Most bad sales hires are decided before the first interview. The founder, the CEO and the investor each picture a different person. The job advert lists twelve "must haves". Nobody has written down what the hire needs to achieve in their first year.
Then the interviews start, and the most confident candidate wins.
The fix is simple, and it takes about an hour: agree the success criteria before the search starts.
What success criteria are
Success criteria describe what the hire must achieve, not what they must have. "Five years of SaaS experience" is a requirement. "Builds €500,000 of qualified pipeline in their first six months" is a success criterion.
The difference matters. Requirements filter CVs. Success criteria tell you who will do the job.
The five questions to answer
1. What does this person need to deliver in 12 months?
Be specific. Revenue closed, pipeline built, a team hired, a process in place. Put a number on it where you can.
Then work backwards: what needs to be true at 3 months and 6 months for the 12-month number to happen?
2. Who are they selling to?
The buyer shapes the hire more than anything else. Selling a €10,000 tool to a team lead is a different job to selling a €200,000 platform to a CFO and a procurement team.
Write down:
Buyer title and seniority
Company size and sector
Typical deal size and sales cycle
Number of people involved in the decision
3. What will they inherit, and what will they build?
A hire who inherits a full pipeline and a proven playbook needs different skills to one starting from a blank page. List what exists today: leads, customers, tools, collateral, a sales process. Anything missing is something the hire has to build.
4. What are the two or three things you won't compromise on?
Not twelve. Two or three. These are the criteria that rule a candidate out. For example:
Has sold to the same buyer before
Has generated their own pipeline in a company without inbound
Can start within two months
Everything else is a nice-to-have.
5. Why would a strong candidate say yes?
Good salespeople have options. Write down why your role beats the one they have today: the product, the market, the equity, the chance to build. If you cannot answer this, candidates will notice.
Template: success criteria for a sales hire
Copy this into a document and fill it in before you post the role or brief a recruiter.
Role:
Reports to:
Location and working pattern:
In 12 months, this person will have:
At 6 months:
At 3 months:
They sell to:
Buyer:
Company size and sector:
Deal size and cycle:
They inherit:
They build:
Non-negotiables (maximum three):
Pay:
Base:
OTE:
Split:
Equity:
Why a strong candidate says yes:
Use it in every interview
Once the criteria are agreed, they become your scorecard. Each interviewer scores every candidate against the same criteria, straight after the interview and before talking to anyone else. For what to probe in those interviews, read 10 red flags in SaaS sales candidates.
Three things happen when you do this:
Interviews get shorter. You know what you are testing for.
Debriefs get easier. You compare scores, not impressions.
Offers get faster. When everyone agreed the bar at the start, nobody re-opens it at the end.
Share it with candidates
The success criteria are not just for you. Share a version with every candidate you speak to.
Strong salespeople want to know what they are being measured on. A clear 12-month target, an honest view of what they inherit and the pay in writing all make a role easier to say yes to. Candidates who are not a fit will often rule themselves out, which saves both of you time.
Challenge the brief
The first version of a brief is rarely right. Push on each line:
Is the 12-month target realistic for someone new to the company?
Are you asking for a builder and a closer in the same person?
Does the pay match the market for what you are asking? Check it against our Sales and Marketing Salary Guide Ireland 2026.
Would your best customer-facing person today meet the non-negotiables?
A brief that survives these questions will find the right person faster.
Ready to hire? Every Permanent Recruitment search starts with a briefing workshop where we agree the success criteria with you, before any candidate is approached. Read more about Permanent Recruitment, or book a discovery call.
The Recruiter is Ireland's specialist GTM and SaaS recruitment agency. We partner with VC-backed SaaS companies from Pre-Seed to Series C across Ireland and EMEA. Employment Agency Licence EA 4551.
