Comments on: Three Hiring-Related Truths About Sales Effectiveness

By: Structured sales hiring process is critical | Tech Sales Hiring

Structured sales hiring process is critical | Tech Sales Hiring — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:40:30 +0000

[...] Dave Stein about the importance of a structured approach required to consistently hire sales reps – Three Hiring-Related Truths About Sales Effectiveness. As always he is logical in his observations: 1. If you don’t have the right people in the right [...]

By: Eliot Burdett

Eliot Burdett — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:01:38 +0000

Great post – Dave and useful tips. Hope all is well. We still see 8 out of 10 sales managers hiring based on smile and confidence of the reps they interview (which probably serves to explain why 40-50% of reps are below target). Even the smallest amount of process including steps such as role plays, behavioral tests, structured reference checks, or sample exercises, will make a difference in hiring results.

Cheers,
Eliot.

http://www.PeakSalesRecruiting.com/blog

By: Dave Stein

Dave Stein — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:48:27 +0000

The follow-up letter is something that we recommend as well. But we have the candidates do it while they are still in the prospective employer’s office to assure it is they, not their professional-writer friend, that composes the letter.

By: David Stargel

David Stargel — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:43:58 +0000

Dave,

As always, I enjoyed your points on this topic.

It’s interesting to me that with the emphasis that has been put on top grading, how many organizations still try to find a way to keep C players around. In sales, of all disciplines, it would seem that this would not be the case. But it still continues to happen way too much.

Your comment on simulations is spot on. As we all know, most salespeople can sell a 1 hour interview. But if you have them present, simulate a sales call, write a follow up letter to a sales call, etc you get to see them in action. I recommend to my clients that they have a sales candidate do all three of these as part of the process .

Thanks for another great post.

By: Jeff Garrison

Jeff Garrison — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:59:57 +0000

Great post. I have two observations. First, if people are not succeeding in their role, they are not happy. Their fear of looking for a new job may be a stronger emotion than their current unhappiness, so they do nothing. Ultimately, a manager is only hurting a C player by keeping them on board.

Second, corporate hiring processes are geared more towards processing all the candidates and their is generally no mechanism for tracking back the quality of hires to the process so that the process can be improved. Hiring poorly is extremely costly. Invest time (and money if necessary) to improve. After all, how many businesses have declared that they will never hire another person again?

By: Dave Stein

Dave Stein — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:02:08 +0000

Sue,

You’ve offered some real value in your comment. Thanks.

For the record, ESR’s hiring model considers skills, traits, and behaviors (the manifestation of the skills and traits) as critical components of the profile mentioned in original post.

By: Sue Murray

Sue Murray — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:03:08 +0000

Definitely agree wholeheartedly 3 Hiring Truths and with the importance of a structured process to interviewing and hiring salesreps, since it’s virtually impossible to provide enough training/coaching to fit the wrong profile into the right position.

In addition to the behavioral questioning and profiling techniques, having a list of the first, second and third priority of personality traits can also be helpful. One company I worked with in the past simply assembled this list:

First priority of Personality Traits: Extrovert, Competitive, Energetic, Confident, Great Listener
Second priority: Team Player, Strong Problem Solver, Big Picture Person, Perceptive, Empathic
Third priority: Focus, Relaxed, Quick Thinker, Persuasive, Self-Directed

As you can see, the salesrep really needs to be ALL of these things – but simply getting a sense of priority to a company’s ‘culture’ can really help focus the interview & questioning process. Role plays, sample presentations and other tactics during the interview to see the salesrep in action also really provide a great window into the style, presence and knowledge of the candidate.

The other thing that can be effective to selecting the right sales resource is being honest and clear about what parts of the sales cycle they will be completing. If the sales job entails the full spectrum of the sales cycle (from cold-calling, prospecting, discovery, solution definition, proposal, contracts, negotiation, closing, and even account management), then ensure this is communicated during the interview process! Clarity on expectations is crucial for a fit for both the company and the employee. And realistically, salesreps may not enjoy or be comfortable conducting all stages of the sales cycle– so knowing where they are highly skilled and comfortable, and where they may need assistance will go a long way to a successful employee-employer relationship!