Hiring Salespeople: How to Find the Best Rep

Hiring the right salespeople is a necessity for sustained small business growth and success. The process can seem daunting, especially if you’re not used to hiring salespeople. This guide will simplify the process, breaking it down into digestible steps to help you hire a sales representative, build a sales team, and ensure they align with your business goals.

The fastest approach to hiring salespeople is by using a vetted job posting platform like ZipRecruiter. Apart from posting to over 100 job boards with a click, it also uses Smart AI matching technology to find you the best-fit candidates for your role. Try it out today and make hiring smarter, not harder.

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7 steps to finding the right sales rep for your business.

Step 1: Create a Job Description

When hiring an employee, especially for a sales position, first outline the specific responsibilities, skills, and qualifications your ideal candidate must have. This allows you to break down the core components of the role, letting you easily craft a comprehensive job description.

A well-crafted job description serves as a foundation for attracting the right talent by clearly stating what you expect from the worker and the qualifications you expect them to bring to your business. Download our job description template and tailor it to your needs.

For some examples of what to include, you can use the bullets below.

Job Duties:

Engage with potential clients to understand their needs
Conduct market research to identify new sales opportunities and understand competitor products and offerings
Prepare and deliver presentations on products and services to potential clients
Achieve monthly, quarterly, and annual sales goals through effective planning and implementation of sales strategies
Maintain strong relationships with clients by providing support, information, and guidance

Qualifications:

At least two years of experience in sales
Proven record of achieving and exceeding sales targets
Strong proficiency in using CRM software
Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills
Ability to work independently, prioritize tasks, and manage time effectively

Consider including the sales targets in your job description. These give you and potential candidates a transparent view of what success looks like on your team. While you may only discuss these at the interview stage, having these ready now will alleviate any challenges and setbacks later.

We recommend not including educational requirements. Instead, try skills-based hiring. It’s a more effective way to hire people, while not missing out on candidates who may not have obtained an arbitrary degree.

Step 2: Decide How to Compensate Your Sales Rep

There are several ways to pay a sales rep, but the most common is to provide them with some kind of base pay (salary or hourly), along with some pay that’s based on performance, such as a bonus or commission. This will vary by industry and sales rep experience, so make sure you’re considering all relevant factors when determining a commission structure.

For example, retail employees may make a flat dollar amount for every item sold, whereas software salespeople may make a percentage of the first year’s deal value. No matter what you decide, we recommend setting a policy where you only pay a commission after a customer or client has completed their payment.

Hiring sales reps for commission-only jobs is good in some industries where representatives already have a book of business or for deals that pay large five-figure or more commissions. Some sales reps avoid commission-only jobs as they realize that building relationships takes time, and they’ve got to have the means to pay their bills in the interim.

If you decide to compensate your sales rep based on commissions, there are several ways to do it. Read this article on the different sales commission structures to discover which one fits your business the most.

In general, commission-only jobs are legal in the US, according to the Department of Labor, as long as the employee’s compensation meets or exceeds the state’s minimum wage. Workers in commission-only positions still expect to make large sums of money. While the amount a person can make will vary based on the industry, commission-only salespeople are attracted to high-value industries and will expect to make six figures or more.

Paying your salesperson a base salary can provide for their income needs but doesn’t incentivize them to work harder or cultivate relationships. These jobs are often inbound sales jobs, in which the sales rep takes and attempts to close deals for incoming calls but doesn’t necessarily hit the pavement looking for new clients. Average sales rep salaries run about $63,000 annually, but the range varies substantially based on the industry.

Hourly pay is another way to pay sales reps, with hourly rates averaging about $30. These positions are often found in industries where the items being sold are lower in price but higher in volume.

For example, your soap business may choose to hire a sales rep to help customers choose the best products and scents. Or, you may want a sales rep to work with you on weekends, selling artwork at craft fairs or sampling food products at the farmers market.

Bonuses are considered incentive pay. It’s a dollar amount of pay above your employee’s salary that’s based on some criteria. It’s used to inspire your sales rep to focus on selling a particular item or reaching a sales target. For example, you may pay your retail furniture clerks a bonus of $50 for every sofa they sell. Businesses of all kinds use bonus pay to drive desired selling behaviors or to promote certain product sales, though most salespeople expect commissions.

A sales rep compensation package is often a combination of base pay (salary or hourly) and performance pay (bonus or commission). A common mix is two-thirds base pay and one-third incentive pay, but this varies greatly based on the industry and the items and services being sold. That’s because the sales cycle often starts with relationship building—and it may take some time before your new sales rep is able to close a deal and begin earning a bonus or commission. In the meantime, they’ll need money to pay their bills.

