 | |
| |
Sales Management Information
| |
|
|
|
Why Performance-Based Recruiting Produces Top Sales Performers
Many recruiting ads and job descriptions include "knockout factors" that can actually screen out qualified sales candidates. One example is a requirement that candidates have an undergraduate degree, a graduate degree, or a degree in a specialized field of study such as Engineering. Another example is a requirement that candidates have a minimum number of years of sales experience. When my customers' recruiting ads and job descriptions include these types of knockout factors, I like to have a little fun with them. I say something like:"(Name), imagine that I have two candidates for your sales job opening. One of them has both the college degree and the five years of sales experience that are listed as minimum requirements in your recruiting ad. The other candidate doesn't have a college degree, and she only has two years of sales experience. But, she has relationships with dozens of C-level executives that are good prospects for your company's products and services. She could easily book fifteen appointments during her first week on the job. Which candidate would you prefer?"As you might expect, my customers always choose the candidate with the relationships. That is when I have to deliver the bad news:"(Name), unfortunately you will never see this candidate, because she is being screened out by your knockout factors!"If you want to improve the overall quality of your sales candidate pool, shift your focus away from education and experience and toward performance-based measures. How will you measure your new salespeople's performance during their first thirty, sixty, ninety, and 180 days? What activities will you expect them to perform? What results will you expect these activities to produce, and in what time frame? Here is an outline for a recruiting process that focuses on performance-based factors:
If you ask performance-based questions and clearly outline your expectations for new hire sales performance, you will attract fewer poor candidates, as some will de-select themselves. You will also attract more strong candidates, as they will no longer be screened out by invalid "knockout factors". The end result will be a steady improvement in the overall quality of your sales organization. Copyright 2005 -- Alan Rigg Sales performance expert Alan Rigg is the author of How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Selling: Why Most Salespeople Don't Perform and What to Do About It. To learn more about his book and sign up for more FREE sales and sales management tips, visit http://www.8020performance.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Back-to-School List - 10 Tips for Trade Shows There's a new year beginning now - the school year. Whether you have children attending for the first time or finishing university, it's always hectic to get into the back-to-school routine. Building Trust For Lifetime Success Trust.One word. Leadership - How To Turn The Vision Into A Reality Be clear about where you are now. Audit your strengths and areas for developmentWhere do you want to be?What needs to be done to eliminate the gap between your dream and the reality?Prioritize - Look for quick wins, consider those things which will have maximum long term impact. 7 Tips for Testing Your Sales and Marketing One marketing technique may work wonders for someone, but that doesn't guarantee that it'll do the same for you. The only way to really know what works for YOUR products and YOUR target audience is to experiment. Speed-up Your Sales Cycle This week's article is my response to a question by David Cohen of Bridge-Soft. "Quite a few prospects have told me that business is stagnant at the moment, but they are hopeful towards the 4th quarter. Baditude! As a group of sales trainees took a break from our workshop on selling, the distress they were feeling, was clearly manifest in their intense discussions. It was obvious from their unrestrained conversations that the software being installed to track their sales performance was the reason for their anxiety. Sacking Clients: Brand Power Wheel Remember in the last message we talked about your directional pipeline and how sometimes you'll be approached by prospects who just don't fit with what you want to achieve? We looked at the different types of prospect - Desperate, Curious, and Inspired.Well, now we're going to have a think about what might happen if you realise you have some of the desperate or curious people as your clients. Hiring--A Vital Key In Sales Management Success Recently, I was asked to spend some time on the telephone, coaching a client's administrative assistant on how to check out an employment candidate's references. After each in-person or telephone conference, I complete a brief written report going over the information discussed. Free to Succeed: Effective Sales Leadership Using A Coach Approach About 2 years ago, I participated in a training program I'll never forget. The leader divided us into two teams. Do You Know How to Fire Up Your Sales Staff (When Money Isnt Everything)? Money is the only thing that motivates a salesperson, right? Well, maybe it is time to give your sales staff a little more credit.If you are like most sales managers, you were probably promoted to your current position because you were a great salesperson. Drop Discounts and Earn Top Dollar Every dollar you discount is a dollar of pure profit you're giving away. Therefore, your efforts to remove discounts will be richly rewarded. Outsourcing the Sales Function Small to medium companies that want to increase sales or profits and find it is possible to outsource sales should - do it! At this point most business owners and executives either become overwhelmed with doubt or fear.Here's what we hear: "We can't give up control of sales, that's too risky. Producing Premium Performance One of the major issues that arises in managing a small or medium size business is in the area of employee performance. Many business owners are frustrated with the poor performance of their team or some individuals within their team. 3 Secrets That Set The Context For Sales Success In today's competitive environment, every organization is trying to improve sales results. In every company, the most important - and vulnerable - link in the success chain is the performance of their people. 5 Secrets to Managing Your Sales Manager Productively Many people believe that the main reason for representatives leaving their organisation is that of money in that they leave for a bigger salary. In fact, the biggest reason why people leave organisations is that the role they are doing is no longer offering any challenge or excitement. Pointless Targets I recall a heated discussion with a sales director some time ago where I proposed that the long-term effect of setting activity targets for salespeople would eventually lead to failure. He vehemently made the point that he had systematically imposed activity targets on his sales force and that the result had been to treble average income per salesperson within 18 months. Sales Marketing: 12 Sneaky Tricks To Help You Outsell Your Competition Business can be like war sometimes.You may have to fight hard to survive. Not Enough Fresh Sales Leads? Marketing is the New Sales Your sales are down and leads are rare. The phone's not ringing. Generous Donor Refused (how qualified business slipped away) Generous Donor RefusedPicture this. You are a fund development director for a respectable school at a well-known state university. Keeping Your Sales Team Motivated Sales managers frequently approach me for advice on how to keep salespeople motivated, especially when sales reps get into a rut - and seem to keep slipping deeper into it. Telling managers what not to do usually solves the problem.
|
| home | site map | Group Privacy Policy |
| © Sales Management 2009 |