Top 5 mistakes to avoid when hiring salespeople
We’ve all done it, hired a salesperson who looks good, sounds ideal and seems to have a great track record of success, only to end up disappointed with the lack of performance and them costing you a fortune.
If you want to avoid making super expensive hiring mistakes the next time you bring on a new salesperson, here are Gary Delbridge’s top five tips:
Don’t fall in love with a candidate
Stop trying to sell yourself and the company on the first interview
Don’t interview anyone without having their sales capabilities assessed
Don’t interview candidates alone
Don’t trust what they say without proof
Here’s why!
1. Don’t fall in love with a candidate:
You know what I mean. You read a resume and perhaps have a brief conversation with a really engaging candidate and think ‘This is the one’. You really like them and they say all the right things. It’s love at first sight.
These candidates are good at 2 things and often only these 2 things:
Writing a CV or resume that paints the rosiest possible picture but is full of half-truths, untruths and even absolute fantasy. Never believe a CV or Resume as it stands.
Getting you to like them. These salespeople often have a high need for approval which means they need you to like them and will say or do exactly what you want them to. Unfortunately, this need for approval is exactly what will stop them being effective salespeople as they are unlikely to ask hard questions, make the hard phone calls or push to get a meeting with who they need to meet with.
2. Stop trying to ‘sell’ you and the company on the first Interview:
When we think we have the ‘right’ candidate, all objectivity seems to disappear out the window. All our best intentions of really digging deep in the interview seem to vanish as we strive to make ourselves and the role on offer as attractive as possible. As soon as you do this, the candidate is in control of the interview and you will not get control back.
The first interview is the most important. It is the Disqualifying interview where you challenge the candidate.
You challenge them on their resume and the areas within it that you don’t believe or doubt.
You challenge them on the weaknesses identified in the OMG sales evaluation they completed and see how well they perform under pressure. Remember, this is a sales role and they will face push-back and rejection on a daily basis in their role.
You want to make sure that they handle these challenges with calm and bravery and know how to take back control of the conversation even if you don’t want to give it up.
3. Don’t interview anyone without having their sales capabilities assessed:
You’re about to make a major investment in this new salesperson. This investment is not only their employment costs, which are bad enough, but the HUGE cost of lost opportunities. The cost of finding new business is 5 times greater than the cost of servicing existing customers.
The cost of lead generation
The cost of marketing
The cost of support staff
The cost of travel
The most important cost is the Cost of a Burned Opportunity! This is the sales opportunity that a really good salesperson would have converted but a bad salesperson can’t. The cost to your business of these lost opportunities is many times more than the money you will waste simply paying a ‘dud’ salesperson not to sell.
Have them assessed using a proven, objective sales candidate assessment tool. The OMG sales candidate screening tool is the most effective sales assessment tool if you want to know who will or won’t be successful selling your product in your market. It should be your first step before you fall in love with any candidate.
4. Don’t interview candidates alone, bring in a trusted second person for the first interview:
Two heads are much better than one. In an interview we have all the best intentions in the world regarding the questions we intend to ask. Unfortunately, in many interview situations, we can feel as much under pressure as the candidate and all the deep, probing questions we intended to ask, can evaporate as we become emotionally involved in the conversation.
A second set of independent eyes and ears are invaluable in interview situations. They can ask the hard questions, pick up on comments you might have missed and help keep you on track. They can also provide you with a different perspective when debriefing after the interview. Remember, you might be so keen to get someone onboard that you may have temporarily misplaced your objectivity during the vital interview process; a second person might help restore it.
5. Don’t trust what they say without proof:
Remember, you’re interviewing salespeople!! A bad salesperson will tell you whatever you want to hear. If you believed them and their CV/resume then the following is invariably true:
No salesperson has ever been sacked.
Every salesperson has consistently beaten their budget.
They have always grown their territories.
They have closed numerous big deals with Blue Chip companies.
They have been promoted.
They have never failed!
You have a choice, you can either believe this hogwash or you can challenge them to provide proof.
If they have beaten their targets, have them bring in pay slips that provide evidence of their bonuses/commissions.
If they have grown their territories, have them bring in their sales plans over 3 years or so that show this to be the case.
If they closed big deals, what role did they play and who else played a role? Who can you talk to regarding this success?
Ask them to arrange for you to speak to their direct manager or managers for the past 10 years to confirm their claims regarding performance.
Great salespeople will normally have good relationships with their past employers and will be happy to accommodate you. Bad ones will make every excuse for not helping you verify their claims.
Don’t believe a claim if they are not prepared to corroborate it. In short….Prove It!
If you follow these 5 rules, you will minimise the risk of making a hiring error the next time you hire a salesperson.
Important Note: Don’t rely on your recruitment company to do this for you. They want you to hire the candidate that they recommend; they won’t do these things because they believe you won’t either and they can get a placement. Prove them wrong!
Wishing you brilliant successful Hiring.