The key to having a successful sales-based business is to hire great sales people. Once you hire great sales people, the rest is in many ways out of your hands — in a good way. The right sales staff are not only tenacious but loyal. They do the job because they love it and are great at it, not because it’s their only option. Unfortunately, it can be somewhat easy to hire the wrong salesperson, simply because the hiring process sometimes feels like a race to get as many spots filled as quickly as possible. Sales recruiters are where the process starts, and unless sales recruiting is done very carefully, they can hire poor sales people. To reduce attrition rates and bump up your company’s sales rates, there are a few things to look for in potential new hires. Let’s dive in! With these tips, you’ll hire great sales people in no time.
1. Look For Confidence
When looking to hire great sales people, you don’t want to go for the person who is quiet and keeps their head down. This may seem obvious, but it can be difficult to turn down people who already seem to lack confidence. Unfortunately, the world of sales is already competitive — and that competition starts during the hiring process. People who put their best feet forward and feel that the job should be theirs should not be perceived as arrogant, but confident. They’ll have to have the same attitude once hired if they’re to be successful during the sales process. At the end of the day, sales is a very social business, and you do want to hire someone who isn’t going to get tired after a day of interacting with potential clients and customers. Charisma, adaptability, confidence, and enthusiasm are what makes a good sales person. Many people can be extremely intelligent and kind; they can also have great personalities. This does not mean that they have the confidence that it takes to make it in sales. The world of sales can be difficult to feel good within, and it’s better to save someone time and energy and turn them down if they aren’t ready for it.
2. Search For Perseverance
As previously mentioned, sales are not for the faint of heart. It’s very important that a sales person has the strength to persevere through negative moments, especially in the early days. Some clients can be demanding, and some potential customers quite rude; a sales person has to be able to smile through it all and not let one negative experience affect the rest of the day. Patience is extremely important as well. Even if a sales person is not instantly successful, they need the patience to understand that there’s a learning curve involved and that they control their own careers and success. It’s a good idea to ask any potential hires about how they would respond to potential scenarios for this reason. It’s also helpful to conduct role play scenarios with potential hires to test out their different selling techniques. Experience isn’t always a must, but perseverance certainly is.
3. Strategic Thinking
Although we just said that experience isn’t always necessary, it may be necessary for your company depending on what you’re selling. If not experienced, your new hire should definitely be a fast learner. This is because different products require different types of sales techniques. Strategic selling saves a lot of time and effort. As such, a potential sales person needs to not only be able to think of their own spins on sales techniques, but be able to learn the company’s preferred strategies. Strategic thinking is extremely valuable to a good sales person, and should not be overlooked in a potential hire. If your potential recruit has a college degree, you may want to look at how their major utilizes strategic thinking.
Hiring people can be tough; it does involve being picky and saying no. But once you’ve hired the right sales people, your company will be ready to go in no time.
