A sales hire is a big investment. Make it count.
Recruiting takes time. Onboarding takes time. And when the role, process, and expectations are unclear, the mistakes cost even more.
The checklist helps you identify the sales foundations worth putting in place before your new salesperson starts.
Avoid an expensive false start
When the role, target customer, and lead source are unclear, even a capable hire can struggle. You are left wondering whether the problem is the person or the structure around them.
Don’t lose months to a slow start
Your salesperson should be learning your business and starting to sell, not spending their first few months working out your sales process, qualification criteria and approach to follow-up.
Keep the founder out of the day-to-day rescue work
If ownership isn't clear and there's no consistent way to manage the pipeline, questions, decisions and follow-up quickly find their way back to the founder, just when you expected the new hire to give you more capacity.