How to Stop Sucking at Hiring Sales People with Joseph Fung of Uvaro

2021-09-23

Hire slow, fire fast is a motto we have all heard as startup founders. It makes logical sense but what really happens is quite the opposite. As entrepreneurs we shift into panic mode when we have a need and move quickly to fill the role. Completely missing all the evidence that this person will be a bad hire. Once the person is in the seat, the dread of having to refill a role often leads to concessions made to the detriment of the business. Hiring Slow means investing the time to really make sure the person will be a strong hire. Therefore there should be no need to fire fast. Especially if you really understand who the person ...

Once the person is in the seat, the dread of having to refill a role often leads to concessions made to the detriment of the business.

Hiring Slow means investing the time to really make sure the person will be a strong hire. Therefore there should be no need to fire fast. Especially if you really understand who the person is and gain evidence of the value they add to the company.

Think of each person you hire as being worth $2 million dollars to the company. Changes your perspective, right?

A lot more care and a higher talent bar would be prioritized over just “filling the seat”.

Our guest today: Joseph Fung, Founder & CEO of Uvaro

A tech sales career accelerator, and of Kiite, a sales enablement platform purpose-built to provide sales teams with the information they need when they need it. Joseph’s a repeat Founder & CEO, and with multiple successful exits, and speaks frequently on the topics of sales leadership, diversity, and corporate social responsibility.

Joseph is an expert in sales, startups and building scalable culture.

Today we discuss:

Our mentality around hiring sales people
How to effectively attract & hire high performers

Challenge today?

Hiring for software skills rather than problem solving skills
No internal training- want someone who already doing what you need done
Rely on stereotypes and gut
- Need people who can speak to a bigger variety of customers

Why is this important to the company?

Fix the problem, you can triple the production of 1st year sales reps
- 8 months to ramp, average sales rep only achieves 60% of quota
- Ramp in ⅓ time and drive production to 80% - Training
Churn & burn kills morale
Cash costs are immense on the back end

How do we solve the problem and hire the strongest people every time?

Throw out your job description
- Translate ideal customer to sales job description
- Ideal Customer Profile- go granular
Choosing what & who to hire
- Invest in Revops & sales enablement
- 50:1 ratio Rep to SE is a start => move to 20:1
Mindset
- Treating the organization with respect
- Thinking is you solve the problem by hiring more people
Interview
- Culture fit interview - “Is this someone I want to have a beer with?” not
- Turn it into a behavioral interview - what behaviors demonstrate values alignment

Rick’s Nuggets

Performance metrics are most critical component today for job descriptions today
- Accountability up front
Understanding a person’s positioning
- Transactional Sale VS. Enterprise/Solutions Sale
- Resources available
- Builder, Improver, Maintainer
Uncovering the impact that has been made in their current/former position
- Save time, increase revenue

Key Takeaways -Value: