Hiring for sales success begins with the right candidate profile. Here are some tips to find a perfect fit: Active learning skills, Hunter or gatherer mindset, Passion for the industry, and more. Once you have the right profile, you can test potential sales hires. You can also use test-and-learn techniques to find the best sales hire.
Interview scorecards
Creating an interview scorecard can help you ensure you’re hiring the best sellers for your company. It’s the perfect way to document and remember important aspects of the interview. Having a scorecard can also help you prove you’re complying with employment laws and fairly evaluating all candidates.
To create a good interview scorecard, first identify the criteria you need. For example, if you’re looking for VP of sales recruitment, you can check online first. For each candidate, rate them based on how closely their experience matches your own and create a spreadsheet where you write where each candidate was found.
If they don’t match, give them a lower score. When creating interview scorecards, make sure to include the right job title. Ensure you don’t over-recruit someone based solely on looks. Another key benefit of using interview scorecards is that they encourage collaborative preparation.
If teams can’t agree on what to look for in a candidate, they won’t interview them. By defining the job requirements, the team can share ideas and eliminate potential misunderstandings. Moreover, the scorecards can be used as a reference during the interview, when questions or concerns arise.
Active learning skills
In hiring a team, you need to look for active learning skills. Active learning involves allowing employees to make decisions, practice skills and apply new knowledge. In addition to teaching new skills, it also enables employees to reflect on their learning. According to this article, learning through active methods optimizes the time spent by employees on each task.
If the team lacks these skills, you may consider letting the employee go. Sales representatives should possess a wide range of soft skills, including market research, product expertise, and messaging and value propositions. Active learning skills can help employees build stronger relationships with buyers, close more deals and maximize their time with buyers.
In addition, sales representatives must be able to listen effectively. Active listening is one of the most critical skills for sellers, and it can be developed through study. It is important to invest in employees who have the ability to do this in order to ensure the success of your team as a whole. What is not important is to prioritize your own monetary goals over the happiness of others, such as employees.
Hunter or gatherer mindset
Are you using a hunter or a gatherer mindset to hire your team? The answer to this question will affect your company’s bottom line. A hunter has the foresight to stalk and find their prey. Sales professionals with a hunter mindset are always on the lookout for new opportunities. These sales professionals tend to close more deals than their competition.
A “Hunter” person has an entrepreneurial mindset. They don’t like to be controlled by others and want to be in charge of their own destiny. While gatherers need lead generation from others, they’re comfortable in high-volume environments and are more likely to be motivated by financial rewards. A “Hunter” will not be interested in working for a company that is too reliant on others for leads.
Passion for industry
Finding people with a true passion for the industry you are in is crucial for a seller’s success. Passion for an industry is evident in the way these people listen to customers, the tone of their voice, and their body language. Passion for an industry can also be seen in the follow-up they do after a sale, which can be anything from exuberant happiness to ennui.
Exploratory workers have an explorer’s mindset. They are the most innovative workers and report twice as many innovations as non-passionate workers. They engage in the discovery and experimentation processes, act as incubators of innovation, and connect with other innovators. They also often take on intransigent problems and may break rules of efficiency or cost/benefit tradeoffs. They are also more likely to make long-term impacts.
