Successful Hiring Requires Knowing What You Are Looking For.

Let me throw a couple of statistics at you that will blow your mind. According to a recent study conducted with hiring managers…

1. 92% of hiring managers polled could not specifically describe what characteristics/attributes would be required for a new hire to be successful in the role they were hiring for.
2. With the benefit of hindsight, those same hiring managers were asked what percentage of the new hires in the last 5 years would they confidently describe as “best fit” hires for their roles. Their answer? Less than 15%

How can you find the best candidates for your sales position if you don’t really know what you are looking for? I hear far too often that the owner or sales leader is looking to hire experienced salespeople. Awfully hard to do in most markets…dang near impossible in a lot of markets.

Then they default to other media salespeople. Then they default to people who have been in sales. Not a bad thought. At least they have a SIMILAR experience. Does having that experience in sales, media sales or sales in general really guarantee any measure of success on your team?

I’ll admit it usually is a plus, but our experience tells us no. When you are hiring your next salesperson you must remember this…there are skills, experiences, habits, etc. the candidate does not have that can be taught. And, there are characteristics, attributes, hard wired mindsets that are required for success that cannot be taught. Ignore these facts to your own peril. Whenever you’re evaluating potential new sales talent for your team, consider creating interview question sequences that will help you to identify the presence or absence of these traits.

Your aim is to solicit relevant, impromptu personal narratives from the applicant in each of these example areas (and others you may identify as being important for your culture).

Abundance Mindset:
Does the applicant consistently act in accordance with the principle that opportunity (as opposed to scarcity) is everywhere?

Resilience: Adaptive and Agile:
Do they change course without a lot of drama when it’s obviously time to do so? Is their self-concept strong enough to carry them through good times and bad?

Tech-Savvy:
Does this person embrace new technologies that carry the potential of enabling them to experience and/or deliver greater value?

Data-Driven:
Does this person make decisions and recommendations based on objective, quantifiable data? What specific experiences and work accomplishments demonstrate these habits?

Consultative Selling: Adaptive/Agile Sales Process:
Is this person genuinely curious about the individual buyer’s journey? Does this person meet buyers where they are in the buying process? Does this person quickly and routinely establish equal business stature with decision makers and influencers? Does this person ask questions appropriate to the situation and the person, and listen actively to the answers? Does this person listen more than they talk? Does this person lead conversations effectively without dominating conversations? What past or present selling situations demonstrate these capabilities?

Big-Picture Mindset: Is this applicant more interested in creating and supporting long-term relationships with buyers than they are in facilitating a series of short-term transactions?

Ability to Rapidly Embrace Change:
Does a sudden, unexpected change inspire this applicant – or destabilize them? Do they see creating a rapid, engaged, effective response to new circumstances as a personal challenge they enjoy meeting?

Remember: you are looking for tangible evidence of the presence of these traits. What happened in the person’s work history that suggests the presence of one or more of these traits? When, where, and how did it happen? Who else was involved? Ideally, you want to see verifiable evidence of all traits before you extend an offer!

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Need help with sales skills or coaching to take your company to the next level? Learn more about Sales Mastery at mastery.com or Contact Dan Nausley at dan.nausley@sandler.com, 423.702.5579.