As you have probably ascertained, we are strong proponents of hiring for ability/potential that matches your sales as opposed to tenured experience in your industry.  Naturally, this article – The Myth of Experience – from Managesmarter.com is right up our alley.

Please allow me to reference an analogy from later in the article:

Don’t fall into the myth of relying upon experience. Instead look for potential. That’s why there is always an image of flowers on a package of seeds. We don’t really care what the seeds look like. We want to know what they will become.

I like that characterization even though I am not one to use “potential”…I prefer abilities and potential. 

The author jumps right into it with a paragraph we could have written:

The truth is, we all have a tendency to think of experience in a way that is entirely too limiting. What we should be looking for is not direct experience but transferable skills. It is not whether someone has sold the same product or service before, but what have they carried with them:

• Are they able to initiate relationships easily?
• Can they get a client to open up?
• Do they know how to identify and solve problems?

These are some of the transferable skills that can take an individual successfully from one position to another—and even from one career to another.

Transferable skills are the key to hiring salespeople.  The best way to spot these skills is to profile your sale first, then find salespeople with skills that match up well to your sale.

And finally, a suggestion that we support:

An in-depth personality profile can provide the insights you need into whether an applicant has the potential you are looking for. Is it their empathy? Their persuasiveness? Their perseverance? Their ability to connect with people in a very real way? The capacity to quickly analyze problems and arrive at solutions?
Discover that. Then look for applicants who have those same qualities. That’s the potential you’re looking for.

In sales, it is important to go into skills, motivations and abilities since personality is primarily a style issue.  Nonetheless, this is an excellent article and one I strongly recommend you read.

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