Field Notes
Where Sales Strategy Meets People Strategy
Practical, research-backed lessons on hiring salespeople and sales leaders, paying them well, and keeping the good ones.
The Sales Hiring Debrief That Stops a Bad Hire (Silent Write, Pre-Mortem, Devil's Advocate)
The consensus hire feels safe and is often the groupthink hire. Here is the debrief structure that surfaces the doubts in the room before they become your problem.
What a Bad Sales Hire Really Costs (and How to Work Out Yours)
The famous "30% of salary" figure has no traceable source. Here's what the research does say, and a simple way to add up what a wrong sales hire would cost your business.
The Sales Hiring Scorecard: Hire to a Standard, Not the Best of a Weak Pool
The best candidate in a weak pool is still a weak hire. A scorecard sets the bar before you meet anyone, so you can say no to a full shortlist without flinching.
Competencies vs Skills vs Experience: What You Are Really Hiring a Salesperson For
Skills can be taught in a quarter. Competencies take years and mostly cannot. Here is why hiring for the wrong one keeps costing Ontario sales teams their best seats.
The 30-Minute Sales Phone Screen (and the Questions That Actually Filter)
A friendly phone screen tells you who is easy to talk to. A structured one tells you who can sell. Here is the 30-minute script and the questions that earn their place.
How to Screen Sales Resumes (Without Letting the Resume Do the Deciding)
The résumé is a fast first filter and a weak predictor. Here is how to use it as a gate to the phone screen instead of letting the paper quietly make the hire for you.
Performance Management for Small Business: Beyond the Annual Review
The once-a-year review feels like accountability. Usually it just measures how well your manager remembers the last six weeks. Here is what actually moves performance instead.
Org Design for a Growing SMB: When the Org Chart Stops Working
The org chart that got you to 40 people is often the thing holding you at 40. Here is how to tell when the structure is the bottleneck, not the people.
When to Hire Your First HR Person (and Why Most Ontario Businesses Wait Too Long)
Most Ontario businesses get the timing wrong on when to hire their first HR person, waiting for a headcount number instead of the moment people risk starts costing them. Here are the real triggers, and what to cover until a full-time hire makes sense.
When should you hire your first sales manager?
Wondering when to hire your first sales manager? Promoting your best rep is the default that backfires. Here is the real trigger, the research, and the Ontario legal trap to avoid.
I Used to Think an Employee's Money Stress Wasn't My Problem
The cost of living is a business problem, and paying more is not where to start. A note to Canadian small business owners on competitiveness, AI, livable wages, and letting people share the upside they create.
What LeBron Is Teaching Us All About Retaining Top Performers
LeBron James just handed the Lakers his notice. If an organization with that much going for it can’t keep someone, what is a small business actually supposed to do when its best person walks in with the same news?
The probation period myth that costs Ontario employers
Most Ontario employers treat probation as a no-risk window to let someone go. The ESA, the Human Rights Code, and the courts disagree. Here is what probation actually means, and how to run one that holds up.