What is your ideal sales candidate profile? If you can’t answer that question, you are not ready to recruit salespeople!

You have an open sales territory and you are about to advertise the position to the masses.  Stop!  Before you place a job ad and start to interview sales candidates, you need to watch this video.

Who is YOUR Ideal Sales Candidate?

Before you place your ad looking to hire a new sales rep, ask yourself if you know exactly what you are looking for. 

If you asked a room full of successful sales managers to make a list of the common personality traits of their ideal sales candidate, you would probably be surprised at how many different the answers were. There would certainly be common attributes on each list, but overall there would not be two answers exactly the same.

What are the sales skills required to be successful at selling your product?  What are the personality traits of your top performers?  If you could wave a magic wand and fill your entire sales team with clones of your top representative, would you? Of course you would!

Take the time to clearly define your perfect sales professionals so that you will recognize it when you see them. For detailed information on how to define our ideal sales candidate, check out the Ideal Sales Candidate Definition Worksheet in my ebook, Action Plan for Sales Management Success.  The ebook also outlines clear instructions on how to fit in your ideal sales candidate profile as part of your overall recruiting strategy to find the best sales candidates for your organization.

A Balanced Score Card Approach to Hiring Salespeople

When hiring your next sales representative, you need to keep in mind one important fact. The candidate who has the best interview and the best personality may not be the best sales person to sell what you want sold. As such, you need a balanced score card approach to hiring.

Once you define your ideal sales candidate, gauge all the candidates you interview to it. Make a list of interview questions before hand so you can compare all the candidates’ answers using the same scale. Use sales aptitude tests and assessments to determine if there are any red flags you are missing and guide you in developing specific questions for the candidate reference checks.

To download a free copy of our white paper How To Recruit The Best Sales Professionals which includes “11 Telephone Interview Questions to Find Top Performers”, visit the B2B Sales Connections Free Download Centre.

Hiring the Wrong Salesperson is Expensive!

Studies have shown that hiring the wrong sales person is expensive! In fact, it will cost an organization between 3 and 5 times their annual compensation plan. This includes lost revenue, management time, training costs, customer goodwill and expenses. Hiring a sales person using a balanced score card approach drastically minimizes your risks. More importantly, it maximizes your chance of making the right decision in the first place.

There is not one definition of the ideal sales candidate that fits everyone. But there is one definition that fits you! 

Remember as the old saying goes, “It’s hard to soar like an eagle when you work with turkeys.”

Aim Higher!

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Coach and Author
Schedule a free sales coaching strategy session with Susan here.

“… what I can tell anyone, is simply this – If you want to learn and understand sales, talk to Susan.”

Want more proven techniques to help your sales reps achieve their sales potential? Check out my webinar video, Your 90 Day Sales Rep Success Plan – How to create an On Boarding Process that puts your sales reps on the right road to success! It’s available for instant download and viewing. Watch it as often as you like, whenever you find it convenient.