Let’s face the facts; in the coaching space, most people don’t feel that sales are sexy. Most of us love to get a new client and collect our fees, but the process of getting there is often planted firmly on the back burner. We know sales need to happen for us to grow our businesses, but there’s so much other work that needs to be done. Based on this, it makes total sense that we should bring on a sales rep to focus on new business so we can do the other stuff we love, right?
Not likely.
Hiring someone to make sales in your business because you refuse to prioritize revenue-generating activity is like hiring a personal trainer and expecting them to do the push-ups for you. Hiring a sales rep can be powerful for a growing business, but it is not the magic pill that I have come to find many business owners expecting.
To effectively hire a sales rep, you need to be able to hand them your company playbook, call recordings, and call frameworks or scripts. You need to be able to train them on the product, how to speak to your ideal prospect and put them in a state of 100% belief in your product’s ability to deliver. This list doesn’t even include the process of hiring an ideal candidate.
If this sounds heavy, that is my intent.
Hiring anyone is a lot of work. Hiring someone that represents your business to the public, and is solely responsible for generating the revenue that keeps your lights on, that’s something you shouldn’t take lightly.
Thanks to my good friend Mandi Ellefson of Hands-Off CEO, I’ve learned most coaches and entrepreneurs in general need to start by hiring a sales administrator. A sales administrator is someone who helps by removing the administrative tasks from your plate, allowing you to focus on creating more opportunities and close more sales.
What should this role include?
This role may include completing research to identify and gather contact information on ideal prospects for you to reach out to and perhaps coordinating initial outreach to set appointments. The role could also include attending sales calls or reviewing recordings to update your Client Relationship Manager (CRM). Your sales administrator should develop into someone who can take on any task in your sales process that doesn’t directly involve the primary interaction with your prospect.
Why on earth would we create a whole new role here?
For a couple of reasons. First, by dividing up parts of the sales role into admin and client-facing, you allow yourself to delegate most of the heavy-feeling work. As a result, you will tighten up your processes and be able to manage more of the revenue-generating activity yourself by increasing your capacity. The second reason we do this is that you’ve just removed the most commonly disliked parts of the sales role from the sales rep’s perspective. Usually, a sales rep’s strengths are not in line with large amounts of administrative activity. Some of the best salespeople are horrible at updating notes and keeping their day organized.
On the other hand, someone who is very organized and robust in administrative tasks is less likely to enjoy traditional sales activity. Not only can you create better training for your first rep that is specific to client interaction, but you are allowing your future team to have increased capacity. You are creating the space for two typically different personalities to support your company doing what they love, helping you attract and retain better talent due to an increase in job satisfaction.
So, are you ready to hire your first sales rep? Probably not, but using the above strategy will help you streamline your process and increase your capacity, better preparing you for when you finally are ready
Jeremy DeMerchant
Jeremy DeMerchant is a #1 best-selling author, award-winning speaker, and creator of the Momentum 120 Sales Accelerator. Jeremy founded Permission To Sell Consulting Group after two decades of sales and leadership roles for industry giants in telecom, finance and education.
Jeremy DeMerchant
Jeremy DeMerchant is a #1 best-selling author, award-winning speaker, and creator of the Momentum 120 Sales Accelerator. Jeremy founded Permission To Sell Consulting Group after two decades of sales and leadership roles for industry giants in telecom, finance and education.
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