Hiring your first closer: a founder's guide
If you are a founder about to bring a closer into your business, the mistakes you make in the first thirty days will cost you for a year. Here is how to avoid them.
Most founders hire their first closer too late and pay them wrong. Too late because they wait until they personally cannot keep up, by which point the lead flow has slowed and the new hire walks into a desert. Pay them wrong because they copy a comp plan from a Twitter thread without modelling it.
When to hire
Hire when you have three months of consistent lead flow and a documented sales process you can hand someone. Not before. A closer dropped into a business without either will burn out inside the quarter and you will blame the wrong person for it.
If you are not yet at three months of consistent flow, your real problem is marketing, not closing. Solve that first.
How to pay
Pay a base that respects the cost of living wherever the closer is, with a commission that scales aggressively above target. A flat commission ceiling on a high-ticket offer is the fastest way to lose a good closer to your competitor.
Model the plan. Build a spreadsheet. Stress-test it against three scenarios: half quota, on quota, double quota. If the closer cannot reasonably make the money you implied on the hiring call, the plan is broken before you sign anyone.
How to onboard
In the first thirty days, sit on every call yourself. Not to micromanage, but to understand what is being said in your name. Take notes silently. Debrief weekly. After thirty days, move to weekly call reviews and a shared scorecard.
After ninety, you should be able to leave the business for a fortnight and watch the revenue continue. If you cannot, the handoff has not actually happened and another quarter of close attention is required before you scale further.
What to give them on day one
A documented offer with positioning, pricing and the exact language you use. Ten recorded calls — five that closed, five that did not, with your annotations. A scorecard so they know what good looks like before they run their first live one. CRM access. Calendar access. A clear quota.
If you cannot put together this packet in a week, you are not ready to hire. Build the packet first; the hire becomes easier afterwards.
What to watch for in month two
Close rate, average deal value, show rate and the time from booked call to closed deal. Track them weekly. Two-thirds of underperforming closers can be identified by the end of week six on these four numbers alone.
Have the difficult conversation early. Closers who are not going to make it cost you more in lost pipeline than in salary.