FAQ: Hiring and Managing Salespeople in a B2B Company

Not when you have too much work. When you have a process you can hand over to them.

Most B2B business owners hire a salesperson too late or too early. Too late, because they wait until they themselves can no longer keep up. Then the salesperson walks into chaos and has no chance to get up to speed. Too early, because they don’t yet have a sales system; they give the new person a CRM, a list of contacts and say “sell.”

The right moment is when three conditions are met. You know who your client is. You have a documented sales process, even a simple one. And you can tell the new person what to do in their first week on the job.

If you lack any of these elements, the salesperson will improvise. And they will lose to you, because your improvisation is better. And you will conclude that “you can’t find good people.” Which won’t be true.

Hiring a salesperson is not a solution to a sales problem. It is scaling a solution that already works. If the solution doesn’t exist, there is nothing to scale.

Because they were given a target, but not the conditions in which that target is achievable.

In the companies I work with, the same scenario repeats. The owner hires a salesperson because they can’t keep up with sales. But they don’t hand over sales. They add a person. The best deals they keep running themselves, because “this is an important client.” The salesperson gets the rest: cold contacts, old inquiries, deals the owner couldn’t be bothered to go back to. After three months the comparison of results comes out against the salesperson. Except it wasn’t a comparison on equal terms.

The second mechanism: a target without a path. “You have to deliver 50 thousand a month.” The salesperson nods, because during recruitment it is hard to say anything else. But nobody broke that target down into activities: how many calls a week, how many meetings, how many proposals have to happen for that number to have any chance of materializing. So the salesperson does as much as they themselves consider enough. Usually too little. And they find out after a quarter, when it can no longer be made up.

The third: no rhythm. Nobody sits down with the salesperson once a week to go through the deals. The owner asks “so, anything?”, the salesperson answers “a few things are in progress.” That is not sales management. That is checking the mood.

Before you decide you hired the wrong person, answer one question: did this person get the same things you have? Access to good deals, a target broken down into specific actions, and someone who goes through the pipeline with them once a week? If not, you don’t yet know whether they are weak. You only know they had no way to show it.

I write more about the systemic causes on the company’s side (no definition of a good lead, no qualification criteria, no distinct positioning) in my answer to the question why salespeople don’t close deals.

Give them a process, not “live experience.”

The most common model for onboarding a salesperson in B2B companies looks like this: the new person sits next to the owner, watches how they sell, and after a week is supposed to do the same. That doesn’t work. Because the owner sells intuitively and can’t say exactly what they are doing. And the salesperson can’t copy it, because they don’t have the years of experience behind every move the owner makes.

Effective onboarding looks different.

Week one: the salesperson gets to know the company, the offer and the ideal client profile. Not from a presentation. From conversations with the team, from case studies, from client descriptions. They need to know who we sell to, what problem we solve and why a client would want to talk to us.

Week two: the salesperson learns the sales process. Stages, qualification criteria, proposal template, CRM. They go through the pipeline with the owner. They see real deals, real stages, real decisions.

Weeks three and four: the salesperson starts running conversations with clients. With support at first. The owner attends the meetings but doesn’t lead them. Listens, then gives feedback.

After a month the salesperson should be running conversations on their own. Not perfectly. But on their own. If after a month they still don’t know what to do, either there is no process to follow, or this isn’t the right person.

In B2B service companies a realistic time frame is three to six months.

The first month is onboarding. The salesperson gets to know the company, the client, the process. They start their first conversations. The pipeline is empty or nearly empty.

The second and third months are about building the pipeline. The salesperson generates leads, runs qualification, books meetings. The first deals enter the pipeline. But the B2B sales cycle takes weeks or months, so there are no closed deals yet.

Months four to six bring the first closed sales. Deals that entered the pipeline two or three months ago reach a decision. The salesperson closes their first deals on their own.

Companies that expect results after a month will be disappointed. Not because the salesperson is weak. Because B2B sales doesn’t work within a week. The client needs time to decide. And the salesperson needs time to build up value in the sales process.

