Video Rant #5

The #1 Mistake Everybody Makes When
They Don’t Profile Sales Applicants

When you use a sales hiring system that profiles applicants before you meet with them, if the profiling is good, you figure out what their motivators are. That’s the point of our ValuesMatrix™ profile. And then you also determine whether an applicant is oriented towards persuasiveness.

People wonder how testing can tell anything about persuasiveness. With our StylesMatrix™ profile, we measure four aspects of the human personality drive:

1. D – Drive: That voice inside their heads that says “I can do. It’s all about me. I am the one who can make this happen.” — or whatever your internal voice says
2. I – Influence: Are they flexible communicators? Can they adjust their style to match the style of the person they’re talking to?
3. S – Steadiness: How comfortable are they with change in their physical environment and/or their emotional environment?
4. C – Compliance: Do they routinely, automatically comply with rules?

The underlying personality style evaluation was first described in the Hebrew Bible. Then 500 years later by Hippocrates in Greece. The testing technology to spot the different personalities has itself been in use for close to 100 years. We have a ton of data points. So we can reliably point out when an applicant’s personality style is similar to personality styles of people who are successful in sales roles. Or attorneys. Or other roles where persuasion or influencing others is critical to success.

So when I say somebody is persuasive, it generally means they have a higher D – Drive – and I – Influence – score. And they have a LOWER C – Compliance – score. They’re not obsessed with following the rules. The natural Low C thinking process is, “The rules are made to be written by me.” Think how critical that is. The nature of persuasion is, you have to stretch the rules in order to help others to make the right decision and to buy your product. Elegant persuaders are always low compliance.

Can you imagine people that go into a conversation thinking that there is a right way and a wrong way to persuade? It’s clumsy. That applicant is high C, high compliant. It’s almost an unbreakable rule. High C’s CANNOT sell. They just will not go against the rules. A natural high C may adapt over time, to a degree, but that’s going against their natural style. That takes psychic energy.

And you have to wonder, if this candidate is naturally high Compliant, that means their first natural response in ANY situation is to simply go along with the rules. But instead, they suppress that natural response and force themselves to be low C in order to be able to sell. So what’s the long-term effect on their stress level? Every day of their career, they have to hide who they REALLY are in order to be successful. That’s got to have some cumulative psychic effect.

So that’s how we use the StylesMatrix™ testing to understand an applicant’s persuasive ability. In my opinion, it is ALWAYS a mistake to ever interview a High C applicant. Why? Because they may impress you. You can easily wind up hiring them for a sales position. And THAT is the road to disaster for you, the applicant, and your company.

The chance of that applicant working out for you in a sales position is close to zero. Wouldn’t you like to know that BEFORE you waste your time interviewing them? BEFORE you maybe make a big mistake and hire them?

I’ll help you set up your sales hiring system to make sure you only interview the right people. This is Alan Fendrich. Give me a call.

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.

Creating an effective sales hiring system is based on integrity. At the end of the day, your goal is to convey to the applicants that your company is the best place for top sales agents.

Exceptional salesmanship is truly one of the rarest skills. Therefore, if you are going to attract the attention of these top closers, it’s critical at every step that you are upfront. Tell them what you need and be honest if they qualify or not.

A courtesy that has a big impact on your company’s image is a rejection letter sent to candidates who don’t make the cut at different levels of the hiring process. Through this method, you are letting applicants know where they stand. It will also save you the time and trouble of answering emails and phone calls to check about their application status.

We have a recommended format that simply states that their application has been rejected because of better, more qualified candidates: simple and to the point. It further demonstrates that your company has its act together – and is the kind of place that top closers can find a home.

If you do it right, you’re going to get to pick from the best of the best in the end which, to be honest, is an enviable spot to be in. When you exert effort to send a rejection letter, applicants think highly of your company. Moreover, you are not closing doors in the event that these salespeople surpass the learning curve and reach their true potential.

Doing business with integrity is rare these days and your effort to go the extra mile will be noticed in the industry. Word will get around that your company is a place where top performers are provided all the opportunities to shine – and that’s an ideal company image to strive for.