A common way to start new high-value salespeople on your team is to offer a draw, a type of combination compensation structure. A draw gives your salespeople a base salary that’s drawn from their commission. This allows the salesperson to receive money upfront while also being incentivized by the potential for future earnings. You can require that the draw amount be paid back when commissions are paid.

Say you have an employee who has several deals in the pipeline but none have closed yet. You can pay them $2,500 this month, drawn against their future commissions. Next month, one deal closes worth $10,000 in commissions for the employee. They’ll receive $7,500 in pay ($10,000 minus the $2,500 draw).

Due to state-specific legalities regarding minimum wage and overtime, consider working with an HR consulting service to help you establish your sales representative compensation package.

For a more in-depth look at salary vs hourly pay, check out our comparison article.

Step 3: Post the Sales Rep Job on a Job Board

Once you’ve got your job description written and are clear on how you’ll pay your sales rep, it’s time to start sourcing potential hires.

The best approach would be to ask for referrals from your current staff or from those in the industry. They can typically point to specific individuals they know will perform well in sales, and you’ll typically find sales reps that others can vouch for. For the easiest time, it’s best to set up an employee referral program—this incentivizes referring with a small bonus.

If you don’t have connections to tap into, the standard approach would be to post on a job board. You’ll start by creating a job ad and posting it on some platforms. You may consider a sales-specific job board like SalesJobs (focused on general sales positions) or Sales Trax (focused on tech sales)—or use our top recommended job posting website, ZipRecruiter.

How ZipRecruiter Can Help

To help job seekers assess their qualifications when applying for a job, ZipRecruiter (shown below) allows you to add pre-screening questions. For example, you can ask candidates about their years of selling experience, industry expertise, or level of education. You can also set up common and specific interview questions to automatically send to candidates who apply for your job. Learn more about it in our ZipRecruiter review.

With ZipRecruiter you can mark any question as a ‘deal-breaker’, meaning the system will automatically hide candidates that do not meet your requirements.

You can select from a list of questions provided by ZipRecruiter or write your own, including multiple-choice questions.

Step 4: Screen the Sales Representative Applicants

Beyond using the pre-screening questions available on some job boards, there are additional approaches when screening candidates for your open salesperson role. When analyzing resumes, focus on key indicators that signal a high-quality employee. Look for a proven track record of sales achievements, like exceeding sales targets or winning sales awards. Experience in similar sales roles or industries can indicate a quick adaptation to your business.

Here are some examples of key bullet points to look for on a resume. You’ll need to verify these claims later in the hiring process.

Exceeded sales targets by X% within Y months
Consistently ranked in the top X% of sales team
Grew customer base by X% through strategic partnerships and networking
Implemented a sales strategy resulting in an X% increase in revenue

To further narrow your candidate list, you can set up a quick call to assess the candidate’s sales experience. Prepare a set of questions you’ll ask each candidate—you can use our top phone interview questions as a guide. These should cover their most significant sales accomplishments and the strategies they used to achieve them. You can also ask about how they handle rejection and maintain persistence.

Step 5: Interview the Sales Rep Candidates

Conducting an interview with your top three to five candidates is one of the best ways to get a sense of the job seeker’s temperament and people skills when you’re hiring a sales rep. Ask them questions about situations they’ve encountered, such as how they have overcome pricing objections or what to do when a client says they need to get the OK from their partner first.

If you haven’t established it yet, check out our how to interview guide. We provide a checklist to get you prepared before setting your interview schedule.

We recommend having set questions to ask each candidate so you can evaluate them fairly. Just make sure to avoid any illegal interview questions. Here are some questions to consider using:

Can you describe a time when you turned a no into a yes with a difficult prospect?
Tell me about a sale you’re most proud of. What was your strategy?
How do you manage to meet your sales targets during a market downturn?

When hiring a sales representative, it’s a good idea to use role-play exercises too. Role-playing helps you assess a candidate’s real-time sales skills. Consider these situations:

Cold Call: Pretend I’m a potential client you’ve never spoken to before. How would you introduce our product and pique my interest without losing my attention?
Handling Objections: Present a common objection like “I’m happy with my current vendor, why should I switch to you?”
Closing: Imagine I’ve shown interest in the product but am hesitant to commit. What would you say to close the deal?
Upselling: Assume I’m an existing customer. How would you introduce a more premium product without alienating me or making me feel unsatisfied with my current solution?
Post-Sale: After a successful sale, how would you follow up with me to ensure I’m satisfied and encourage repeat business?

