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SalesAndManagement.com
Can they Sell?
By: Bill Schult
The toughest job of a Sales Manager or VP of Marketing is to find candidates who can sell. Is the person a candidate who has talent and is qualified, or are they just an empty suit?
Companies invest millions of dollars researching, developing and building their product, tens of thousands for the perfect sales brochure, but when it comes to investing in their most important asset, the people to sell their product, they act like the local magician--they put on the blindfold and try to pull a successful salesperson from the hat.
Bad hiring decisions cost companies huge amounts of money. Putting poor performers in the field costs companies from three to five times the salesperson's annual income.
Psychologists indicate the average stand alone interview validates accurately only 12 to 20 percent of the time. This suggests the person conducting an interview does a pretty lousy job. And why not? Most people don't conduct interviews often enough to get good at it. Managers don't like to conduct interviews, and many times wind up being interviewed by the candidate. No one should be surprised by this, since there are plenty of resources available to put the candidate in the driver's seat.
DEVELOP SUCCESS MODEL
Companies can level the playing field by using carefully selected assessment tools which measure personality, behaviors, motivations and sales knowledge.
Most companies have never assessed their sales force to determine what sets their top performers apart from those who are less successful. Selection and development tools are available to help discover and develop top producing salespeople.
THE THREE LEGGED STOOL
One such tool is SalesMax developed by Bigby-Havis & Associates. SalesMax is designed to help identify three significant factors in achieving sales success.
Each factor, answered with the help of SalesMax will provide the organization with valuable information.
How will this person sell? Why will this person sell? What does this person know about selling?
"How will this person sell?" identifies the candidates' personality characteristics in 11 key areas. Eight of these predict sales performance, while the other three will help you manage the person. All are work related and have direct applicability to sales positions.
Why will this person sell? addresses the candidate's personal motivations and will help you manage and motivate the candidate when hired. You will see if his/her motivational needs are a good fit for the job and your management style. SalesMax points out those motivators that are most important to the candidate and let's you determine whether those can be made available as rewards.
"What does the person know about selling?" tells the interviewer what knowledge the candidate has of the consultative sales process at the present time. The candidate's score in this area are an indication of how well he/she knows what to do in various selling situations. This area can become very important to companies or organizations without a structured sales training program. A candidate may have the right personality traits and motivations, but if their knowledge of the sales process is lacking success in selling may be hard to come by. Companies with structured sales training programs may hire someone who scores lower in sales knowledge and provide training to develop the sales knowledge.
Tools can make you a better interviewer and help you make more informed hiring decisions.
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Bill Schult is the President of Minneapolis based Maximum Potential, Inc.
