Most mid-sized businesses believe hiring salespeople is simple:
“Find someone with contacts.”
“Get someone with industry experience.”
“Hire someone aggressive.”
And yet, despite all these assumptions, sales targets continue to slip, funnels remain inconsistent, and promoters find themselves micromanaging deals their teams should close independently.
Most companies follow outdated sales recruitment strategies, relying on gut feeling, hurried interviews, or referrals from within the industry. The result is predictable: misaligned hires, high turnover, and sales teams that perform only at 40–50% of their potential.
The truth is:
Hiring a high-performing sales team is not about luck or charisma.
It is a system—one that mid-sized businesses can master with the right approach.
This blog breaks down the best practices to hire a sales team that can confidently sell, scale, and represent your business the right way, especially in B2B and manufacturing environments.
Lets have a closer look.
Unlike retail or direct-to-consumer models, B2B and manufacturing sales demand a very different skillset:
A salesperson needs patience, follow-up discipline, and the ability to nurture leads over weeks or months, not quick one-call closers.
Your product isn’t an impulse buy. Salespeople must explain specs, performance, ROI, and technical value to buyers who understand your industry deeply.
They aren’t convincing one customer—they’re handling purchase heads, operations teams, finance managers, and sometimes owners themselves.
“Sir, I know 200 dealers.”
This line has cost mid-sized companies more money than almost anything else.
Relationships expire.
Capability stays.
Look for:
Contacts matter, but execution matters more.
Most mid-sized promoters ask basic questions:
“Where did you work?”
“What were your responsibilities?”
“What is your expected salary?”
This tells you nothing about performance.
Instead, use a competency-driven approach. Ask:
You’re not testing memory, you’re testing thinking quality.
This is one of the most overlooked best practices for hiring a sales team.
Add a practical task:
This reveals their clarity, articulation, and commercial intelligence in minutes.
A mediocre salesperson with hunger, discipline, and coachability will outperform a 20-year “star” who refuses to follow systems.
Look for:
Hiring solely on experience is why many companies continuously feel stuck.
Never hire blindly.
Instead, define:
When the salesperson knows what “success” looks like, execution improves.
This simple step increases hiring accuracy by 40–60%.
These practices have helped hundreds of our B2B clients hire salespeople who have been retained in the company for a very long time and performed year after year.
To hire a talented sales team, it is also utmost important for a company to look clear, focused and growth-oriented.
Let’s see how a company can build an EMPLOYER BRAND
People join companies that have momentum.
Highlight milestones, expansion plans, new product lines, and market opportunities.
Most mid-sized businesses fail here.
Tell candidates exactly how they can grow, earn, and lead.
Salespeople want to succeed.
A company with training materials, playbooks, and product demos looks 10X more credible.
The best talent avoids companies where:
Build a culture where performance is transparent, not political.
A strong sales team is one of the most powerful competitive advantages a mid-sized business can build. But it cannot be built on guesswork or hurried hiring. It requires systematic recruitment, structured evaluation, and clear expectations from day one.
This is exactly what 10X MIH helps mid-sized businesses master.
From hiring frameworks to sales playbooks to performance systems, MIH enables teams to become consistent, predictable, and growth-driven, without depending on one or two “heroic” performers.
Visit our website to know more.
https://make10xhappen.in/
Join 10x Make It Happen and unlock exclusive business growth opportunities. Elevate your success with our membership benefits tailored to your needs.