If management is the head of a company and production its muscles, the sales sector is its heart, pumping oxygen to the other two branches.

Sales are a company’s sap and, if this is a small or medium enterprise, selling quickly is its only chance to survive. Small businesses, indeed, tend to fail during their first 5 years of life. This is why they need to hire a sales representative, but how can they choose one?

Why and how to choose a sales representative

The entrepreneur giving birth to a new business must surely be pliable and able to manage the company’s executive, productive and commercial sectors at the same time. But there will come a time when being the only person the enterprise hinges on means losing competitive advantage.

This is the moment to hire at least the most important figures for new businesses. Among which the sales representative, so here you are some tips:

  1. few but good: a young business must hire, indeed, but in a sensible way, thus you won’t need an army of sales representatives, but rather one or two, whose ability to create leads must be checked. Be it through word of mouth between you and your trusted clients, suppliers or bankers, or through advertisements, what really matters is to find out how good their experience is and if they can communicate well. Therefore ask them many questions;
  2. cost optimisation: sales representative are expensive, then a recently born company shouldn’t hire too many of them, but rather only as many as are required to sell and stay in contact with clients. And thereby sparing money to be invested in expanding into the market;
  3. ready to grow: when you start catching a glimpse of good results, that’s the right time for another investment, i.e. for hiring other sales representatives.And if you aim at foreign markets, you’ll need a representative whose expertise are the international markets;
  4. making revenue: a small business cannot afford to lose its reputation. This is the reason why finding sales representatives who love your product and are able to convey their enthusiasm is fundamental. You should therefore look for someone who makes all the difference on the phone and manages to make revenue and to be paid.