Sales hiring and recruiting for founder-led B2B companies
The most expensive sales hire is the wrong one.
Founders search for sales recruiting or a sales hiring consultant when what they need is a hiring decision made right: which role comes first, what it should pay, and how to tell a seller who can close your kind of deal from one who interviews well. I am not a recruiting agency. As your fractional VP of Sales, I define the role, build the scorecard, run the interviews with you, test real selling, design the comp plan and onboard the hire. If you use a recruiter, I make the recruiter better.
Based in Scottsdale, Arizona. In person across Greater Phoenix; remote with founders across the US.
The first question isn’t who. It’s which role, and when.
Most failed sales hires were the wrong role, not the wrong person. A founder hires a VP of Sales to avoid selling, or a senior seller into a motion nobody has written down, and both people fail for reasons that had nothing to do with talent.
The sequence I use depends on your sale. Often it is a seller who can run full deals with the founder in the room, then a second one once the process is written, then someone to build pipeline, and the sales leader last — when there is a team and a motion to lead. The first sales hire: a leader or a rep walks through the choice.
Everything around the hire that decides whether it works.
- The role and the scorecard. What this person owns, the deals they will run, and the four or five things they must be able to do on day one, written around your buyer and your sale.
- A job description that attracts the right sellers. Specific about the sale, honest about the stage, clear about what success looks like in six months.
- The interview loop. Structured interviews, a live selling exercise on a real scenario from your pipeline, and reference calls about actual deals, not adjectives.
- The comp plan and quota. A plan you can afford that pays for the business you want, with a ramp that matches your sales cycle.
- The first ninety days. An onboarding plan with milestones, so you know by week six whether the hire is working.
- Sourcing. My network of sellers and sales leaders, plus your recruiter if you use one. I can tell them exactly who to look for.
Why the seller from the famous company often fails at yours.
A seller who did well at a large software company had a brand that opened doors, a marketing engine that filled the pipeline, sales engineers, deal desks and a legal team. At a 20-person company, none of that exists, and the deals look nothing alike.
I interview for what your stage needs: building pipeline from nothing, running a deal with the founder, selling without a reference customer, and doing it with less. Sometimes that’s the big-logo seller. Usually it isn’t.
When it is time for the full-time VP of Sales, I run that search too.
Once the motion is repeatable and there is a team to lead, I help you hire the person who takes it from me: the role, the scorecard, the interviews and the handover. A leader inheriting a written process and a working forecast ramps in months, not quarters.
If you have already been through a sales leader who didn’t work, what to do when a VP of Sales hire fails is worth reading first.
Sales hiring, answered.
Are you a sales recruiting firm?
No. I don’t place candidates for a fee. I am the sales leader who decides what the role should be and whether a candidate can do it, which is the part most recruiting gets wrong. I work alongside recruiters when you use one.
Can you help us hire just one salesperson?
Yes. A single critical hire is often where founders start: the role, the interviews, the comp plan and the first ninety days. Advisory is priced by the day; we scope it on the first call.
How long does it take to hire a good seller?
Plan on two to three months from writing the role to the start date for a strong seller, longer for a sales leader. Rushing the role definition is the most common way to lose that time twice.
Should our first sales hire be a VP of Sales?
Rarely. A VP of Sales hired before there is a written motion and a team usually fails, and both sides lose a year. A fractional VP of Sales can build the motion first and then help you hire the right full-time leader into it.
Do you help Phoenix and Scottsdale companies hire locally?
Yes. I know the Valley’s sales talent and can sit in on interviews in person across Greater Phoenix. Phoenix and Scottsdale has more.
Other ways I help founders: Enterprise sales · Sales coaching & training · Sales management · How engagements run
Thirty minutes. Bring the role you’re about to hire, or the one that didn’t work out.
Not ready for a call? Check the fit in two minutes