HIRING THE RIGHT SALES PEOPLE
HIRING THE RIGHT SALES PEOPLE
But the real challenge for dealers comes in hiring the right people to
represent your organization, your products and you.
The difference between the right and wrong choice is more
than the few thousand dollars it will cost to hire and train new
people. The real cost is the impact on your operation's image and
sales.
At the store level, it takes at least three months to hire
and evaluate someone. At the sales territory level, it can take
six to nine months. Meanwhile, you can lose a year's worth of
sales.
Although you can never be assured that every person you
hire will be right for a particular job, you can increase your
probability of success by following a few simple rules. First,
you need to know exactly what kind of person you want. Then
follow a series of logical steps in your search. And finally,
measure the individual against your needs.
The Job Description
Before you start the hiring process, write a detailed
description of the job. Make a list as detailed as necessary to
ensure that you and the people you interview understand the
position and what will be expected of them.
Determine the level you want your salesperson to work at:
senior management; technical management; Fortune 1000
organizations; small businesses; or walk-in traffic.
Decide how you want them to sell: work closely with a
small number of customers; train sales people; set up
promotional efforts; handle item selling; use phone extensively;
make many calls to produce few sales; or perform missionary work.
As you already realize, there's more to sales than simply
selling your wide range of systems and solutions. You may be expecting people to handle
these functions without ever really spelling them out. But if
all the parties involved understand the company's needs from the
beginning, you can interview people more effectively and make a
better selection.
The Person
Now that you've defined the job to be done, make a mental
and written description of the person you want. Weigh the
attributes that you are looking for.
What to Look for in a Person
1. Ability to spot essentials 16. Imagination
2. Adaptability 17. Knowledge of market
3. Aggressiveness 18. Knowledge of competition
4. Ambition 19. Maturity
5. Appearance 20. Motivation
6. Community standing 21. Planning ability
7. Cooperation 22. Poise
8. Detailed product knowledge 23. Quick learner
9. Energy 24. Quick thinker
10. Enthusiasm 25. Self-confidence
11. Experience with intangibles 26. Self-starter
12. Flexible 27. Speaking experience
13. Good diction 28. Stability
14. Gregariousness 29. Technical experience
15. Personality
Compare the qualities of the job with the qualities of the
individual. Certain attributes and needs will appear more
frequently. These are the aspects of the job and the individual
you should focus on during the hiring cycle.
At this point, you will have a weighted sheet for the sales job
and the individual. Now focus on your particular needs:
* A fully seasoned individual with years of experience
* A person with a strong sales background
* A very technical-oriented individual
* A person who already knows your product(s)/solutions
* A person who is active and enthusiastic
* A person with a college degree
* A high powered, high-income-oriented individual
* An individual with a following
* A bright, young individual with potential
The Search
By analyzing the job, the person and your needs, you
should be able to determine if you must look locally, regionally,
or nationally.
There are several options open to you to help find the
individual ... some formal, others informal. You can:
* Hire a search firm. By supplying your guidelines, they should
present only those people who meet your requirements.
* Talk to your customers and manufacturers representatives about your needs.
Since they contact others, they may be able to direct the
right person to you.
* Talk to manufacturer representatives. They're good sources of people
and know their availability.
* Advertise in local papers, regional magazines and trade press.
* Post job openings on the numerous available position sites on the Web.
In each instance, put the description of the job and the
individual in writing so everyone fully understands (especially
you) what and who you are seeking.
The Hiring Process
Now you're ready to bring the hiring process to a
successful conclusion.
You've been analytical so far, so don't blow it now. Set
up a new selection guide and use it for all of the people you
interview. It will become a yardstick to measure and evaluate
each job candidate.
List the desired qualities in the order of priority that
you feel is most desirable for success. The list may include
maturity, detailed product knowledge, tact, etc.
You will find that you have three or four lists of
qualities ... qualities the successful candidate must have,
qualities that are highly desirable, and other considerations.
With these lists you can give a weighted value to every person
you interview, giving each attribute or quality a 1, 2, or 3
rating.
Don't use your evaluation sheets during the interview.
Following the interview, mark down your weighted evaluations.
The result will be a hiring quotient for each individual.