One caveat: if after three months the pipeline is empty, the salesperson isn’t running any conversations and has no active deals, that is a bad sign. They don’t have to be closing yet. But they have to have someone to talk to.

In B2B service companies a mix works best. A fixed base plus commission on closed deals.

Commission alone sounds attractive. “I pay for results.” The problem is that pure commission attracts people who think short term. They try to close everything that moves, without looking at client quality or margin. They often also can’t live without a base, so if they don’t have immediate successes they burn out and leave.

A fixed salary alone gives no motivation to finalize sales. The salesperson has comfort, but no impulse to push deals forward. After a few months conversations with clients start to drag, proposals sit there, follow-ups don’t happen.

A mix solves both problems. The fixed base gives security and attracts people who think long term. The commission gives motivation to close.

I also try to reward not only the closed sale itself but intermediate indicators as well. For example booking a discovery call or presenting a proposal.

The proportions depend on the company. In the companies I work with, the typical model is 60 to 70% fixed base and 30 to 40% dependent on results. Commission should be calculated on project margin, not on revenue. Because a salesperson who closes a lot but at low prices isn’t building a profitable company, just generating turnover.

Because the owner has something the salesperson doesn’t. And it isn’t talent.

The owner has years of experience in the industry. They have a reputation. They have a network. They have a deep understanding of the client’s problem, because they lived through it themselves or saw it hundreds of times. They walk into a meeting and in the first minute say something that builds trust. Not because they have a technique. Because they are credible.

The salesperson doesn’t have that. They come from outside. They don’t know the industry as deeply. They have no relationships. The client looks at them and thinks “another salesperson.” And the salesperson has to break through that barrier with something other than the owner’s personal credibility.

That something is a process. A clear path that leads the client from “I don’t know you” to “I want to work with you.” Not based on one person’s charisma. Based on a structure that works regardless of who executes it.

A salesperson will never sell the way the owner does. And they shouldn’t. They should sell differently. Systematically, repeatably, measurably. That is a different quality, not a worse one. But it requires a system that most companies don’t have.

Don’t test sales techniques. Test the way they think.

A salesperson who recites SPIN Selling or The Challenger Sale isn’t necessarily good. They are well read. That is not the same thing. A good salesperson is someone who can listen, ask the right questions and think in terms of the client’s problem, not their own product.

Three things I check in interviews.

First: ask them to tell you about the last deal they closed. Not “how do you sell.” A specific deal. Where did the lead come from? What happened at the first meeting? What did the proposal look like? Why did the client buy? If the answers are general (“well, we made a good offer”), the salesperson doesn’t analyze their own work. If they are specific (“the client had a problem with X, at the third meeting the CFO showed up and changed the criteria, we had to rebuild the proposal”), this is someone who understands what they are doing.

Second: ask about a deal they lost. And why. A salesperson who says “the client had no budget” about every lost opportunity doesn’t draw conclusions. A salesperson who says “I reached the decision maker too late” or “I didn’t explore their situation deeply enough” understands sales.

Third: give them a scenario from your industry. “A client calls and says they need a quote for X. What do you do?” If the answer is “I send a proposal,” this isn’t your person. If it’s “first I ask why now, what problem they have, who makes the decision,” this is someone who sells with understanding.

Five things. Without them even the best salesperson will improvise and lose.

A definition of the ideal client. Not “B2B companies in IT.” Specifically: what kind of company, what problem, what moment, who the decision maker is. The salesperson has to know whom to call and whom to let go.

A sales process with stages. What to do after first contact. How to qualify. When to book a discovery meeting. When to send a proposal. When to let go. The salesperson shouldn’t have to invent this on their own.

A proposal template. Not a PDF with the company logo and empty fields. A structure that addresses the client’s problem: situation, result, solution, terms. The salesperson fills it with specifics, but the skeleton is ready.

A CRM with a clear pipeline. Four or five stages. A field for the next step and a date. The salesperson needs a place where they see their deals and know what to do next.

