How to Hire a Sales Rep Who Drives Profits Consistently

Finding the right sales representatives can deliver long-lasting benefits for a managed service provider (MSP) and its customers. 

However, adding qualified sales reps to your team often challenges even the most diligent MSP. 

So what does it take to employ talented sales reps who can help your business drive revenue growth day after day? 

Here are three tips to help MSPs hire sales reps who drive profits consistently:

1. Learn from your customers.

A customer may serve as your best resource, particularly when it comes to hiring and retaining sales talent. 

Remote monitoring and management (RMM) software provider Continuum pointed out that an honest, upfront discussion with your customers about your current sales process may provide valuable information you can use to improve your sales process.

Plus, you can use this data to learn more about the environment a sales rep likely will encounter and find applicants who can thrive in this setting consistently. 

“Discuss your managed services provider’s sales process with your existing clients. This not only helps accurately define the sales environment your representative should expect, but also what approach is more likely to sell your services to potential customers,” Continuum wrote in a blog post. “This strategy will improve your chances of choosing an MSP sales rep that’s a good fit for your existing methods and business philosophy.”

2. Determine if a candidate will fit with your company’s culture.

Each company’s culture is unique and it is important to determine what a candidate brings to this culture before he or she is hired as a sales rep. 

Ultimately, you’ll want to find a sales rep who is comfortable working with your team, interacting with customers and willing to do everything he or she can to promote your services. 

“It doesn’t matter how successful [sales reps have] been,” Adam Slutskin, chief revenue officer at RMM software provider LabTech Software, wrote in a blog post. “If they don’t align with your culture, their past successes won’t carry over into your company.”

3. Understand how a sales rep will support your company.

The role of a sales rep at your company should be clearly defined, and with a sales rep “profile” in place, your business can try to find candidates who can meet the criteria outlined in this profile. 

“When developing a business profile, the basic questions for MSPs to consider include: Is your business making money? Is it losing money? What’s happening in the geography that you’re supporting right now? Is there capital? Are prospects spending cash or not?” Frank Colletti, vice president of sales at N-able by SolarWinds, told MSPmentor. “Be honest with yourself. When possible, get research data to back up your intuition or conduct a customer audit to get to know why they do business with you and what more they want. From there, make the hard decisions that need to be made about the direction of the business, and possibly the brand you are building.”

Sales rep should support your customers and your brand, enabling your business to meet or exceed its revenue goals. 

And with the right hiring process in place, your business should have no trouble adding talented sales reps to its team, both now and in the future.

What are your thoughts on the process of hiring a sales rep for your business? Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at [email protected].

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