The quotient will be based on qualities you have selected
as a key to job performance.
A Joint Decision
It is best not to make the total evaluation yourself, even
though the final decision lies completely on your shoulders.
Have the individual interview with one or more members of your
organization.
Compare the evaluation sheets. One individual should rise
above the others.
By having the person talk with others, you can determine
if:
* They rate the individual's attributes the same way you do.
* They see any shortcomings you may have overlooked. They feel
that the company "chemistry" is right.
* They pick attributes or traits which will round out or
strengthen your total organization.
Ultimately, the hiring decision will be yours and yours
alone.
Interviewing Tips
Put the person you are interviewing at ease. Establish a
rapport with him or her and spend a little time getting
acquainted.
During the early stages of the interview, concentrate on
the individual's personality. Certain attributes that will
qualify or disqualify the person will emerge immediately. Be
alert for these attributes.
Use your selection guide as a mental road map to make
certain you have covered all of the bases.
Examine their past experience closely. What has their
income growth been ... their ability to turn situations around
... their ability to recover from negative situations?
There are a lot of these types of questions you can't ask
directly today. But you can tailor your questions to make the
potential employee reveal their past, present and plans for the
future. This will give you the information you need.
Don't ask a series of questions. Instead, use indirect
questions, skip back and forth over areas, and don't follow any
specific chronological order.
List the areas you want to cover and spell out specific
questions in each area. Then, during the course of the
interview, cover these areas in a random manner.
While you're not trying to trick the interviewee, you also
don't want rote answers. You want to be able to evaluate the
individual as quickly and effectively as possible as to his or
her total personality and capabilities.
This random approach will also permit you to cross-
correlate answers so that a true evaluation will emerge.
The Final Decision
You may feel that the hiring situation is critical, but
keep in mind you don't want to be in a similar situation three to
six months from now.
After you've been as thorough and as analytical as
possible, it boils down to one item--the gut-level feeling--that
something inside you that says this person is going to be right
for your organization.
There's nothing that can be written that will quantify or
qualify that deciding factor.
That's what makes hiring people such a challenge.
HIRING THE RIGHT SALES PEOPLE - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
The job of training channel sales people is a never-ending task.
But the real challenge for dealers comes in hiring the right people to
represent your organization, your products and you.
The difference between the right and wrong choice is more
than the few thousand dollars it will cost to hire and train new
people. The real cost is the impact on your operation's image and
sales.
At the store level, it takes at least three months to hire
and evaluate someone. At the sales territory level, it can take
six to nine months. Meanwhile, you can lose a year's worth of
sales.
Although you can never be assured that every person you
hire will be right for a particular job, you can increase your
probability of success by following a few simple rules. First,
you need to know exactly what kind of person you want. Then
follow a series of logical steps in your search. And finally,
measure the individual against your needs.
The Job Description
Before you start the hiring process, write a detailed
description of the job. Make a list as detailed as necessary to
ensure that you and the people you interview understand the
position and what will be expected of them.
Determine the level you want your salesperson to work at:
senior management; technical management; Fortune 1000
organizations; small businesses; or walk-in traffic.
Decide how you want them to sell: work closely with a
small number of customers; train sales people; set up
promotional efforts; handle item selling; use phone extensively;
make many calls to produce few sales; or perform missionary work.
As you already realize, there's more to sales than simply
selling your wide range of systems and solutions. You may be expecting people to handle
these functions without ever really spelling them out. But if
all the parties involved understand the company's needs from the
beginning, you can interview people more effectively and make a
better selection.
The Person
Now that you've defined the job to be done, make a mental
and written description of the person you want. Weigh the
attributes that you are looking for.
What to Look for in a Person
1. Ability to spot essentials 16. Imagination
2. Adaptability 17. Knowledge of market
3. Aggressiveness 18. Knowledge of competition
4. Ambition 19. Maturity
5. Appearance 20. Motivation
6. Community standing 21. Planning ability
7. Cooperation 22. Poise
8. Detailed product knowledge 23. Quick learner
9. Energy 24. Quick thinker
10. Enthusiasm 25. Self-confidence
11. Experience with intangibles 26. Self-starter
12. Flexible 27. Speaking experience
13. Good diction 28. Stability
14. Gregariousness 29. Technical experience
15. Personality
Compare the qualities of the job with the qualities of the
individual. Certain attributes and needs will appear more
frequently. These are the aspects of the job and the individual
you should focus on during the hiring cycle.
