I’m in to analogies this week so I have had this one rattling around in my head for a while. Its Friday so let’s try it.
If you are familiar with football and specifically the wide receiver position, you know that their primary purpose is to run fast, accurate routes and catch the football when it is thrown to them. On running plays, they may run hard downfield as a decoy or they may try to block a defensive player. These activities are simply secondary at best to their role. Suffice to say, wide receivers usually have the cleanest uniforms at the end of a game (sans the punter and kicker).
Blocking is not the primary purpose for employing a wide receiver.
Now let’s look at hiring strong salespeople. Often we encounter hiring managers who want to hire a strong salesperson. If wide receivers are asked to run fast and catch footballs, salespeople are asked to prospect, qualify and close potential customers. These tasks are their primary responsibilities and the reason why they are on your payroll.
If being a decoy or blocking a defensive player is secondary to a wide receiver’s role, personality or style is a secondary piece of information for hiring strong salespeople. Don’t get me wrong, communication style is important and we assess it in all salespeople. However, making a hiring decision based solely on this information is risky.
If a wide receiver can block well, that is a plus. Yet, the critical measurement is how fast they run, how well they catch and how accurate they run their routes. Wide receivers are measured based on those last 3 items as primary factors to success. Blocking . . . it is barely a secondary factor. A bonus if they can block well, but it is not a reason for disqualifying them from consideration.
Similarly, salespeople are measured on their selling skills today, their motivations for success and their potential to become better at selling. These are the primary factors that lead to success in the position. Prospecting consistency, qualifying questions and closing abilities are strengths to search for when hiring salespeople. Focusing on their personality is not.
I don’t know if that analogy works or not, but I hope it conveys the basic point. Look for sales candidates who ask good questions, who clarify ambiguous points and who qualify the position for which they are applying. These are the primary factors that lead to success.