Hiring a sales person... Any advice?
My small business (myself and 2 other co-owners) has reached the point where we no longer have the time to run our business and time to sell. We've grown to the point where all 3 of us have critical jobs handling our existing clients that we just do not have the time to go out and sell anymore. We've tried this once before and got burned pretty bad. Our previous sales person sold himself wonderfully in the interviews, but when it came to selling our service he failed miserably. No self-drive, no motivation, etc. It's been about 8 months since we let him go, and we're now looking for another sales person. Does anyone have any advice on hiring sales people so we don't get burned again? We thought the last guy was going to be great due to the way he presented himself in the interviews. Also, what do you fellow hn users suggest about pay? Should it be straight salary, or smaller salary plus commission, or just straight commission?
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated :)
24 comments
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I am on the sales side of things, building a portfolio of luxury products and services to package as an offer for some clients of mine. Let me tell you this, nothing motivates like an open ended commission. Name your base price and tell salespeople they can put their own commission on top.
Last time we hired a sales guy, he was a recently divorced, middle-aged English man who spent the last 20 years selling financial products in Hong Kong and Singapore. We wanted him to sell electronic gadgets: I kid you not, the gray-hair sat down and did his homework, and in 3 weeks he knew the specs of every gadget we had and those of our competition by heart. He did wonders for us, but he pretty managed to self himself back into the financial industry. People like those are easier to get when they're down on their luck. Since I tended to do the sales myself and started delegating the programming, when I had to choose between the two.
Also don't underestimate the power of network marketing. No, not the pyramid schemes, but your network of friends, acquaintances and fellow HN users. If I know you sell product X and you're charging $Y for it; if I like you as a person and trust your ability to deliver, you can bet I will send someone your way who will pay $Y+N dollars for a unit of X, and I expect N to end up in a bank account of mine somewhere :-)
Put an email in your profile, for starters.
You have to get someone who is prepared to sweat a little. Someone who is self-motivated and ready to really thrive, not survive and die.
I'm not sure how coming up first in Google for your name has any bearing on your ability to sell. If anything, it means you spend way too much time online and not enough time with people actually selling.
Oh, and watch this before they start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TROhlThs9qY
You can close a deal faster, get them to sign and pay, then work out the details.
If you spend your life saying "that's how it's done", you'll never be in the lead, you'll ALWAYS be doing what someone else has done before you.
Pay is somewhat dependent on your product and the quality of leads you have or will continue to provide. Comm only won't support a sales person selling enterprise software with a 12 month sales cycle, but may excite the right person if you're providing pre-qualified leads for multiple bite-size products with high profit margins. For the right person, be prepared to discuss their immediate needs (salary) and their wants (how high the comm can realistically go).
Also, I've never liked flashy sales people. They may say all the right things, but to me this isn't sales. Sales is relationships. Anyone can sell something once and be unlikely to sell to the client again. A good salesperson will not only sell the product, but also build the relationship. This is vital.
Finally, most sales people believe they can sell anything, irrespective of what it is and therefore put no effort into learning their product. As mahmud mentioned, product knowledge is key. If they aren't willing to learn your product inside out, they aren't in it for the long run. Ask them about the last product they sold and ask for details on it. If they can only name base specs etc, they don't have the attention to detail required.
So make your commissions generous and (allowing your is a service people can believe in) you're going to find your guy. Make your commissions more than generous and you're going to find your superstar.
A new guy coming in at a senior level will, in all likelihood, try to sell your service the way he sold whatever he was successful with in the past - and fail to sell your service.
As a top performing - and top earning - sales person for many years in Fortune 500 tech hardware, software, and services businesses, I can attest to the fact that it's the company that usually creates their own problems, namely a coin-operated sales force. I found it laughable when company XYZ paid members of their sales team (including myself) 5X - even 10X - what they paid more experienced engineers, product developers and even executives.
When looking to add a new sales professional, be sure and keep an eye out for Norm's "Group Three" salespeople. They will add immeasurable value, insight and personal equity into your business for many years to come.
When the only relationship of trust is between the sales person and customer, s/he is able to bring clients along with them to whatever new company they migrate to...and show immediate success with new employers in doing so.
By creating a relationship of trust between you and your sales team, you are able to break down barriers between the client, and create and more fruitful long term relationship among all parties involved.
The other question you should ask is "why do sales people leave in the first place?" Again, this gets back to the root of the problem, where most companies create their own coin-operated sales teams. "Today's records become tomorrow's quotas" is something that all top performing sales professionals are keenly aware of.
If a sales professional hits 2X of their quota two or three years in a row, and those record sales become next years quota, the resulting book of business is unsustainable in the long term. Because of that, most top sales professionals will stick around just as long as they are able to maximize their earning potential. When the inevitable "down" year comes around, it's time for them to reassess and start looking for a new opportunity.
By setting reasonable expecatations with your sales team year after year - by that I mean set a quota that provides a reasonable rate of return on your investment in their salary - you will no doubt create an environment that "Group Three" sales professionals want to be a part of. Good luck.
Let them make more money than you.. only if they exceed your expectations. Always give a salesperson unlimited potential, after you are taken care of.
Just don't forget - the best salesperson will work you. You won't even know it. That's the predicament.
Finding a salesman YOU like may not be the way to go. But finding the salesman your customer relates to is VERY important.