiple interviews as part of the interview process. Reduce the number of candidates after each interview stage. Here is an example of the interview process.

• Initial interview: This is typically 20 minutes long. The goal is to make sure the candidate is aligned with your expectations and compensation. You can also look for red flags. This could include showing up late, not being prepared or other factors that will help you decide to not move that candidate forward.
• Second interview: This is around one hour long and involves doing a deeper dive into the job and the candidate. Determine if they have taken some insights from the first interview and are prepared.
• Interview with new team member: Get another team member’s view on the candidate.
• Have the candidate interview a team member: Ask the candidate to speak with an existing team member about what it is like to work at your organization.
• Check references: Some people think checking references is more of a formality, but it can expose red flags. Check their relationship on LinkedIn and confirm information the candidate has shared with you.
• Offer: Once you are near the end of the interview process, offer the job over a call or video chat. Answer any questions, make sure the start date is good and confirm the compensation.

Onboarding

Getting new hires up to speed and being productive is very important. Put a good onboarding plan in place for your new hire. Plan the onboarding process prior to hiring and even before starting the interview process. Candidates will often ask what onboarding includes. Ensure their computer, email setup and any company software are ready from day one. Onboarding should include things like learning about the company background and HR items.

Create a well thought out sales training plan. Providing a sales playbook they can follow will help. When rolling out sales training, break it into smaller chunks. Teach a topic and then have the new hire try a task. For example, provide training on doing research and how to add the research to your CRM, then have the new hire research a number of contacts and companies, review the research and provide feedback. Inspect what you expect, which is especially true when you hire a new salesperson.

Good luck with your sales hires!