Sales Performance Expert Teaches Top 5 Things Sales Candidates Won’t Tell You in an Interview
Robert Smith and Associates
December 18, 2007
By Rod McKinnis
www.saleissimple.com
As an employer, hiring the right salesperson for your business is no easy task. Have you ever hired someone based on “gut feel” after some great interviews, only to realize a mistake was made? “Gut feel” hires often result in costly mistakes and frustration because the costs to release tend to exceed initial hiring costs. Subsequently, the opportunity cost to initiate the interview process may be even higher. Recent studies show poor performing sales representatives are costing sales organizations over $100,000/year.1
As a former executive of a Fortune Global 500 sales organization, I have hired many sales representatives and managers. Early in my career, I learned a valuable hiring lesson – mediocrity is the enemy of high performance. Selecting High Performers enabled me to build very strong sales organizations quickly and ultimately reduce my overall costs. If you are in a position to hire salespeople, allow me to provide some insight to save you time, effort and money. Here are 5 things mediocre sales candidates won’t tell you in an interview:
1) “Currently using a personality profiles to screen candidates? Great! I know how to get around it…”
Many sales organizations are still using personality profiles as tools to select salespeople. There are two problems in doing so – First, salespeople are clever, using personality profiles that ask predictable questions are useless and are easy to manipulate. I’ve personally used many of the personality profiles and received too many “false positives”. I thought I was hiring Sales Superstars only to realize they were Sales Refugees. If you are experiencing the same, consider an alternative, for guidance visit www.SalesisSimple.com Secondly, our research shows there is no proven correlation between personality and sales productivity – it doesn’t exists.
Solution: Beware of using personality profiles to hire salespeople – they are not effective. Why? High Performance sales is about behavior not personality. Behavior is indicative of a person’s desire, therefore select a self validating assessment that measures behavior via less predictable questions and answers. Some foundational behaviors to measure are: Energy, Sales Initiative, Sales Identity and Goal Focus.
2) “Currently have a compensation plan that rewards mediocrity? Outstanding! I fit right in…”
Sales compensation plans that reward the sales force evenly, ultimately rewards mediocrity. Nothing frustrates top performing sales professionals more than not being rewarded accordingly for their sales results. Why should they outperform if everyone is
paid the same?
Solution: To attract and maintain high caliber talent, a compensation plan must have an unlimited upside and a clear distinction between top and bottom performance. High Performance should be rewarded with unlimited potential. In contrast, poor performance should be rewarded with reduced incentives and consequences. The ultimate consequence for chronic poor performance should be job termination. High Performance sales cultures instill accountability into every facet of the business.
3) “Your job description attracted me…”
Having trained thousands of sales professionals, I can sum up the sales culture of a company within seconds. How? One of the items I evaluate is the Sales Identity of the culture. Sales Identity is a measurement of pride in the sales profession. High Performance cultures take pride in their sales ability and prefer to be called “Salespeople” they find sales to be a noble profession. Average to Low Performance cultures prefer to carry titles such as “Business Development Representatives” or some similar “soft sales titles” because in their mind, there is a certain level of shame associated with the sales profession. Why is this important?
Our research shows cultures with strong Sales Identity significantly outperform those with weak Sales Identity. Unfortunately, job descriptions that carry softer sales titles reveal “weak Sales Identity cultures” and therefore attract the average to low performers.
Solution: If you want to attract High Performance salespeople speak their language in your job description. High Performers are attracted to words that insinuate: thriving opportunity, being held accountable, challenges to make an impact, a competitive environment and unlimited income potential based on their performance.
4) “No sales coaching structure? Awesome! It helps my Excusitis’…”
Sales coaching is quickly becoming a lost art in sales organizations, particularly smaller ones. Developing people should be the top priority of any sales manager. Please understand, impromptu meetings between sales managers and direct reports without follow-up and follow through are conversations – not coaching sessions. True coaching sessions are scheduled, have an agenda and take-away items for follow-up.
Solution: Coach your coaches. Equip them with coaching tools on how to meet the development needs of their salespeople – invest in them, the ROI is priceless.
5) “Want me to help you recruit more people like me? No problem…”
Experts say that your income is directly correlated to the incomes of your 5 closest friends. I believe there is some truth to birds of a feather, flocking together theory. Like minded people tend to spend time together. Please keep this in mind when making hiring decisions through referral programs, you run the risk of “doubling up” on mediocrity.
Solution: Identify the behaviors necessary for the sales role. Create a selection process to match the behavior of the sales candidate to the appropriate sales roles. The late Peter Drucker, a noted business strategist, said it best…“to succeed you have the right people in the right roles at the right time.” Good luck and Good Hiring!
Rod McKinnis, founder of The McKinnis Consulting Group, is a highly sought after speaker, sales consultant and sales coach specializing in generating high performance sales results. To learn more or to book Rod for your next sales event visit www.saleissimple.com or call 800.385.3173.
