Write down how you sell before you hire: the stages from first contact to close, the messages and offers, and the expected numbers at each stage. Then select candidates through practical tasks rather than impressions, design a fixed salary plus commission tied to clear targets, and review the team weekly in a CRM.
Step by step
- 1
Document the sales process
The sales stages, the questions that uncover needs, answers to common objections and discount limits, all in a written playbook.
- 2
Define the roles
At first one person may both find customers and close deals, and as you grow you separate lead generation from closing and from account management.
- 3
Select through practical tasks
Ask candidates in the interview to sell you your product or handle a real objection, which reveals more than the CV.
- 4
Design salary and commission
A fixed salary that gives stability, and commission that rewards what matters to the company, such as collections and margin, not just invoice value.
- 5
Train and accompany
In the first weeks the new salesperson sits in on colleagues' calls and works under supervision before working alone.
- 6
Track in the CRM
Every opportunity logged with its stage, and a short weekly meeting on stalled deals and figures against target.
Hiring an excellent salesperson and then leaving them with no sales process, no leads and no tools, expecting them to build everything alone, usually ends in disappointing results or a resignation.
- how to hire a sales team
- building a sales team for a small business