Founders hitting the right milestones for their companies who are ready to transition from Founder-led Sales to bringing in their first Account Executives struggle to look for the right hires because sellers are great at also selling themselves. To avoid a mis-hire, it's important to have a good checklist that aligns with the current state of your business and a clear understanding of how to screen for your initial hires.
Here's a checklist that you should use on your first call screening:
- Overview of sales cycle at current company — Does the candidate's sales cycle look similar to yours? If you have a PLG motion and this person usually closes deals in 6-12 months, are they the right hire for you today?
- Average deal sizes + sales cycle — Are they selling relatively similar-sized deals to what you expect is possible for the current state of your business?
- What's your current breakdown between inbound/outbound? — It should be similar. If a candidate says they love outbound, learn how they put this into practice. If you have a large inbound funnel, is the candidate capable and aware of how to qualify quickly?
- Quota, performance history? — Post-ramp performance :)
- What are the candidate's expectations for a 0-1 role? — No "strategy" talk – what are they planning to do to make a ton of money?
- Why [your company] next? — Good answers only – they should be doing research about you beforehand. If they aren't doing research prior to an interview as a sales candidate, imagine what they'll do to prep for a sales call.
- Do they know what great looks like and have they proved it? — What great companies have they worked at? Did they perform well?
- Stage fit (have they done something like this before) — Early-stage sales is very different from late-stage sales. You as the Founder know this first-hand.
- Interesting or unique challenges they've taken on or skills they've acquired — Have they done anything that signals creativity or genuine interest in taking on challenges? You need someone with a growth mindset.
- Best in class at something else (Olympian, military background, etc.) — This is just a plus, but someone who has excelled elsewhere and is now motivated to make a lot of money will probably do this well and quickly.
- If they've sold a "number 2" product before — Not a must, but if the candidate was a top performer at a previous company and their company was not the "number one product on the market," they had to learn how to fight hard to earn money – they typically learn how to be exceptional salespeople in these roles and don't take success for granted.
If you're later in the process, make sure you've read our other resources:
The questions to ask during your first call screening
Based on your research, what interests you about [Your Company]?
Notes
- Any good seller should do research before a call, regardless of how much time they had to prepare. They can also admit they haven't, so they should have really strong questions to ask you. If they aren't willing to sell themselves or express genuine interest in the interview process, how will they do selling your product?
- You want to avoid people who answer "I just want to work at a startup" or "this is a really exciting company because it makes data useful." The best candidates will prove they did research about the role and how it either relates to their previous experiences or why this transition is so exciting to them. Regarding the company, most will give a pitch and highlight a case study or example that most excited them about the solution they want to sell.
When it comes to sales at [their current employer], what's your process?
Notes
- Simple question on its face, but they should dive into the way they approach pipeline generation, the sales methodology they follow / that the company prescribes, how they qualify deals, think about territory management, etc.
What is/was the average deal size and your quota at [their current employer]?
Notes
- We want someone in the range of what we're looking for.
- If the math is confusing, ask for clarification. You want someone who can clearly articulate to you what they're working on.
How did you perform compared to your peers last year?
Follow-up question
- If they're #1: "What are you doing that others aren't?"
- If they're not #1: "What is the top performer doing that would put you in the #1 spot?"
What questions do you have for me?
They should have thoughtful questions about the business, the process, and how they can hit their number. They should not, however, be asking about territories, playbooks, marketing support, etc. You want someone excited about and determined to push through the ambiguity of early-stage selling.
More on this to come – what did we miss in the screening process?