Don’t-Let-HR-Hire-Salespeople

Don’t Let HR Hire Salespeople

One of the hiring traps many companies fall into is letting HR hire salespeople. I apologize if this blog annoys HR practitioners but the simple truth is that most (not all) HR people are unqualified to hire salespeople. What they are extremely good at is managing the hiring process and understanding the legal aspects of…

Hiring-a-Salesperson_Hire-for-Attitude

Hiring a Salesperson? Hire for Attitude.

Seasoning is great “on” food and “in” people! One of the things employers often look for in a sales candidate is past sales experience and “seasoning.” However, sometimes when you hire one of these seasoned pros, they come complete with complacency. In sales, like in many things, attitude counts. I don’t ever discount a salesperson’s…

The-New-Hire-—-Doing-It-Right

The New Hire — Doing It Right

Too many companies still insist on pumping their new hires full of product knowledge and then dumping them on unsuspecting prospects, fully expecting the new salesperson to sell up a storm. These “talking catalogues” start running around “telling” instead of “selling” and the expected storm decays to a light drizzle. The salespeople get depressed at…

Set-an-Interview-Time-Limit

Set an Interview Time Limit

I’ve blogged in the past about sales candidates who have a propensity to be verbose and why you may want to avoid them (huge timewasters). Whenever I’m tasked to do an interview with someone who our Sales Temperament Assessment has flagged as being over-social, I use the following technique to see if the person has…

Root-Causes-of-Conflicts-In-Work-Groups-1

The Last Sales Interview Question

You’re hiring salespeople, right? So, at a minimum, the sales candidate should know how to sell himself. That’s why, when you’ve completed all the rest of the interview and testing process, you should ask what I call the last question, “Why should we hire you?” This gives the salesperson one last opportunity to sell himself…