Your sales hire in India: a 30 day plan for founders who have never hired

The short version

A sales hire goes wrong for the same reason most hires go wrong. The founder has not written down the job. The person arrives, looks busy and nobody can say whether the work is good. The plan below fixes that in four weeks. Week one defines the job. Week two sets up the lead path. Week three runs a practical test. Week four is a 30 day trial with a scorecard you wrote before the trial began.

You do not need a sales team to start. You need one clear job, one place where leads arrive, one person who answers them and one set of numbers you both agree on.

Why hire for sales at all

Most founders who sell their own product are good at it, and that is the problem. You close the calls, answer the chats and remember what the customer said last time. When you are busy building, the leads wait. A sales hire takes one part of that load. The goal is not to copy you. The goal is to make sure a lead gets a clear, honest reply within the time you set, every day.

Before you hire, check that the problem is real. If leads are not arriving at all, a sales person will not fix that. If leads arrive and sit unanswered for days, a sales person may help a lot. Count what you have for two weeks before you decide.

Week one: define the job on one page

Write the job on one page. Use plain words. The page needs five parts: what the person sells, to whom, what a good reply looks like, what they must not do and the three numbers they own. Keep the numbers to what they control, such as reply time, calls booked and follow ups sent. Do not make them responsible for revenue by itself, because they cannot control your product, price or delivery.

Then list what is out of scope. For example, the person does not give discounts, does not promise delivery dates they cannot see and does not change the price list. Clear limits make the job easier, not harder.

Show the page to two people who know your business. Ask them to say what the person would do on day one. If they cannot, the page is not clear yet.

Week two: set up the lead path before the hire starts

A new person needs a working lead path on day one. Draw it on paper. Where does a lead come from? Website form, WhatsApp, Instagram messages, referrals, a marketplace? Who reads each channel today? Where do the replies go? What is the next step after a reply?

Set up three things. Start with one shared place for leads, such as a sheet with the name, source, date, status and next step. Then three reply templates for the most common questions, written in your voice and checked by you. Finally, a daily time for a 15 minute check in, when you read the sheet together.

Do not promise reply times you cannot keep. Set a target you can measure and check it at the end of each week.

Week three: test with a sample, not just a talk

Interviews tell you how someone talks. A test tells you how they work. Give each finalist one hour, paid if you can, and one sample chat. The sample is a real lead that you have changed enough to protect privacy. The person reads the chat, writes the reply you would send, and writes the next step in the sheet.

Score the reply on four things: did it answer the question, was it short, did it match your voice and did it ask for the right next step. Use a simple one to five scale for each. Skip anyone who gives a long speech in the reply. A good sales reply on WhatsApp is short.

Week four: the 30 day trial with a scorecard

Start the trial with the scorecard written and signed by both of you. The scorecard has three parts. Activity: leads worked each day, replies sent within the agreed time, follow ups done on time. Quality: a weekly sample of five chats you read together. Learning: one thing the person found about the customer that you did not know.

Judge the trial at the end of day 30 with the scorecard, not with your gut. If the activity is there and the quality is improving, keep going. If the activity is missing after two honest check ins, end the trial kindly and say why in writing.

Mistakes founders make

• Hiring before the job is written. The person will fill the gap with guesses, and the guesses will not match yours.
• Measuring just sales. Revenue moves slowly and depends on many things. Measure the parts the person controls.
• No lead path. A new person with no sheet, no templates and no channel access spends the early month looking for work.
• Interview just. A good talker can still be a slow replier. The sample chat shows the difference.
• Changing the scorecard midway. If you change the rules when the numbers look bad, the trial tells you nothing.
• Skipping the paperwork. Check your contract, pay and leave rules with a qualified adviser before you make the offer.

An illustrative month

This example is illustrative. A home spice brand has one founder who answers all WhatsApp orders and questions. In week one, the founder writes a one page job for a sales support person who handles order questions and bulk enquiries. In week two, the founder sets up a sheet, three templates and a daily 15 minute check. In week three, three candidates each run the same sample chat. In week four, the chosen person starts a 30 day trial. At day 30, the scorecard shows the reply target met on most days and a clear rise in quality. The founder keeps the hire and adds one more task.

The point is not the spice brand. The point is the sequence. Job, path, test, trial, scorecard.

What to check in the contract

Hiring rules depend on your business type, state and the kind of contract you use. Ask a qualified adviser to check the offer letter, the pay terms, the working hours and any incentive. Keep incentives simple and tied to what the person controls, so the rules are easy to explain and easy to audit.

Frequently asked questions

How much should I pay a sales person?

That depends on your city, the role and your business. Check current pay for similar roles through a salary survey or a recruiter you trust, and label any figure you read as unverified until you see its source.

Should the hire be full time or part time?

Start with the job, then pick the time. Many founders begin with part time support for a fixed number of hours, then move to full time when the scorecard shows enough work.

Do I need a sales background?

Not always. For many small brands, a person who writes clearly, answers fast and follows a process can learn the product quickly. Test for that in the sample chat.

What if the person is good but the leads are poor?

Look at the lead path. Poor lead quality often comes from the channel, the offer or the page. Fix the path before you judge the person.

How often should I check in?

A 15 minute daily check in works well in the early month, then a weekly review of the scorecard.

Can you help me write the job page?

Yes. Send your product, your buyer and the question your leads ask most, and we will write the one page job together.

Your next step

Write the one page job this week. Use the five parts above. Show it to two people who know your business. Just after that, post a role or ask a friend for a name. Keep the lead path and the scorecard ready before anyone starts.

Written by Madhur Tyagi, founder of The Human Algorithm. 8+ years, 25+ brands, since 2017.

Scope note: Examples are illustrative, not client results. Numbers are marked with their source or as unverified. Nothing on this page is sent unless you press the WhatsApp button.