Lots of good stuff here from everyone. Thank you for the input -- it has given me plenty to think about and work with

Sart with:

1. A great company with stellar customer commitment
2. A great product that works and has a solid ROI or sales justification
3. A great commission plan with no cap

Great sales people are money motivated and understand without a great company and great product behind them it's a difficult proposition. Great sales people can sell effectively without the elements above but they'll leave in short order as they always have choices. I founded a software company whose sales people were highly motivated that was eventually acquired by IBM for $200m - then spent a few years at IBM whose sales folks were not highly motivated. Most recently I was a senior exec of a small startup that grew rapidly and was acquired by a huge corporation for $300m - yet again we have highly motivated sales personnel and the acquirer's sales team was/is not highly motivated.

Try to pick out the very top sales people from other companies in your industry and get them. If they're reasonably successful in a very large company then pass - if they've been very successful in a start-up environment, get them.

Good luck.

Agree, lots of good advice. However, I didn't hear anyone speak to the need to match your employee to your clients. As you have an applicant sitting in front of you, imagine him sitting in front of the typical client, if there is such a 'persona', so to speak. If you want your clients to feel at ease and trust your salesperson, this is key.

Second thing, successful sales people are actually hard to come by. Most people don't have the right personality or personal habits. You need people that are PROactive types, not REactive types. 95% of the population is made up of people that are REactive to work that comes to them. Very few are capable of finding work and turning an encounter into a transaction. Look for evidence that your applicant has exhibited personal drive or ambition that led to success. Look for someone that is at ease with people and has good humor with a little bit of the gift of gab. They are problem solvers and look for innovative ways to seek out the people they can help using your company's services.

Follow those two principles and you will find the right person.

Greg

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If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020

Have your engineers interview them and hire whichever one they like the least.

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Fester from Detroit, Mi

that's some funny shit right there.

I think the objective is to grow the business, not kill it.