It’s been well over 10 years since I was last charged with the task to hire a salesperson and I can’t even make the claim that I was much good at it during the 25+ years that this was a part of my responsibilities. Sure, there were some superstars but, there were even more duds. Occasionally, I was fortunate enough to hire and train a high performing sales team that was stable for 5-7 years but, that was an anomaly. I picked people largely on a hope and a prayer. Of course, I’d like to think that I am way smarter these days (this comes with experience, good and bad) and I now have infinitely more tools with which to recruit and qualify potential candidates.
I can also look at my previous salespeople and develop a composite image of those who were successful and … those who were not. While some things never change, the selling game has evolved enough over the last 10 years that there are also new sets of criteria that would need to be considered during the hiring process.[Tweet “Hiring a salesperson today is a lot different than it used to be!”] I was raised on the formula that salespeople are made up of equal parts of attitude, skills, and product knowledge. A great salesperson will be strong in all three areas. You can create a decent salesperson with two out of the three. One out of three is a non-starter. Product knowledge is easily trainable. Attitude cannot be developed. Skills … some yes and some no. I think the statement that “anybody can be trained to sell” is optimistic at best. There are just too many intangibles that are a part of a top salesperson’s DNA.
Qualities that remain important
I know enough about good salespeople to remain convinced that these are absolutely necessary qualities …
- Drive – They are single minded in the pursuit of their craft and they approach everything with urgency.
- Competitiveness – They hate to lose even more than they love to win.
- Tenacity – Tenacity also includes the patience that is needed to crack larger accounts.
- Independent – The best salespeople that I have had have always been extremely independent. This also meant that they were a bitch to manage but, they were also straight-commission reps who excelled in that environment.
- Honest – I just can’t deal with people who are not honest with me, our company, or our customers.
- Money-motivated – See straight-commission reps.
- Self-starting – Sales has never been 5 days per week and 8 hours per day. They just get up and do it and do so consistently. They create their own luck.
- Positive attitude – They view challenges as opportunities.
- Confidence – Confidence comes from success and knowing that you will be successful. Confident salespeople are not afraid to ask for the order since they know that they have earned the right to do so. They do not wilt under pressure.
- Self-improvement – Someone who wants to learn and will accept, and implement, suggestions and directions. More importantly, someone who is compelled to do this on their own.
- Organized and detail oriented – With salespeople, this may be difficult to find but, not impossible. Selling today means having to sort and organize through so much information, generated by so many communication channels, that not having these abilities will be a serious handicap.
- Listening Skills – If they can’t listen, they can’t sell.
- Responsive – Responsive people tend to be great communicators and they are also typically proactive.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills – These are selling essentials and particularly in today’s sales atmosphere.
- High-level social skills – Strong social skills will translate to sales success and they do include: empathy, timing, appropriateness, and good manners. A social butterfly, I do not need.
- Customer service – A desire to exceed customer expectations and to serve the needs of the customer above those of their own. These goals are never in conflict.
- Presentation and qualification vs. closing skills – Closing is overrated. It will be the natural culmination to the sale if you can listen, qualify, and present.
Preferred contemporary skills
- A strong social presence and personal brand – Specifically on those sites where our customers are found. LinkedIn is an integral part of my business model and I would need people who know how to leverage this platform.
- An educator rather than a pitchman – Someone who has the demonstrated ability, and the desire, to educate clients in a manner that is relevant to the needs.
- Tech skills and a familiarity with CRM – If not, a desire (not a willingness) to learn.
Hiring tools
Given the costs (time and money) that are associated with finding, hiring, and training good salespeople, it only makes sense to be willing to make an investment during the hiring process. The good news is that we can now research, and even test with a high degree of accuracy, for these skills, competencies, behaviors, motivators, and other areas. Here are just a few of the ways that we can do this …
- Google search – You will be amazed at what turns up!
- Background and credit check – If they can’t take care of their personal lives and their finances. I’m not their daddy.
- The social networks and specifically LinkedIn – Not only can it be used for vetting, it can also be deployed for identifying potential passive candidates for the position.
- Social presence vetting – Facebook … “The gift that keeps on giving”. I am looking for positives as well as negatives.
- LinkedIn Ads – I have not had a chance to explore this offering but, I do know several people who have had great success!
Behavior, motivator, and skills assessments – I want to know who they really are, not what they show me in an interview. With job benchmarking we can identify and replicate successful people. Here is just one example of the sales-specific reports that are available and that are offered by my company …
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What I need to provide
You can’t afford to skimp during the training process. This includes product knowledge as well as sales training per our methodologies. I would still prefer to offer an opportunity with unlimited earning potential. That means, and I’m not even sure if people do this anymore, a straight-commission program with a healthy non-decreasing commission rate, against a draw. Call me old school but, when I decided to leave management, I negotiated an independent contractor (straight-commission) position for myself with an Idaho company and I loved every minute of it! I have always been a fan of the shared risk and reward model. Certainly, some sort of a base salary for a short ramp-up period could be considered.
Don’t ignore the evidence!
No matter how hard we try, I myself have never been successful in placing a round peg in a square hole. Often we ignore the obvious in hopes that we can work around it or that things will magically improve with time. They don’t. I have hired reps because they were either hopefully good enough or the best of what was laid before me. I have ignored my gut feelings that something may not be quite right. I have had a tendency to hang on to reps too long when everything, the evidence, points to the fact that they are just not going to make it with me. Cutting them loose early is doing both of us a favor. Most of the salespeople I have had to let go have gone on to be successful in other careers. Sometimes it’s in sales and sometimes it’s not in sales but, there is a career out there for everyone. Just maybe not with me.
Craig M. Jamieson
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