CHAPTER 12Hiring Best Practices for Sales
Your people and culture determine your destiny.
IF YOU'RE A STARTUP: FOUR PHASES OF HIRING YOUR FIRST SALES TEAM
Especially for entrepreneurs new to sales, hiring mistakes are unavoidable:
- Pattern recognition: If you haven't been in sales yourself, it's harder to spot salespeople who can talk, but not walk. Or you fall in love with a fancy resume who was successful at a Big Brand … who will struggle in a startup.
- They're selling: Salespeople are good at selling themselves! You're desperate to get someone and you want to believe them.
- Slow data: If you don't have much going on yet, it's harder to tell if someone is effective or not.
- Expectations: Yours are unrealistic. They just are. Results will take longer than you want.
Here's how to de-risk your first sales hires.
Throughout All Phases
Aaron had to lose a company to learn this painful lesson: delegate work in sales, but don't abdicate your understanding of sales.
The CEO and all cofounders need to be selling. Even if one of you is “the main salesperson,” everyone needs to participate in sales cycles and talking with customers.
At least until you've seen sales become predictable and profitable enough. Whether you're a business, technical, finance, or product founder, YOU are responsible for figuring revenue out. Not your VP Sales. Not your sales hires.
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