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 We've all been there. Ready to expand our sales, we rush to hire more sales people. We go through the standard interview process, find someone we like, and quickly bring them on board. Only to be disappointed-either with performance, or with company fit.
Hiring a salesperson is perhaps the most difficult task for any organization. Your salespeople are on the front lines, representing your company and its products and services EVERY day. Making a hiring mistake cannot only be costly to your image, but also to your pocketbook.
There are many elements that go into making sure your salespeople are successful, but the starting point is making sure you've made a good hire to begin with. I am called upon regularly to recruit salespeople for clients and over time have come up with a winning 7-step process for finding, interviewing, and hiring the RIGHT sales representative for your team:
1. Define the role and post job description. The first step is to take some time defining the role. Too often companies try to make the position cover all areas of sales-from the prospecting of opportunities to the servicing of accounts. The reality is, it is RARE to find a hunter and a farmer in one person.
The Hunter, of course, is the person who gets their sales energy off of the "hunt" for the new opportunity. They are the consultative sales people who can innately find and assess an opportunity (even when there doesn't appear to be one) within a prospect, and find a solution to meet their needs. The Farmer is the salesperson who builds and cultivates relationships and opportunities, typically within existing accounts. Farmers are the sales people who turn a customer from good to great by the nature of their relationship and the loyalty they gain from their efforts.
Every company needs both. If you have a sales team full of hunters, you may acquire new customers fairly quickly, but experience high attrition in your existing business. If you have a team full of farmers, you may have a loyal customer base, but slower growth as new business is harder to come by. Based on your company goals, you'll want to make sure you have a good mix of Hunters and Farmers.
Make sure you determine the priority of this position and define the role and job description to accommodate that priority. Use the job roles/descriptions template provided in this kit as a place to start.
2. Collect and evaluate resumes. As you collect resumes, narrow your list of candidates to those who most meet your experience requirements. AND one important tip: Make sure you truly evaluate the candidate's experience level. Do they have the experience you're looking for? Or, conversely, are they too experienced for this position? I know that's contradictory-but why waste time interviewing a candidate that won't accept your employment package.
3. Profile the top candidates' personalities. If the personality/value make-up of the candidate doesn't meet both the needs of the position and the demands of your company culture you need not waste anyone's time. I recommend you personality profile each candidate prior to taking the next step in the interview process.
4. Phone screen those who meet your target personality profile. For those candidates who meet the profile you're looking for, set up a phone interview. The phone interview allows you to quickly determine if you want to set aside valuable internal resources on that particular candidate. It allows you to answer some preliminary questions, designed to narrow the list down to a "short-list" of final candidates. Before you begin the phone screen process, create a list of screening questions to ensure you ask each candidate the same questions.
5. Conduct in-person interviews with hiring manager and team. Once you've narrowed the list to your final candidate short list, schedule an in-person meeting with both the hiring manager and the team that will be working with them. It is best to hold these two interview sessions on the same day, so that you can maximize time on both your part and the candidates. Evaluate each candidate using an apples-to-apples approach. Compile the results for each candidate and make a selection.
6. Execute background and/or reference checks. Once you've selected the sales person right for your organization, be sure to execute a reference check at the MINIMUM. The sales role is very important to your company and checking references is a vital step to making sure you're making the right move. If necessary, also conduct a background check (on education, etc.).
7. Present an offer. Assuming the background/reference check goes well, prepare and present your offer. Be ready to negotiate...it's what good sales people do!
The final element to the hiring of a new salesperson is the compensation plan. You may want to consider professional assistance on designing a compelling plan should it be required.
Go-To-Market Strategies is a resource center for sales and marketing professionals and business leaders. Our tools, templates, and services help companies achieve big aspirations with limited budgets. More articles and resources available at http://www.gtms-inc.com
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