Hiring for Growth Starts with Sales

As an entrepreneur, one of the biggest business decisions you’ll make is to hire a salesperson (or an entire sales team) when you’re ready to grow. This is a huge step toward taking your business from a mom-and-pop shop to a local and respected expert in your industry. Below, we share a few tips on how you can get started so that you can grow your customer base and ROI.

Preparations

There are a few things that you have to do in preparation for hiring a sales agent. First, make sure that you know the amount of commission you’re willing to offer. You’ll also want to look ahead at complementary products and services that you might be able to package to give your salespeople even more leads and opportunities. A smart way to go about this is to establish a DBA, which lets you operate multiple brands and business types under the same umbrella.

Defining your customers’ goals

When you’re ready to start hiring, look at what your customers want and need first. This will help you best match your sales representative to your current client demographic. Fonolo explains that your customers want you to be proactive, have the ability to provide consistent answers, and want quick responses. Look for these abilities in your sales representatives.

Identifying your business needs

Once you’ve identified what your customers want, you have to identify your business needs to better refine your ideal candidate list. If you haven’t done so already, decide if you want someone who’s going to be on-site to help people in person or if they'll be out in the field. This can help you write a more accurate job description so that you can attract the perfect person.

Define the details

You already know what you need and the traits that your sales team should possess, but it’s time to narrow this down even further. Define the details of the position by outlining everything from titles and compensation to minimum acceptable revenue and whether or not they’ll be required to travel. HubSpot also recommends talking to your candidates about the different types of software and CRM platforms they may or may not be similar to.

Write contracts with employment and NDA terms

It’s critical that you write comprehensive contracts for sales team members you hire. These contracts should explicitly outline terms of employment, including details about roles, responsibilities, and termination procedures. Additionally, you’ll need to incorporate necessary nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) within the contracts to protect sensitive company, client, and financial information. An NDA is vital for legally binding employees from disclosing such details during, and in some cases, after their tenure with the company, so you’ll both need to know the meaning of an NDA in regards to their employment. Remember, a contract only becomes binding once both you and your new employee have agreed to all terms by signing it.

Evaluate their effectiveness

Hiring staff to represent your company is not your final step. Once you’ve chosen someone and worked out the compensation details, you’ll also need to keep a close eye to measure their performance. There are many ways to do this, including setting individual goals and utilizing industry benchmarks.

Maintain stable and consistent growth

Business growth is not all about bringing in new customers. To enjoy long-term benefits, make sure that you create a powerful brand and look for ways to grow sustainably. This is done through a combination of activities outside of your sales staff. Establish partnerships, prioritize your customer retention, and make sure that your sales and marketing teams collaborate continually to ensure that your company’s message matches the goals you set for those who sell your services.

Hiring (and paying) your sales team takes work. You have to put some thought into the process so that you can establish a solid ground from which they’ll work. From writing contracts that include employment terms and NDA details to keeping your two main revenue-generating departments in communication, these steps can help you hire the right people to grow your business so you can do so sustainably without sacrificing the customer experience. 

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