Your sales team is the life of your business. They are the key driving force behind your success. Their ability to turn leads into sales has a direct effect on your company’s profit margins. When it comes to hiring new members for your all-important sales team there are a few things to keep in mind. Let’s look at some advice from like-minded professionals:

Detailed job description

Having a clear and detailed job description is crucial to finding the right sales rep for the role. No two sales jobs are the same and, therefore, it helps to closely examine existing sales roles and what exactly will be expected from the new sales rep. Will they be required to generate new leads or will new leads be provided for them? What responsibilities will they have in terms of paperwork related to closing new sales? If the new hire knows exactly what is expected from them there is less room for confusion later on. Bear in mind, some sales reps are good at closing deals but not necessarily at finding new leads.

Barking up the wrong tree

Don’t expect quality sales reps to come running to you. Choose the right platform to advertise a vacancy, one that will attract sales reps within the same industry as yours. This will ensure you gain a sales rep with the relevant expertise.

Many marketers recommend advertising but also searching for unique sales reps on career-minded websites as well as on social media platforms. A recent study (“The State of Sales” by LinkedIn), found that 90% of top-performing sales reps use social media, with LinkedIn being one of the top platforms they actively engage on. It makes sense to advertise directly on these platforms, especially LinkedIn, and not only on your own website. In a sense, you have to go out in search of quality sales reps to add to your team instead of them coming to you.

What to look for

Apart from the obvious professional criteria, what should you look for in a sales rep? Whether or not an applicant is the right fit for your company depends on various factors. What motivates one sales rep might not work for another, it is important to establish if your commission or pay structure is in line with what the sales rep is used to, otherwise they might be unmotivated and the relationship short-lived.

Additionally, look out for sales reps with reporting skills or ones that are eager to learn these key skills. The ability to handle your business’ reporting software is essential, especially when it comes to tracking new leads and keeping up to date on sales progress. It is also crucial for when sales reps leave unexpectedly, this way no information is lost, and it will be easily accessible by the rest of the sales team.

Lastly, a good sales rep is the one with good listening skills. The ones who can listen to a problem and then tell you how their product or service will fix that problem. This together with passion are top of the list that makes a good sales rep great.