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First sales hire handoff: 6 interview steps

From the hiring decision to the dossier a new rep reads in week one

Process of six steps before a first sales hire: decide, paste a brief, load the guide, import buyers, send the invitation, write the dossier.
The six steps from decision to dossier
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A six-step process for founders who want to hand founder-led sales to a first salesperson. It starts six weeks before the rep begins and ends with a handover dossier built from buyer interviews. Use it as the plan for a study run in Koji or any interview tool.

Where this appears

What's in this process

  1. Decide at T-6 weeks: Count your closed customers. Under 8, keep selling. 8 or more, run the handoff study.
  2. Paste a one-line brief: Say you want to learn why your first buyers bought, in their words, so a new rep can repeat it.
  3. Load the nine-question guide: Open questions for the story, plus one single choice, one multiple choice and one 1 to 10 scale.
  4. Import buyers and lost deals: A CSV of names and emails gives each person a personal link. Add 5 lost or quiet deals.
  5. Send it as the founder: A short personal note, ten minutes, voice or text. Keep the link open for two weeks.
  6. Read the report, write the dossier: Triggers, buying group, objections, proof and promises. Quote buyers, not yourself.

Use this image

Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:

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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/first-sales-hire-handoff-interview-process"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/first-sales-hire-handoff-interview-process/first-sales-hire-handoff-interview-process.png" alt="Process of six steps before a first sales hire: decide, paste a brief, load the guide, import buyers, send the invitation, write the dossier." width="1080" height="1080" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/first-sales-hire-handoff-interview-process">First sales hire handoff: 6 interview steps</a>, Koji</p>

Related

Table comparing Koji, founder calls, survey forms and call recordings on depth, candour, speed, scale, analysis effort and lost deals.

Ways to capture a founder's sales knowledge

Question bank of nine interview questions for early customers before a first sales hire: the buying story, doubts and proof, the founder factor.

9 questions to ask your first buyers

Checklist of ten things to finish before a founder hires a first salesperson, from buyer interviews to written objections and promises.

Checklist: before your first sales hire