I’m not physicist, but I remember some teaching in class regarding the difference between kinetic energy (an object in motion) and potential energy (stored energy within an object).  Salespeople are similar in that you want to hire the ones with kinetic energy and not the ones with only potential energy.

I’m going to stay on this theme since it is so important to successful sales hiring – filtering candidates based on their resume does not allow for determining these two “energies.”  Hiring managers attempt to divine kinetic energy from a document that is written to imply kinetic energy/activity.  But is it true or is it an embellishment?  Or was it even written by the candidate?

The best method for determining the ability of a sales candidate is to talk to them.  I am always flabbergasted when I read a sales ad that has applicants fill out information on a website and closes with the command, “No phone calls please.”

Please indeed.

The post mortem report on most bad sales hires involves some form of assuming potential energy equals kinetic energy.  The sales candidate looked good on paper and put on a show during the in-person interview.  Yet, once they were entrenched on the payroll, their work day consisted of a cloud of dust.  At the end of their work day, the wagon hadn’t moved.

The key is to put the candidates into situations that allow you to see their abilities in action.  Their selling ability, their follow-up ability, their persistence…all of these things can be observed long before you even meet the candidate.  Adjust your process and you will weed out the potential-only candidates.

Posted By Derrick Moe | Hiring Salespeople,Sales Techniques | | Comments(1)