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Brokers hiring their first rep tend to screen for industry experience, which is the most abundant and least predictive signal available. Someone who has worked an MCA floor may bring habits you will spend longer unlearning than teaching.
Screen for these
- Sustained phone volume in a previous role, whatever the industry.
- Evidence of coachability — a specific example of changing how they worked because of feedback.
- Comfort with rejection that is demonstrated rather than claimed.
- Basic numeracy. They will explain factor rates, remittances and total payback to merchants.
- Enough curiosity to ask what the product actually is.
The first ninety days
| Period | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Weeks 1–2 | Product, compliance, CRM. Listening to live calls |
| Weeks 3–4 | Dialling with supervision. First conversations |
| Weeks 5–8 | Full cadence, reviewed daily. Perhaps a first deal |
| Weeks 9–12 | Independent. Judge them from here, not before |
Judging a rep on month one is judging them on the ramp. The useful early signals are process compliance and dial counts, not funded deals — a rep who does the work will produce deals, and one who is producing deals without doing the work is producing them from the easy records and will stall.
Set the pay so the ramp survives
A commission-only new hire has to fund a deal quickly or leave, which is a filter for luck rather than ability. A base through the ramp period, with commission from day one, gets you the rep who was going to be good in month four rather than the one who happened to catch a fast deal in month one.
Questions brokers ask
What should you look for in an MCA sales rep?
Evidence of sustained phone work in any industry, demonstrated coachability, comfort with rejection, basic numeracy and enough curiosity to ask what the product is. Industry experience is the most abundant and least predictive signal.
How should you interview a sales rep?
Have them call you cold on a scenario. Ten minutes of that beats an hour of competency questions and screens out candidates who interview well but cannot pick up a phone.
How long before a new rep produces?
Expect ninety days. Weeks one and two are product and compliance, weeks three to eight are supervised dialling, and independent performance starts around week nine — which is where you should start judging.
Should a first rep be commission-only?
It filters for luck rather than ability, because a new hire has to catch a fast deal or leave. A base through the ramp with commission from day one keeps the rep who would have been good in month four.
What early signals actually predict success?
Dial counts and process compliance, not funded deals. A rep doing the work will produce; a rep producing without doing the work is working the easy records and will stall.
Reference
How to structure the payWhat each model produces, including the behaviours you did not intend.
Alex Makowski
Founder, Infinite Bookings
Runs the lead generation operation behind Infinite Bookings — paid traffic, the funding application, and the delivery pipeline that puts records into brokers’ CRMs.
Reachable directly at alex@infinitebookings.com or 732-609-7182.