Episode Details

Do you feel like your agency sales needs to grow beyond you, the owner? Are you having a hard time recruiting and training successful salespeople? Then it's time to start putting the right systems in place in order to build a scalable agency sales team.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• 2 things to be aware of before a sales hire.
• Is it the right time to hire for agency sales?
• Key traits to look for when hiring a salesperson.
• How long until a new salesperson is successful?
• Top 7 take away tips.

Today I got to talk with Wayne Herring, owner of Herring Coach, where he specializes in coaching and consulting business owners who are looking to scale their agency sales team. Wayne is the guy who teaches business owners to hire, train, hold accountable, and basically build their sales team. Today he's giving us tips on how you can do the same for your agency.

2 Important Things To Be Aware Of Before You Hire

1. Owner's advantage. Even if you aren't stating it when you're selling, if you're the owner and you're selling - you have an advantage. Remember that your salespeople will not have this advantage.
2. There are very few superhero salespeople. It is unrealistic to think you're going to hire someone who is going to come in and kill it, right off the bat. Don't look for it, you may never find it.

Is It The Right Time To Hire?

It's hard to know when it's the right time to hire for agency sales, as all agencies are in different situations.

But, I can tell you when not to:

DON'T hire your first sales rep if you're already overwhelmed. If you can't spend time with a new sales hire and you're not prepared to invest a significant amount of time into their on-boarding, coaching, role playing, etc. then you aren't ready to hire.

DON'T hire a sales rep if you don't have systems in place. If you're not prepared to hire, train and retain good salespeople you're setting up for failure.

What You Need In Place If It Is The Right Time To Hire:

You need to have a strong foundation, including a definition of who you are as an agency and where you are going. You need to know this so you can give direction and keep everyone on the same page.

Have a set audience for them to sell to. Every business is not your ideal customer, define this for your new salesperson and set them up for success.

Start small... Give them one thing, one goal, to focus on. Don't overwhelm by throwing the whole shebang at them.

Getting someone oriented and quickly on-boarding them to sell a small first step (such as your foot in the door offer) does a couple of things:

• It helps to prove if this person is going to make it within your agency.
• It helps them feel successful quickly and give them a win to start off.

Traits to Look for When Hiring for Agency Sales

Again, don't go looking for a sales superhero. Instead, help them grow into one.

Another trip-up can be hiring based on gut, without really defining the type of person you are looking for. Think ahead about qualities you need, and don't completely focus on likability and personality, this can get you stuck.

Pay attention to how they interview. Are they running the show? Are they asking a lot of questions? A good salesperson will do both these things! A lot of times we feel like we need to sell our agency to the candidate by telling them how wonderful it is. This is where there needs to be a shift in mindset...

Treat yourself and the interview process as a prospect you would want them to go after. Let them run the conversation, see how they lead and if they follow-up. Let the process demonstrate how they would work with a prospective client. Then decide if there's a fit