The success of many businesses rely heavily on the capabilities of their sales representatives. While this fact is easily understood by many business owners, and experts in industries alike, understanding how to hire a sales rep who will excel in their role can be rather difficult. Although a good portion of candidates will excel in their sales role, there’s an overwhelming amount of prospective sales reps who will offer little, to no value for their employer, and the statistics providing the evidence for this reality is alarming.
Of the sales professionals in North America, 40% will miss their quota, 22% are not trainable and only 10% will actually provide a beneficial ROI (return on investment). Additionally, almost a third (32 percent) of all sales people have been with their company for less than 12 months. For those who are responsible for hiring sales employees, but have a limited understanding of how to hire a sales rep that will prove to be a valuable hire, here are a 4 tips to aid in the interviewing process.
1. With sales candidates, experience isn’t always the most important thing consider, especially if you have existing sales reps who can assist in the training and mentoring of new recruits. Many successful sales reps possess the natural ability to be good sellers, despite coming right out of college, or having no sales experience at all. Instead, look for skills in areas such as organization, persuasiveness, and ability to learn the product or service being sold when considering a potential sales employee.
2. Many clients expect high-level presentations from sales reps. It’s important to ensure your potential sales reps are have a good understanding, and are comfortable when using the current technology, and in some cases have the ability to professionally, and creatively design their own presentations.
3. A warm smile and handshake can go a long way for sales people. A sales rep who possess the natural personality traits such as friendliness, charisma, and strong communication skills are crucial traits to identify in the candidates during your hiring process.
4. Finally, if you’re too busy with your regular business operations, or can’t seem to figure out how to hire a sales rep that will excel in their role, consider seeking the services of sales recruitment firms, otherwise known as executive search consultants. Executive search consultants screen and place sales representatives with companies, managing the entire process from start to finish.
