Thursday, October 11, 2007
Hiring Salespeople Tip #26: They can read but can they write?
If a candidate's writing skills are an important part of the job qualifications, don’t count on their resume or covering letter as being any indication of their writing abilities.
In this day and age, many people are getting professional assistance in putting together their resumes and what you see is most likely the creative writings from one of these services and not that of the candidate.
If the candidate will be expected to write letters or respond to emails as part of their job responsibilities, have them write one for you as part of your hiring process. Give the candidate a scenario such as the customer is expecting delivery of his order by the end of next week and we’ve just found out that delivery will be delayed by six weeks. Ask the candidate to compose a letter or email to a prospect explaining the situation.
You’ll be surprised how many people have no idea on how to even set up a letter let alone handle the situation effectively. You may even find that they are atrocious spellers and have no ability to use spell checkers. If there’s a problem, it’s better that you find out before, not after, you hire them.
In this day and age, many people are getting professional assistance in putting together their resumes and what you see is most likely the creative writings from one of these services and not that of the candidate.
If the candidate will be expected to write letters or respond to emails as part of their job responsibilities, have them write one for you as part of your hiring process. Give the candidate a scenario such as the customer is expecting delivery of his order by the end of next week and we’ve just found out that delivery will be delayed by six weeks. Ask the candidate to compose a letter or email to a prospect explaining the situation.
You’ll be surprised how many people have no idea on how to even set up a letter let alone handle the situation effectively. You may even find that they are atrocious spellers and have no ability to use spell checkers. If there’s a problem, it’s better that you find out before, not after, you hire them.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Hiring Salespeople Tip #25: Candidates may be better prepared than you.
There are a ton of books out there for job seekers to help them prepare for the moment of truth, the hiring interview.
A lot of these people will not only know what questions you are likely to ask but what answers they should be giving if they are to impress you enough to get the job. Your job is to be prepared a set of questions that will get the candidate to reveal their real self, not the just image they want you to see.
One way to prepare is to read the same books the job hunters are reading. That way you’ll have a better sense of whether you’re getting a stock answer out of some book or if you’re getting close to the truth.
Another method is to have a set of standard questions that are appropriate to you, your company, and what the candidates are expected to sell and use those questions at every interview. After a period of time, you’ll know what answers to expect and a red flag will go up whenever you come across someone who is trying to bury you in BS (a technical term!).
To paraphrase the old saying, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there," when you're asking interview questions, "If you don't know what answer to expect, any answer will do."
You're challenge is to be even better prepared for the interview than the candidate . You're bottom line may depend upon that preparation.
A lot of these people will not only know what questions you are likely to ask but what answers they should be giving if they are to impress you enough to get the job. Your job is to be prepared a set of questions that will get the candidate to reveal their real self, not the just image they want you to see.
One way to prepare is to read the same books the job hunters are reading. That way you’ll have a better sense of whether you’re getting a stock answer out of some book or if you’re getting close to the truth.
Another method is to have a set of standard questions that are appropriate to you, your company, and what the candidates are expected to sell and use those questions at every interview. After a period of time, you’ll know what answers to expect and a red flag will go up whenever you come across someone who is trying to bury you in BS (a technical term!).
To paraphrase the old saying, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there," when you're asking interview questions, "If you don't know what answer to expect, any answer will do."
You're challenge is to be even better prepared for the interview than the candidate . You're bottom line may depend upon that preparation.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Hiring Salespeople Tip #24: Why Johnny can’t sell.
For some obscure reason many people feel that there isn’t much to selling and anybody or everybody should be able to do it. If this is the case, why is it that so many people don’t last in the profession?
This phenomenon probably explains why so many family businesses fail or falter when the original founder’s children join the company in the sales role. Apparently they are supposed to use their innate sales abilities to carry on the business traditions. Sometime it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. Not everyone has the drive, desire, ability, or temperament to do the job successfully.
If it’s simply a matter of no ability, we can train the individual. We might even be able to plant the seeds of desire for the job, but the drive has to come from way inside the individual.
Then there is the matter of temperament. How temperamentally suited is the person to sales. Having the proper temperament doesn’t assure success in sales but it gives the person a running chance at success because selling will come more naturally to them.
On the other hand, having the wrong temperament doesn’t mean the person will fail at selling but they better have a great deal of drive, desire, and discipline or they aren’t going to make it.
It’s important to match the person’s temperament to the job if you want a better chance of getting the best performance from a new hire.
This phenomenon probably explains why so many family businesses fail or falter when the original founder’s children join the company in the sales role. Apparently they are supposed to use their innate sales abilities to carry on the business traditions. Sometime it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. Not everyone has the drive, desire, ability, or temperament to do the job successfully.
If it’s simply a matter of no ability, we can train the individual. We might even be able to plant the seeds of desire for the job, but the drive has to come from way inside the individual.
Then there is the matter of temperament. How temperamentally suited is the person to sales. Having the proper temperament doesn’t assure success in sales but it gives the person a running chance at success because selling will come more naturally to them.
On the other hand, having the wrong temperament doesn’t mean the person will fail at selling but they better have a great deal of drive, desire, and discipline or they aren’t going to make it.
It’s important to match the person’s temperament to the job if you want a better chance of getting the best performance from a new hire.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Hiring Salespeople Tip #23: Beware of the “halo effect.”
Did you ever meet someone who you took an instant like to? That’s because the person you’ve just met subconsciously reminds you of someone you know and it’s called the “halo effect.” Whatever qualities you attribute to the person you know are transferred to the person you’ve just met.
