Max Kolysh’s Post

Founders often struggle about when to hire sales reps. Hiring too soon (or too late) can lead to significant issues. But how do you get this right? To start, the company has to have found proper product-market fit. Launching a sales team before PMF is just a waste of time, money and resources. Most of the time, you want to have founder-led sales. However, if the founder is product-focused, you can start with one sales hire. This hire needs to be able to be a future VP of Sales with the organization. However, it's critical that this first sales hire be able to do all the sales on their own. This will allow proper exposure for positioning as the sales assets and process is being tailored. Once sales begin to accelerate on a steady trend, then you can look to begin hiring. Now, if the founder/sales leader-only function is done correctly, the leadership now knows EXACTLY who to hire. Often founders look back and realize that had they hired before this stage, they would've hired the wrong people. Not only are you able to calibrate the proper timing of hiring sales reps, but now you will be able to attack each stage in the sales strategy build from experiential knowledge -- SO important. Hiring too late will not only miss opportunities, but can greatly slow down the trajectory of growth and market capture. I've also seen the fear of hiring cripple a company's growth. An early-stage company is a fragile thing. You can't accelerate too fast, or it can break. But you can't withhold the proper "fuel" needed to grow, or it can die. It's a delicate balance. And if not struck appropriately it can be very costly.

Let’s talk about sales hiring in 2025. Getting it right is everything. A bad hire drains resources, tanks morale, and stalls revenue. But the right one ignites your pipeline and can redefine the standard for your entire team. Sales and sports analogies are overused, but hiring sales talent is like building a championship team. You don’t just need a star putting the team on their back. That’s bad for business, and worse for a sales leader’s commission check. You need skilled players in every position, working together to win. And that starts with hiring intentionally. So, what makes a great sales hire? Charisma or charm? Prospecting skill? Business acumen? Confidence? Maybe it’s none of those. Not every skill needs to come pre-loaded. You can’t teach grit, resilience, and tenacity. You can’t make a new hire intrinsically more curious. But you can teach everything else. So, how do you nail the hiring process? Do you rely on data, not just gut feelings? Look at metrics like past quota attainment or pipeline performance? What about role-play exercises to see candidates in action? Can they pitch your product? Handle objections? Is there a clear feedback loop with recruiters so you can source better candidates? They’re your secret weapon. At the end of the day, hiring for sales is about building for the future. You’re hiring to fill a role, but you’re also building a team to crush quotas. What’s your go-to move for finding top sales talent?

Hiring experienced sales talent is REALLY hard when you're a small company. Why? Because people that are killing it elsewhere, usually don't want to jump ship to come work for your startup. Hard truth, but it's reality. Sure, you could bribe them with equity or a big pay package, but for most companies that's out of the cards. So, you end up hiring or promoting somebody that has a great attitude, loves the company mission, gets along with everybody..... but doesn't REALLY have experience developing a sales department. I see it all the time and there's nothing wrong with it. Do the best you can, with what you have. The issue is these people need mentorship and guidance to grow.... and most of the time they don't get it. Sales tanks, revenue slips and bad things happen. Here's the thing..... for a relatively small amount of money you could have provided that person a mentor to guide them through challenges and work with them every week. Still vastly cheaper then hiring that experienced person.... but waaaay better results then trial by fire. We all learn as we go, but doing it without any guidance is penny smart and dollar stupid. If this sounds like you or your company. Hit me up.... its what I do. Lets support those great people instead of letting them (and your company) die on the vine.

Hiring Sales People? Here’s What You Need to Know! You want big hitting sales people and are offering what you think is an attractive package but you might need to dig a bit deeper to secure the best people. ➔ Base + Bonus + Equity (tokens): I’ve seen so many sales roles that are commission only and although salespeople thrive on incentives, you’ve got to get some skin in the game too. Web3 is an unstable space and a base to cover expenses demonstrates your believe in your company and the candidate you’re talking to. ➔ Show How They’ll Make an Impact: High performers want to know how they can contribute to its long-term vision. Show career progression pathways, whether it being vertical or horizontal. ➔ Offer Training and Development: The best sales people often have had amazing training during their career that has allowed them to thrive - but everyone needs refreshers now and again and offering the right support and nurturing will help them to be even more successful. What you put in you get out! ➔ Recognize Expertise: Sales people LOVE awards and recognition. Make sure you have a way to regularly recognise your top players amongst their peers and they will reward you with striving for the top again and again. The right hire is out there—they just need the right reason to choose you! What problems have you run into when hiring sales people? ———— If you’re ready to transform your sales team and want a no BS conversation about how I can help, DM me Marnie Silver

