From the course: Sales Management Foundations

Recruiting salespeople

- Recruiting and hiring sales reps is so important that the best sales managers get actively involved in the process. They see recruiting as an ongoing activity so they always have qualified candidates who can step right in to an open position. Here are the steps you take to hire sales reps. First, develop a profile of the type of person who can perform the sales task. Look closely at the sales task and ask yourself, what skills does a rep need or be able to acquire to do the job? Do they need technical skills, quantitative skills, presentation skills and so on? For example, selling medical products might require skills related to medical procedures but selling financial services might require more skills in presentation and negotiation. Also ask what knowledge is needed to do the job. Do they need knowledge about your industry or perhaps knowledge about a certain topic, such as biology or engineering? And finally, what dispositions and behaviors do they need for the job? Do you want people with high energy or perhaps people who are more easy going and great at forming relationships? Now, once you have a profile, work with your HR team to create a job description, which includes elements of the profile, along with job duties as described in the sales task. Now, depending on the job, there are lots of sources of potential sales recruits. Start by looking inside your own company. You might be surprised at how that quiet, shy engineer could become a superstar salesperson. Your own employees already know your products and industry, so they're an excellent source to fill openings. Other sources include referrals, staffing agencies, universities, former military personnel, internet job and networking sites, and, of course, traditional newspaper advertising. As you get people applying for the job, it's time to start interviewing. And I recommend creating an interview script that focuses on what reps need to do to perform the sales task. Sales managers use two types of interview scripts. First are called the situation or behavior-based interviews. If the sales task requires reps to respond to certain situations, ask interview questions that focus on those situations. Here's an example of this type of interview question. A potential customer just told you that you didn't get the order. What do you do now? And how do you respond? With this question, you would want to hear that the rep is tactful, professional and appreciative but they also try to find out the reasons why they were not given the business. The other approach is performance-based interviews. Here you give the candidate exercises that simulate a selling situation or activity in the sales task. For example, you might hand a candidate an everyday product and ask them to describe its features and benefits. When you find the right candidate, make the offer and be ready to negotiate. Salespeople want more than anything to feel that they are valued. Send that message from the very start with a fair but strong employment offer.

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