I was on a new client service call last week talking with Harry. Harry is a General Agent for Ohio National.

He said, “They tell us that Millenials don’t want money so that’s why they’re not applying. For three years I’ve tried to reach Millenials. Since we’ve signed up with you guys at Advanced Hiring more than half our applicants are Millenials. I am loving this.”

I love this kind of call because it reinforces something I’ve said for years. Most people don’t believe me when I say it. Millennials in the US and Europe who can sell are just like everybody else.

There’s a bunch of crapola out there that says Millenials don’t care about money.

Guess what?

Neither do most Baby boomers, Gen Xers, Traditionalists or members of the Silent Generation!

That’s just the way it is. And I say Thank God for that! Can you imagine a world in which everybody was money or power motivated? There’d be no nurses, teachers, or soldiers.

But salespeople MUST be money or power motivated. Because if they’re not then they won’t sell much. (You’ve hired enough of them already to know what that’s like.)

How do we do the kind of magic we did for Harry where he went from zero to 60 so fast? Here’s a link to a new tool we’ve developed to help you figure it out for your company.

Please do it today because my CFO wants me to start charging for this service.

Video Rant #2

My client Tom has used our service to build a team of solid sales pros.

He laughs a bit and tells me the 3 words he’s SO thankful to get from us, because they’ve saved him SO much time and SO many headaches. And the 3 words are…

“DO – NOT – INTERVIEW!”

When you get THAT message from us, it means the prospect profile testing shows an applicant who does NOT have the values or style of a top salesperson.

And that means the chance is sky-high if you hire that person, they’ll cost you time, money, and headaches. They’ll flame out. And then you’re back at the beginning. You have to start all over again.

I’m telling you now, you MUST NOT INTERVIEW any applicant who has not passed our profile testing.

And it gets tricky, because if you DO interview these guys, they often really impress you in the interview. But then, you pay the price later. You’ll NEVER build a solid sales team when your applicant pool is full of people who are not money-motivated. They can fool anybody in the interview. But they can’t fool our testing.

You GOTTA understand how crucial this is. I can’t tell you how many companies have come to us in bad, bad shape. And when I profile their sales force, it turns out their sales team is a bunch of people who are NOT motivated by money and power. THAT is the kiss of death.

Look. I know it’s hard for you and me to believe this. But the vast majority of sales applicants are happy JUST to earn a living. Oh, they may have wet dreams about kicking butt revenue-wise. But they just will never make the effort necessary to make it happen. They will NOT put themselves in front of a consistent stream of qualified prospects, day after day, week after week, month after month. They can’t handle the rejection. It’s too much PAIN for them. So they go into hiding. Those guys will NEVER bring home the bacon for you.

Our profile testing identifies WHICH of your applicants are clones of legendary salespeople, and which ones are hoping you’ll be their next sugar daddy.

You NEED us to test every applicant you have. It will change your life.

This is Alan Fendrich at Advanced Hiring System. Give me a call.

We’ve been working with clients to hire top performing salespeople for 16 years.  In truth, from time to time, I feel like I’ve said it all.

And then, I read an article on LinkedIn and realize, once again, why more than 3 out of 4 sales hires fails.

First of all, focus on what you are looking for in an interview. In our System, we profile sales applicants before we meet them.

Because we do this, we know  the values and personality style ahead of time. We know the applicant matches the values and style of most top salespeople.

In the interview you’re looking for the applicant to give examples in their lives  of:
•    Stick-to-ive-ness
•    Follow through
•    Ability to overcome adversity
•    Entrepreneurialism

Second, structured interviews get you high quality answers. Never “wing it” in an interview. Have all your questions planned and prewritten.

Third, ask the same questions, in the same order, of each applicant. By nature we tend to like people we “bond” with. But we’re not looking for a friend here.  We are trying to determine if they applicant is tough enough to do the hard work of selling.

By asking the same questions in the same order,  you are able to compare the applicant’s answers.  This is a key point.

Finally, never ask the following questions that Afa Front in the LinkedIn article suggests. They are too open-ended. You won’t get any information that will help you pick the best applicant.

1. Tell Me About Yourself
This is a horrible question. It gives the applicant to take control of the interview. If you believe that is what selling is about, you’re bound to hire duds.

2. What’s Your Greatest Strength?
Another bad question because you won’t be able to compare the answers you get. One applicant will tell one lie, another applicant will tell another lie.

3. Why Should We Hire You?
What would be a right answer? Exactly there is no way to score this answer. Skip it.

4. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
Can you imagine a lawyer asking that of a witness in a court room? Bad  question. Only gives up control of the interview.

Delivering a structured, scripted interview for every sales applicant puts you ahead of 3 out of 4 sales hirers – and is one of the keys to successful sales hiring.