There are a lot of decisions to make when you hire sales people and if you make the wrong move it could come to back haunt you for a long time. When you first put the word out that you are looking to hire new salesmen you have to have an understanding of what makes a good salesperson. Hopefully you already know it isn’t the way they are dressed or how good they look. There is absolutely no correlation between someone’s physical appearance and their success as a salesman.
Some of the most successful companies will have all applicants take a DISC assessment test before ever meeting them face-to-face. Those that are qualified based on the personality test process will be invited for an interview based on their skills and not their appearance. Many test results will also tell you if they have what it takes to be good in the position. Even though you may know what makes a good salesperson objectively testing for the traits will reduce the chances of you being swept up with someone with great sales ability that may not be able to close the sale.
It does take a special talent to hire sales people and whenever you are looking to make a sales hire you have to consider who is going to be conducting the interviews. Four interviews should be scheduled, three at the very least for a sales hire, and conducted by different people so you receive an objective assessment of their talent potential. Pre-employment testing, such as the DISC assessment should be done before any interviews take place. If the test reveals a lack of sales ability, interviews will likely be a waste of time.
It is not easy to hire sales people and one of the things you need to consider is if they are the type of person you want to be working with many years from now. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with using your own judgment when you hire sales people it can’t be the only thing on which the hiring decision is made.
There are numerous testing tools available to help make the best decision when you hire sales people and you need to take advantage of them all. There may still be someone who slips through that isn’t the best fit for the position but you have a much better chance of hiring the right salesperson for the position if you use all of the available tools in your toolbox.
