Maybe It's Time to Reevaluate Your Sales Recruiting Process?

Unfortunately, when I see Sales hiring statistics like these I am not surprised. Rarely do I see companies implement effective, well thought out Sales hiring processes. My experience has shown me that most Sales organizations tend to utilize hiring practices, often making this critical error:

𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀

Too often, I have seen hiring decisions made simply because candidates were charismatic and had similar job experiences on their resumes. And too often I have seen these people fail. Salespeople are likely good at selling themselves and simply having similar work experience does not mean they were good at it. Maybe that is why they are interviewing in the first place? 

Knowledge of the industry you are hiring for is particularly important. However, there are more attributes in a candidate that you should be assessing. Here are a few attributes that I find to be strong indicators for a successful Sales hire:

𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

Sales is a marathon and not a sprint. Rejections, or simply no replies, are to be expected with outreach to prospective clients. How well a candidate manages these situations is a key indicator of their success in sales.

𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

Self-awareness, empathy, motivation, social skills…all of these are critical to assess in candidates prior to moving forward with an offer. Testing how candidates present themselves in these areas throughout the interview process is likely how well they will present themselves to your prospects & customers.

𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵

Speak to your customers and a common complaint they will communicate about salespeople is that many do not follow through on what they commit to. And once that happens, they lose trust in the salesperson. Be sure your Sales hiring process tests candidates on their ability to follow through on their commitments. How they follow through on their commitments to you is how they will follow through on their commitments to your customers.

𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲

Sales enablement tools are ever evolving, and the best salespeople recognize the value they offer. Whether it is providing better customer service, quickly accessing contact data for likely decision-makers, or engaging prospects with customized communication on a larger scale, a tech-savvy salesperson can stand out and have an edge over their competitors. 

If you're struggling to recruit high-performing sales professionals and would like to learn more about my customized Sales recruiting process, feel free to direct message me here so we can schedule a discussion, or email me at dflynn@skyhawksales.com.