Interesting story today from the AP – Employers study applicants’ personalities – that discusses hiring processes designed to see if a candidate is the right fit.  These processes are a good start, but much of what they are trying to accomplish could be done through assessments.

Despite a labor shortage in many sectors, some employers are pickier than ever about whom they hire. Businesses in fields where jobs are highly coveted — or just sound like fun — are stepping up efforts to weed out people who might have the right credentials but the wrong personality.

But if you would rather take the longer route, there is this approach:

Rackspace CEO Lanham Napier said, “We’d rather miss a good one than hire a bad one.”

The 1,900-person company is divided into 18- to 20-person teams. One team is so close, the whole group shows up to help when one member moves house, Napier said. Job interviews at the San Antonio-based company last all day, as interviewers try to rub away fake pleasantness.

“They’re here for nine or ten hours,” Napier said. “We’re very cordial about it. We’re not aggressive, but we haven’t met a human being yet who has the stamina to BS us all day.”

I suspect that the ideal process is somewhere in the middle.

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This truth is one that we cannot utter to our customers, but it is critical in assisting a company to upgrade their sales team.  Implicit in this statement is the fact that some companies, when it comes to sales, do not provide an “A” level opportunity.

The reasons companies do not fit the A level often revolves around a handful of lesser items and one big item.

First the lesser items:

Compensation.
A players expect A-level compensation.  Many hiring companies believe they can offer A-level compensation through their commission structure.  While this may be possible, it is often unattainable.  A commission plan in which the salesperson must triple the company’s revenue record to earn $100K is not going to do it.  For this very reason, strong sales candidates ask what the present salespeople are earning.

Tools.
I find this one to be most frustrating.  Today’s technology allows for incredible, interconnected tools (e.g. VPNs, PDA phones, VoIP phones) for an inexpensive investment.  Yet many companies still approach selling as an 8 to 5 desk jockey position.  It isn’t any more.  If you want top salespeople, make sure you provide them with the tools to perform at their best.

Marketing.
I know sales and marketing are often viewed as being at odds with each other, but it is still a symbiotic relationship.  Strong sales candidates want to see what marketing pieces are available, what does the website look like and where is the company positioned in the market?  There is no question that a company with clear name recognition is attractive to A-level salespeople.  If your company does not have extensive name recognition, a good website and a defined suspect list will go a long ways.

Finally, the BIG item:

Culture.
I’m talking about a sales culture.  I realize “culture” can span many topics, but the main point encompasses the company’s approach to sales.  I’m always intrigued by a company that clearly does not have a sales focus yet they want to hire the best-of-the-best salespeople.  The problem is that they have never had an A-level salesperson in their company and they have no idea what it takes to hire and retain one.

We work with many companies and have the chance to see past the veneer and straight to the inner workings of the company.  Some companies clearly can handle strong salespeople whether they currently employ any or not.  Other companies, if they could hire a strong salesperson, would have difficulty retaining them for 90 days.

We have worked with one customer for a year now and have seen them begin to transform their culture through a newly hired, strong VP of sales.  Previously, they were an operations-driven company that could only be described as an F-level sales culture.  Salespeople were fired for sport by operations people.  I’m serious.  They would hire salespeople and then not provide them with business cards, computers, marketing pieces…nothing.  In essence, the would ignore the new salesperson.  If the salesperson didn’t sell something in 90 days, they fired them.  How many A-level salespeople are going to sign up for that culture?

This customer’s cultural change is now underway.  Whether the VP will be successful in such a categorical change remains to be seen.  But their chances of now hiring A-level talent has improved greatly.  Presently, they have a stable full of strong B-level salespeople who may move up to A-level status with a successful change in the sales culture.  The same could be true of your company if you focus on these items.

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