At some stage, a software start-up will feel the need to hire sales people. It’s a natural step to take in the growth of any company. After all, hiring sales staff frees up the start-up founder to focus on other important things, such as product development or simply the small business of ‘running the company’.

However, taking this step too soon can be a costly mistake to make. Software start-up founders should start their selling journey, not by hiring somebody else to do it for them (at least, not initially) but by experiencing what it is actually like to sell their product or solution themselves.

Many technical start-up founders are inexperienced in sales and it often takes them well out of their comfort zone – but it is well worth doing. Put simply, selling to customers is the best possible way of discovering the problems they need to overcome and how successful your product could be in helping them.

In the early stages, there is much to be learned and gleaned from sales conversations. These can inform product plans, bringing about important improvements to the product itself.

Hire sales people when you are ready

Once you fully understand the problems your customers face, how you solve these problems for them, what your USP is, and what the acceptable price points are for your product, you are in a good position to begin thinking about hiring sales people.

It’s at this point that a sales person will really prove their worth by developing customer relations and increasing your pipeline of leads.

Having relevant experience in the same field is never a bad thing. However, there are far more important skills to look for than ‘experience’ per se. Intelligence, creative thinking and the ability to build a strong ROI business case are some of the key attributes to look for.

The sales people you should avoid

Steli Efti, Silicon Valley CEO at Close.io identifies three types of salespeople you should avoid: the veteran, the wolf, and the lamb – pointing instead to the ‘ideal salesperson’, an individual who offers a healthy blend of a competitive and compassionate nature. “Like a good parent, they want what is best for the prospect and will stop at nothing to make sure they get it.”

Consider hiring more than one salesperson

On the subject of competition, an excellent idea is to hire not one but two salespeople at the same time. It brings a bit of friendly competition onto the agenda. It also gives you the scope to do more and to try out different things. It creates more data to inform future sales recruiting and means that your business is less dependent on the performance of an individual salesperson.

Are you frustrated by lengthy processes to recruit successful software sales execs? If you’re looking to hire sales talent with proven software start-up and scale-up credentials, get in touch today. After all, our clients come back to us time and time again.