2007 All Rights Reserved
1 Based upon 2006 surveys conducted by The McKinnis Consulting Group.
www.saleissimple.com
As an employer, hiring the right salesperson for your business is no easy task. Have you ever hired someone based on “gut feel” after some great interviews, only to realize a mistake was made? “Gut feel” hires often result in costly mistakes and frustration because the costs to release tend to exceed initial hiring costs. Subsequently, the opportunity cost to initiate the interview process may be even higher. Recent studies show poor performing sales representatives are costing sales organizations over $100,000/year.1
As a former executive of a Fortune Global 500 sales organization, I have hired many sales representatives and managers. Early in my career, I learned a valuable hiring lesson – mediocrity is the enemy of high performance. Selecting High Performers enabled me to build very strong sales organizations quickly and ultimately reduce my overall costs. If you are in a position to hire salespeople, allow me to provide some insight to save you time, effort and money. Here are 5 things mediocre sales candidates won’t tell you in an interview:
1) “Currently using a personality profiles to screen candidates? Great! I know how to get around it…”
Many sales organizations are still using personality profiles as tools to select salespeople. There are two problems in doing so – First, salespeople are clever, using personality profiles that ask predictable questions are useless and are easy to manipulate. I’ve personally used many of the personality profiles and received too many “false positives”. I thought I was hiring Sales Superstars only to realize they were Sales Refugees. If you are experiencing the same, consider an alternative, for guidance visit www.SalesisSimple.com Secondly, our research shows there is no proven correlation between personality and sales productivity – it doesn’t exists.
Solution: Beware of using personality profiles to hire salespeople – they are not effective. Why? High Performance sales is about behavior not personality. Behavior is indicative of a person’s desire, therefore select a self validating assessment that measures behavior via less predictable questions and answers. Some foundational behaviors to measure are: Energy, Sales Initiative, Sales Identity and Goal Focus.
2) “Currently have a compensation plan that rewards mediocrity? Outstanding! I fit right in…”
Sales compensation plans that reward the sales force evenly, ultimately rewards mediocrity. Nothing frustrates top performing sales professionals more than not being rewarded accordingly for their sales results. Why should they outperform if everyone is
paid the same?
Solution: To attract and maintain high caliber talent, a compensation plan must have an unlimited upside and a clear distinction between top and bottom performance. High Performance should be rewarded with unlimited potential. In contrast, poor performance should be rewarded with reduced incentives and consequences. The ultimate consequence for chronic poor performance should be job termination. High Performance sales cultures instill accountability into every facet of the business.
3) “Your job description attracted me…”
Having trained thousands of sales professionals, I can sum up the sales culture of a company within seconds. How? One of the items I evaluate is the Sales Identity of the culture. Sales Identity is a measurement of pride in the sales profession. High Performance cultures take pride in their sales ability and prefer to be called “Salespeople” they find sales to be a noble profession. Average to Low Performance cultures prefer to carry titles such as “Business Development Representatives” or some similar “soft sales titles” because in their mind, there is a certain level of shame associated with the sales profession. Why is this important?
Our research shows cultures with strong Sales Identity significantly outperform those with weak Sales Identity. Unfortunately, job descriptions that carry softer sales titles reveal “weak Sales Identity cultures” and therefore attract the average to low performers.
Solution: If you want to attract High Performance salespeople speak their language in your job description. High Performers are attracted to words that insinuate: thriving opportunity, being held accountable, challenges to make an impact, a competitive environment and unlimited income potential based on their performance.
4) “No sales coaching structure? Awesome! It helps my Excusitis’…”
Sales coaching is quickly becoming a lost art in sales organizations, particularly smaller ones. Developing people should be the top priority of any sales manager. Please understand, impromptu meetings between sales managers and direct reports without follow-up and follow through are conversations – not coaching sessions. True coaching sessions are scheduled, have an agenda and take-away items for follow-up.
Solution: Coach your coaches. Equip them with coaching tools on how to meet the development needs of their salespeople – invest in them, the ROI is priceless.
5) “Want me to help you recruit more people like me? No problem…”
Experts say that your income is directly correlated to the incomes of your 5 closest friends. I believe there is some truth to birds of a feather, flocking together theory. Like minded people tend to spend time together. Please keep this in mind when making hiring decisions through referral programs, you run the risk of “doubling up” on mediocrity.
Solution: Identify the behaviors necessary for the sales role. Create a selection process to match the behavior of the sales candidate to the appropriate sales roles. The late Peter Drucker, a noted business strategist, said it best…“to succeed you have the right people in the right roles at the right time.” Good luck and Good Hiring!
Rod McKinnis, founder of The McKinnis Consulting Group, is a highly sought after speaker, sales consultant and sales coach specializing in generating high performance sales results. To learn more or to book Rod for your next sales event visit www.saleissimple.com or call 800.385.3173.
2007 All Rights Reserved
1 Based upon 2006 surveys conducted by The McKinnis Consulting Group.
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