What Kind of Sales Person Do You Need?

The Lead - What Kind of Sales Person Do You Need?

A couple weeks ago Kristen and I had a fun podcast conversation with our friend Eric Beckman to talk about sales hot takes. If you missed it,check it out here.Kristen’s hot take essentially was around the idea that not every PM company needs a BDM, in fact a lot of times it’s the wrong move. There’s a big part of her argument that I agree with. But that’s not what today’s edition is about.

If you’ve decided that you do in fact need a dedicated sales person, I think it’s really important to ask some critical questions around what that role actually looks like. Saying you want to hire someone is great, but you really need to think through some specific questions.

This conversation comes from a common theme I’ve noticed, specifically around outbound. I’ve heard a lot of business owners say things like “My BDM won’t do outbound” or “They just want to work inbound leads”. Well duh, me too. I’d love it if I just had to deal with people who were already interested in what I do.

But this got me thinking about what people actually think their BDM should be doing. In order to set expectations well, you have to have that clarity for yourself first.

Am I looking for lead generation or a closer?

Perhaps the most common misconception people have is that someone with sales experience, can do both of these things well. In many ways these are totally different skill sets. Generating opportunities requires a hunter, someone who is getting rejected left and right. Planting seeds, nurturing leads, networking. A closer is focused on what’s right in front of them - qualified prospects who are in a decision-making process.

Can you find someone who does both? Sure. But it’s hard to find. This is the biggest area of clarity you need to have before even drafting the job description.

What structure are you providing?

Some people love being handed a process, a step by step playbook. Others are more entrepreneurial and want to chart their own path. Are you looking for someone to build it all? Or work within a predetermined system. This will greatly impact the type of person you decide hire. I think both personalities can fluorish, but would also struggle if placed in the wrong situation.

By the way - if you hire the person who is going to go do it there way, you have to be ok with that. Leave room for creativity and risk taking. Trying to rein that in won’t work.

Who owns the result?

The first two questions lead to this one. There’s really two scenarios here.

1. Sales person is a cog in the machine. We produce the opportunities, they work the process. Whether or not we reach our growth goals isn’t solely on this person. They play a critical role, but it’s not all on them.
2. Sales person owns growth at our company. They’re building a department so to speak. We give them resources and support to guide the ship (within reason, and with oversight). But at the end of the day, they own it.

I think most of us would agree, number 2 sounds better. But I don’t think that’s always the case, honestly. If you have a great marketing person, if you crush inbound leads, I actually think scenario 1 is ideal. The reality is the person I described in scenario 2 is harder to find, and more expensive.

If you aren’t clear on the answers to these questions, you can definitely expect challenges. The first one will be knowing where to look, and what questions to ask.

I’m going to do a deep dive on hiring/recruiting later this year with a friend in the industry, so stay tuned.

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