Before you hire again, find out why the last one failed.
It usually wasn’t just the person. It was everything around them. Here’s how to tell which it was, and what to do next.
The short answer. Before you blame the rep, check what they had. A pay plan with a real base. A script, a list and a CRM everyone uses. Targets on what the rep controls, and someone looking at those numbers every day. If those were missing, the next rep will fail the same way. Fix the setup first, then hire again or get your current rep managed.
You’re not the only one. About three in four of our clients had tried a sales hire before we met. That isn’t a mark against them. It’s what happens when a promising hire has nothing built around them.
An employee benefits owner had made three or four sales hires over seven years, and none had worked.
A packaging and supply chain company had tried to build a sales team more than once. The founder was still doing all the selling.
Was it the person or the setup?
Ask three questions about your own business.
What’s in your CRM? If the answer is “we don’t have one” or “a spreadsheet, sometimes,” nobody could see what the rep did, including you.
What were the rep’s weekly numbers? Calls, conversations, meetings booked. If nobody tracked them, you’re judging the rep on a feeling.
Who ran sales, and how often did they look? If it was you, once a month, the rep didn’t have a manager. They had a status update.
If those answers sound familiar, the rep never had a fair shot. Firing them and hiring again resets the same setup with a new name. Abe wrote about an owner who was ready to do exactly that: Fix the system before you blame the person.
Sometimes it really is the wrong person. The numbers tell you which. A rep who did the work and booked nothing has a script or list problem. A rep who didn’t do the work has a management problem, or is the wrong hire.
Five things that may have been missing
The right person. Did you hire whoever interviewed best? A great interview doesn’t mean a great rep. Screen for coachability, work ethic and phone presence.
A pay plan that works. A star’s salary whatever they sold, or commission only? The first keeps a rep comfortable. The second means they leave before they ramp.
A script, a list and a CRM. A spreadsheet and a login nobody opens isn’t a system. The rep needs to know who to call, what to say, and where to log it.
Someone on top of them. “How’s it going?” on a Friday is not management. Someone has to look at the numbers every day.
Coaching every week. “Shadow me for a week” isn’t training. Listening to real calls with the rep, every week, is.
Any one of these missing is enough to sink a good hire.
What to do next
If the rep is still there, get them managed before you decide. Give them the pay plan, the script, the list, the CRM and someone on top of them. Then judge them on the numbers. If you already have salespeople and no one running them, we do that without a new hire: coaching and systems.
If they’re gone, fix the setup, then hire again. Build the comp plan, the script, the list and the CRM before the next rep starts, and decide who will manage them every day. Here’s the order we build it in.
Don’t hire a sales manager to fix it, yet. A sales manager is another full salary and another recruiter fee, before anything is built for the rep. Now two hires have to work out.
If the timing is wrong, wait. You can keep selling it yourself while you fix the setup. If we can’t help, we say so on the first call. Including “not yet,” when that’s the honest answer.
When Icebreaker builds the setup, it stays yours. If the next rep doesn’t work out, you’re not back at square one. The comp plan, the script, the list and the CRM stay with you, ready for whoever comes next.
Hiring again? Read what to build before the next rep starts.