Hiring Your First Sales Person

An entrepreneur in town recently reached out to me for advice as he’s about to hire his first sales rep. Building a sales team is no easy task, and hiring successful sales people ranks right up there as being one of the most difficult positions to figure out if someone will work out. Why? Sales people are the best at selling themselves, and not always your product. A great sales person is worth their value many times over.

I’ve written about sales on numerous occasions. Here are some of my posts:

• 3 Tips for Building a Successful Sales Organization
• Hiring Inside Sales Reps
• Some Thoughts on Sales Commission Strategy
• Sales Commissions for Subscription Services
• Sales Training Workshop Topics
• Two Tiered Sales Process
• Preparing for a Sales Call
• Sales Territories and Lead Distribution
• EO Accelerator Sales Day
• Mapping the Sales Process
• Ideas for Sales Proposals
• Sales Reps, Sales Reps, Sales Reps
• Startup CEOs Should Sell Deals
• Determining a Sales Quota
• Sales Focused Cultures
• The Seed Stage Entrepreneur’s Sales Assistant
• Sales Rep as Consultant
• Milestones for New Sales Reps
• Value Added Reseller Plans for Startups

What else? What other advice would you give to someone about to hire their first sales rep?