In this issue:

Application in Action:  Profile the Sale

As discussed in our featured article this month, Process-Driven Hiring:  Profile the Sale is the most critical step in a successful hiring process.  Many times we have met with managers who instinctively knew a good sales opportunity when then saw it, but they have never put a metric to it.  The information gathered in this step provides a benchmark for all future hiring in this position.  The bar is set to which all candidates will be compared and a gap analysis will be provided.

Profiling the Sale usually encompasses a 2-3 hour meeting, but this media limits us to just the highlights.  The first step is to fill in the numbers for the Connects-to-Close ratio on an average sale:

Use this ratio as the benchmark for completing the next step.  Define the 3-4 Key Accountabilities for this position.  Most people could fill a page with accountabilities, but the "key" accountabilities are the absolute necessities for the position.  An effective approach is to assume the job can talk.  If it could, how would it describe the critical functions that lead to success.  After the Key Accountabilities have been identified, they must be prioritized from most critical to least critical.  As a final step, review the accountabilities to ensure that each one is measurable.  No candidate, once hired, should be held accountable for anything that does not have a definite measurement.

We have breezed past some fairly significant tasks, but now we are ready to begin defining the sale in direct terms.  These ten questions must be clearly defined when searching for the right salesperson:

1. What markets will this person be calling upon?

2. How many competitors will they typically have to beat?

3. What differentiates your company from the competition?

4. How much of their time will be spent prospecting for new customers vs. selling current customers?

5. What is the average size order they will be expected to close?

6. What is an average sales cycle (time from connect to close)?

7. What process is in place for when the salesperson closes a deal?

8. What milestones do you expect as they initially ramp up in the position?

9. How is the commission plan structured and what successes does it reward?

10. What is the style of the direct manager (direct, hands off, etc.)?

This partial list of questions will form the backbone to a successful blueprint in hiring the right salesperson for the position.

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