STOP Hiring Salespeople & Start Hiring Problem Solvers! You've decided you need to hire a sales person. STOP and ask yourself WHY, you're hiring? What challenges are you currently facing and WHY will hiring a sales person solve this? Understanding the "why" is the first step to hiring the best sales professionals To find out how to source the best sales pro's in JUST 7 days watch a training video I recorded on our website - www.salesshpere.io #salesrecruitment #problemsolving #businesstrategy #hiringstrategy #talentacquisition

Hiring a sales person with experience is not going to magically drive revenue growth. This is a gross oversimplification of what is needed to win new business. In order to set a sales hire up for success, consider the following: ▪ Have you successfully replicated a process as the founder (and documented it!)? ▪Do you have marketing support? ▪Have you defined a clear ICP? ▪How do you plan on investing in and developing this sales professional? ▪What will the feedback loop look like to ensure you can stay informed but not overly involved? ▪What will you track and measure to ensure confidence that you are making progress towards your revenue goals? Sales people are not silver bullets. They are however incredibly valuable resources that are only as effective as the foundation you build for them.

Imagine your sales team is struggling. You decide to hire a new sales director. The training takes a month, but the new hire doesn't perform well. It takes six months to realize they aren't a good fit and let them go. Then, you repeat this process, wasting over a year without seeing any growth. Many businesses get stuck in this cycle. They think hiring people doesn't work for them because they’ve had bad experiences. But the truth is, it’s not about the role itself. It’s about finding the right person. There's someone who is perfect for the job. And there's someone who is better than you or anyone else currently in the role. When you know exactly who you need to hire next,  What skills that person should have, Finding these people makes it easier. Focus on the right skills and qualities you need in a role. When you hire smart, you grow fast.

I work with mostly small-midsized companies in the industry and it's often it's a concern if a candidate has only ever worked for big companies. "They won't be scrappy enough to be successful here" "The brand name at their current company closes deals for them" "They've got a huge sales engine behind them, which means they don't have to work hard on lead generation" No question, there are some salespeople that are in cruise control and wouldn't make it at a smaller company. However: The brand is well-known, for better or worse. They might spend a lot of time changing the perception of their prospects on their current company. Most people grossly over-estimate the amount of leads sales are getting at a large company. The truly successful, year on year overachievers are selling just as hard as anyone. There is usually a much more robust internal sales training program at a larger company. They also often to have stricter KPIs and activity metrics. It's a lazy statement to say that people from larger companies can't make the transition. Go deeper with the questioning and you might just find a convincing, well-trained and activity driven salesperson. Who wouldn't want to make that hire?

The hiring process has a lot to learn about the sales process. And the sales process has a lot to learn from hiring. When you interview a candidate, you're mostly thinking about how to qualify them. Do they have the skills, abilities, and aptitudes you need? Will they fit in with the company culture? Can they be successful in this role, in this company, at this moment? When doing early-stage sales, especially as a founder, please make sure you're similarly qualifying your prospects. Nothing will kill your company deader than a bunch of bad customers who don't align with your product vision, require a ton of support and account management time, and eventually churn anyway. But also, when selling at a startup, you're pitching your company vision, access to the founder, and unique perspective on the market as much as anything else. So, remember to do that as part of your hiring process, too. Your best, earliest hires will be bought into the future opportunity, not just the role.

Sales management teams are the reason why companies don’t grow.. Yup, I said it. Sales management’s answer to increasing sales is hire more people and make more calls. Well, that has resulted in single digit growth for many? There is a way to be relevant at scale. Interested? Please schedule a chat.