Recruiting great salespeople - some may think it is a myth like “bigfoot”. Some would say they have done it and yet cannot reliably replicate it. If I asked around, I would probably hear about how sales recruitment is so haphazard and almost like a lottery. How did it get this reputation?

In an interview, an average salesperson will tell you all the things you want to hear: 

1. I know your products...

2. Your applications...

3. Your markets/clients

4. I have a huge number of contacts

5. I have made budget time and time again

6. I'd love to sell your product/services

7. I can make a huge difference

Often this is how it goes; you fall in love with their well-written CV, the interview is warm and friendly, they have a gift of the gab, the references they provide speak highly of them (and why wouldn’t they), so you hire them. Three months later you feel they will not work out. Maybe you chastise yourself and perhaps you have not given them enough time yet. In 6 months in you finally realise you hired a sales dud, ouch! How did this happen, what went wrong? I have the answers and the solution.

How a Great Salesperson May be Doomed to Fail at Your Company

1. They cannot replicate the environment in which they had their success.

For example, a salesperson by the name Frank works for a well-renowned company with very direct guidelines for its large sales team; Visit clients, quote based on time-tested products, and come in with the lowest price regardless of margin. Frank is the best salesperson by far. He has the biggest accounts and brings in the most revenue.

Now let us pretend your company is not very well-known and is offering innovative products to the market. To be successful in your company, salespeople must call on Decision Makers in the C-Suite and tender with prices higher than your competitors. Frank, formally the best salesperson at his previous company, is hired by you with high expectations to continue his track record of first-place finishes. This is how one company’s great salesperson can fail at your company. 

2. Great is relative.

Frank is clearly more lucky than great. His luck provided him with a job in the right company, at the right time, solid products and with the best clients. Comparing him to the other 100 salespeople in Company X, order takers at best, Frank appears to be great.

3. The candidate was not great at all.

Here is the real reason you hired Frank. You felt some urgency, a position in an important territory was available, and Frank turned up creating instant relief. He had a winning personality, award-winning fictional resume and he also performed tremendously well in the interview. In essence, you were won over.

Sure, this formula may have worked out for you sometimes in the past. Equally, you have also hired salespeople that didn’t work out using the same method. Hit or miss hiring is not a model for success. There should be no excuse for a company’s poor hiring decision. Do not hire yourself a Frank, instead, opt to be honest with yourself and your current recruitment process and seek change.

So, how do I recruit great salespeople consistently?

I’ve compiled all the secrets in a handy eBook and it’s yours free to download here. Learn the criteria for success when recruiting plus gain valuable insights to secure your ideal candidate. Isn’t it time that you stop repeating a broken process and get the help and tools that will make you a hiring genius?