The Art of Hiring Top Sales Talent in Early-Stage Startups.
Today, I want to talk to you about the process of building an early-stage sales team.
I previously wrote about this topic in April, but since then, a lot has happened. Therefore, I wanted to revisit it and provide you with an updated perspective.
The startup world continues to face challenges, but the rate of layoffs is now slowing down, and there is a slight resurgence in hiring.
Over the past 12 months, we have witnessed remarkable growth in various industries, such as AI, health, and to some extent also in the SaaS software.
Many startups have secured significant funding through Seed and Series A rounds, which may lead to a new wave of hiring in the coming months.
Usually, founders prioritize building products and allocate the initial funds towards hiring engineers.
Once the initial product is developed, the focus shifts to selling it. At this stage, founders typically leverage their connections, such as friends, family, and network, to acquire the first users.
As the user base grows, founders begin to identify the need for additional resources, often driven by increased inbound inquiries and requests.
This is when it becomes essential to consider hiring the first sales team.
Initially, one or two individuals may be enough, such as a founding Sales Development Representative (SDR) and a founding Account Executive (AE).
This is where many founders fail: being unprepared and lacking brand awareness, they struggle to find the right people.
They post the job on LinkedIn and receive applications. They start interviews with poor or no structure, they make decisions based on gut feelings.
As a result, they end up hiring the wrong people, and nothing can be more detrimental than a bad hire.
Especially during the early stages, when you are building the foundation, it is crucial to have A-players.
You need future leaders and talented salespeople who are experienced in the startup environment and can make a significant impact.
Regardless of whether you are a small 3-person startup or a larger 100-person scaleup, it is crucial to approach the hiring process with a mindset similar to that of well-established companies such as Google, Microsoft, or Salesforce.
There are no shortcuts when hiring.
The Interview Process begins with aligning the A-player competencies and concludes with onboarding.
Similar to closing a deal or building a product, it is a structured process.
Begin by screening all the CVs and only invite those that meet your scorecard criteria to proceed with the process.
Here is the full process lined up:
Recruiter Alignment
A-players competencies
Recruiter Interview
Screening Interview
Hiring Manager Interview
Role Play / Task
Peer Interview
Final Motivational Interview
Offer
Onboarding
Recruiter Alignment & A-Players Competencies
First things first. Let’s write down the competencies and skills we are looking for from this hire. The past companies, the experiences, and the personalities we are looking for.
Fill out the A-players scorecard, and check this out if you need help.
Recruiter interview:
This is the first live step with the candidate, the recruiter needs to take the time to understand the candidate’s cultural fit, salary expectations, and notice period.
Additionally, they should assess whether the candidate meets the A-player scorecard criteria.
Screening Interview:
As the hiring manager, your goal for this interview is to screen the candidate’s soft skills, including cultural fit and motivation.
The interview should be no longer than 30 minutes and should not cover technical skills.
Ask the following questions:
What are your career goals?
What are you good at professionally? Please give me some examples.
What are you not good at or not interested in? Please give me some examples.
Who were your last 3 bosses, and how will they each rate your performance when we talk with them (1 is low, 10 is high)? Why?
More on the Screening Interview here
Hiring Manager interview:
I’m a huge fan of the Chronological Interview.
The best way to conduct it is to pick 2-3 of the candidate’s most relevant job experiences and start from the earliest job until the most recent.
Ask the following questions:
Why did you take the job?
What were your roles and responsibilities?
How were you measured, and how did you perform?
What was your favourite thing, and why?
What was your least favourite thing, and why?
What was your boss’s name, and what would he/she say about your strengths and areas of improvement?
Why did you leave?
Let the candidate know it may seem repetitive, but it’s normal.
If you want to dive deeper, check this out.
Role Play / Task:
When building an effective role-play for your hiring role, focus on the future and what the candidate can bring to your organisation.
Pick one part of your sales cycle you want to role-play (i.e. discovery call, demo, proposal).
Provide limited information to the candidate. Offer sources and a deck template if needed. If necessary, provide a demo account for the candidate to use.
Role-play live during the interview, you are the customer/prospect and the candidate is the salesperson.
After the role-play, ask the candidates how they think they did and provide feedback.
If the candidate is defensive or lacks an understanding of their performance, it may be a red flag.
Peer Interview:
We are getting closer to the end and It is important to start getting real.
Choose one of your best team members and invite them and the candidate for a chat.
This is an opportunity for the candidate to ask uncomfortable questions and gain a deeper understanding of the team dynamics and culture.
This can help the chosen team member (interviewer) feel more comfortable and valued, and can also give the candidate a better sense of whether or not the team member is a good fit for the company culture.
Final Motivational Interview
This is the moment when walls should come down and conversation should flow freely, rather than feeling like an interview.
At this point, you should be comfortable enough with the candidate to have a relaxed chat about their motivations.
Challenge them on topics that may not have been covered previously, and try to gain a deeper understanding of their mindset before extending a job offer.
Offer
Finally, document the hiring process using a recruitment tool or Google Sheets. To make the final decision, gather all decision-makers, review all notes and score each candidate against your A-players scorecards. Use your gut feeling if needed, only at this stage.
Onboarding
You have to build a stellar online onboarding. Sales Playbook, Sales Tools, Competitors, Products Deep dive, Sales Goals, General Info. Everything. Make sure to build the best online onboarding ever to have your new hires ramp up quickly.
More on Sales Onboarding here
Summary
Hiring in an early-stage startup is a critical matter. Finding A-players is crucial to drive your company’s progress.
Avoid skipping steps or rushing decisions. Make sure to follow the necessary process to identify, evaluate, and hire the best candidates.
Big corporations such as Microsoft, Google, and LinkedIn are notoriously difficult to enter for a reason. They seek the cream of the crop.
Your startup deserves nothing less.
Thanks for reading this far, see you all next week! Ciao!
