Salespeople can be a blessing or a curse, because a great salesperson can accelerate your business’s growth, however one who underperforms can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost opportunities and overhead. Getting the right salespeople is critical to your success, so continue reading to increase your odds!
10 Steps to Getting the Right Salespeople
Determine goals and objectives.
Think it through, then consider why is this important to you now? What specific goals and objectives do they need to meet? Where will they work? What is their territory? How will you measure success?
Define the skills required.
Do you need someone outgoing and assertive or is it more important to get a skilled listener who asks good questions? Maybe you need someone with technical competencies, because you don’t have time to invest in that type of training.
Determine the best recruiting method.
Once you know the kind of person you are looking for, where are they? How do most people get jobs in your industry? Referrals? LinkedIn? Job boards? Here’s a simple article that can help.
Conduct a telephone interview.
Comb through resumes to identify your best candidates, then schedule an appointment for about a half hour and ask a series of written questions, including any that might eliminate them quickly. Make extensive notes. Be consistent so you can make an unbiased comparison.
Plan the initial face-to-face interview.
Make sure that your office makes a good first impression, becuse you want the staff to know you have a potential recruit, so ask them to be welcoming. Not only does the candidate have to sell you on hiring them, you have to sell them on joining the company. So, go through a consistent list of questions and make detailed notes.
Job fit assessments are a must!
The candidates are on their best behaviour, so you have only seen the tip of the iceberg. Job fit assessments during the hiring process are a proven strategy to increase success and retention because they reveal information and behaviour traits that you wouldn’t normally see until after the probation period, which may be too late.
Conduct a second face-to-face interview.
So, once you have reports from the job fit assessment, you can now go deeper and ask more specific questions.
Give the candidate(s) an assignment.
Ask the candidate to invest some time that confirms they have the necessary skills, because you want to see if they can do what they say.
Do background checks.
Many people lie or exaggerate on their resume, so drill down on specific questions that will confirm or deny any concerns. Then, be vigilant about ensuring referees are honest.
Make the offer of employment.
Start over if you don’t get exactly what you’re looking for. But when you find the right person, be ready. Provide a clear, concise set of expectations in your offer and how you propose to pay them.
Hiring a salesperson is a big step. There’s little room for error, so make time to do it right.
At TAC, we’ve used Prevue Job Fit Assessments for over 35 years. Contact us for details.