Hiring the Right Salesperson

Going through the hiring process from the candidate and the hiring manager’s point of view is not all that different. Each side should have the same objective; convince the other this is the right match. Is there a way to increase the odds for a win-win situation? This article addresses this question.

Anyone can hire and anyone can hire poorly. The key is to hire the right person the first time. Hiring the wrong person is costly for a company, but what the hiring company fails to realize is this is also highly damaging to the candidate’s reputation as well. Hiring the right sales person should not be predicated strictly on their ability to meet and exceed quota. WHAT? Yep, you read it right, that’s exactly what I wrote.

I didn’t say that trait was not important or not high on the list. Managers get myopic when they see a high performer and don’t see the bigger picture. Let me explain with this scenario. You have two candidates interviewing for the same position, and their performance at their last position employer was 80% and 140% respectfully. Which one do you hire? Managers with myopic vision hire the over-quota performer and six months later, you find this person truly is a rock star, but with one BIG drawback. He/she does not follow the rules, disrupts team continuity and has undermined your team allowing resentment to set in which is allowing total sales to drastically fall. WOW! Not the result you had in mind when you hired this cannon is it?

Given this scenario, which candidate would be the better hire? The answer is: You don’t know. Certainly this hire is producing as you had hoped, but at a very high expense to the team and company. The passed-over candidate maybe looking pretty good right about now, but then again you had no guarantee of success if you had hire them.

This brings us to the core of this article, Personality-Trait testing. I opposed these until I saw how costly a bad hire could become, and not just in revenue; they can be destructive to the entire sales team. Companies are beginning to understand the value of having a candidate tested, especially when it relates to the cost of hiring an employee that does not work out.

These type of tests are not expensive, so you could do these on your own and send one to targeted employers in a job search as they could give you a competitive edge. The caveat to doing this is if it came back showing you in a negative light, you might not want to share with a potential employer. Additionally, if it is truthful, ignoring it won’t make you a better salesperson.

Personality and trait analysis testing isn’t new, but in the present economy, they are becoming a valuable tool. I do caution companies and managers to think sensibly when analyzing the results. These are simply another tool to use in evaluating talent. If you perceive these as the deciding factor, then maybe hiring isn’t your biggest problem.

I will end with a great quote from
Casey Stengel–Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story.

Make sense? Let me know by commenting. It’s how we all learn!

If you find this article of value please comment. Have a Twitter account? I would be most appreciative if you would retweet this at the top of the article!

Happy Selling!

Ed Warner