I've hired over 300 salespeople generating over $100M in revenue.

Contrary to popular belief... the following is true:

1. Longer interview processes don't result in better hires
2. The worst interviews are sometimes the best hires
3. Past performance is not indicative of future performance

It wasn't until I hired about 100 salespeople that I realized there's no secret sauce to interviewing them, especially entry-level. 

The real secret sauce is taking risks, hiring fast, and obsessing over training and development. 

The biggest "risks" I've taken in hiring have amounted to the greatest reward. 

Of every cohort I've hired, there's always been at least 1 person who we didn't expect to be great, who turned out to be GREAT.

I've also had my fair share of "top salespeople" hires who came in and totally bombed. 

Moral of the story... don't overthink it. 

Ask yourself why they CAN'T do the job? 

If you can't come up with a solid answer...

Give them a shot.

I'll also add that college requirements are completely unnecessary.

If you want to save money, try creating a sales internship program for high school graduates where you can teach them sales and they can work for 1-2 years post HS graduation and learn the business.

They'll usually be living with their parents and can work for relatively cheap while you train and educate them.

There's a big future to be trail-blazed in this arena and with the amount of admin work necessary for outbound, I strongly suggest some companies experiment with this.

Happy Selling,