It goes without saying,  Google effects every aspect of our lives — and sales hiring is no exception. Having recently gone back to college to audit a course given through the  School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Understanding Media by Understanding Google, a recent incident points up just how much sales hiring has been effected by “Googlization.”

As many long-time readers of the blog know, we’re proponents of scientific modeling when it comes to filling sales positions. In its simplest form, modeling says rather than guess at what really makes a great salesperson, figure out what makes current top performers tick. Then only interview applicants who match the model of top performers.

We have based this on our experience with a sales team of 200 salespeople. We had a large team and we were attentive to tracking. As a result, we learned that key personality characteristics are common to top sales performers.

Here’s what we look for:

1. Strong practical Values scores
2. Highly persuasive Styles DISC scores
3. Examples of entrepreneurialism in their history
4. Able to demonstrate repeated examples of stick-to-it-iveness
5. Strong ability to control their internal emotional state (able to get themselves to do things they don’t necessarily want to)

But what happens when you find an applicant who Google says doesn’t pay their bills and has a string of Warrants at Circuit Court yet they seem to match the model?

That, as my friend Scott Wolf used to say “Is why you make the big bucks.” You’ve got to determine whether this applicant hit a bad patch because of the Crash of 2008 or whether you didn’t get the real answers in items 3-5 above.

Through a combination of values, styles and good interviewing skills, you can rocket your sales hiring success to Google-like heights!

Most of us will admit that self-esteem is an issue that develops in our childhood and follows us throughout our lives, and hiring managers know that high self-esteem is a key factor in what makes a good salesman.  As long as a person has a high level of self-esteem, he will most likely also have many of the other traits that determine what makes a good salesman: enthusiasm, self-motivation, energy, competitiveness, resilience, and a positive outlook. These are all fundamental aspects of sales success.

A healthy level of self-esteem is what gives salesmen the confidence to go after a target and follow the process just to experience the greatest sound in the world, “YES”. Each sale builds more self-esteem, which creates more confidence, which leads to more sales, and the cycle has the power to repeat itself indefinitely. When a candidate shows the potential to engage in this cycle of success, you know he has what makes a good salesman.

Combined with a competitive nature, high self-esteem translates into a persuasive disposition, which in turn translates into an almost irresistible force (for good). Salesmen with these qualities see the influence they have over others—the way they are able to inspire others to make decisions—and it makes them feel good, not only about themselves, but good in general.

Even in cases where salesmen are rejected, and those cases do occur, a high level of self-esteem enables them to bounce back and keep going, rather than see the rejection as some kind of personal failure that makes it harder and harder to face the next challenge. Like the Energizer Rabbit, good salesmen keep going, and going . . . .

This is not arrogance, nor is it narcissism. Most hiring managers want to avoid the salesmen that customers perceive as obnoxious. A high self-esteem enables a salesman to be proactive, not pushy; strong-willed, not mule-headed; motivated, not confrontational; and confident, not smug. With high self-esteem, salesmen feel natural in any situation, and they can control it with no sign of obnoxious behavior.

Even though good salesmen may have a healthy self-concept, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t have some limitations. Rather than ignoring those limitations or despairing of ever improving themselves, good salesmen constantly self-evaluate to stay connected to an  awareness of both their weaknesses and their strengths; they work on creating a balance to capitalize on their strong points, but remain realistic in their expectations and goals.

Sales managers probably most appreciate the fact that the salesmen who exhibit high self-esteem will be the ones who aren’t always looking for emotional and/or professional support from others. As long as supervisors follow recommendations revealed in the pre-employment tests, such as the ones in the AHS sales hiring materials, to recognize their achievements, reward their successes, etc., these salesmen will always maintain a high performance level in every phase of the job. They are the self-starters who will set challenging goals for themselves, and will do everything within their power to achieve those goals. That’s ultimately what makes a good salesman.

Maybe you’ve seen one; maybe you’ve even been lucky enough to hire one. There are some salesmen who seem to do everything right, from getting the right leads to closing the deals. It seems like magic; it’s like they have a crystal ball that tells them which clients to go after and how to approach each one.

The truth is, it’s not magic—not really. It’s sales intuition, and it’s how rock star salesmen are always getting better and better sales.

Although intuition is not something that can be identified on a DiSC assessment or the Values or Styles Matrices used in the AHS sales hiring system, any salesman who has strong intuitive skills is going to bring better sales to your company. By definition, intuition is the ability to know or sense something without the use of logic or rational processes. In sales, intuition tends to tip the scales, smoothing out most facets of the process. Basically, it’s selling by gut feelings.

Yes, we know. We’ve addressed the issue of how gut feelings can steer you wrong in sales hiring, but now the game has changed. Now the salesman is on the hunt—tracking down the client, discovering his problem, offering a solution, dealing with objections, and closing the sale. Let’s see how intuition will work each part of the process and create the potential for better sales.

First, finding the client. Whatever process the salesman uses to acquire leads, sales intuition can save him a lot of time if he can isolate the prospects that offer him the best chance for better sales. A little research to gather information about the prospects, and he will most likely develop some rational ideas about which ones are more open to dealing with him. But if he has a good sense of intuition, he’ll be able to use the facts to “sense” the right person to approach as well as the right style to adopt in making the initial contact.

Once contact has been made, intuition helps a salesman understand the best time to make the presentation as well as the appropriate method. When the prospect raises resistance or makes an objection, the salesman uses intuition to gain insight into what might be behind the objections and creates alternative solutions to dispel the prospect’s reservations.

Sales intuition enables a salesman to manage the delicate balance of knowing when to be assertive and knowing when to back off and give the customer some space. With intuition, he is confident that the sale will go through; he just needs to listen to the inner voice that tells him where the customer stands in relation to making the commitment, and wait for the appropriate moment to guide the prospect toward closing the deal.

To clarify, intuition is not something that just happens. It develops as the salesman focuses on what he sees, hears, and experiences as he communicates with a customer. Learning to read between the lines and interpreting body language are key in developing these magical insights. So it’s no crystal ball, but sales intuition is an invaluable tool that ultimately leads to better sales.