The Brian Beers Show – Episode 271
Title: This $50M Hiring Rule Built My Empire
Date: August 13, 2025
Host: Brian Beers
Episode Overview
In this episode, Brian Beers shares his straightforward, battle-tested hiring strategy that has scaled his franchise business to over $50 million in annual sales. He reveals his "five-minute rule" for evaluating sales candidates and walks listeners through his step-by-step process for identifying top performers—without wasting time on the wrong hires. Along the way, Brian delivers actionable insights for entrepreneurs building their own teams and emphasizes the importance of vision, rapid decision-making, and being uncompromising about talent.
Key Discussion Points
1. The Five-Minute Rule: Fast, Decisive Hiring
- Brian opens the episode by emphasizing the biggest hiring mistake: “Most people waste months hiring the wrong salespeople. But I can tell within five minutes of a phone call if someone will make or lose me money.” (00:00)
- His system enables rapid filtering: “Just give me 10 minutes today and I'll show you the exact system that built my business to over a million dollars a week in sales.” (00:19)
2. Screening Resumes—The Non-Negotiables
- Sales experience is critical: “I don't want to have to train someone how to ride a bike. I want to hire somebody who already knows how to ride a bike and I just give them a bike that goes a lot faster.” (00:36)
- Location matters: People commuting long distances burn out. “That drive... wears people down. It steals their energy. And that is energy that we want to capture to sell more jobs, to serve more customers, to help more people.” (01:39)
3. First Contact—Energy and Responsiveness
- Speed is a sign: “I want quick responses. I try to get them on the phone.”
- Tone and enthusiasm are telling: “If they pick up the phone like... it sounds like they just like got out of bed or something... I actually gotta go. Can I call you later?... I have zero interest in talking to them.” (02:11)
- No obligation to proceed: “Don’t feel like just because you set up the appointment to talk to them that you have to talk to them. It is totally okay to not waste your own time.” (03:14)
4. The Interview—Testing for True Salespeople
- Brian asks probing questions, seeking clarity and motivation:
- “What is the best job you ever had?”
- “Tell me about your commission plan, how did you make money?”
- “Do they know the details?” (03:50–04:41)
- Money motivation is vital: “If they don’t understand how they get paid... chances are they're not really money motivated. And as salespeople, I want them to be extremely money motivated.” (04:41)
- Grilling on metrics:
- “What’s the best month you ever had?”
- “How much money did you make?”
- “What are your gross margins, close rates, awards?”
- “The best salespeople know every single number... those are the people that I... want on my team.” (05:12–05:50)
5. High Pressure, Rapid-Fire: Simulating Sales Environment
- Brian intentionally puts candidates under pressure: “I also try and do this as rapid fire as I can... I want to see how they react because, like, sales is really like a fast-paced job.” (06:07)
- Looking for resilience and quick thinking: “If they can, once again, we're good to go. If not... he doesn't really know his numbers... he's feeling the pressure of me... there's no point in wasting either one of our time.” (07:04)
6. Passing the Test—Sell Them the Vision
- If a candidate excels, Brian switches gears:
- “At this point, I really haven't told them anything about us or the job. I'm just grilling them... But if I like them, I turn it on.” (08:10)
- He shares the company’s history, scale, and vision: “We've grown it from zero. We do over $50 million... multi brand... massive franchise driven operating company.” (08:22–08:52)
- Emphasizing internal growth: “Tons of people rise within our organization and we reinvest.” (08:55)
7. Even Early-Stage Entrepreneurs Need Vision
- Paint a compelling picture, regardless of current size:
- “People, driven people, want to be part of something that's growing, something that has potential, something that has upside.” (09:41)
- “Driven people that want to win, they want to play the game with other people that want to win.” (09:46)
- Be public with ambitions: “People want to follow visionaries, right? People want to follow the people who have the big ideas and have the balls to say it.” (10:15)
8. Leveraging Online Presence as a Talent Magnet
