B
B

Brave

AE

Contributor
Fire Starter
Old School Bravo

Steps to follow before hiring a sales team in the US

We are planning to hire our first sales team 2 SDR, 1 AE in the US by December.

  • What are the things I should look for?
  • How to validate if they are who claim they are and what they accomplished?
  • What kind of tests I can run?
  • Questions to ask
👥 Hiring
19

36 comments

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CuriousFox
WR Officer
9
🦊
@poweredbycaffeine is our resident builder
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
7
☕️
Dude is trying to build a house with hot Cheetos wrappers.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
5
🦊
Mane the cheddar jalapeno ones dipped in queso will change your life 💯
GDO
Politicker
1
BDM
we do not even have these things over hehe
HVACexpert
Politicker
1
sales engineer
Wtf..
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Great. Now I'm craving queso.
jefe
Arsonist
3
🍁
Okay I have NEVER heard of dipping cheetos in queso but now that's all I can think about.
DAMN YOU FOXY
CuriousFox
WR Officer
3
🦊
I like what I like 🦊
oldcloser
Arsonist
7
💀
These are really basic questions. Have you hired anyone in your own backyard?

Either way, always run a coronary plaque test. You don’t want to hire someone about to drop dead. Also, certainly a pregnancy test, same reason. Run a DNA test to make sure there’s no relation to anyone who works in marketing.
Brave
Contributor
2
AE
By validate I meant is their claims that they have crushed 120% quota. Not biological tests. Sorry if it sounded like that
Brave
Contributor
0
AE
Question was - what tests you give him ?
oldcloser
Arsonist
2
💀
You write your job description, then ask for behavioral exercise as part of the interview process. You simply ask them to perform a small part of the role with you, live. Run a Google search for situational interview questions. They usually start with “tell me about a time when.” You add the rest, like: dealt with a difficult customer and resolved their issue.

You could send them to your website and ask them to sell you own product on the spot. Lots of resources online for this.
ChumpChange
Politicker
2
Channel Manager
Spot on! I've done this a couple of times and I've had quite a handful of candidates glitch on the call.
Brave
Contributor
1
AE
As I mentioned we had not hired sales person so far. All sales were founder led
jefe
Arsonist
1
🍁
Dude you're killing me with these
Juancallclose
Catalyst
1
Director
dying. as in dying laughing, not actually dying, at least I hope not.
PineappleYa
Opinionated
4
AE
Honest, open conversation. LI… check for references given on LI-verifies… and follow your gut.
Gasty
Notable Contributor
4
War Room Community Manager
@bravadoben / You might want to talk to @Brave here about Flex!
Brave
Contributor
0
AE
I am willing to experiment for sure
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
3
☕️
Are you hiring the team as an AE?
Brave
Contributor
2
AE
No, I am a founder. Ran founder led sales, looking to scale
braintank
Politicker
0
Enterprise Account Executive
Do you have the pipeline to support a full time AE?
Brave
Contributor
1
AE
Yes, we have found ICP, and a repeatable process. And pipeline is ready
braintank
Politicker
0
Enterprise Account Executive
Any US customers?
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
1
☕️
How many deals have you closed YTD?
What is the cycle length?
ACV?
What is the TAM in the US/North America?
pirate
Big Shot
2
🦜☠️ Account Executive
That's interesting! I'm based in EMEA but I guess what I'd ask myself is how I'd build a region up, questions targeting my experience in closing deals and my relationship, do I know what it takes to start from scratch, how would I handle most of the team (order ops, management, deal desk, engineering etc.) being in a different time zone. Most of all also a question to you on what you would do to enable that US team, how'd you make sure they succeed, how long would you give them to be successful and what happens if not. I'd be interested in hearing how this progresses.
Brave
Contributor
1
AE
My questions exactly. What would be their expectations on salary and commissions, what would be ideal mix, what other access will be needed. Goal is to make it work. We are running a tight ship so far and want to avoid mistakes.
Someone suggested 2 SDR, 2 AE too. That way there is a competition and less room for complacency. With 2, we can check either process we found is working or person is not performing. If both are not able to convert, process needs to change. If one is closing and one is not, then it is person issue. Considering this suggestion too too.
Pachacuti
Politicker
2
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
Your goal might be best met by Bravado Flex.
Brave
Contributor
0
AE
I will explore that, thanks
SonnyVaccaro
Good Citizen
2
Growth Lead
To me, personality is a huge piece so I use Gallup Strengths or something similar. I also need to know that they can work independently as they are in a different time zone etc. so I would need to have them explain how their managed their day and tasks. I’d focus on hiring people that are on the senior side of these roles as they can see this as a building/growth opportunity.
sketchysales
Politicker
1
Sales Manager
use an agency, you will get garbage in and garbage out without
usedpeoplesalesman
Good Citizen
1
Recruitment Consultant - Sales
Definitely no bulletproof method to this. Most HM's I work with bring on people through their network initially.
popejuatpaul
Executive
1
Sales
Darn, good luck finding people by December. Recruitment firms could be useful. There are also lead gen / outsourcing companies that handle all the busy work involved in vetting and ramping new SDRs.
AnchorPoint
Politicker
1
Business Coach
1. Don't even waste a minute on looking at a resume before they pass a sales assessment.
Brave
Contributor
0
AE
What steps do you have for sales assessments?
ApocalyBoom
Politicker
1
Account Executive
Honest and open dialogue. LI... refer to the recommendations provided in the LI... certificate and follow your instinct.

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