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The Most Important Qualities Your First Sales Rep Should Have.

In this video posted on Structurally’s YouTube, Tyler Jordison lists the top qualities you should look for when hiring new sales representatives. While listing three essential attributes, Jordison also reflects on how these skills have helped him throughout his career, specifically with Structurely. 

In this episode, you will learn:

• A list of the most important qualities your first few sales reps should have
• Quality number 1: The candidate has inherent problem-solving skills. 
• A rep should think flexibly with the customer and show interest in potential questions
• Quality number 2: The candidate is a lifelong learner
• A rep should be reflexive and consider how their approach to a demo or sale could be bettered. 
• Quality number 3: Your representatives should be more motivated by growth than by money. 
• A rep should not extort the customer for the biggest sale if it is not the right fit. Customer retention brings more success than immediate profit margins.

What is a lifelong learner? 

Yeah, it’s a fluffy buzzword,  but the meaning behind it, the skill behind it, is critically important to sales. Sales are often this direct window to the customer; they hear the customer’s objectives- I guess objectives, objections- their questions around the product, what’s important to them, what’s maybe not so important to them. Sales are inherently given unlimited real-time feedback when talking to these customers; good feedback, bad feedback- I always say that all feedback is good feedback. When this info is given to your sales rep, it’s either lost forever, and they don’t think about it the next time they have a task. This immediate feedback is used to benefit the sales rep. They learn from it, and they help themselves grow and also the company to grow.

Why should growth be the main focus as opposed to money for sales reps? 

The early reps that come on should first and foremost be motivated by the company doing well. The sentiment that “if my commission keeps growing, the company will follow” that’s backward. It’s going to lead to a toxic sales team. It’ll become a black eye for the company. If their default lens is to view everything as money comes first, they’re going to start cutting corners and lose sight of the customer’s experience. Because the only thing that they need the customer for is a means to an end, and that end is a bigger commission check. So their lens is, “I’m going to sign up as many people as possible, put them on the biggest plan, even if it doesn’t work for them. Because if I do, I’ll be rewarded with a bigger commission check.” That becomes toxic, especially at early-stage startups. 

Additional topics discussed:

• His experience at Iowa State. Sharpening skills as a problem solver, and how that applies throughout his life even outside the startup. 
• How Jordison relates these qualities to his own experiences
• Jordison’s “Hot take” on the motivations of sales reps. 
• The problem with focusing on commission and money vs. company growth. 

Host / Podcast Bio: Tyler Jordison, the head of direct sales at Structurely, has a background in industrial engineering from Iowa State University. Structurely as a company offers innovative AI technology that assists within real estate industries. As a platform, it provides a way to efficiently maintain contact with leads with quick follow-ups that qualify them and allow the conversation to continue to the point where a representative can take up a lead. 

Resources and links mentioned in the show:

• Structurely’s Youtube Page

https://www.youtube.com/c/Structurely/featured 

• Tyler Jordison 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-jordison-8b61a48b/

• Structrely Blog

https://www.structurely.com/blogs