Business Development 2.0
Posts tagged sales recruitment
The Changing Landscape of Sales Teams
Apr 15th
I talk to a lot of sales managers and CEO’s that are still looking for sales candidates that, among other things, are supposed to be good prospectors and hunters – in the hopes of the development of new business. However, prospecting is no longer necessary for sales teams due to Social Media Marketing. Watch this video to find out why.
Prospecting Not Necessary for New Sales Hires
Apr 12th
No more do you need to recruit salespeople who will bring “a book of business,” or “hunt,” or even “smile and dial.”
You may have heard the phrase “cold calling is dead,” and it absolutely is (I know there is a salesperson/business owner/consultant out there rejoicing!). Why call somebody you don’t know* if you could have a bottomless supply of people to talk to who have (technically) filled out the dream form on your website – i.e. full name, all areas of interest, decision maker, what they admit they need help with, etc. We’re talking about leads who are asking for demonstrations and have given all the key indicators for a close. This happens everyday for all types of companies and businesses because, leveraged correctly, Internet technologies available on the market help build a river from many small streams of people you have attracted. Running this kind of marketing and sales system is a fraction of the cost you could pay a salesperson to “hunt”.
Assuming you hire salespeople correctly, if you provide the quality leads available you can scale down your sales team so it consists of nothing but closers (“coffee is for closers!”). These “closers” are people who are good at walking people through to a decision. Somebody patient. A nurturing salesperson. A listener.
Finding the right one is the only thing you have to do now.
* Yes, I did a TON of cold calling in my day Photo by DSC1597
Taking Your Sales Force From “OKAY” To OUTSTANDING
Mar 30th
Last week on Twitter we posted, “How many sales people would you hire if you knew they all would succeed?” We got a great series of responses and retweets about this simple question.
Better sales teams generate more sales, which makes you more money – it’s as simple as that. It seems like most business owners can relate to the experience of having some “dud” sales people, as well as a few really strong performing people. The hiring process can sometimes feel like a gamble; sometimes people that you think will turn out to be excellent performers end up totally and completely tanking. This is related to a few fundamental problems with the strategy and approach that many companies take with recruitment.
Taking your sales team from “okay” to outstanding is easier than you think! Here are a few little ideas that make a big difference when hiring, recruiting, and evaluating:
1) Use a system
Often when people perform truly amazing, they don’t know how they did it; everything just came together. Equally, people have a hard time understanding why they did poorly, and this limits the ability to fix the problem. Incorporating a structured hiring system and recruitment methodology that evolves with you and your business will allow you to consistently hire sales stars.
2) It’s okay to outsource
“Why would I pay somebody to do what I can do?” Well, very simply put: your time is valuable. If you look at the amount of time, energy, and (most importantly) money that you spend on hiring, it becomes pretty easy to establish a value to the process. You could just as easily dedicate a fraction of that value to hiring a great company that excels in the process to do it for you; just make sure you critically assess if one of these companies is a good fit for you. Great outsourcing recruitment companies will profile your business, share their systems, provide you with strong feedback about their recommendations, and most importantly confirm that each of their sales hires will be a strong and accurate “fit” for your company (see How to Hire Sales Stars Every Time).
3) Have high expectations
Too often companies “hope for” rather than “expect” great performance. Setting clear and concise expectations while at the beginning of the recruitment process, and then maintaining those throughout the tenure of your salespeople will optimize sales. Expect outstanding from the get-go and watch the quality of your legitimate candidates increase. Setting the bar too low prevents strong goal oriented people from reaching their full potential because they simply are not aiming high enough.
So last week when we posted, “How many sales people would you hire if you knew they all would succeed?” on Twitter; @FourFecta responded, “All of them!” The response was simple, and incredibly true. You can hire top performing sales stars that will succeed, and you should! Taking your sales team from “okay” to outstanding might feel like a challenging undertaking, but it is possible and can be so much less intimidating.
If you are interested in seeing your sales team become outstanding, Smeester and Associates specializes in How to Hire Sales Stars Every Time.
Image Credit
How To Use Sales Assessments Effectively To Maximize Results
Mar 25th
There are so many good assessments and evaluations available to help business owners and managers successfully generate a quality in-depth view of their sales team and its
members; often these can be used inappropriately, which will definitely compromise the validity and integrity of the results.
Personality tests are great to determine how people get along with one another and develop interpersonal relationships. Behavioral styles evaluations can assist in determining ‘best practices’ in managing individuals and their behaviors. The problem with these is not in the assessments themselves, but when using them to determine what actions you should take in the selection and development of salespeople. A leading assessment company at one time even claimed that there is no direct correlation between behavioral styles and successful sales performance. Using the information that these can generate may be a great tool to maximize your sales force as long as the information is kept in context.
What you need is great tool that will help you learn what makes a successful salesperson, if and how a salesperson can improve, where improvements are necessary to your sales team, and more. You need a tool that determines what obstacles may be preventing successful sales, how much realistic improvement you can expect, action plans for improvement. Do you want to predict which candidates will succeed in your sales position with 95% certainty? This can be done, and it is through approaching sales positions and sales with a direct and objective view on the science of sales. Use a sales assessment that effectively profiles your company and the potential candidates, critically evaluates potential talent, and maximizes the results for your company consistently. Smeester and Associates specializes in using tools like what’s been described above to help maximize sales for companies. If you want assistance in finding a tool for you that can effectively increase the performance of your sales team, then contact us;












