How to Hire Salespeople in 2022

Hiring salespeople in 2022 is not for the faint of heart. Candidates will ghost you and your top talent will interview for other positions. You will be frustrated and disappointed.

Millennials and Gen Z are losing interest.

Did you participate in the job market in 2021??If you did, you likely experienced the frustration all sales leaders and business owners did. Millennials and Generation Z are far less attracted to traditional sales positions than their predecessors.?Many believe sales is exploitative.?

When you combine some Millennials steering away from sales, 91 million people taking themselves out of the workforce, and turnover rates over 23%, you MUST make the hiring process more predictable. The costs of a hiring mistakes are like rising interest rates, they compound over time.?See how much here.?

Hiring processes must be consistent and effective.?Ask yourself this question-

When does the hiring manager start to sell the sales candidate on the company, the products, and the role??

If this occurs before the final interview with your top candidates, your hiring process can be improved.?

?The great news is I have effective ways to make your hiring process better.

SOLUTIONS!!

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There are proven approaches you can take to increase your chances for predictive, and successful hires. Bonus—they’re simple and quick to implement.

If you are looking to hire new sales associates, be sure you are:

·??????Writing job ads that are attractive and attract

·??????Reviewing resumes with skepticism, and for clues

·??????Follow a sales interview process that challenges the candidates thinking about sales

·??????Apply a predictive assessment

·??????Be creative with remote work, and compensation

Let’s explore these more deeply then you can decide which solutions support your sales positions, company objectives, and budget.

Jobs Must Attract & Entice

Competition is fierce so you must catch their attention. The posting must speak directly to the candidate you are trying to attract.?For example,

Are you looking for a sales position where the company values you, and provides freedom for remote work? You are amazing at uncovering the prospect’s buying criteria. You consistently maintain margin integrity on your sales because you sell value.

Candidates understand what’s expected of them daily without sifting through a list of job responsibilities.

Don’t forget to spread the word you are hiring.?Ask your employees to tell everyone.?Create a simple graphic that says you are hiring and post it consistently on social media. Ask your employees to Like & Share it; consider running a participation contest.

Don’t forget online job boards and advertising. $8 to $10 a day can help.?Change the title of the posting on each job board weekly keeping in mind the more creative the better.?

Tell candidates how to apply and make it easy for them. Don’t forget this step (hey, it happens) and do not make it vague or too wordy. Now is not the time for all the forms; that can be done when you hire them.

Be Skeptical & Look for Clues

Salespeople must have industry experience. ?That’s a myth.

A talented salesperson coupled with a good on-boarding process, will allow them to have conversations with prospects in days, not weeks. There may be exceptions for highly technical products or when an elite network is required, but that’s rare.?

All resumes have some level of hyperbole.?Be skeptical of claims in a polite, professional manner and always look for patterns like several short stints and discuss them. ?Make sure you understand their past employers. Are the companies of similar culture, and size to yours??

Interviewers must peel back the onion with questions about numbers, awards, and revenue growth.

·??????Understand how the candidate reacts to challenges and objections. Do they get upset? Do they get tongue tied?

·??????Jump around, and keep the salesperson on their toes.?Afterall, prospects are not going to make life easy, so you see how the operate with some tough questions.

·??????Determine how they think about problem solving.?

·??????Ask how they approach to learning something new.?

·??????Find out what they did in the last six-months to make them a better salesperson?

·??????Learn about their hobbies, interests, and what they do for fun.

Use Predictive Sales Assessments

There is only one assessment designed to predict sales success.?It has a 91% success rate for recommended candidates, and we use it all the time with our clients.?Although accurate, this is audacious claim, and I would be disappointed if you did not challenge me.?Feel free to learn more here or reach out.

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Be Nimble & Creative

Create a compensation package that is flexible, congruent with company goals, and encourages the activities needed for success.?Now is the time to pay more than you ideally want.?

The good news is that is not always about money. Can you be flexible with time in the office??Can you be flexible with travel, and use more virtual technology? How about PTO, vacation time? Do you have a great culture with teamwork??

Salespeople are not concerned with ping pong tables and Friday happy hours. You’re aiming for the talent that doesn’t accept mediocrity and wants to know you don’t either.?If “it” gets sold, the product or service is delivered every time and on time.

You want a culture of performance in your sales organization. Your next hire must be better than your last hire.

Please share these ideas with your team.?Most of them can be implemented with just the cost of having someone think differently.??