Are you hiring salespeople the same way you hire everyone else?

People are different.? This is normal, and a good thing.? Employees with different perspectives who are able to communicate effectively, most importantly listen and consider opposing viewpoints are a huge asset to any company.?

This article is about why salespeople are different.? And if you are hiring salespeople the same way you hire everyone else, you might be experiencing more bad sales hires than you like!? I will explain the six reasons why salespeople are different, and offer a solution.?

If you are hiring salespeople the same way you hire everyone else, you might be experiencing at least one of these issues:

1. The salespeople are missing the revenue targets.
2. The salespeople are not doing the things you need them to do to change.?
3. You might not hire them again based on the current experience.

Any of those familiar??

I believe there are 6 challenges salespeople face every day that make them different.? These six challenges are unique to the sales team. Your other employees do not encounter these challenges in their day to day activities.?

1. Competition.? Salespeople attempt to persuade people to purchase from you, they encounter competition for the time, and money. The biggest form of competition is the status quo, and complacency from the people they need to engage and succeed.? Your engineering team doesn’t have engineers coming in from competitors to re-engineer their work.???
2. Rejection.? Being told to go away, or “I am not interested” is part of selling, but new reps get more than their fair share of rejection.
3. Hostility.? New salespeople must call into a marketplace where prospects are very busy.? The busy prospect might sound rushed, irritated, cold, disinterested or even hostile.??
4. Lack of Control. Even when salespeople do everything correctly, in the end, they have limited control over whether the prospect will buy from them.
5. Resistance. With increasing competition and new buying strategies, even prospects who have decided to buy from someone are taking longer to decide and may resist spending money.? This is unique to sales.?
6. Timing.? Salespeople are invited into the sales cycle later in the buying process, and unless they are great at consultative selling they will have difficulty getting control of the sales cycle.? They are often baited into presenting, quoting and chasing business that may not be qualified.?

When hiring salespeople, how do you begin to understand how the salesperson will overcome and contend with these issues?? It certainly is not from reading a resume.? It isn’t from industry experience.? See an earlier blog post on experience here.??

A sales specific hiring system helps you avoid sales hiring mistakes!?

The solution to hiring better salespeople is to have a sales specific hiring process.? I call it the Helix STAR Sales Hiring Program.? We treat salespeople with respect, but we challenge them throughout the process much like a prospect might challenge their statements and claims.? There is always healthy skepticism during the conversations.??

Asking better questions of candidates will help you understand how the sales candidate thinks about sales or how well they understand their role. This link will give you some different questions to consider using when interviewing.? You can use it as a cheat sheet for asking better questions during interviews.?

I also offer a free 5-day challenge to hire your next sales superstar; 60-minutes a day, 5 days in a row I will? help you understand the basics of hiring better salespeople, and provide you with the tools to do so - yes for free.? I do these challenges monthly.? You can get on the list or just learn more here.??

Hiring sales talent is one of the biggest issues business owners and senior sales leaders have.? I hear it consistently.? The challenge is my way of giving back to the community.??