Selling as a profession suffers from far too many sales hiring failures.

Unlike other professions where an MD, DDS or LLD comes after the name, there’s no “SSM” degree.

Sadly, most sales managers don’t really know what makes a good salesperson. As a result, they persist in hiring people to sell for them for all the wrong reasons.

Sales applicants who “handled themselves well in the interview,” “got past their screener” or “who have years of sales experience” are deemed the best candidates. And, so the cycle continues: bad sales hire after bad sales hire after bad sales hire, all join the ranks of sales teams.

In having studied good salespeople for nearly 16 years, good salespeople have one thing in common – a “sales personality.” No other criteria are common to top sales performers.

What is this “sales personality” of a top sales performer?

It is a combination of the right personal interests, values and personality style.

In 16 years of research we have found top sales performers are “high practicals — where money or power are their highest values. And they are strongly ego driven, confident communicators and rule breakers.

Start looking for salespeople with these personality characteristics and watch your sales hiring success ratio rocket to new heights.

Today’s Wall Street Journal’s front-page article “Why Companies Aren’t Getting the Employees They Need” says if you want to hire salespeople you are facing a hard task in this economy. In fact, in 2011 one of the hardest jobs to fill is sales reps.

With unemployment at 9% according to government stats, you’d think it’d be a piece of cake to find good salespeople.

The Journal article dwells on companies need to see past job experience – and many applicant’s lack of experience as the problem.

That kind of thinking, that sales experience predicts future sales success, is the heart of the problem…

Fifteen Years of Research Shows Why Most Sales Hires Fail

Since 1996 research by Advanced Hiring System on successful sales hiring has concluded that experience in sales should only count for 10% of the decision.

Much more weight needs to be put on the sales applicant’s personality style and values. These characteristics can be measure with Sales Assessment tools like ValuesMatrix(TM) and StylesMatrix(TM)

Why Don’t Sales Managers Hire Better Reps?

Top sales reps possess a unique blend of drive and charm – coupled with a willingness to break rules. Also, top reps have highly practical values and are motivated by money and power.

Since these characteristics can be measured effectively with ValuesMatrix(TM) and StylesMatrix(TM), managers can go beyond resumes.

Data suggests that going beyond resume reading gives companies a much wider pool of applicants to chose from. Considering more applicants, rather than a small handful, give managers the ability to successfully fill the critical role of salesperson.

Hiring the right people starts with knowing what makes a good salesperson want to do the job well. There are hiring solutions very helpful with figuring out the right interview models to gain this valuable information. In the meantime, here are some clues for knowing how to hire employees with the right motivation and mindset.

• High Energy – A sluggish, lazy, distracted sales team will get you nowhere. Even if one person on that team strays from the goal, it could set you back a great deal of lost sales in the long run. Hiring the right people definitely means hiring energetic ones. What makes a good salesperson is one with focus and stamina that lasts or keeps renewing until the goal has been reached.
  

• Strong Integrity – It’s true that a strong salesperson is often one who is willing to bend a rule or two, but not at the expense of your company’s integrity. Beware of applicants who exhibit signs of being overly willing to do whatever it takes to make the sale. Hiring solutions are all for naught if you’ve got a team of dishonest salespeople. Your company reputation is at stake, so screen applicants for integrity as a top priority.
  

• Quick Learner – Luckily, it’s not always important that a sales applicant have much product knowledge yet. Training is the key to learning your products and practices the right way, so it’s almost better to start from scratch in certain sales positions. However, assess applicants for the quick learners in the bunch and you’ll benefit in more ways than one. Quick learners tend to be great in high-pressure situations. On the spot sales pitches don’t faze them like their slow-learning counterparts.
  

• Wants the Golden Ticket – Here’s what makes a good salesperson – someone who wants the top prize. Competitiveness is a great quality that sales people to have. If the interview and assessment tests show that this applicant wants the top sales spot on your team, it’s likely they’ll work very hard to achieve it.
  

• Seeks Praise & Rewards – How to hire employees with great sales skills, and keep them for the long-term, is to offer a lot of praise and rewards for sales goals met. The desire to make as much money as possible is what makes a good salesperson get up every morning. Offer them that chance and you’ll see the great salespeople flock to your doors.
  

• Can’t Get Enough of a Good Thing – Sometimes sales people will bring in a high percentage of sales and then sink back into their comfy careers without trying hard for more. This is not what makes a good salesperson for the long haul. It’s essential that the applicants you interview display an eagerness to reach each summit and then beg for higher mountains to climb. When a sales person loses steam, they risk bringing down the entire sales team. Hire self-motivators with high energy and you won’t have this problem.
  

What makes a good salesperson tick is the desire for big money, big rewards and repeat success. It takes highly energetic self-starters to be a great sales person and it takes the right interview information to know them when you see them.