- Online footprint aids recruitment: “Every leadership person that we've hired... they listen to my stuff, they watch the stuff and like they're already sold and want to be part of the team before I even meet them.” (11:12)
- Encourages sharing company culture: “A-players want to be surrounded by other A-players.” (11:22)
9. The Talent Game and Firing Fast
- It’s all about talent acquisition: “At the end of the day, I'm in the talent acquisition business and the better job I can do at finding the talent... the more success we're going to have.” (12:05)
- Hiring as flipping cards:
- “Hiring is like flipping a deck of cards... you have to go through some two, fours, and sixes before you get to the kings, queens, and aces. But then you hold on to those cards.” (13:12)
- “You have unlimited number of cards that you can continue to flip until you have a stack, a deck of kings, queens, and aces and then you can build whatever business that you want to do.” (13:30)
10. Setting Immediate, Clear Expectations
- Set the bar high and measure fast:
- “If I hire a salesperson... I expect them... to sell $20,000 in the first two weeks. If they can't... they're not gonna work out. Period. I'm not gonna give them 90 days to figure out if they can sell or not.” (13:55–14:21)
- “Here's the bike. Can you ride around my parking lot?... If you fall off... like a minute after I give it to you, you're not the right person and that's okay.” (14:23)
11. Recap: The Key Traits and Steps
- Location proximity, tone and energy, knowing numbers, and response to pressure are the critical traits.
- Brian’s goal: “Five minutes to figure that out and if not, I move on. I don't want to waste my time or theirs.” (15:09)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “Most people waste months hiring the wrong salespeople. But I can tell within five minutes of a phone call if someone will make or lose me money.” – Brian Beers (00:00)
- “I don't want to have to train someone how to ride a bike. I want to hire somebody who already knows how to ride a bike and I just give them a bike that goes a lot faster.” (00:36)
- “If they pick up the phone... and it sounds like they just got out of bed... I have zero interest in talking to them.” (02:31)
- “If they don’t understand how they get paid... they’re not really money motivated.” (04:43)
- “The best salespeople know every single number. Click your fingers. They know what they sold every month, what their numbers were, every component of it.” (05:50)
- “Sales is really like a fast-paced job. Things come at you right, as quick as you can... I want to intentionally, rapid fire, put the pressure on them, ask the questions.” (06:33)
- “At the end of the day, I'm in the talent acquisition business.” (12:05)
- “Hiring is like flipping a deck of cards... you go through some twos, fours and sixes before you get to the kings, queens and aces. But then you hold on to those cards.” (13:12)
- “If you can't ride the bike, like literally a minute after I give it to you, you're not the right person—and that's okay.” (14:23)
Timestamps for Important Segments
- 00:00 – Introduction to the “five-minute rule” and big picture approach
- 01:12 – What Brian looks for in a resume (sales experience & location)
- 02:11 – First contact: voice energy and quick judgment
- 03:50 – Interview questions to evaluate drive and money motivation
- 05:12 – Grilling on numbers: why metrics matter
- 06:33 – Simulating high-pressure sales scenarios
- 08:10 – “Selling” successful candidates on the company vision
- 09:41 – Vision: why top performers want to join a growth trajectory
- 11:12 – The value of an online presence in attracting talent
- 12:05 – The talent game: “I’m in talent acquisition”
- 13:12 – Hiring as flipping cards: keep looking for kings, queens, and aces
- 13:55 – Clear post-hire expectations and fast firing if necessary
- 15:09 – Recap of the main hiring criteria and why speed matters
Summary Takeaways
Brian Beers’ $50M hiring rule is all about speed, decisiveness, and never settling. He insists on hiring proven salespeople who are hungry, engaged, local, and highly numerate—and losing no time on the rest. By creating immediate pressure and seeking lightning-fast clarity, and then selling his vision to top talent, Brian has built not just a business, but a culture where only A-players thrive. This episode is a masterclass in ruthless efficiency and the power of a compelling business vision.