Where to find sales people

[Craig]

I am trying to employ a junior/entry level sales and business development person for my SaaS. A go getter graduate would be ideal. So far I have tried Seek, GumTree, Silicon Beach Jobs, personal contacts but am struggling to find anyone remotely qualified.

Where do you suggest looking?

Craig

[Shane Greenup]

Is this one of those 'entry level' positions where you want someone with 2-4 years experience?

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[Craig van Nieuwkerk]

Ideally it would be someone with some experience but if they have the right skills and attitude maybe not required. For example if someone from within the industry we are selling to wanted to get into sales we would probably consider them. 

The problem so far is we can't find anyone remotely qualified, we have had dishwashers and baby sitters apply. It seems most people think sales jobs, especially if there is a work from home element, consider it to be a scam job.

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[Tom Adams]

LinkedIn?

tom adams
e:tomjadams<at>gmail.com

[Craig van Nieuwkerk]

I haven't used LinkedIn before for jobs, has anyone had success looking for junior level staff?

[Tom Adams]

Yep, well, "mid-level" for sales people & account managers, also for other roles like community management & marketing, oh, and support. So yes :)

Tom

[Craig van Nieuwkerk]

In your experience what kind of money would someone of that level ask for? They wouldn't need to do any support, but the other tasks are pretty much spot on. 

[Nikhil Singh]

University job boards, I know UNSW has one, UTS and Sydney Uni should have something similar ?

I haven’t used it successfully , but assuming you are looking for graduates, it might work ?

Cheers

Nikhil

@Techies

[Tom Adams]

The Loop is also good for jobs involving creatives, or, in a creative industry (e.g. sales for design software).

[Tom Adams]

Ha, that's a tough question, short answer, I'm not sure, I'm on the technical side so can't recall figures sorry. It'd depend on the location, skill level required, and the mix of base vs. commission you're offering. Ask me what developers earn though :)

Tom

[Michael Stone]

Try the ProGrad program at proforce.com.au.

We never ended up using them but I liked the look of their program.

Cheers,

Michael Stone

[Craig van Nieuwkerk]

Thanks, looks like their page is dead though.

[Craig van Nieuwkerk]

Back now!

[Steve Orenstein]

Hi Craig,

I've employed a number of entry level SaaS sales people in my business prior to it been acquired. I had good success with GumTree and also Seek. Just prior to being acquired I had great results using recruitloop.com.au , if you get them to do just the basic work then it's usually not very expensive. 

Typically i was able to get good quality people around the $50-60k PA plus super .... One thing i did learn it's really important to employ a minimum of 2 salespeople at the same time, the competition it creates will have a big impact. You should also be giving them targets and paying a commission... it will help deliver results. 

Cheers, 

Steve  

[Craig van Nieuwkerk]

Spoke to them and it costs $13k for each person they place in your business. A tad rich IMO.

On Tue, May 13, 2014 at 9:36 PM, Michael Stone <mic...@stoneweb.com.au> wrote:

[Tom LeGrice]

Hi Craig,

As a salesperson with 15 year experience the big query for me would be what are you selling, what attributes are you looking for, and what is more important for success for your business?

If it is an entry position, then you might want to assess people from different sales backgrounds who have good selling skills and personality, that you can train in your particular product set. Sales is quite a transferable skill if the person is willing to learn and generally interested in your product/ service.

If your product requires deep technical knowledge, then maybe a younger person who has no sales skills but is passionate about the tech will be enough.

You might already have a salesperson helping you but there are lots of different ways to incent sales people as well. 

Some experienced corporate types will be up for a challenge, but you will have to give them very large commission structures or potential equity investments if they hit certain targets. But if they create a huge return for your business, they are worth it!

Other aspects I would be looking for are : Do you know what the targets are? Whats the likelihood of hitting them? Whats the pipeline like? Is it warm or cold calling? Existing accounts or totally cold? How much support will you give your salesperson in marketing, travel budget and so on?

Happy to have a chat if you want any more input.

cheers

Tom

On Wednesday, 14 May 2014 11:03:43 UTC+10, Craig wrote:

Spoke to them and it costs $13k for each person they place in your business. A tad rich IMO.

On Tue, May 13, 2014 at 9:36 PM, Michael Stone <mic...@stoneweb.com.au> wrote:

Try the ProGrad program at proforce.com.au.

We never ended up using them but I liked the look of their program.

Cheers,

Michael Stone

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[Hugh Stephens]

Hi Craig

Been looking at similar issues myself lately for our new enterprise-oriented solution targeted at HR departments w >500 emps (i.e. larger end of the market) -- come up with an interesting option I'm investigating:

https://elasticsales.com/ (found them through their app close.io which is a pretty awesome CRM too)

competitors are all google-able under "sales as a service"

http://www.thirdcore.com/

http://saasventurepartners.com/

Obviously they're US based which isn't much help if you're planning to sell only in Australia, but could be worthwhile investigating whether there are any similar businesses here in AU. I haven't worked with / experimented / read reviews about them...just found them on a google adventure a couple of days ago.

Could be an op for someone here ;) build some kind of easier-to-access salesforce for the low to mid complexity SaaS apps...if they're hugely complicated you'll obviously always need someone with some extra expertise, particularly if it's technical.

Also posting here to follow the thread more directly ;) curious to see what you find most effective -- LinkedIn has been okay in the past, but we've always had the best results from Seek...students are an interesting prospect, but probably harder to identify the one or ones that are real "hustler" types from a broader student audience, although as people have said -- if they're keen, competitive and have a sales mindset, you have an elastic brain to mould as you please!

Hugh

[Craig van Nieuwkerk]

Thanks Hugh.

We have managed to find someone now which is good, but those sites do look like they could be helpful when we are selling to the US.

Craig

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