The Smell of Money

Money Makes the World Go Round, as the song goes. But what makes your first sales hire get out of bed? Are they just motivated by the almighty buck or is something else helping drive their ambition? 

We all have dreams of being the next startup that gets the unicorn valuation of US$1 billion. To begin any business journey, you need to scale up. To scale, you must move past founder-led sales to hiring your first full-time salesperson. 

In last week’s post, we explored how your first sales hire can have a huge impact on your company’s reputation as, after the founder, they are the biggest brand evangelist and brand ambassador. Previously, we looked at the pros and cons of hiring a commission-only salesperson (hint: there are no pros). So, how do you find a salesperson who is motivated by more than money and can help you build and maintain the right relationships? 

That salesperson is a Pathfinder. They have the right set of attitudes and attributes that make a great first salesperson at a bootstrapped tech startup. 

At The Right Five, we have developed a proprietary online assessment and rules engine so that a mass of applicants can be automatically reduced to a handful of Pathfinders that you can interview.

So, what does that mean for you? Of course, salary and bonuses will mean something to a Pathfinder—it does to all of us. Like most people that are interested in working at a startup, stock options are important. We forgo something now in the hopes of a larger payoff. 

For a Pathfinder, those are far from the only drivers. Traditional salespeople, who have an important role to play in more mature businesses, are often focused on the immediate gain, maxing out commissions, and big bonuses quarter-to-quarter. 

The true Pathfinder has a more robust motivation; they are not obsessed with short-term results or more stock. Pathfinders gain personal satisfaction from helping grow an organization, building a sales operation, problem-solving, and helping clients achieve their goals. 

Making a difference is what gets Pathfinders out of bed. 

This is why working for a startup is appealing to them. If Pathfinders were just motivated by money, they could work elsewhere.

So, how do you go about finding these Pathfinders? The Right Five has developed a simple process that allows:

• Quick and painless hiring process: The Right Five automates the candidate assessment/scoring/communication leaving you simply with the selection of those Pathfinders you want to interview.
• Fast on-ramping: Because your first Sales hire needs to be a Pathfinder (the clue is in the name) their need for on-ramping is minimal. It’s their job to develop the repeatable Sales process that will allow you to scale, so they won’t expect red carpet treatment.
• Reduced risk: The Right Five reduces the risk for you because our online assessment/rules engine identifies Pathfinders, i.e the candidates who will be successful as the first Sales hire.

To learn more about how The Right Five can help you get your first Sales hire right, please contact us here.