Hiring sales people is one of the more difficult things for startup founders, especially technical ones. Naturally, sales reps are great at selling themselves so they come across as being successful, even if they aren’t. Knowing that it’s considered good if 50% of new inside sales reps work out, it’s important to evaluate progress and results objectively as well as quickly.
Here are five steps to evaluating new inside sales reps after they are hired:
- Set a required number of logged weekly calls and demos with self-reporting of the CRM values in a Google Spreadsheet
- Establish activity-based metrics for months one through six around call conversations, demos, pipeline opportunities, and deals won so that it is black and white to continue employment each month
- Review calls and demos by using a phone system that provides for recording calls (with the permission of all parties involved)
- Compare performance of the new inside sales reps to existing, proven reps and share how they compare on a weekly basis
- Continually ask questions and drill into things the rep should know about the company, product, and market on a weekly basis
Evaluating the performance of inside sales reps after they’ve been hired is easier than picking the right people to hire. Even then, it’s important to clearly lay out the required goals and track the metrics so that the sales rep know exactly where they stand with respect to expectations.
What else? What do you think of these five steps to evaluating new inside sales reps?
David Cummings on Startups 
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