Things to look for when hiring an entry level sales person

We recently wrote a blog on what some of the key traits to look for when hiring a top sales person . The task is compounded even further when hiring an entry level sales person as these traits are much more difficult to find.

The benefits are that they are cost effective, and you can train them on your systems and methodology. The challenges are they don’t have much if any practical experience and need support, training and mentoring. If you can provide the latter and are ready to work on developing this individual as a professional then your next point of business is finding the right person.

Some great interview questions can be found in an earlier blog. Here are some tips on how to hire for an entry level sales person when the person doesn’t have a significant amount of sales experience or is a recent grad.

• Record of success – the chances of this individual having landed multi-million dollar deals is negligible so look for success in smaller items. It could be successfully running a summer business franchise, exceeding goals and targets at a summer or part-time job.

• Out of comfort zone – look for someone who has shown through their past experience they are not afraid to put themselves out there and try new things they don’t have experience in. We are fans of looking for people who have run Student Painting or Window Cleaning franchises.

• Interpersonal skills – a good sales person generally needs to be personable, easy to speak to and a good listener.

• Like to win - often times it is difficult to know how someone will perform in a business team dynamic so it is helpful to look for those that have participated in sports or school activities on campus.

• Being prepared – look for a candidate that has been to your website, comes prepared with questions and has material to take notes on whether this be paper or digital device.

The list above is by all means not one that is exhaustive but hopefully it gets the thought process started. For more information about Venture Accelerator Partners, please visit our website and contact a member of our team for answers to your sales, marketing and social media questions.