Top sales performers sell up to six times more than their average team members. They fit their jobs and are business savvy when building relationships, facilitating the buyer’s decision-making process, and delivering as promised. Also, they have taken the time and have the interest to learn how to use the company’s products and services correctly. Hiring and developing top sales performers create winning sales teams — they make the difference between an adequate bottom line and a great financial outcome.
4 Actions to Create Great Sales Results
Disregard Old Myths. Too often we hire for perceived job skills and fire for poor job fit (aka low performance). Many sales managers still rely upon their gut to determine a candidate’s ability to sell their product or service. When hiring, many sales managers are seduced by a candidate’s verbal ability to talk the talk or believe younger candidates have higher energy levels than older people. As a result, sales managers fail to hire the right people for job fit. They also lose top performers who want to work on winning teams.
Take the time to discover the true costs of your hiring mistakes and conduct a performance analysis on your current team. This information will provide clarity on where you need to focus your attention in order to create a winning sales team and a great bottom line. (Contact SeibCo for the complimentary tools http://SeibCo.com/contact)
Job Fit is Key. Use scientifically qualified assessment tools to accurately assess job fit. Can the sales person sell? How will they sell? What will they sell? These tools will make all the difference in hiring the right person and providing coaching information you can readily use. If they don’t fit the job, you cannot change and fix them. Knowing this information up-front saves you countless hours and training dollars.
Studies have found that assessing for thinking style will correlate to more than 50 percent of a person’s success. The other success factors depend upon a combination of core behaviors (Can they prospect, engage and close?) and occupational interests (Are they willing to stay informed? Are they willing to do the right activities?). All three are essential and will provide a clear snapshot of the whole person and his/her ability to sell your products and services, profitably.
Utilize On-line Due Diligence. Use an on-line application process, knock-out questions and core value assessments to attract more of the best candidates. Before conducting face-to-face interviews (which take a lot of time), conduct initial phone screens and use job fit assessments to determine their sales strengths. These initial simple steps will save you a great deal of time, money and energy in the long run. And, these steps will save you from hiring the wrong person who looks the part, but has no interest in doing the work (e.g., prospecting, presenting, clsoing).
Focus on the Whole Picture. Metrics are important and can help you gauge the effectiveness of your sales team. However, this will not tell you the whole story about your team’s results. Investigate: Are your sales people following your system or do they need retraining? Does the system need to be tweaked? Are they generating enough of the right leads? Are they getting in front of the decision makers? By utilizing the coaching information from the qualified assessment tool, you can provide the laser-like clarity required to develop and train with precision.
Smart companies understand that job fit is the number one reason they are able to create winning sales teams and great bottom line results. The million dollar question is, are you ready to enjoy exponential sales growth, while having fun? (http://SeibCo.com/contact)
©Jeannette Seibly, 2016
Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette at http://SeibCo.com/contact.