Browse Tag

Sales Hiring

Why You’re Missing Out on Hiring “A” Player Salespeople

Hire the Best - Use for Web applications, emails, etcEveryone tells me they want to hire “A” Players and at the same time they are ill-equipped to do so.

First let me define “A” Players .They are typically only the top 6% of the sales population.* Below are some defining characteristics of “A” Players:

  • Head down focused on driving results
  • Not looking for a job or, at best, passively looking
  • Has a track record of success and not just during good times
  • Committed to success in their sales career
  • Have the desire to be successful in their sales career

This list would also include attributes like; they do whatever it takes, keep score themselves, hate to lose, etc.—but that is for another article. read more

Do You Want to Hire Entrepreneurs or Employees?

Hire the Best - Use for Web applications, emails, etc“I want someone with an entrepreneurial mind-set in this position,” a client recently stated.  I’ve heard this comment many times before, and it triggers my cautionary response, “Are you sure?”

Too often we believe we want attributes like self-starting, proactive, and organized in a person. In other words, we are looking for someone who fits the “entrepreneurial” mold without really defining the desired behavior exhibited by a person who could have these attributes. read more

Your Salesperson is Code Blue

Hire the Best - Use for Web applications, emails, etcHave you noticed?  Lead stories in the news are no longer about high unemployment, a bearish stock market, lack of consumer spending, or foreclosure numbers.  I noticed it and thought, “So, this is what recovery feels like.”  It has been a long time in the making.

This economic recovery has been atypical because the 2008 recession was not a typical recession.  What made it unique is the entire country and all industries went into it at the same time. Plus, it did not discriminate; it affected all economic classes of people.  While we all went in together, the recovery happened at different times for each industry and geographic area.  For some of you, the recovery may still be coming. read more

How Committed is Your Sales Engineer to Being Successful

Hire the Best - Use for Web applications, emails, etcWhenever I conduct my Hire the Best Workshop, I always ask participants what a person needs in order to be successful in sales.  Typically, I will hear that they need to be:  a good listener, rejection-proof, a team player, organized, an effective communicator, have perseverance, be goal-orientated, have industry knowledge, be money-motivated, be self-motivated, etc. read more

Five Strategies for Accurately Evaluating Your Sales Candidates

Hire the Best - Use for Web applications, emails, etcI have interviewed salespeople for over 35 years, and during that time I’ve developed some insights on effective interviewing methods.  Here are five of my strategies that will enable you to better evaluate the salespeople you are interviewing:

1. Take time to evaluate salespeople using different methods.

Here is our preferred process at Performance Group: read more

How to Effectively Screen Sales Candidates

Evaluating sales candidates can be one of the most challenging tasks because candidates are trained and skilled on how to present.  They know what to say, what not to say, how to read people and present the best features and benefits about themselves!

While screening may be a step in your hiring process, I propose that every step have a screening element built into it. read more

The One Sales Number You Should Know

Hire the Best - Use for Web applications, emails, etcYou are on top of your business; you know the numbers that drive it and you keep score.  At the same time, if you are in a sales leadership role, you probably don’t know the one critical number.

What is the cost of hiring the wrong salesperson?

Did I just hear a groan?  If that was you, then you probably need to know this more than most because deep down you know this is costing you a lot– but you don’t want to confront reality. read more

Would You Hire Tim Tebow?

Hire the Best - Use for Web applications, emails, etcTim Tebow was the Florida Gators’ starting quarterback who, in 2007, became the first college sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy.  In 2008, Tebow led Florida to a 13–1 record and its second national championship in three years, and was named the offensive MVP of the national championship game.  The Gators again went 13–1 in 2009, his senior year.  At the conclusion of his college career, he held the Southeastern Conference’s all-time records in both career passing efficiency and total rushing touchdowns, appearing second and tenth (respectively) in the NCAA record book in these categories. read more

How Will They Respond?

Hire the Best - Use for Web applications, emails, etcHow will they respond?

How people respond in an interview is more important than what they know.

When interviewing, most candidates know the “correct” answers to your questions. This is especially true when interviewing salespeople.

Because of this, you need a process that gets past what they know, and forces them to share what they will actually do. read more

Why You Are Missing Your Revenue Targets

Hire the Best - Use for Web applications, emails, etcThe short answer is, you are not staffed right.

The sooner you accept this reality, the sooner you start your journey of never missing another revenue target.

This is the “why” behind the short answer…

It has been my experience that we typically fill a sales role based on the experience we feel the person needs in order to hit expectations. While I agree this is part of the equation, it is not the full equation. read more

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