Hiring more salespeople for your MSP business may be on your wish list for 2021, but if you don’t already have processes in place and don’t know what to look for during the hiring process, you may not hit your sales goals for the remainder of this year.
One thing to remember before moving forward with hiring another salesperson to your sales team is that you need to have your ducks in a row. Do you have a well-developed Technology Success process? Have you sold MRR at the right price? What results do you expect? What involvement do you expect to have? How mature is your lead generation process? Do you know your sales math? These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself before even writing the copy for the sales position you’re looking to fill.
Setting your salespeople up for success by implementing tried and tested processes is key to generating more MRR at the right price. Now, once you’ve ensured that the right processes are in place, you can move forward with the sales position itself. What type of sales position do you need? An inside salesperson? An outside salesperson? Sales support? If you already have a sales team in place, which I’m sure you do, to some extent, sit down with them to determine their immediate needs.
Nailing down the type of sales position you’re looking to fill is only the beginning. Your expectations for the role you’re looking to hire for may be different than a candidate’s, so it’s important for you to know exactly what your expectations are from the beginning and be upfront about them with any candidate you interview. Also, think about your expectations and if they are aligned with reality and historical result.
Something else to consider is how success will be measured. What are your key performance indicators (KPIs)? Are you judging inside salespeople by how many calls they make per day? How many leads are in the pipeline? Candidates and your employees need to know what you’re looking for from them. If you don’t provide them with that information, expect a revolving door of employee turnover at your company.
When you’ve finally gone through all of that, it’s time to interview your candidates. If your business isn’t large enough to warrant an HR department, you’re probably the one doing the interviewing, which can be a bit overwhelming at times if it’s something you haven’t done frequently in the past.
Here’s the thing: There’s nothing to be fearful of when your interviewing candidates if you know what to ask and look for.
So, what should you focus your efforts on during any interview? Start with reviewing past performance. It’s a strong indicator of future performance. Did the candidate meet sales goals at previous jobs? If there are gaps on the resume, ask about them. You want to find out if the candidate is a job hopper. Ask, “What do you think makes a top performer?” to learn more about how the candidate measures success.
Finding the right salesperson for your organization takes time if you do it correctly. You first need to ensure your sales processes are designed to help your salespeople with meeting their goals before doing any further hiring. Once you do that, you can evaluate candidates based on how they can add value to your organization.
