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#16 How to Hire Great Salespeople: Traits, Mistakes, and Best Practices

Why is it so hard to find great salespeople—and what separates top performers from everyone else? In this episode, Nicole Alicea sits down with Jim Marshall of Sandler Training Tampa Bay to break down what business owners need to know about hiring, developing, and leading high-performing sales teams.

Together, they challenge the stigma around sales and reveal what truly drives success in the profession—from mindset and communication to behavior and accountability.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The key traits of top 10% sales performers (and how to identify them)

• Why most hiring processes fail—and how to fix them

• The difference between transactional and consultative selling

• How to properly qualify (and disqualify) prospects

• Why referrals are the most underutilized growth strategy

• The importance of onboarding, training, and ongoing development

Jim also shares practical frameworks for improving sales conversations, avoiding common mistakes, and building a team that consistently drives revenue.

Whether you’re hiring your first salesperson or scaling a team, this episode offers actionable insights to help you find—and develop—top-tier talent.

Produced by David “Fingers” Bell and hosted by Nicole Valentin Alicea.

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