It’s far too easy for a candidate to tell you that he’s comfortable using software such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. And then, after you’ve hired him, you find that the person can’t do what you want done. Sure you can train him… maybe. Some older candidates just can’t seem to get their mind around…
Look Right Under Your Nose
When looking for brand-new, right-out-of-the-box, untrained-but-trainable salespeople don’t look on the horizon. Depending upon the size of your company, you could have a number of people who might be suitable for sales but who simply never considered it. These are people who would never apply for a sales job. They would run in the opposite…
Beware of Salespeople Bearing Gifts
I’ve seen senior sales managers who, during a hiring interview, get quite excited about a sales candidate when that candidate says that he will be bringing a book of business with him, or all his customers, etc. I can almost hear the mental cash registers ringing in all those sales that will result from this…
Don’t Rely on Just One Interview/Interviewer
Unless you have a greater than 50% success rate at hiring salespeople, don’t rely on just one interview or one interviewer when making this critical hiring decision. I’ve already mentioned the fact that job candidates, particularly sales candidates, have no problem presenting the picture you want to see. Having more than one interview and more…
You Snooze…You Lose
Once you find someone whom you think will do the job, get an offer to him quickly, even if it’s the first person you interview. It’s not necessary to wait until you have someone to compare the candidate with. The right person is the right person. Move on your instincts. You want to get this…
Hire Outside the Box
When looking for technical salespeople, there is a tendency to always hire from within the industry. While there’s nothing wrong with taking this approach, don’t cast aside potentially good candidates simply because they don’t have industry experience. Look for people who have experience in sub-trades or allied fields as well. Technically astute people, or those…
Evaluating Your Current Sales Team
I’m feathering my own nest here, but you may want to consider using our online sales assessment to get a better handle on your sales team. The results may explain why some people are doing so well while others are budding also-rans. The Sales Temperament Assessment (STA) is easy to complete. While it’s primarily used…
The WYSIWYG Candidate
What you see during a hiring interview, particularly the first and second interviews, is not necessarily what you’ll get once the person shows up on your doorstep. It’s an easy trap to fall into. Candidates, particularly good sales candidates, have the ability to adjust their demeanour to suit the situation just as they might during…
An Email Reference Check is Better Than No Reference Check
I’m a big fan of doing reference checking but I don’t much care for the tendency to do them by email. Having said that, I’d rather you check references that way than not check references at all. An email reference check is where you send the reference an email that contains the questions that you…
Can Your Candidate Communicate Effectively in Writing?
If your salespeople do a lot of communicating with prospects and customers by email, make sure the person you want to hire can string a bunch of words together into a cohesive, understandable sentence. You can’t count on the candidate’s resume or thank you letter as being any indication of his writing skills. Someone else…