This is an all-too-common and dangerous phenomenon that often occurs during the interview portion of the hiring process. We take an instant like to the candidate and end up short-circuiting the interview process and not digging for the information we need to make an informed hiring decision.
The best way to deal with this situation is to mentally note that you have this warm and fuzzy feeling about the candidate and try to identify who it is they remind you of. Having done that, pause a moment to remind yourself that this person is NOT the same person and you need to look for the differences.
Another phenomenon to be aware of is the “reverse halo effect.” This is where you take an instant dislike to a candidate. This is because the individual reminds you of someone you dislike or someone who has caused you grief in the past and you’ve transferred the other person’s transgressions onto the new person.
Use the same techniques as for the halo effect to get your mind back on track again.
This is an all-too-common and dangerous phenomenon that often occurs during the interview portion of the hiring process. We take an instant like to the candidate and end up short-circuiting the interview process and not digging for the information we need to make an informed hiring decision.
The best way to deal with this situation is to mentally note that you have this warm and fuzzy feeling about the candidate and try to identify who it is they remind you of. Having done that, pause a moment to remind yourself that this person is NOT the same person and you need to look for the differences.
Another phenomenon to be aware of is the “reverse halo effect.” This is where you take an instant dislike to a candidate. This is because the individual reminds you of someone you dislike or someone who has caused you grief in the past and you’ve transferred the other person’s transgressions onto the new person.
Use the same techniques as for the halo effect to get your mind back on track again.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Hiring Salespeople Tip #22: Interviewing frenzy.
If possible, try to interview all your candidates on the same day. Line them up to arrive one after the other at one-hour intervals. I usually allow 45 minutes for the interview, ten minutes to make post-interview notes and 5 minutes between interviews to catch my breath, clear my mind, and get ready for the next interview.
The advantage of this approach is that you can more easily compare one candidate with another. You lose this advantage when you’re interviewing people days or weeks apart. It’s also more efficient use of your time.
Consider having someone sit in on the interview with you as an observer, then compare notes after the candidate leaves. The observer is likely to see, hear, or sense things you miss.
The advantage of this approach is that you can more easily compare one candidate with another. You lose this advantage when you’re interviewing people days or weeks apart. It’s also more efficient use of your time.
Consider having someone sit in on the interview with you as an observer, then compare notes after the candidate leaves. The observer is likely to see, hear, or sense things you miss.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
NEWS: Sales Reps in Short Supply
There was an interesting article in the April 9/2007 issue of BusinessWeek titled "Where Are All The Workers.” Here are a couple of quotes from that article:
"The job U.S. employers say is hardest to fill is sales representative. The trouble is, companies can't find people with the technical expertise and business savvy to explain complex products to consumers..."
And...
"Corporations are determined to keep labor costs under control, so they're reaching deeper into their bag of tricks. Some are doing more in-house training so they don't have to recruit pricey talent on the open market."
This will undoubtedly cause more and more employers to seriously consider people with no sales experience if for no other reason that there are simply no seasoned candidates available. If you're going to consider hiring an inexperienced person, it's wise to subject them to an evaluation instrument that will give you some indication of that person's chances of success as a salesperson. There are several such instruments out there and we like to think our Sales Temperament Assessment is one of the better ones.
"The job U.S. employers say is hardest to fill is sales representative. The trouble is, companies can't find people with the technical expertise and business savvy to explain complex products to consumers..."
And...
"Corporations are determined to keep labor costs under control, so they're reaching deeper into their bag of tricks. Some are doing more in-house training so they don't have to recruit pricey talent on the open market."
This will undoubtedly cause more and more employers to seriously consider people with no sales experience if for no other reason that there are simply no seasoned candidates available. If you're going to consider hiring an inexperienced person, it's wise to subject them to an evaluation instrument that will give you some indication of that person's chances of success as a salesperson. There are several such instruments out there and we like to think our Sales Temperament Assessment is one of the better ones.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Hiring Salespeople Tip #21: But… can he sell?
You’ve just finished conducting a job interview with a possible candidate and you have a nice warm feeling about the person. The individual was charming, witty, laughed at your jokes, had a reasonable resume, and seemed to have great listening skills.
But… can he sell? And more importantly, can he sell what you want sold and can he sell in your specific selling environment? Sometimes the only thing some people can sell is themselves! They know what to say and what to do to get the job and then it all goes downhill from there.
So make sure you go beyond the usual conversational interview approach and ask sales performance-related questions. The answer to a question like, “How do you handle price objections?” can give you great insights into a person’s selling philosophy. Or asking, "How would you go about finding prospects?" will give you some idea if the person has given any thought to how they will go about doing the job.
This aspect of the hiring interview is so important that I developed a Sales Interview Questionnaire (SIQ) that not only tells you what questions to ask, but why you’re asking them.
But… can he sell? And more importantly, can he sell what you want sold and can he sell in your specific selling environment? Sometimes the only thing some people can sell is themselves! They know what to say and what to do to get the job and then it all goes downhill from there.
So make sure you go beyond the usual conversational interview approach and ask sales performance-related questions. The answer to a question like, “How do you handle price objections?” can give you great insights into a person’s selling philosophy. Or asking, "How would you go about finding prospects?" will give you some idea if the person has given any thought to how they will go about doing the job.
This aspect of the hiring interview is so important that I developed a Sales Interview Questionnaire (SIQ) that not only tells you what questions to ask, but why you’re asking them.
