Avoid These Rookie Mistakes When Hiring Your Sales Team

New sales managers often find that interviewing is harder than it looks. A seasoned leader will tell you that hiring the right reps is the most important decision you will make as a manager. Take the process seriously and Make it a PRIORITY! Don't let the chaos of running your region or overseeing your current reps hijack your priorities.

Hire like a True Leader and Avoid These Traps...

• Trying to hire yourself – When a talented salesperson is promoted into management, it is only natural to think “If I was successful here, that must mean we need more people just like me”. Be careful falling into the trap of trying to clone yourself. I recently had a manager tell me he wanted to find a rep who was a former college athlete who had 2 years of B2B selling and 3-4 years of medical sales. When I looked at his Linkedin profile, I realized he was describing his own exact background!

Trying to hire a carbon copy of YOU is flawed thinking. There can be tremendous benefit to differing backgrounds and profiles on a sales team. Adding someone to a territory with a slightly different selling style or skillset can uncover opportunities that were previously missed.

• The Relationships Fallacy – Perhaps the easiest way to hire is to find the person with the most relationships with key customers. The thought process is “This guy is going to kill it. He already knows everybody”. Unfortunately, this mindset often results in major disappointment (as those friendships don’t always pan out).

Hiring solely based on past relationships usually leads to a mediocre sales team. A stronger manager realizes that “knowing the customers” can be beneficial for a quarter or two, but true sales acumen and hard work are the equalizers. Eventually, the cream rises to the top and talent wins out. Hiring an inferior candidate because of a rolodex is a short-term strategy.

• Seeking 100% consensus from everybody – When newer managers are conducting interviews, it is normal to want validation from others on the team. While there is certainly some value to getting feedback from others, there is also a risk of going overboard. Trying to get 100% buy in (with zero reservations) from more than 4-5 people is almost impossible. Some managers can become so overwhelmed with opinions that they become paralyzed.

Situations can also arise with co-workers playing favorites based on ulterior motives. Earlier this year, we had a circumstance where a seasoned local rep was casting doubt on a very strong candidate. As things played out, it became clear that the rep was more concerned about how her relationships might impact his territory than about the overall business.

• Asking candidates to jump through too many hoops – While we can all appreciate that there is some value to “seeing who really wants the job”, there is a danger to going overboard with unreasonable requests. Creating a maze of time-consuming tasks can become counterproductive. In essence, you start to weed out stronger reps (with more options) in favor of desperate candidates.

Several years ago, we had a brand-new manager who devised a 7-step interview process that included cold calling on customers (prior to being hired). This was awkward and unreasonable for everyone involved. Rather than hiring the best person, this manager usually ended up hiring the person that was "left standing". While this appealed to his ego, he was not hiring the best reps. His justification was always the same… they were the most dedicated.

• Letting the customers decide who to hire – Allowing key doctors to chime in on who they want as their rep might seem smart, but it usually backfires. Many of these doctors will naturally gravitate to the person that is overly nice or who “bends over backwards” servicing their account. This can lead to the endorsement of a buddy-rep who doesn’t know how to drive business or sell anything.

In addition, there can be repercussions involving other customers in the territory who don’t want a rep who is “besties” with a competitive doctor. Making one doctor happy and a dozen other doctors suspicious is a recipe for disaster.

• Trying to find the UNICORN – If you are looking for the absolute perfect sales rep, I will save you some time... They Don’t Exist. Even if you think they are perfect in the interview process, everyone has developmental needs that will surface eventually.

If you find a tiny flaw or weakness in someone during the interview process, do not “knock them out" of the process. Instead, ask yourself if you can coach them up or work with them to smooth out this rough edge. Part of the manager’s job is providing leadership, development, and coaching. Embrace this challenge!

Grow the Vine!