UNDERSTAND THE APPOINTMENT

Define the sales motion before comparing performance.

A sales appointment should reflect how your business wins and retains customers. Describe what you sell, who buys it, the decision process and the level of support around the role. Developing new accounts, managing established relationships and responding to inbound demand involve different work. Be clear about the balance rather than grouping every revenue responsibility into one job title.

Explain the starting conditions. A new territory without established relationships is different from an existing customer portfolio. Include lead sources, delivery capacity, marketing support and the time typically involved in your own sales process. For South African roles covering several areas, clarify travel and customer-visit expectations. Candidates need this context to assess the opportunity and explain relevant experience honestly.

Which profile does your team need?

The job title should reflect the responsibilities, seniority and contribution you expect. These are some of the appointments we can discuss within this area.

Business development managers
Sales representatives
Account executives
Key account managers
Sales managers
Commercial team leads

Three decisions that sharpen the brief.

Choose the growth responsibility

Separate new-business acquisition, account expansion and customer retention. Set out the portfolio or territory and the handover to service or delivery teams. This helps you recruit for the work that will move the business forward.

Explain the commercial support

Describe lead generation, product training, sales tools and access to technical or delivery specialists. A candidate’s results are shaped by the environment around them. Clear context makes both assessment and expectations more realistic.

Make the package understandable

Prepare a clear explanation of base pay, variable elements and how your business measures performance. Include any travel or expense arrangements. Resolve unclear definitions internally so candidates receive a consistent account of the opportunity.

A MORE RELEVANT SHORTLIST

What matters in the search.

Market and sales motion

Explore the customer profile, sales cycle and channels the person understands.

Evidence of contribution

Discuss targets, account ownership and how individual contribution can be understood in context.

Relationship and follow-through

Consider discovery, negotiation, pipeline discipline and collaboration with delivery or service teams.

MAKE THE CONVERSATION COUNT

Understand how results were achieved.

When a candidate describes past performance, ask about the product, territory, customer base and resources available. Explore their individual contribution: finding an opportunity, qualifying it, developing the relationship or negotiating an agreement. Revenue figures alone do not show how closely that experience matches the role you are recruiting.

Use a fictional customer situation to assess discovery and judgement. Ask what the candidate would want to understand before proposing a solution, how they would qualify the opportunity and when they would involve colleagues. For leadership appointments, discuss coaching, pipeline reviews and forecasting as well as personal selling. Keep the assessment aligned with the actual sales responsibilities.

Ready to talk through the role?

Share your priorities, working arrangements and timing. We can discuss the brief and the recruitment approach with you.

Discuss your hiring needs

Bring us a clear starting point.

You don’t need a perfect job description. These details help us start the conversation.

Product or service, target customers and sales cycle
New business versus existing-account responsibilities
Targets, territory, resources and reporting line
Base remuneration, commission structure and travel requirements

Tell us about your role

Your hiring questions, answered.

Can we recruit someone with sector knowledge?

Yes. Specify where industry knowledge or a particular customer environment is essential, and where transferable sales skills may be suitable.

Should we share the commission structure upfront?

A clear remuneration structure helps align expectations. Discuss the base, variable elements and how performance is measured during the brief.

Do you recruit sales leaders too?

We can discuss leadership roles alongside individual contributors, including team scope, management responsibility and commercial expectations.

Should we require an existing customer network?

Consider whether established relationships are truly essential to the role and how they relate to your product and target customers. Avoid assuming contacts can simply transfer between employers. Assess the candidate’s ability to build relevant relationships, qualify opportunities and work within appropriate confidentiality boundaries.

How can we assess a candidate entering a new sector?

Look for transferable evidence in the customer type, complexity of the offering, sales cycle and decision process. Ask how the candidate has learned unfamiliar products or markets before. Identify the product knowledge your team can teach and the selling judgement the person needs to bring from the start.

Recruitment across South Africa.

Epitome is based in Bryanston, Johannesburg. Tell us where your team works and whether the role is office-based, hybrid or remote so we can align the search with your requirements. Include regular site attendance, travel or collaboration hours when these affect the appointment.

We can discuss the role as an ongoing appointment or a defined assignment. Explore the permanent recruitment and contract and temporary staffing approaches, then agree the scope and terms before proceeding.

Explore sales & customer service

MAKE A MORE INFORMED HIRE

Go deeper into the role.

Hiring sales and business development people: define the sales motion firstAssess sales candidates against your customer, sales cycle and responsibilities rather than relying only on past revenue claims.

Hire the people behind your next customer relationship.