I preach this point from the mountaintop as often as possible so I’ll continue here – sales is the single most difficult position to hire in any company. The reason is simple, accurately predicting sales success by discerning candidate capabilities is…well, often a crapshoot. This fact is why it is imperative to use assessments to gain an understanding of what the candidate has “under their hood.”
A prime example is emotional control. Successful salespeople have this trait. It is a broad term so let me put a finer point on it:
This is the ability of a salesperson to maintain rational and objective actions when experiencing strong internal emotions. This trait measures one’s ability to control their own internal emotions and prevent them from affecting their actions, logic, objectivity, etc. Emotional Control deals with keeping internal emotions in instead of letting them get the better of the salesperson.
I’ve seen this trait showing up more frequently among salespeople in this recessed economy. My theory is that deals are hard to come by in most industries. When salespeople do lock on to a solid opportunity, they need to stay focused and keep qualifying. However, if they lack emotional control, they may get giddy, over excited, even panicky to get the deal closed. This approach is absolutely uncomfortable to observe (yes, I have seen it first-hand recently).
The other facet of this trait, or lack of it, is an angry, desperate salesperson who reacts negatively to a stressful prospect interaction. The salesperson can become infuriated with a deal not moving forward. Even experienced salespeople can respond with a quick cut on the prospect or fire off a curt email that turns the prospect negative.
Whichever way this weakness plays out is highly detrimental to any company. Salespeople must maintain objectivity throughout the most difficult of discussions to properly qualify an opportunity. Failure to do so leads to the aforementioned problems. This potential weakness can be identified before you ever hire a salesperson. The tools are available so please contact us if you are ready to keep this weakness out of your sales team.