>We also looked for proactive junior staff out of companies like LinkedIn who were ready for the next step, but not afforded the opportunity. This is the more

>We also looked for proactive junior staff out of companies like LinkedIn who were ready for the next step, but not afforded the opportunity. This is the more efficient way of hiring a sales team IMO. I've been in both categories and although I've only been in the game for a few years, I've learned the pitfalls of the "fresh grad" approach. The author is right in considering sales "Mission Critical" for startups and other small businesses looking to grow and then goes on to explain the various ways in which an open or ineffective sales position will damage the position of the company. Despite that display of wisdom, they advocate a "fresh grad" approach which is just about the fastest way to ensure high turnover and low productivity. Every salesperson has to start somewhere and a fresh graduate with a sales personality and love for the job often be the best kind of salesperson for this kind of role for the reasons stated by the author. The problem is that candidates can't know if they'll like the world of sales until they've lived in it. Even if they have an amazing ability to filter out applicants without "the right stuff", they'll still end up with a high % of new reps that just don't like the responsibilities of their role. That can manifest itself in a lack of interest for the industry (boy did I hate copiers, talk about a dead-end market), a lack of interest in the product (some people love sales but hate selling intangibles like services), a mismatch in the selling style required by the market (relationship vs. technical), or a preference for stable income (depends on compensation structure but sales can be very feast or famine). The company I work for now faced this issue and we've had incredible success stemming from the switch to the strategy of hiring young reps with a few years of experience. We're all "fresh" enough to go after new business with enthusiasm but we were also a known quantity in that we had all proven that we would stick it out in sales. Prior to this switch, we had 50% turnover for all the reasons stated above (some reps wanted to sell tangible products, others wanted a relationship sales style, others wanted a guaranteed salary, and other realized marketing or operations was a better fit for their personality) but none of the "new group" has left in the past 12 months and I doubt anyone will for a while. The post-2008 stagnation has created climate with a lot of talented reps stuck near the bottom of the ladder. Offer them the next rung or an honest path toward advancement and they'll jump over in a heartbeat. Let the churn n' burn companies (ADP, Cintas, office equipment dealers/manufacturers) do the hard work of weeding out the fresh grads that won't cut it or don't want in. You avoid the biggest risks and although you'll have to pay more, you'll be more confident that you're getting value out of that "Mission Critical" sales position.