Make the Calls

After years of doing startups, I think we have finally figured out what we want in a sales person. The three of us constants during these years are two engineers and a finance guy. So you can't blame us for being a little dense about sales, well you can and should blame us, who else are you going to blame? Anyway, I think we have finally figured it out.

I have interviewed and worked with countless sales people and for the most part I liked them all. There were a few that I really liked and thought for sure they would be successful. Not a single one, not one was successful. Not even close. Of course there were other factors like unrealistic targets, poor marketing, delayed products, et cetera, et cetera, ad nausem. The truth is we had no idea how to pick a sales person. No idea. And that includes the small handful of high-powered CEO's we've had over the years.

When the light finally dawned on marble head, we wanted someone to make calls. Call everyone in the market, every single one. Cold call, warm call, hot call, whatever. Just MAKE THE CALLS. We don't need a closer, a channel, a partner or some new age business development nonsense. Make the calls! Make the calls! Make the calls! Start today and call every single potential customer. When they have all been called start over and call them all again. Sounds simple. Let's hope it works.