I’ve encountered a common question in recent interviews which pertains to the current level of performance from the existing sales team. This economy is wreaking havoc on many salespeople in terms of their commissions. Sales candidates are aware of this situation and are diligently asking the question regarding where the current team is performing. I find it to be a most appropriate question. The problem often lies within the hiring manager’s response. It is simply difficult to hide a grossly underperforming sales team. If the economy is cratering their success, the problem is even more difficult to contain in an answer. This usually leads to a pseudo-answer that deflects the… Read More
Continue ReadingThe President’s Club
This is a funny story from Yahoo: The company that makes Hot Tamales candy offered its sales team an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii if it met its annual goals, and a trip to the nation’s arctic tundra if it didn’t. The Just Born team did not meet its target and, on Tuesday, about two dozen salespeople gathered inside the 19-story Radisson hotel — the tallest building in frozen Fargo. Outside, the temperature was 7 degrees. The ground had 2 feet of snow. It gets better: They are trying to make the best of it, with a little humor. They planned tours of two North Dakota wineries and a winter extravaganza… Read More
Continue ReadingGotcha Questions
Do you know what I mean by “gotcha questions?” These are the questions designed to trap, trick or zap a candidate. These types of questions are often used by interviewers who believe they need to “win” the interview. I know it sounds odd and uncommon (I certainly hope it is), but I have sat through interviews where the gotcha questions have been asked. Interview questions are a tricky sort. Almost everyone enjoys reading interview questions in hope of discovering an effective one. However, we incorporate assessments into our process which provides an x-ray of the candidate’s abilities, motivations, aptitudes, style, etc. The power in this approach is that it identifies… Read More
Continue ReadingEmotional Decision Making
This excerpt is from the Herman Trend Alert and it highlights a very important fact for all salespeople (emphasis mine): "Loyalty will focus more on emotions than on rational, incentive-based initiatives." According to behavioral economists, economic decision-making is 70 percent emotional and 30 percent rational. Thus, the loyalty programs that touch us emotionally will work the best; those that focus on the emotional side of the decision making process will create connected, passionate, and engaged customers. Expect to see more emotional appeals that involve our families, relationships, those in need, etc. I’m going to breeze right past the “behavioral economists” title (sounds like a great description for a salesperson) and… Read More
Continue ReadingUncommon Sense
I’ve been swamped of late with sales candidate assessments for different customers and have encountered an important trait – common sense. This is a broad topic, but we use it in a fairly defined manner – using common sense. We actually measure this aptitude in one of our assessments which often leads to rather pointed discussions…especially when a candidate has a low score in this area. But what of it? Our definition utilizes speaks to common sense being more of a natural reflex as opposed to a logical thinking process. I’m not talking about intuition but rather the practical thinking in regards to seeing the world. Does that make sense? … Read More
Continue ReadingSkills Pay The Bills
I am slowly coming to the realization that many (most?) sales hiring managers are drawn to hiring experience like a moth is drawn to light. I am seeing it play out again at one of our assessment customers. The allure is to hire a salesperson with industry experience before properly assessing their sales skills. Here are some of the common statements I hear from these hiring managers: -They will pick up on our sale quickly -They know the competition -They know the nuances of our market -They know the competition -They will step in and start selling All of these beliefs stem from the hope that the hiring manager will… Read More
Continue ReadingIntroverts Make Great Salespeople
You heard me right, that is an indirect quote from this Inc.com article. This topic comes up often in our sales hiring activities as the conventional wisdom is that extroverts make better salespeople. Not true. Successful salespeople have a wide variety of abilities that go far beyond their communication style. And that is the point here, introvert/extrovert is more of a communication style than anything else. It is important to know a salesperson’s style, but it is not predictive of sales success. Here is some excellent advice from the article (emphasis mine): “When selling as an introvert, use your abilities as a good researcher to really know audience, know what… Read More
Continue ReadingHiring Like A Detective
Yes, the title is a bit quirky, but it is true. A significant portion of successful hiring involves being a good detective. I have always taken that approach when helping our customers find the right salesperson for their position. To be a good detective, you need to be a bit skeptical. Sales candidates blow sunshine. Few have ever missed quota, most state their primary weakness is being a workaholic and all have earned everything they have accomplished. Right. In reality, most have missed their sales quota at some point, many have real weaknesses discussing money and handling rejection and most have benefited from somewhere be it marketing, territory, company market… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Social Motivation
I have recently come across the Social motivation when assessing some sales candidates for a couple different customers and now I just heard a sales rep on the radio revealing his motivation. Here is what the salesperson said on the radio: I just met with a company yesterday who was paying almost twice as much to our competitor for the same service. They were getting ripped off and it isn’t right. I don’t deny the nobility of his position, but the reality is that very few services are exactly the same (despite prospect’s claims). A strong salesperson will define their value to the prospect who will make a decision about… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Dumb
This is from the JustSell.com crew – it is a description of things salespeople do to upset prospects. I found it quite comprehensive: They (Ed.-prospects) don’t like it when… we’re pushy we call too much we’re “just checking in” we’re unprepared we’re disrespectful of their time we keep calling if they say they’re not interested we don’t respond fast enough we appear not to understand them, their industry, their situations, and their challenges we don’t work in their interest we don’t listen we don’t know about our own products/ services we’re rude, arrogant, or inattentive we’re vague or unclear they’re made to feel like they’re interrupting us we seem like… Read More
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