Before You Hire, Sell Yourself

No founder should hire salespeople before they have personally sold the product or service. You need to understand the sales process, common objections, and what resonates with buyers. This knowledge becomes the foundation of everything you teach your team.

Hire Two, Not One

Your first sales hire is a coin flip. You have no way to know if poor results are because of the person or the process. Hiring two reps simultaneously gives you a comparison point and creates healthy competition. It also protects you if one does not work out.

What to Look For

For early stage businesses, hire for hunger and coachability over experience. Someone who has sold a similar product at a big company might struggle in a startup where they need to build their own pipeline, create their own materials, and handle rejection without a support team.

Look for people who ask great questions during the interview. If they are curious about your business, your customers, and your challenges, they will be curious during sales conversations too.

Build the Foundation First

Before your reps start, have these ready: a clear ideal customer profile, a basic sales process, product training materials, a CRM set up with pipeline stages, and at least five case studies or customer stories. Sending reps out without these is setting them up to fail.

Compensation Structure

For early stage businesses, a 50/50 split between base salary and commission is standard. As your sales process matures and becomes more predictable, you can shift toward a higher commission percentage. Make sure on target earnings are competitive for your market and industry.

Start With Commission Only Agents

If you are not ready for the commitment of full time hires, commission only sales agents offer a lower risk way to build sales capacity. Zepys connects businesses with experienced agents who work on pure commission, giving you time to validate your sales process before committing to full time salaries.

Manage Actively

New sales teams need daily coaching, weekly pipeline reviews, and monthly performance evaluations. Do not hire salespeople and leave them alone. The first six months of a sales team's life require the founder's direct involvement to build culture, refine messaging, and establish standards.