One of the hardest things I do is to try to convince sales managers that sales hiring needs to be an ongoing part of your work. You can’t wait to hire salespeople until you need one. Instead, you need to be constantly scanning the market for top performers.

Your sales department, if you are going to have top performers as opposed to mediocre salespeople, needs to have a constant program going to attract top performers to apply.

Most sales managers start the sales hiring process way too late. And, although it seems logical to wait until you need a salesperson (you don’t start looking to buy a car until you need one) it results in way too many mediocre sales hires.

Having thought about sales hiring for sixteen years now, here is my theory on why it doesn’t work to wait:

1. Too much pressure to “make the hire” and get on to the next thing. The odds of success go down dramatically when doing anything under pressure.

2. Top salespeople have a unique personality style. Unlike MD’s or Attorneys who have a degree to prove their qualifications, salespeople have a “sales personality” and a propensity for sales.

The problem is only 2 of every 30 people has the personality style of a top sales performer. But since no degree is required, if you really want a good sales to hire, you need to sift more.

Too, since the majority of salespeople hired turn out to be average (or worse), don’t get all excited about “previous sales experience.” In most cases, you are getting some other sales manager’s retread.

Want more ideas on hiring a great salesperson? Click here

Like me, I’m sure most of you are carving out time during the week between Christmas and New Years to plan for the coming year. It’s an exciting and favorite time for most of us. Not only for the visits of family and friends, but for the time to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Ever since discovering Your Time and Your Life (The Insight System for Planning, 10 Audio cassettes and Study Guide) in 1990 I’ve taken planning very seriously. Hobbs says in this vintage tape series that it’s ironic and counterintuitive, but the time spent planning actually saves time. As the self-diagnosed poster child for Adult Attention Dyslexia, I am convinced that without my daily lists of tasks I can find myself Googling basket weaving and really thinking that I am doing something of value.

For me, the ritual of annual goal setting is a sacred one. I usually start on Christmas Day. I like to make sure there’s plenty of coffee ready, then I lock myself away in my office.

I used to do my goal planning session in one day, but I have begun recently to take more time. I have found shorter stretches of time work better for me, as I can come back and look at my work and make changes.

I start with a review of all of my goal setting notes from previous years. I have my notes from as far back as 1990. I like to flip through them recalling where I was sitting in that year when I wrote them out. But most importantly, I like to see which goals I have reached and which ones I missed.

There’s an insight I get from this exercise that has allowed me to improve year by year. It’s almost as if each year I’ve gotten better at realizing how far I can stretch myself.

And I do stretch myself. For example, when I was 16 I was diagnosed with cancer of the spinal cord. The surgery left me with a long scar down my neck and fused bones in my spine – definitely not the kind of physical condition to run marathons. Yet, I’ve run two so far.

When I actually get down to the actual planning I start by reviewing what Hobbs calls “Unifying Principles.” Essentially they are my values. What do I believe in? What are my redlines? What are my ideals?

From there I develop Personal Goals. They include Physical, Spiritual, Social and Family Goals. I do personal goals before I do business goals. I learned from Michael Gerber of E-myth fame, that ultimately, everything we do in business is really for ourselves. How far we are willing to put ourselves out is rooted in, first and foremost, who we are personally.

After these steps I get down to business goals. This is actually the part of goal planning that takes the most time because my Unifying Principles and Personal Goals are fairly static year to year. Too, because I wear more than one hat I must go through each position I hold and identify what I need to accomplish in the coming year.

One thing I added this year to get me started was to read a short book by Bill O’Hanlon called “A Lazy Man’s Guide to Success.” I am attaching a link to the book here. Bill has given permission for me to distribute it for free, so I am taking him up on it.. Enjoy

And here’s to a great 2012 for all of us. 🙂

You thought you hired great salespeople, but lately numbers have been less than stellar. Sales team morale is decreasing as sales figures drop. Your business is suddenly on the line if you don’t fix what’s broken. If the source of this stumble isn’t clear, it’s time to reevaluate your team’s performance. It’s possible you’ve got one or more dreaded average sales performers pulling the team down. If you don’t know how to recognize an average sales performer quickly, here are some tips for finding the culprits.

• They’re Too Comfortable – Top sales performers are highly motivated and always excited by the challenge of reaching beyond their goals. Average sales performers can get comfy and complacent. They do just enough to keep their jobs and rarely try hard to exceed expectations. The top sales performer drinks an expensive latte for the energy boost. The average sales performer drinks an expensive latte for the ten minute break and the whip cream on top.

• They Don’t Climb Mountains – When you’re searching for top salespeople to hire, go rent a helicopter. You’ll find them planting flags at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro or Pike’s Peak. Average salespeople, however, have a deep distaste for high altitudes. You’ll recognize an average sales performer on your team if they don’t ever seem to strive for the best sales in your department. Average salespeople are typically happy with average sales. They’ll climb hill after hill for you, but that’s as far up as they want to go. Which means that’s as far up as they’ll ever take your company, too.

• They Love Their Job, But Not Their Work – A top sales performer gets bored and antsy if their work doesn’t provide enough challenge and incentive. When that happens, they leave their jobs to find work that pushes them harder and rewards them more handsomely for it. The average sales performer isn’t as excited about the work as they are excited to just have a job at all. They might even consistently complain about the work they have to do in order to keep the job they love. Because they don’t love their work, their work suffers. Because they don’t thrive as much on the thrill of sales pursuit like their top performer colleagues, they can bring the morale of the entire sales team down.

• They Faithfully Follow the Rules – Ah, here’s a surprising tell-tale sign of an average sales performer you might not have considered otherwise. They follow every rule by the book. Wait, is that a bad thing? Consider this. Top sales performers are known for thinking creatively and fast on their feet. They should be honest and have integrity, but they should also be willing to think outside the box in order to get the sale. Rules are important, but flexibility and creativity can respectfully bend a boundary in sales-increasing ways. Average sales performers might recognize that, but they aren’t doing anything about it. They live in “This is How It’s Always Been” land and refuse to budge out of their comfort zones. That could very well be holding your company back.

Once you pinpoint the average salespeople in your sales team, what do you do? If trainings, warnings and probation periods don’t help (which will cost your company more money, by the way), it’s time to replace them with top sales performers. Once you master the art of recognizing the average sales performer, you’ll stop hiring them for good.