You don’t need to go through all these role-playing scenarios. Tailor one or two role-playing scenarios to the specific sales position you’re looking to fill.

To ensure fairness and avoid discrimination, we recommend using an interview scorecard for each candidate. This is best for roles interviewed by more than one person, such as an HR rep or a department manager. We’ve provided several examples in our article on interview evaluation scorecards that you can download and customize for your sales rep interviews.

Step 6: Negotiate Terms & Put the Job Offer in Writing

Expect negotiations. That’s why we recommend calling your chosen candidate to discuss the offer details. If a candidate requests a higher salary, consider if there’s room to increase their base salary. If not, offer alternatives like a higher commission, a sign-on bonus, and even additional vacation days.

Once you’ve settled on terms, then put them in writing. Your offer letter should clearly outline the job title, base salary and any draw requirements, commission structure, and any benefits. You also need to specify the start date and give the candidate a firm date on when to return the signed offer letter. For an easier time, use our employment offer letter template—just fill it out with the details you’ve ironed out, and you’re good to go.

Step 7: Hire & Onboard the Sales Rep

If you use an ATS, hiring can be simple. You can send the candidate reminders, along with the forms that they need to sign and documents they need to review. If all hiring is done in-house, use a checklist to make sure you don’t forget to gather the proper paperwork for your new sales rep, such as their W-4 tax withholding forms or I-9 documentation. Read our guide on creating a new hire checklist for more details—we also provide a free downloadable to get you started.

To equip your salesperson for peak performance, your training program should be tailored to their sales role. Consider these training ideas:

Product Knowledge Workshops: Hold in-depth training sessions that focus on the features, benefits, and unique selling propositions of your company’s products or services.
Consultative Selling Skills: Teach sales representatives, especially more junior ones, how to become trusted advisors to their prospects by understanding needs, offering solutions, and building long-term relationships rather than focusing solely on transactional sales.
Negotiation: Provide courses designed to improve negotiation skills, enabling salespeople to close deals more effectively while preserving profit margins and customer satisfaction.
CRM: Comprehensive training on your CRM tool will help your salesperson effectively manage and analyze customer interactions and data.
Sales Process: Providing clear instructions on your company’s sales process, from prospecting and qualification to closing and follow-up, ensures consistency and efficiency in sales efforts.
Communication: Train them to enhance the ability to communicate clearly, confidently, and persuasively, both in one-on-one situations and during presentations to larger audiences.

Check out our sales onboarding guide for a more in-depth read on how to bring your new sales rep up to speed.

Why Hiring the Right Salesperson Matters

Your sales team directly contributes to business growth. Each representative has the potential to significantly increase your revenue through new client acquisitions and upsell opportunities. Here are some of the benefits of hiring a skilled salesperson in your industry:

Increased Revenue: Salespeople can boost a company’s revenue through their expert knowledge of sales techniques and strategies.
Expanded Market Reach: Salespeople help small businesses penetrate new markets and demographics, increasing the brand footprint and customer base.
Better Customer Relationships: By building and maintaining strong customer relationships, salespeople ensure customer loyalty and repeat business, which is crucial for small businesses in any industry.
Enhanced Feedback Loop: Salespeople serve as a valuable source of feedback from the market, providing insights that can drive product development and business strategy.
Strengthened Industry Advantage: Sales professionals tailor their approach to meet their clientele’s needs and the company’s strategic objectives. For instance, in tech, they can explain complex products to clients, while in retail, they drive customer loyalty and repeat business.

But how do you know how many salespeople to hire? That depends largely on your current size and your growth goals. A small startup might begin with a single salesperson. Consider factors such as market penetration, product complexity, and your existing customer service needs, all beyond your growth goals. Of course, you’ll also need to consider budget and ramp-up time for the employee.

When you think it might be time to expand your sales team, look for key factors, like leads remaining uncontacted, missed opportunities because of a lack of follow-up, or current staff being overwhelmed and unable to devote adequate time to client relationships.

Bottom Line

Hiring a sales rep is an important process that requires careful consideration. You need to pinpoint what they’re going to be selling and how they will be compensated, post a job, interview, and choose the best candidate. To streamline your hiring journey, consider using an ATS, which can manage these steps for you—saving time in the long run. If you need more assistance, check out our sales management guide.

Make sure top-notch candidates apply by posting on ZipRecruiter, an AI-powered recruitment process that helps you match your jobs with the right candidates. With it, you can schedule your interviews, document your feedback, and even make notes about which candidates appear to be most promising. Try it free today—get one step closer to finding quality hires fast.