9-Figure Sales VP Exposes Why 90% of Managers Hire the Wrong Reps

You’re three months into a new sales hire. On paper, they crushed it. Top school. Killer résumé. Interviewed like a champ. But now they’re missing quota, the team’s frustrated, and you’re wondering how you got this so wrong.

Most sales leaders hire based on résumés and polished answers instead of watching candidates actually do the job.

That’s where Travis Smith (VP at Ernest Packaging) comes in. Over the last 25 years, he’s been through the hiring process with more than 5,000 sales professionals. He’s hired and developed over 1,000 reps and leaders. He’s rebuilt four struggling teams into top performers. And he’s learned (through thousands of successes and painful mis-hires) that the best predictor of sales success isn’t what candidates say. It’s what they do when you put them in the situation.

So today, I’m breaking down Travis’s exact hiring framework. The Real Play Method that exposes pretenders in minutes. How to spot presence before candidates even speak. Why cloning your best rep destroys culture. And the single conversation framework that prevents turnover before it starts.

By the end of this, you’ll know how to identify A players, build championship teams, and protect your culture while scaling revenue.

Stop Asking, Start Watching

Most interviews follow the same broken script. Tell me about a time… Walk me through your sales process… Candidates rehearse these lines for weeks. Smooth talkers say exactly what you want to hear.

Travis learned the hard way after hundreds of costly mis-hires. So he developed what he calls real plays (not role plays).

Example: You’re in a lobby. Gatekeeper in front of you. You need to get to the decision maker. Go.

Or for managers: You’re debriefing an underperforming rep on their second missed quota month. They didn’t hit activity expectations last week. Go.

Then comes the key. Travis asks candidates to self-evaluate. What did you do well? What would you change? Then he has them do it again.

This reveals coachability. Self-awareness. The ability to self-correct without a manager hovering nearby. And that’s critical. You’ll only see reps actually sell 5 to 10 percent of the time. The other 90 percent they’re on their own.

The Intangible That Predicts Everything

When I interviewed with Travis 15 years ago, he knew within minutes I was the right hire. Not because of my résumé. Because of my presence.

Presence isn’t charisma. It isn’t being the loudest person in the room. It isn’t wearing the perfect suit or having a firm handshake.

Presence is clarity. It’s confidence without arrogance. It’s the ability to own your story (failures included) and articulate where you’re headed.

Travis asks candidates one simple question: Tell me your story. Not résumé bullet points. Their real story.

Here’s the tell. A players frame failures as lessons, not excuses. They talk about what they’re building, not what they’re escaping. They own their story instead of blaming others.

That belief system… possibility versus victimhood… is impossible to coach in 90 days. But you can spot it in 10 minutes.

Why Cloning Your Best Rep Destroys Teams

Most leaders try to copy their top rep across the team. Same personality. Same style. Same metrics.

It never works.

Travis discovered after rebuilding four sales teams that the best results come from helping each person maximize their unique strengths.

When leaders force comparison, they crush confidence. The best reps don’t compete with teammates… they compete with themselves.

Early in my career, I was frustrated that I wasn’t number one. Travis reframed everything. Against reps with the same tenure, I was at the top. Wrong benchmark. That conversation shifted my trajectory. And it’s how he teaches leaders to develop people into the best version of themselves.

The Conversation Framework That Prevents Turnover

Here’s a stat Travis proved across 25 years. The conversations you avoid are the ones that cause turnover.

Elite leaders notice early warning signs… dips in calls, energy, engagement… and approach them with curiosity.

“I’ve noticed X. Can you help me understand what’s going on?”

No judgment. No assumptions. Just understanding.

Travis showed me that most reps don’t leave because they hate the job. They leave because they feel stuck or unheard. When you connect their career goals (sometimes even beyond your company) to their current growth, retention skyrockets.

That’s the difference between transactional leadership and transformational leadership.

Wrapping Up

Hiring A players isn’t about résumés. It’s about real plays, presence, individualized coaching, and running toward uncomfortable conversations.

If you want to scale revenue without destroying culture, change how you hire and lead. Because talent is your biggest lever.

And if you want help diagnosing your sales organization’s biggest constraints, book a call. We’ll analyze your data. Listen to your calls. Talk to your team. Pinpoint exactly what’s holding you back. Just like we did with the $35M company that went from missing quota by $8M to blowing it out… without a single hour of sales training.