You want both, but make sure they fit in with the overall company culture.

Have a team with fresh grads that's more entry level (more cold calls, lower contract values, but faster deals for reps).

Give the experienced people more complex deals, larger accounts, higher pay etc. (Savages won't want to have the same role/pay as a grad with no experience)

Have a collaborative culture where the savages mentor the fresh grads, and the fresh grads pump enthusiasm into the savages.

-Let the fresh grads promote into the savage ranks.
-Let the savages promote to up-segment or management roles.
-Let your crushers who want a career change move to other departments and benefit the company with their product/industry/client knowledge.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

brilliant piece of advise. thanks Accidental Sales Guy. speaking of your advises, not sure how accidental are you in this space :xD

Accidental_Sales_Guy

Politicker

Account Executive

You're too kind <3

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

🤟

JuicyKlay

Celebrated Contributor

This!

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

Cheers JuicyKlay!

ChiefGreef45

Catalyst

Account Executive

This is a good idea, having the people with more experience helping out on the floor would help you out along the way

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

👏

SheWOLF

Opinionated

TC Sales

Fantassticc advise!

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

💯

GDO

Politicker

BDM

The point of a collaborative culture is key. If sales sticks togheter and feels like a team a lot is possible. Especially when there is a mix of cultures and seniority.

SADNES5

Politicker

down voters are marketing spies

Mix. Hire the newbies for attitude. Train for skills.

Hire the vets for skill and willingness to share process with newbs.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

thanks for sharing your thoughts, appreciated!

paddy

WR Officer

Director of Business Development

I'd normally say hire veterans but hire hiring fresh reps that are eager for a new company that's also hungry for business is a better match in my opinion

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

Agreed Paddy! sometimes healthy mix of both also works. depends on the case obviously.

taylor

Executive

Strategic Account Executive

I feel like a broken record here... it depends on what you are selling, and the expertise needed to sell it.

Then again, my first sales job was selling extremely complex nuclear instrumentation to SMEs, and I did it pretty well (even though I generally didn't know precisely what I was talking about). Still set some records though.

Echo @SADNES5 here - mix 'em up. Create a fundamentally collaborative environment where people feel empowered to share, not to hoard.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

great thoughts Taylor! Thanks for sharing

SalesHead

Opinionated

Enterprise AE

Since this is an expansion, do you already have some senior reps who have the skills and the capacity to help coach/develop new reps? If so, mix in some young and hungry reps to the team.

But if not, there are so many variables to be considered.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

I've got team of 11 reps already. however we are working on scaling the sales manpower for new service line. appreciate your advise saleshead! Cheers!

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

💪

AssistantToTheRegional

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Hire in pairs, and hire one of each. Have then help each other.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

good point. thanks!

saleskick

Opinionated

Sales Specialist

Depends a lot on your needs but fresh grads proved to be the best hires in my team. Good luck!

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

good point! thanks saleskick!

BlueJays2591

Politicker

Federal Business Dev Director

mixture of both

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

Thanks!

beerisforclosers

Politicker

Account Manager

Just because someone made it through 5 years of sales doesn't mean they have real skills. Just because someone recently graduated doesn't make them hungry.

These generalizations bother me - disregard their age and experience. Hire the cultural fit. The person who checks off the adjectives that describe a company you want to work for. The right people will gel and get to the number.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

great points, thanks for sharing!

Rigeyyy

Opinionated

Account Executive

Fresh grads come in without any biases, makes it a lot easier to teach them

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

Very much agreed! ✅

cmoney15

Good Citizen

Director of Business Development

In the middle of this currently - recent success (last 2 weeks) is recent grads. Seeing a lot want more base with less comp for mid level.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

sounds like a familiar situation hehe. I've been in the last stage of recruitment with 2 fresh grad candidates too.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

Good luck with the recruitment!

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

And most importantly with the retention of those new recruits :xD

cmoney15

Good Citizen

Director of Business Development

Thanks! you as well - presenting an offer hopefully for one first thing in the am

Tres

Politicker

Account Executive

Fresh - train them the way you want them to sell, rather than correcting bad habits or relying on other companies to train them

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

great approach, thanks Tres!

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

Actually correcting the bad habits might sometimes cost twice as much as cooking and training a sales shark from a hungry fresh grad

CCP

Opinionated

VP, Business Development

For large organizations with L&D departments, onboarding content, training programs, etc. Newbs with hunger and attitude all the way. Service industry experience, team sports, etc. are often good indicators in my experience.

If smaller org where you don't have the structure, might want to consider someone with experience. Only problem is that people who are good, with experience, have the golden handcuffs. Gotta dig into why they're "crushing quota" yet willing to take a pay cut. It happens for sure, people leave bosses for example. But probe a lot on this would be my advice.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

👏

CCP

Opinionated

VP, Business Development

And that's assuming you're looking for one. Otherwise a mix is great as per the many comments in the thread. Just don't get a new grad and soon to be retiree if you're hiring two haha

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

Appreciate your thoughts. thanks!

SalesPharaoh

Big Shot

Senior Account Executive

I think there was a similar post. It depends on your company, and goals do you have time to train the reps or do you need plug and play?

For instance we hired 1 experienced rep tk support me and 2 new to the industry who will need training.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

Thnx for sharing!

Simo

Politicker

Director of Sales

I'm surprised to see the even split in polls. I would rather mold a hungry grad than a seasoned rep for almost all positions.

Expect if I am selling to the Enterprise, then the grads are out.

swizard

Celebrated Contributor

Sales Evangelist

Thanks Simo! 👏

Blackwargreymon

Politicker

MDR

Hiring Fresh Grads - hungry to make money

Clashingsoulsspell

Politicker

ISR

Have a collaborative culture where the savages mentor the fresh grads, and the fresh grads pump enthusiasm into the savages.

FlintIronstag

Notorious Answer

Chief Marketing Officer

I've hired fresh grads because they are tabula rasa. You need to look for significant achievements in their personal life that show they have the grit to survive in sales but it's important to be able to train them the way you need for not only them to be successful, but for the company to succeed as well.

Stuntdude

Personal Narrative

Head of Sales

Great question, we went through the same though process. We decided to go in the middle though.

Instead of hiring fresh grads we hiring reps that had experience working remote and at least 1 year of sales experience.

The need less training & already have experience selling.

MR.StretchISR

Politicker

ISR

Mix. Hire the newbies for attitude. Train for skills.
Hire the vets for skill and willingness to share process with newbs.

Mr.Floaty

Politicker

BDR

Does progressive mean kickers/accelerators?

Cyberjarre

Politicker

BDR

the key philosophy behind should be making it worthwhile. the rest are technical elements.

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Hiring Sales Reps - Fresh Grads vs middle level (5+ years/exp)?

What would be your preference for building strong sales department?

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