By Kent Covington
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Charlie Hauck of Growth Dynamics, a firm that specializes in Sales Force Development, on the subject of recruiting successful salespeople. Charlie had a lot to share, but I’ve boiled it down to three simple “Keys” that could unlock the secret of finding and retaining good salespeople!
Key One: Recruit Constantly
Most business owners and managers only recruit and hire salespeople in a time of need. When the business leader learns that a member of their sales staff is moving on, they begin a hasty search for what they hope will be a suitable replacement. Often, employers feel they don’t have time for a thorough recruiting process. They need someone in the field Monday! This frequently leads to implementation of the “mirror test”: If he can fog up a mirror with his breath, he’s qualified!
Don’t wait until you suddenly find yourself understaffed. Recruit Constantly!
Key Two: Understand That Most Salespeople Don’t Belong In Sales
The unforgiving truth of the matter is that the majority of people working in full-time sales should find another line of work. Many people try their hand at sales simply because they couldn’t land the position they wanted, and they believe (incorrectly) that anyone with people skills can sell for a living.
Employers often wind up hiring the wrong salesperson because they base much of the qualification process on technical knowledge. “Does he or she have the technical competence to talk to our customers about what to do with the products/services we sell?”
While it’s important for salespeople to understand what they sell, that won’t help you much if they don’t possess the skills to sell. These are the people who wind up trying to succeed in sales “by hook or by crook”, (READ: extending the cycle and erasing your margin)! They cost you more than they make you and should probably find another line of work.
Another typical mistake made by employers is to trust the social image of what a salesperson is. This is what we would commonly call a “people-person”. In reality, the very attributes we see in a “people-person” are often the ones that lead to failure in sales. Why? Because a “people-person” is also a “people-pleaser”. He wants to avoid disappointing others. Sometimes in sales, however, you have to say “no” to clients/prospects or decline to agree to things they may demand of you to get their business. When the people-pleasing motivation overrides a people-person’s ability to manage a sale, it becomes a major hindrance to success. That’s not to say that people with highly social personalities can’t succeed in sales, but there are other, much more important attributes than social skills. Which brings us to...
Key Three: Trust Your Instruments
“...pilots have to trust instruments more than their bottom end...The probability of an instrument failure is much lower than [the pilot’s] spatial disorientation.” – PlasticPilot.net (an aviation blog)
When a pilot trusts his gut over his instruments, the results are often tragic. When an employer trusts his gut to recruit salespeople the results are similar! Charlie Hauck has coined a term to describe such employers: “KOWISO”. This represents their philosophy for identifying qualified candidates (I “Know One When I See One”).
Many tools can help you qualify and select strong salespeople, but most KOWISO’s use only one: The Interview. But did you know when you hire based solely on an interview, your success ratio will be about 15%? Roughly 5 out of 6 “interview only” hires won’t make it to the 1-year mark!
Charlie recommends you make the interview the LAST step in the process. This way, you interview ONLY those candidates who have an excellent chance of succeeding within your organization.
Here are the stats: If you interview and use reference checks, your success rate will be approximately 25%. If you take those two steps and add a personality profile, your success rate jumps to about 45%. When you employ skills assessments as well, you’re up to 55-60%. Add in behavioral assessments, workplace motivators, and actual sales-specific measurements, and you’re batting .800! That moves your success rate from the abysmal 15% success rate of the KOWISO’s to the 80% level. Sure, you’ve spent a day or two longer in the hiring process, but it’s a lot cheaper than the months and –let’s be honest - sometimes years we retain non-productive hires.
There simply isn’t enough room in this article to explain each of these tools in detail, but a simple Google search can help you get started. Why not set aside a little time to research the available tools for evaluating sales candidates? Why not do it this week?
The time you invest in researching these tools might yield the best return on investment you’ll ever see! Charlie points out, “If someone is hired and they don’t make it... the minimal impact that people much smarter than me assign to a failed sales hire is 1.5 times that person’s salary. So if you have a 50k hiring mistake, that’s a 75k hit.”
Let’s Recap: Here are the Three Keys to Hiring Successful Salespeople:
Key 1 – Recruit Constantly - Not just when you need someone!
Key 2 - Understand that most people don’t belong in sales – Get the RIGHT person for your company!
Key 3 - Trust your instruments. – Sales is a real skill – not a feeling, so don’t go with your gut!
Use these three simple keys, and you’ll spend less time hiring, and more time selling!
You can learn more about Charlie Hauck and Growth Dynamics atwww.growthdynamicsonline.com.
