Salesopedia has this article on their home page this week – Six Common Mistakes in the Sales Hiring Process. Obviously we are going to read that one. First off, great quote from Zig Ziglar in the article:

“Sales people are really the only people in business who pay the bills!”

That provides some perspective on the importance of strong sales hiring. Here are the 6 mistakes as outlined by the author:

1) Assuming the hiring manager knows how to qualify people
2) Not defining EXACTLY what you are looking for in a new hire
3) Assuming specific business functions know how to hire like talent
4) Over emphasizing a hire candidates personality or looks
5) Not effectively checking previous employment references
6) Hiring in your own likeness

In our process, number 2 is by far the most important. You cannot find the right person if you do not know what the sale requires.

Number 5 is important, but not in the context of the article. Here it is in its entirety (my emphasis):

If you consistently miss critical insights into a salesperson’s capabilities, motivations or character prior to hire, it is generally because you chose not to or did not effectively investigate a candidate’s previous employment history. Given the potential cost of a poor hiring mistake, it makes financial sense to spend a nominal amount of money and have a professional check out a candidate’s references.

References are important at the end of the process, but they do not provide accurate insight into a salesperson’s capabilities (aptitudes) or motivations. How objective do you think that reference is going to be? Safe to assume the candidate will not provide a bad reference. In terms of the verification agency, the laws are fairly stringent as to what a previous employer can say in a reference check call.

Use an objective, validated assessment to discover the aspects of the candidate that lie below the water line.

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“Don’t Make These Top 10 Selling Mistakes!” Bet that got your attention. I found it on the Business Buyer Directory which provides a non-traditional means for business buyers to locate businesses for sale worldwide. The article is a couple of years old, but makes some excellent points, in fact ones that applicable to a hiring process.

4. NOT Looking the Part – Selling involves approaching strangers, people who have never met you before. People naturally base purchase decisions on first impressions. Look the part you are playing, or better yet, exceed the common image expectation in your industry. Always dress and groom one level above your targeted audience. It portrays success and gives you an opening edge over your competition. The least you can do is look like you know what you are doing!

In regards to the hiring process, does the candidate look the part you are expecting them to play? How will your clients and prospects perceive them? These are questions you probably ask yourself when you first meet your candidates. Don’t let your bias jump in here, really think about what your clients are looking for.

We once had a customer who wanted to base their decision entirely on a candidate’s looks and speech. The strongest candidate fit the stereotypical engineer look (I’m not going any further than that statement) What was astonishing to me was that is our client didn’t think he was “professional enough” to call on President’s and CEO’s. Fair statement and that task may have been a bit of a stretch for him. However, this position actually called on plant managers, engineering managers, manufacturing, etc. He was able to speak to these position’s needs.

6. Not Knowing Your Product or Service – Believe it or not, depending most on your product or service knowledge to get the order is one of the most common mistakes made in selling. Understanding the common application benefits and associated features of your offerings is critical, but constantly regurgitating nebulous product and services details to a customer will quickly send them to your competitor. Mastering knowledge of your competitors offerings is also critical to selling success.

How does the candidate apply his or her experiences, skills and talents to your position’s needs? Do they attempt to qualify the position and then focus their responses on how they will fit into the position? No two companies are the same, how you go to market, the culture and the team all vary greatly even between close competitors. What you need to look for is how they apply their product (their skills) to your needs (position’s requirements).

Again the article is well worth the time, if nothing else as reminders for pitfalls to avoid during the selling and hiring process.

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Selling Power’s The Challenge of Your Competition provides an interesting back story to a large electronics company and how it was started. I won’t spill the candy on the article, but I thought the closing graphs were insightful (my emphasis):

Everyone learns from the competition. Some people learn how to improve; others learn how to lose gracefully. Some want to be the only kid on the block; others want to be the best kid on the block. If nothing else, your competition will reveal what kind of person you are.

Remember, you cannot hold a person down unless you’re willing to stay down with him. Grow with your competition; allow them to be the absolute best that they can be. And then, be just a little bit better yourself.

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If you haven’t bookmarked Salesopedia.com, I suggest you do so now. It is a relatively new site but is full of excellent sales advice. Clayton authors a great sales blog over there that I highly recommend reading.

His latest entry discusses an article by one of our favorite sales authors – Jeff Thull – titled Ten Timely Tips For Mastering The Complex Sale. Point number 1 is one we preach:

1. Every sale is not as good sale. About 35% of all sales are bad sales. In one way or another, they leave the customer disappointed or the seller with excess costs and diminished returns. Often salespeople are so concerned with getting the order that they write business that is not good for themselves, their company or the customer. Walking away from a situation that is not profitable for anyone is the right thing to do.

We work with many sales managers and this is one of the most difficult lessons for them to accept. It is tough to walk away from a prospect, but you can’t make a bad deal good.

This lesson is one that the sales manager has to impart to his team also (another difficult task for them to accept). Some times a sales manager has to let the salesperson go down the wrong path and lose a prospect to learn that it would have been better to walk away. Of course, we tell them only allow this bloody-nose lesson to occur with a small prospect.

And here is a point that cuts across the grain of traditional sales processes:

5. Never ask for the order. If you have to ask for the order it should be clear that your customer has missed something, and its your fault. If the diagnostic protocols have been followed, and the customer has recognized problems that can be eliminated by the solution you offer, the decision to buy will come as the next step in a well-executed quality decision process. The arm-wrestling of the traditional selling process is replaced by the acknowledgement that a mutually beneficial business relationship is developing.

I can sense the eyebrows being raised by this one, but Thull is right. Qualified deals close themselves. A “strong closer” is actually a strong qualifier.

The article is filled with modern-day sales wisdom and well worth your time to read it in its entirety.

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