Why Many Startups Often Mess Up Their Early Sales Hires?

According to an analysis by CBInsights, the number one reason why startups fail is that there is no market need for them. This pertains directly to sales roles, since the objective for a truly revolutionary startup is to create a market for the business.

What Does the Sales Team Actually Do at a Startup?

• Generate leads

Sales associates create lists of different people/companies that would benefit most from the product they’re selling. These names are called leads (mainly because they’re contacts that can potentially “lead” to a sale).

• Reach out to projects

Sales team members usually make first contact with the leads via email or, if they have their phone numbers, by cold-calling them out of the blue. The best sales forces are able to be creative with how they get in touch with particular leads.

• Qualify leads

Sales teams usually qualify leads by asking them specific questions that are relevant to the product or service they’re selling.

• Close deals

The salesperson’s mission is to do whatever it takes to close the deal. Different companies have different strategies for the actual sale, but overall, convincing a lead to buy requires confidence, knowledge of the company, empathy, warmth, and persistence.

For most startups, one of the first critical decisions is how to hire the right early sales. The outcome of this decision can make or break your success. But how do you make sure you get your sales hires right? 

Know who you need to hire

Many founders don’t actually know who they need to hire. And they end up bringing someone on board whose skills simply do not match their business needs. That’s why it’s important to do the work up front to map out exactly what you’ll need this person to do.

Think about things like:

• What part of that process do you want to offload? Do you want to offload all of it? Some of it?
• Who is your buyer? What are they telling you?
• Why is it time to hire?
• What specific activities will this person need to do?

All of these questions are items that you should really be thinking about and nail down before you pick up the phone and start talking to recruiters. They can’t answer them for you. But they need to know them in order to make sure they bring you the right people to consider and not waste your time.

Know what to expect recruiting-wise

For example – if a recruiter tells you well inside of 2 days they’re going to have 50 people in front you, you’re going to get excited about that… but that’s actually not a good thing. That means they’re hardly spending any time at all really filtering their selections or getting to know candidates.

It’s important for you to poke holes into their process and understand exactly HOW they are going to get you a top performer. And essential, you should look for a reputable recruitment team, who can help you find qualified CV and filter out suitable candidates for the position.

Bottom Line

First and foremost, take time to define exactly who you need to hire and why. This will save you a lot of headaches. Then work to find a recruiter who cares just as much about defining that as you do. This is the kind of collaboration required to get your sales hires right the first time!

According to UNDERCOVER RECRUITER

>> View more: 3 Challenges For Startup In The Scaling Up Phase

>> View more: Not All Unicorn Startups Are Famous. Here Is The List Of 25 Unicorn Startups You Might Not Know

 

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