How to Reliably Find and Hire Sales and Marketing Workers

When you want to sell more, faster and better, and keep growing, you may be ready to hire your first sales and marketing workers. Be aware that hiring good salespeople (and, later, marketers) is no walk in the park, and requires more preparation than you might think. The wrong person will be disastrous financially and waste months of your precious time. The right salesperson or marketer, on the other hand, can take your business to new heights.

Below, AZN shares some ways to reliably find and hire new sales and marketing staff.

Understand the differences between salespeople and marketers 


First and foremost, before you even think of hiring a salesperson, you must understand the difference between salespeople and marketers. People often use the term interchangeably but they refer to two different and distinct (but related) business functions. Marketing is generating awareness about your product or service, while sales is about sealing the deal with an already interested client or customer.

Do you need a salesperson or a marketer? 


Essentially, a salesperson won’t magically generate interest in your product or service, and a marketer can’t close a deal for you. You need both, eventually, but you may not need either right now. Use this information to adjust your expectations, and when you create a job profile and screen candidates.  

Harvard Business Review says the majority of small businesses don’t have a formal marketing department at the very beginning. They start with hiring a sales rep or two. Later, they create a sales department and add a marketer as a support role. Only the biggest companies tend to have separate marketing departments.  

Get your house in order


Now that you know if you need a sales rep or marketer (and what you can expect from them), you need to lay the groundwork for them to operate. Hiring a person won’t automatically generate more revenues for you – you need to fit them into an existing process. Ideally, Single Grain notes that founders should close at least 10 sales themselves before hiring someone.  

Keep in mind that even experienced salespeople need to be briefed and require tools like a script, a playbook, software, and help and guidance. They will be able to refine and improve your process later, but they need some structure initially – which only you, the founder, can provide.  

Define your business goals and the work profile 


Next, be clear about the business goals you want the sales rep (or marketer) to achieve, and create a work profile in line with them. A work profile, unlike a job description, is an outline of your worker’s day-to-day schedule. What do you expect him or her to do and how? 

If you’re just starting and you’re unsure about your business goals, create a junior-level position, look to competitors and successful companies for inspiration, start small, and experiment. Some typical sales goals companies try to achieve are increasing revenues and boosting customer retention rates. Try to get a process going.   

Consider the pros and cons of freelancers and full-timers 


You have the choice of hiring freelancers and full-timers. Freelancers are flexible, high-quality, cheap, and can hit the ground running. Conversely, they can quit on you any time, and aren’t always easy to fit into traditional work structures. Full-timers can be trained and are easier to manage, but startups can’t always afford the best ones. A marketing agency may be a great middle-ground of affordability and competence.    

Sell and advertise the open position 


To capture the interest of high-quality candidates, you will have to sell the job position and come across as a reputable employer. This will involve writing a great job description, advertising online and locally, and having a credible, professional presence (both offline and online). It may also involve setting up social media profiles and creating blogs and video content. Luckily, you can advertise the position for free via social media. Use high quality pictures to promote the job opening. If the photos are too large, it helps to brush up on how to use a quick image resizer to reduce the size of a graphic for your social media platforms like Instagram or Twitter. 

Pick the candidates that you trust  


You will need a hiring process to screen incoming resumes and candidates and vet them. If you’re a typical start-up, you will be short on cash, and won’t always be able to attract the most experienced people – that’s why you need to be doubly careful about who you hire. Experience can be gained, and knowledge can be imparted, but you need a solid foundation to build on. As a rule of thumb, the best candidates are the ones you can trust.  

What to look for in your potential hires 


Salespeople and marketers have different roles, as we mentioned previously, and so require different personalities. Salespeople will be interacting with your clients and customers. What kind of people do you want to represent you? Usually, as Business News Daily explains, the answer for most businesses is someone charming, engaging, a team player, and can hustle. Marketers are usually analytical people, data-driven, and don’t always need the best people skills.

Stay organized through onboarding

 
You’re likely going to be sending a lot of paperwork to your new hire, so have a plan to keep documents in order. You’ll look more professional if you compress PDF files into a single file so you’re not overloading their inbox or sending multiple files all at once. As soon as paperwork is returned, file hard copies and categorize and store digital copies. 
Set your new hire up for success

In addition to providing any necessary hardware and software, make sure your new employee has access to helpful tools like project management and communication apps. If you aren’t currently using these types of applications, now is the time to do so, especially if your new hire will be remote. Be sure to also implement a simple way for your employee to track their time. 

We won’t lie – you may not succeed in finding or hiring the best people the first time, or the second. Good sales and marketing teams, like all other teams (and processes), aren’t built in a day. Go easy on yourself and see it as a work in progress. You learn from your failures as much as your successes. Keep at it and you will succeed.   
This article was written with the help of Julia Mitchell,

info@outspiration.net

AZN has been dedicated to custom application development and consulting services since 2004, specializing in FinTech, Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing, Analytics, Mobile applications, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Blockchain development. Contact us today for more info! 202-609-7753 ext 101

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