Tips, suggestions and pitfalls as we cover a wide variety of hiring topics.



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  1. Always select talent and skills over experience.
  2. Do not put the entire burden of the company on this hire.
  3. Do not clone yourself.

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Salespeople typically have some semblance of rapport-building ability…even inept salespeople.  Some of the least talented salespeople we have ever assessed have still been highly skilled at bonding with others.



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My advice would be to look at a salesperson’s qualifying skills in the hiring process as opposed to their linguistic mannerisms.  Watch for their ability to ask pertinent questions regarding the opportunity.

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Successful sales hiring requires 3 main focal points for success – work experience, objective assessment and in-person abilities.  I would rank them all at 30% importance and leave 10% to other “fit” factors (compensation, writing ability, travel, etc.).



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Perhaps a subtle, but more dangerous occurrence is the all-too-common hire who performs their job in the gray twilight of mediocrity.  They never rise to the occasion and they never catastrophically fail.

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Face-to-face interviews are the backbone of most hiring processes even though vast majorities of hiring managers have never been trained to run an effective sales interview.  Just imagine, the pivot point of their process relies upon an unrefined manager’s skill. 


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Millennials are matrix-oriented in their approach to the workplace.  Essentially, they see the organization hierarchy flatter than any previous generation, especially the Boomers.