Good Morning and happy September 1st. Depending on who you ask, yesterday was either the last day of summer… or summer still goes through this weekend. But today definitely kicks off the last month of Q3. Unless, of course, your company uses one of those weird fiscal calendars where your quarters end one month later. At some point, it would be great if we could all just agree on one quarterly schedule. Sales forecasting is hard enough without people making up their own quarters. Now, let’s get into today’s Follow Up. (:
Ask if it’s a fit before pricing 💰
7 signs you shouldn’t hire that rep 👆
How SpaceX sales reps use Grok Bot 👀
Sales jobs & a meme 😂
Sales Tip of The Day 💡
Before you start talking about pricing or next steps, ask the prospect if it’s a fit, based on what they know.
“Based on everything we’ve talked about and what you’ve learned so far, do you think this is a fit?”
It’s a simple question that forces them to say what they’re thinking.
And in most cases, they’ll say something like “yes, but it’s going to depend on pricing.”And if that’s the case, you can narrow the objections down to pricing, instead of focusing more on the product.
The cost of AI after it goes live.
Say you want an AI that reads every sales call, updates the CRM, and flags the deals that are slipping.
Six engineer-months and you’re live. That’s the number people quote.
But it leaves things out. Maintenance, every year after. Model and infra spend. The security and audit work a vendor includes in their price.
And the months you wait, while an off-the-shelf tool would already be running.
The buy side hides costs too: setup, data work, the admin you don’t see on an invoice.
None of that tells you what to do. Some things are worth building at almost any price. But most things aren’t.
GRW made a free Build vs Buy test. Give it one thing you want to build. It prices three years of each path on your own numbers.
7 Warning Signs You Shouldn’t Hire That Sales Rep
Most of the magic behind building a killer sales team just comes down to hiring the right people.
It’s that simple.
But hiring the right people is much easier said than done.
And hiring the wrong rep can cost you months of time and money while dragging down everyone around them.
So here are seven warning signs that you probably shouldn’t hire a sales rep.
1. They didn’t research you
Basic prep is table stakes.
They don’t need to know your company’s full history & founding story, but they should understand what you sell, who you sell it to, what the role involves, and at least the company’s basic info.
And yes, they should also look at your LinkedIn profile before meeting you. We’re setting a low bar here. The internet is literally free.
An interview is sorta like a sales call, and you wouldn’t want your sales reps showing up to a sales call without doing any research on the prospect.
2. They show up late
Do I even need to explain this one…?
Sure, things happen. And if they’re going to be late because they have a legit excuse, they should let you know long in advance.
You wouldn’t want your sales rep showing up late to a sales call. It makes your company look bad. And it wastes people’s time.
A candidate who can’t show up on time during the interview process isn’t going to become more reliable after getting the job.
3. They don’t follow up
You’re reading a newsletter called “The Follow Up” right now, so I assume you probably already know how important following up is.
Sales is all about the follow up.
After an interview, I want to see a short note from the candidate, following up about the call we just had.
It’s the best indicator of how they’d treat a prospect right after a sales call.
4. They don’t seem excited about the job
Look for the candidate who wants your specific role at your specific company.
Not just any company that will give them a job.
They should have clear reasons for applying, and be able to explain why they’re excited about this specific opportunity.
But I do have to mention a small exception here.*
A star rep you recruited from another company may need to be sold on your opportunity. They didn’t come looking for you, so some hesitation is reasonable.
But when someone applies or reaches out about your open position, they should be able to explain why they want it.
5. They have no interest in Ca$h Money
I’ve yet to meet a great sales rep who isn’t money motivated.
I don’t think they exist.
Sure, money doesn’t need to be the only thing they care about. Great reps can also enjoy solving problems, building relationships, learning, winning, and working with a good team.
But salespeople should feel motivated by the chance to earn more when they perform well.
6. Every failure was someone else’s fault
If they’ve got a bunch of excuses as to why they couldn’t perform in a past role, you should run!
Their old manager was terrible. Marketing sent bad leads. The product didn’t work. The territory was impossible.
Any of those claims could be true. Some sales organizations are complete disasters (I’ve seen firsthand).
But when a candidate accepts zero responsibility for anything that happened in the past, they’re going to do the same thing on your team.
7. They’re not better than most reps on the team.
During my time at Amazon, we called this being a “bar raiser.”
It basically means that anyone you hire needs to raise the bar of your entire team.
After your interview with someone, you should ask: “Is this person better than at least 50% of my current team?”
Yes = Hire them.
No = Pass.
You don’t build a team of A players by hiring people who are “good enough.”
Keep your bar high.
What’s your biggest red flag when interviewing a sales rep?
Sales Around The Web 🗞
📈 The 8 most common sales problems founders need coaching through.
👀 A sneaky new “intro” strategy that GTM people are using on LinkedIn.
🤖 A sales rep at SpaceX shows how she’s using Grok Bot for selling.
😬 This sales rep just had his deal stolen by his sales manager, and asks what he should do next.
Cool Sales Jobs 💼
Growth Partnerships Associate @ Acorns
Sales Development Rep @ Socket
Sales Development Rep @ Lattice
Account Executive @ Descript
Sales Meme of the Day
Check out The Follow Up Guy on LinkedIn.