I just read another article about hiring sales “hunters” that was filled with simplistic tips and tricks. The article triggered a thought – there seems to be much conventional wisdom about hiring strong salespeople that permeates these articles. Unfortunately, I think the logic behind them is overly assumptive.
Let’s look at some of these mythical assumptions:
Sales Managers Should Always Be Interviewing Sales Candidates
This approach sounds good in a theoretical sense but has minimal real-world application. The only sales managers who should follow this approach are ones who head up high-turnover sales departments.
A sales managers’ top priority is to increase profitable revenue (with an eye on SG&A at the same time). It is advantageous to maintain a strong network that they can access in times of hiring need, but a dedicated approach to interviewing is a waste of precious productivity. Sales managers should invest that time in growing their existing team. This investment in the current team will reap far more rewards than performing informational interviews with external candidates.
If need be, the sales manager can employ a company like Select Metrix to source the right candidates while they maintain a focus on their current team.
Assess Candidates Before Phone Screening Them
This battle cry is all-too-familiar in the assessment world. That’s because it is promoted by assessment companies. Don’t fall for it. Don’t throw good money at an unknown/bad candidate. The phone screen is the best method for getting your first pass through a candidate’s abilities.
Let me be clear – you always need to use objective assessments when hiring salespeople. The assessments are like an x-ray into the their sales abilities – abilities that are not easily apparent through interaction. The sequencing of the assessments is the point here.
Use This Trick To See If The Candidate Is A Hunter
I understand the rationale behind this tip, but I find it grossly lacking in 2 areas. First, the assumption is that you will actually attract or find a hunter. This is a significant assumption. If you write the wrong ad, you won’t have to worry about using any hunter tricks – none will respond. If you are not certain about how to approach a suspected hunter, it won’t matter either.
The worse scenario is to limit your hunter determination to one trick because of the next point.
Second, hiring salespeople is difficult work – there are no magic bullets to determining if the candidate is a true hunter. A steady, repeatable, objective process is the best approach to determining if the candidate has the business development skills that fit your position’s requirements.