I’m convinced that people and a great team are the lifeblood of a fast-growing startup. People are the foundation of every organization. But building a powerful team is more important at a startup than in any other organization. Building a thriving culture, hiring skilled individuals and forming an amazing team creates rapid success. It's not easy. But it's something within your control. Given that revenue growth is the key success metric, your first sales hires are paramount. 

Salespeople will tell you they’re the very best but I'm skeptical. Instead of relying on resumes and awards, let's have them prove their value. If they prove themselves well skilled, hire them. If not, you dodged a bullet.

I believe it’s best to use a repeatable process with a simple structured assessment. The primary goal is to find candidates who are a perfect fit in an efficient and optimal manner.

Designing a Structured Sales Assessment.

 A hiring assessment contains a series of simple hoops. Think of it as a sales funnel. If a candidate can jump through all the hoops, they’re hired. This takes time for both the hiring manager and the candidate. But if the candidate is hungry for the job they will be happy to invest in the process. Candidates who complete the funnel are quick to hit the ground running. You the manager will have the confidence that the employee can perform at a high level. You’ll want to keep them forever.

Insightful Job Description of the Stellar Sales Rep

 I believe you should only hire qualified sellers who have a modern selling disposition. Pushy selling no longer works in the age of the internet. Buyers are too savvy to be bullied. Unless prospective customers are honored and served, they will not buy.

Start by building a list of attributes you’re looking for in a candidate (see Master Sellers have HEAT). Consider candidates that are smart, empathetic, technically savvy and helpful. A competitive nature is a must. But in some positions it’s also important to balance competitiveness with a nice personality. Great sellers have tenacity. It is the key to following up. You want sellers picking up the phone and grinding towards success. It’s best to avoid sellers who are easily distracted. Now that you understand your ideal candidate, it’s time to start a marketing campaign.

Compelling Job Ads That Kickstart Applications

Authoring a compelling job ad is just like writing copy in an advertisement. It’s imperative to deeply know your target audience, address them in the language they understand and offer them what they want.

 It’s disheartening to write an ad, post it and not getting any responses. Or worse yet the opposite happens, getting too many responses from unqualified candidates.

A great job ad, filters out candidates. 

People who are a good match will be excited to apply, and the rest will take a pass. Each ad should have a number of elements including: details on the job, company responsibilities, product and service offered. The ad should contain expectations, skills requirements and ballpark compensation. It’s a seller's market for outstanding candidates. Make sure your ad speak to these outstanding individuals.

Building a Hiring Funnel that Discovers Perfect Candidates

Next you want to set up a number of filters to assess the candidates:

•  Email applicants and ask them to call you
• Use brief phone interviews to assess empathy and astuteness
• Send questions on sales techniques and ask them to write how they approach sales
• Set up a phone call to walk through the resume
• Roleplay a sale
• Have them visit you
• Take them to lunch to assess social skills

Too many employers chase down candidates. Instead, have candidates chase you down. Don’t hire candidates who don’t follow up with you in a timely manner. They will be the same way with your customers.

Matchmaking Hiring that's Win-Win

Every step in the process is an assessment. Candidates at any step can be a found a “no match” It’s a sales funnel. If they are not match simply explain:

 â€œFrom I can see you are not a good match for this position. You said X, Y and Z and because of this I don’t think you would like it here, nor be successful. Thank you for your time and best of luck on your search”.

If they are a match, give them an offer on the spot. Hand them an offer letter, give them a three days to accept the offer. If they don’t take it on the spot, follow up the next day and ask if they have any further questions.

Savvy salespeople may want to negotiate their salary and compensation. That’s a good sign. If they do it to you they will get you the best deal with customers too.  Most likely they will take the offer. If not, find out why. By now you will have built a relationship with the candidate and they will be honest with you.

 Developing Great Hires for Exponential Growth

We’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to building a hiring process. However if you take the time to fill out the details and follow your process to completion, you will find candidates that meet and exceed your expectations. With staff as skilled or better skilled than you in sales, your business will explode. You’re next responsibility is to have them hit the ground running. This is a good problem to have.

 Author, Business Consultant and Podcast Host

Pat Helmers is an international business consultant and host of the award winning Sales Babble podcast www.SalesBabble.com . Pat helps technology startups build and grow revenue. Email Pat at pathelmers@salesbabble.com