Why Can’t I Seem to Hire the Right People for Sales Positions?

I have worked with many Small Business Owners around Sales Performance with their Sales Person(s). I have seen my fair share of Sales people who just aren’t getting it done and the owner is frustrated and tells me that they have just made so many bad hires in the area of Sales people. I usually proceed in asking them what was it about that Sales person that you hired him or her. A common response is that “they know my products, they have worked in my prospects industry”, or “I liked them”. That’s the one I like the best. What tends to happen is that the Business Owner does not dive deep enough into the “Sales” skills of that candidate. I don’t mean “tell me how much you sold at your current or past sales positions”. I mean really dig deep into the skills that you either know or want to have with your new salesperson. You must know how to do this and what questions to ask. I have also seen Small Business Owners “steal” their competitor’s top performer and assume that this person is going to be the greatest hire ever. Only to find out that they end up leaving and you are surprised. Just because a person was very successful at one company and now moves to another one, doesn’t guarantee success. Some things you need to dive into, is their success in selling a completely different approach from what they have been doing, is it a short or long sales cycle, what is different about how your sales happen and start?
Again, dig deep to make sure you have the “right fit” of a Sales person based on your product, the market(s) you serve, and even the culture of your company, which is equally as important.
Something else that will contribute to making a successful hire is to conduct a simple but effective “Behavioral” based assessment of the candidate. There are many out there and I chose to work with Predictive Index and I am a certified practitioner of their work. I have seen amazing results when the assessment of behavior is added to the skills and experience of the person being considered for the Sales position.
I would welcome an opportunity to discuss what you might be experiencing to see if I can assist you in any way with putting the pieces together.
Call me at 904.472.3706 or email robert@getinthegamese.com
A bad hire is a precious thing to waste!!!