The owner’s time at the beginning. For the first three months the salesperson needs someone who will review the pipeline with them, give feedback after a meeting, help prepare a difficult proposal. Not hand-holding. Support.

Without these five elements the salesperson has no chance. Not because they are weak. Because nobody gave them the tools.

Before you start motivating, check whether the problem is motivation.

A salesperson who has stopped delivering may have a problem in one of three areas. The environment has changed, but nobody noticed. The leads are worse. The market has shrunk. Competitors have changed their offer. The salesperson does the same as before, but the conditions are different.

The salesperson has burned out. They have been having the same conversations for two years. They see no growth. They feel no purpose. Commission has stopped driving them, because they need something more than money.

The salesperson has let discipline slip. They stopped calling. They stopped following up. The funnel is drying up, but somehow they hide it until somebody checks.

Each scenario calls for a different reaction. For the first: change the conditions, not the salesperson. For the second: give them a new challenge, a new segment, a new responsibility. For the third: talk straight, set expectations and give them time to improve.

The worst thing you can do is give a bigger commission to a person who isn’t taking action and has no new sales opportunities. That is not a motivation issue, it is an activity problem. And activity is fixed with a conversation about expectations and with measurement, not with bonuses.

Before you replace the person, check whether you gave them a system in which they could win.

If the salesperson has no clear definition of the ideal client, no process, no tool support and no regular feedback, replacing them with another person will end the same way. The new salesperson will walk into the same conditions and after three months won’t be delivering either.

The system needs fixing when three conditions are met. The salesperson is active (calling, booking meetings, running conversations). The salesperson follows the process (if a process exists). And still the results don’t come. That is a signal that the problem lies somewhere else. In the leads, in the offer, in the positioning, in the market.

The salesperson needs replacing when: they don’t follow the process despite clear expectations. They don’t take action despite onboarding and support. Or after six months there are no results and no progress whatsoever.

A rule I stick to: if you have replaced two salespeople and both times the outcome was the same, it isn’t a people problem. It is a system problem. A third salesperson won’t help either, until you change the thing the problem is stuck in.

In many B2B service companies one salesperson is enough. On the condition that sales is well organized.

A company of up to 30 people usually doesn’t need a large volume of new clients. It needs a few good clients a year. If the salesperson runs 10 to 15 active deals in the funnel and closes two or three deals a month, the company is covered.

The problem appears when you expect one salesperson to prospect, run meetings, write proposals, do follow-ups, update the CRM and on top of that build and maintain relationships with existing clients, all at the same time. That is too much for one person. And it ends with the salesperson doing a bit of everything and nothing properly.

The solution doesn’t have to be hiring a second salesperson. It can be taking load off the first one. Someone for prospecting and booking meetings. Someone for preparing proposals. Technology and AI for updating the CRM and gathering market knowledge. The salesperson should spend as much time as possible interacting with clients, and less on administration.

One good salesperson with a process and support is worth more than three without a system.

Look at activity, not results.

Results in B2B sales come with a delay. A salesperson with no results today may have had an empty funnel three months ago. Looking only at closed deals is like judging a farmer’s harvest in February. The harvest comes in August. In February you look at whether they sowed.

A salesperson who probably is the problem: doesn’t call, doesn’t write, doesn’t book meetings. Has an empty pipeline not because the leads are bad. Because they don’t generate them. Doesn’t follow up. Doesn’t update the CRM. Shows up to funnel reviews unprepared. Activity is low or zero.

The problem may be in the process when: the salesperson is active. Calls, books meetings, runs conversations. But the deals don’t move forward. They get stuck at the same stage. Proposals go out and then silence. Clients disappear after the second meeting. The salesperson does their job, but something in the system isn’t working. Maybe the leads are from the wrong segment. Maybe the proposal doesn’t address the problem. Maybe the lack of qualification means the salesperson wastes time on bad deals.

The difference is simple. Check activity. If there is activity but no results, fix the system. If there is no activity, talk to the salesperson.