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6 Common Mistakes in the Sales Hiring Process
Is lack of sales results, more sales training costs, months of unearned salary and damage to your company's image or reputation your company's method of NOT finding good salespeople? For most companies it is! The "trial and error" method of hiring salespeople is very costly to a business. Without a viable way to hire quality sales people everyone in the same organization is negatively affected. Without revenues there often are not adequate human and financial resources to best service customers or grow the business. "Sales" Pays the Bills If you are a seasoned business owner or a manager of a business, you learn that sales fixes most business problems in other words, when sales revenues are strong, you can more afford to make business mistakes or throw more money at any number of business problems. However, when sales are down you cannot afford any level of unnecessary incremental cost. Zig Ziglar, the famous sales trainer, once said, "Sales people are really the only people in business who pay the bills!" For vital, revenue generating positions like sales, businesses cannot afford a trial and error method of finding quality sales personnel. Show Me the Way! Hiring quality employees has always been a major challenge for any business owner or manager. Hiring mistakes are common no matter the business function and most are directly attributed to six fundamental hiring mistakes: 1) Assuming the hiring manager knows how to qualify people Being able to effectively interview and qualify people, like any other skill is not an innate talent. Some people are better than others at assessing hire candidate's potential. As a hiring manager you must seek others perspectives of candidates and establish an interview team for each open position, than collectively discuss each candidate for optimum results. 2) Not defining EXACTLY what you are looking for in a new hire The adage: "If you don't know what you want you'll never get it" applies in hiring salespeople. When you establish an interview team, document a comprehensive job description with duties and responsibilities clearly defined for each interview team member. Be sure to list desirable talents, skills and areas of knowledge. If you want multiple perspectives on candidate traits or experiences, have each person focus on a limited number of desired skill sets. 3) Assuming specific business functions know how to hire "like" talent Do sales people best know how to hire other sales people? Not necessarily! Just because someone is capable in a specific job function does not mean they know how to hire people with the same level of talent. 4) Over emphasizing a hire candidate's personality or "looks" This one is obvious, but, one of the most common hiring mistakes. 5) Not effectively checking previous employment references If you consistently miss critical insights into a salesperson's capabilities, motivations or character prior to hire, it is generally because you chose not to or did not effectively investigate a candidate's previous employment history. Given the potential cost of a poor hiring mistake, it makes financial sense to spend a nominal amount of money and have a professional check out a candidate's references. 6) Hiring in your own likeness Everyone likes to hire people who either have their same; background, education, philosophies, interests, motivations or friends, but, more often than not, this is a major mistake. Sales team diversity is critical to long term sales success. If your organization can establish an effective program to evaluate potential new sales personnel on a probationary basis you can also significantly reduce your hire risks. Establish a legal document whereby the candidate and your company mutually agree to a 4 to 6 month "mutual evaluation period". Define upfront all position performance metrics for the candidate and a clear financial remuneration to be paid if they do not meet the performance thresholds. Be sure this agreement is written by a qualified attorney. If the "honeymoon" is wonderful, there is a good chance the marriage is going to be a success! Organizations have a shared responsibility to hire the best selling talent possible. Whether you seek experienced sales people or "rookies" with just energy and attitude, a disciplined approach to PRE-qualifying tomorrow's sales superstar is paramount. If you cannot find quality sales people, don't compromise! About the Author: Mark Smock is President of http://www.business-buyer-directory.com, the FIRST International business buyer directory of its kind. Business Buyer Directory provides a non-traditional means for proactive business buyers to locate businesses for sale worldwide that meet their exact registered purchase criteria.
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Why? The depth of account penetration has an enormous impact on revenues and profitability. 14 Top Lead Generation Tactics According to former Harvard Business School professor David Maister, typical marketing practices are not only inapplicable for professional service firms, but they may be dangerously wrong. Book of Lists Marketing for Pressure Washing Companies The American Business Journals produces a Book of Lists each year in their many markets, it is wise for pressure washing companies to use this book of lists to find new clientele. The book of lists, lists the top companies in size in all industry sectors. Since pressure washing companies clean almost anything, it behooves them to use the book to selectively target the top companies to do business with. Small Business Marketing: Overtaking Your Competitors Few businesses keep tabs on competitors, yet such knowledge can give you a distinctive competitive edge. 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The Benefits of Catalog Sales For Your Business Things to watch out for when selling your product in catalogs. Seven Deadly Sales Mistakes That Cost Business Owners Big Money - And What To Do About Them 1. LOOKING for a "quick fix" to close more sales sales aren't closed, they're opened. Is Sales Process & CRM Stopping Sales? Standard metrics and KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) are created usually between The Sales Director, The Financial Director and The Managing Director. These KPI's tell the sales teams what they should be doing. For example, 'Your pipeline should be at least three times of your annual sales target'; 'Your conversion ratio of opportunities to closed orders should be 60%', and so on. Nothing like a bit of statistical analysis from the bean counters to motivate the sales team is there? Remember that old saying?'You can prove anything with statistics'. Here, we see it applied for real, albeit on an unconscious level. Business Career, Executive Coaching Article - Perfection vs. Excellence "(Howard) Hughes never learned how to convert his knowledge to practical application. Instead he sought a perfection that assured failure." - From Empire: The Life, Legend and Madness of Howard Hughes by Donald L. Bartlett & James B. Steel Train a Winning Sales Team: Rounding Third and Heading for Home Although I never met the man, I imagine Lou Boudreau would have made one heck of a field sales trainer. In 1942 the 24-year old Cleveland Indians shortstop was promoted to player/manager of his team, and for the next eight years Boudreau did what we, as trainers, are called upon to do every day: demonstrate success, inspire success and cultivate success. Think of it as the triple play of sales training. T. L. S. 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The fundamentals of selling are clearly that elemental. The application thereof, however, continues to be the litmus test that quickly separates the skilled from the rest. 8 Procedures to Take Control of Sales and Marketing The Cash to Cash Cycle Part Three of Series Franchise Sales; Recruiting of Laid Off Employees Because of corporate downsizing, many people have been laid-off or voluntarily taken early retirement packages and/or incentives. This happens when times are good due to mergers and acquisitions or when the economy is in the dumps and corporations are working to cut payroll costs. Almost all of these people have absolutely had it with corporate life; they feel burned and unappreciated. They realize that there is no such thing as job security. If a franchiser sales team gets the lead in time, they may still have good credit. If not, these laid off employees will have spent their savings on family crisis type emergencies and day-to-day living expenses. They will have either taken a job for less pay somewhere else out of necessity or be in a line of work totally foreign or unrewarding. Once this happens, they may no longer be in the market for a franchise. Sales Tactics to Beat Your Competition This month I want to share a success from a friend and customer of mine. You'll find in this story two important sales tactics for beating your competition.
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