At this point, you will have a weighted sheet for the sales job
and the individual. Now focus on your particular needs:
* A fully seasoned individual with years of experience
* A person with a strong sales background
* A very technical-oriented individual
* A person who already knows your product(s)/solutions
* A person who is active and enthusiastic
* A person with a college degree
* A high powered, high-income-oriented individual
* An individual with a following
* A bright, young individual with potential
The Search
By analyzing the job, the person and your needs, you
should be able to determine if you must look locally, regionally,
or nationally.
There are several options open to you to help find the
individual ... some formal, others informal. You can:
* Hire a search firm. By supplying your guidelines, they should
present only those people who meet your requirements.
* Talk to your customers and manufacturers representatives about your needs.
Since they contact others, they may be able to direct the
right person to you.
* Talk to manufacturer representatives. They're good sources of people
and know their availability.
* Advertise in local papers, regional magazines and trade press.
* Post job openings on the numerous available position sites on the Web.
In each instance, put the description of the job and the
individual in writing so everyone fully understands (especially
you) what and who you are seeking.
The Hiring Process
Now you're ready to bring the hiring process to a
successful conclusion.
You've been analytical so far, so don't blow it now. Set
up a new selection guide and use it for all of the people you
interview. It will become a yardstick to measure and evaluate
each job candidate.
List the desired qualities in the order of priority that
you feel is most desirable for success. The list may include
maturity, detailed product knowledge, tact, etc.
You will find that you have three or four lists of
qualities ... qualities the successful candidate must have,
qualities that are highly desirable, and other considerations.
With these lists you can give a weighted value to every person
you interview, giving each attribute or quality a 1, 2, or 3
rating.
Don't use your evaluation sheets during the interview.
Following the interview, mark down your weighted evaluations.
The result will be a hiring quotient for each individual.
The quotient will be based on qualities you have selected
as a key to job performance.
A Joint Decision
It is best not to make the total evaluation yourself, even
though the final decision lies completely on your shoulders.
Have the individual interview with one or more members of your
organization.
Compare the evaluation sheets. One individual should rise
above the others.
By having the person talk with others, you can determine
if:
* They rate the individual's attributes the same way you do.
* They see any shortcomings you may have overlooked. They feel
that the company "chemistry" is right.
* They pick attributes or traits which will round out or
strengthen your total organization.
Ultimately, the hiring decision will be yours and yours
alone.
Interviewing Tips
Put the person you are interviewing at ease. Establish a
rapport with him or her and spend a little time getting
acquainted.
During the early stages of the interview, concentrate on
the individual's personality. Certain attributes that will
qualify or disqualify the person will emerge immediately. Be
alert for these attributes.
Use your selection guide as a mental road map to make
certain you have covered all of the bases.
Examine their past experience closely. What has their
income growth been ... their ability to turn situations around
... their ability to recover from negative situations?
There are a lot of these types of questions you can't ask
directly today. But you can tailor your questions to make the
potential employee reveal their past, present and plans for the
future. This will give you the information you need.
Don't ask a series of questions. Instead, use indirect
questions, skip back and forth over areas, and don't follow any
specific chronological order.
List the areas you want to cover and spell out specific
questions in each area. Then, during the course of the
interview, cover these areas in a random manner.
While you're not trying to trick the interviewee, you also
don't want rote answers. You want to be able to evaluate the
individual as quickly and effectively as possible as to his or
her total personality and capabilities.
This random approach will also permit you to cross-
correlate answers so that a true evaluation will emerge.
The Final Decision
You may feel that the hiring situation is critical, but
keep in mind you don't want to be in a similar situation three to
six months from now.
After you've been as thorough and as analytical as
possible, it boils down to one item--the gut-level feeling--that
something inside you that says this person is going to be right
for your organization.
There's nothing that can be written that will quantify or
qualify that deciding factor.
That's what makes hiring people such a challenge.
HIRING THE RIGHT SALES PEOPLE - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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