Business Development 2.0
Posts tagged bad sales hire
Hiring Sales People – Why Place SO Much Value On Industry Experience?
Mar 23rd
Companies looking to expand their sales force often consider “industry experience” as a must-have for their candidates;
a smart business would quickly eliminate this practice, and place more value on the quality of the salesperson and their history in selling.
A great salesperson is great regardless of the industry! Any savvy professional in sales should agree that performance history, adaptability, comfort, confidence, and passion are infinitely more valuable qualities and skills than years of experience in any particular niche. Making sure that your next sales hire can demonstrate sales core competencies leaves them open and available to focus their energy on learning about your company, business, and products. A person who already understands the science of sales and the ability to relate with your potential clients will definitely be trainable in your particular market, and educating that person will be incalculably less expensive than hiring another sales dud who already has spent 10 years in your field.
Industry Experience is not nearly as valuable as salesmanship and a proven history of sales.
In the ever-changing world that we live in, it would be wise to focus on those that already know today’s sales/marketing scene, and have the know-how to continuously evolve with the market around them. Finding sales stars can make any business grow tremendously, and a real sales all-star will always shine no matter what they are selling. Next time you are looking to grow your sales force, don’t limit yourself to people who have been in your field of business.
Ultimately, it should be infinitely more cost effective and fun to train somebody in your market, products, and services, than teaching them about selling. You absolutely can hire great salespeople, and the first step is changing your approach. The science of sales is proven to work, so leave the selling to the sales force and make yourself more available to continue making the best business you can.
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Why Most Sales Recruiters SUCK!
Mar 18th
You might be paying somebody far too much money to do little more than a career-centric website could do. Here are a few reasons why most sales recruiters are bad for you and worse for your wallet.
Sales recruiters can be a gamble
Every business owner has felt the sting of a bad hire; it hurts business, costs you money, and damages morale. But, you usually dust off the frustration, hire somebody new, and move forward. You might even investigate hiring (or purchasing) somebody to help manage the hiring recruitment process for you, so that you can focus on continuing to move your business forward. However, be aware that many sales recruiters are terrible… at best.
1) Most sales recruiters ARE simply resume filters.
If all you need is a stack of resumes, then most sales recruiters will do a great job gathering as many resumes as possible and filtering for “experience.” But, you may want to do a little shopping around to some automated systems first; you’ll probably get a lower price for the same questionable results. Most sales Recruiters are only paid based on placing a salesperson in your company, but there is very little evidence up front that this person will fit, perform, or even excel. The typical Sales Recruitment process focuses on experience – and rightly so, but any sales guru will tell you that “industry experience” is completely unimportant.
2) Many Sales Recruiters don’t properly profile your position.
Finding the right salespeople requires so much more than experience and past performance. Many sales recruiters won’t even try to grasp the full and complete picture of your company; instead, they will only look at the product you are selling and match “professionals” with that product. Profiling evaluates and assesses the potential salesperson’s lifestyle and sales abilities. For example, proper assessment considers a candidates comfort with differing sales cycles, how they interact with different prospects and understand their potential clients, and much more. Profiling confirms that your potential new salesperson and your company are a mutual match. Many Sales Recruiters don’t consider things like this in their recruitment process because they focus too closely on simply filling the position.
3) The process can not maximize results.
Any business owner should be able to agree that their sales force has not performed as hoped for, and that 20% or less of their sales force has met and surpassed the goals established when they were hired. This is often due to a rushed and poorly developed recruitment and hiring process. When sales recruiters fail to fully develop a solid process that appropriately and adequately sorts through the thousands of applicants, you will be left with too many possible candidates that likely won’t perform how you NEED them to.
To combat poor sales recruitment programs, all you need to do is remember that this situation (like so many others) IS sales, not gambling. You wouldn’t gamble on a lemon of a car in hopes that it doesn’t break down as soon as you drive it off the lot, so why would you hire salespeople in hopes that they might generate an appropriate stream of revenue for your company?
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