Hiring a sales person... Any advice?

#1

Post by jakfrost » Fri, Aug 21, 2009, 2:47 AM UTC

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 :)

Re: Hiring a sales person... Any advice?

#2

Post by mahmud » Fri, Aug 21, 2009, 3:36 AM UTC

This thread of mine died a horrible death yesterday :-(

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=772567

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.

Re: Hiring a sales person... Any advice?

#3

Post by ojbyrne » Fri, Aug 21, 2009, 3:37 AM UTC

In my opinion, smaller salary (enough to survive, though it's tough to define "survive") plus commission. Check references, look for a track record (if they can sell themselves to you, they should also be able to sell themselves enough to have substantial presence on Google). Lots of people these days hire people initially on a contract basis for a probationary period, that might work for you.

Re: Hiring a sales person... Any advice?

#4

Post by picasso81 » Fri, Aug 21, 2009, 4:03 AM UTC

My advice would be to put them on a trial period, and then decide to keep them or let them go. Don't wait 8 months to figure out they're not the right fit. Figure it out in 4 weeks, max.

Oh, and watch this before they start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TROhlThs9qY

Re: Hiring a sales person... Any advice?

#5

Post by JacobAldridge » Fri, Aug 21, 2009, 4:11 AM UTC

Firstly, understand who you're looking for. This needs to involve 3 key factors - Cultural Match (the most critical - if they probably won't fit in, then they definitely won't fit in), Skills (eg, can they sell, build a sales process, manage a funnel or whatever), and Relationships (do you need them to bring existing relationships or not).

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).

Re: Hiring a sales person... Any advice?

#6

Post by tdm911 » Fri, Aug 21, 2009, 4:16 AM UTC

From my experience, sales people need to have a large financial incentive to get motivated, therefore small retainer, open ended commission.

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.

Re: Hiring a sales person... Any advice?

#7

Post by feverishaaron » Fri, Aug 21, 2009, 4:23 AM UTC

picasso81 wrote: post #4

My advice would be to put them on a trial period, and then decide to keep them or let them go. Don't wait 8 months to figure out they're not the right fit. Figure it out in 4 weeks, max. Oh, and watch this before they start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TROhlThs9qY

This depends on your sales cycle, actually. Some things (especially high tech) take significantly longer that four weeks to sell.

Re: Hiring a sales person... Any advice?

#8

Post by brianlash » Fri, Aug 21, 2009, 4:23 AM UTC

Understand that money talks. There's nothing that will motivate a good salesperson like cold hard cash.

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.

Re: Hiring a sales person... Any advice?

#9

Post by feverishaaron » Fri, Aug 21, 2009, 4:24 AM UTC

ojbyrne wrote: post #3

In my opinion, smaller salary (enough to survive, though it's tough to define "survive") plus commission. Check references, look for a track record (if they can sell themselves to you, they should also be able to sell themselves enough to have substantial presence on Google). Lots of people these days hire people initially on a contract basis for a probationary period, that might work for you.

The base salary entirely should depend on the length of your sales cycle. Typically longer sales cycles require a larger base, or you get grumpy sales people who are looking for a new job rather than selling.

Re: Hiring a sales person... Any advice?

#10

Post by blrgeek » Fri, Aug 21, 2009, 4:45 AM UTC

Don't get a senior sales-person. Get someone who can transition into handling existing customers along with one or two of you. Then one or more of you can focus on sales. Then get a junior person who will grow with you. Then once you have two or three junior sales person, hire someone to manage them.

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.