Video Rant #3 – Without a Sales Hiring System, You Are Screwed

I’ve seen a lot of successful businesses over the years. One thing they all have in common is, they have systems for EVERYTHING. So they can break every aspect of their business down into steps. And once you can see all the steps, you can pretty quickly analyze what’s working and what’s not. Now … if you’re not overjoyed with your company’s sales production right this moment, then you absolutely need a system for sales hiring.

Have you ever hired somebody you KNEW was the PERFECT salesperson? And then 6 weeks in, you’re thinking, “Uh-oh! THIS does not look good.” Three MONTHS later, they quit. Or you fire them. If you go thru that WITHOUT a system, you have no way of knowing WHERE you screwed it up. And I guarantee you, EVERYBODY who’s hired even just a few salespeople has screwed it up SOMEWHERE along the way.

So creating a system gives you the tool most sales hirers just don’t have. You can identify what’s working, what’s not, where they screwed up, where they got it right. That’s why you NEED a tested, proven sales hiring system.

Many companies only start looking for a salesperson when one of their people fails or quits. All of a sudden, it’s a tight time-frame. Let’s say your rep gives 2 weeks’ notice. Do you really think you can hire an effective salesperson in 2 weeks?

You gotta stop what you’re doing, get ads up, wait for people to call, decide which applicants to interview, do the interviews, make an offer. It’s a tight position. And last-minute sales hires rarely ever work.

You’re on a short road to failure. We know, statistically, 75% to 90% of ALL sales hires fail in their first year. Your odds of success are bad.

Look. I’ve been hiring salespeople for more than 16 years, for my own business and, of course, for clients. In 16 years, I’ve gone thru a QUARTER-MILLION sales applicants. And number one, natural-born salespeople are rare. Number two, hiring people who are NOT natural salespeople and turning them into salespeople is close to impossible. It’s WAY easier and more efficient to hire people who are CLONES of tested, proven, successful salespeople. That’s why you’ve GOT to have a good applicant profiling system.

People tell me, “Well, we train them here.” Yeah, RIGHT! To some degree, training can work. Listen. Let’s say, all of a sudden, you decide you’re gonna be an artist. No proven ability, but you’re gonna be a painter. But your FAMILY depends on YOU to produce art that’ll pay to support them. So my question is, what’s your ramp-up time? You suddenly have to successfully do something that is not at ALL your natural tendency. Over time, maybe it works out, to some degree. But it sure won’t be a quick solution. And it will almost certainly involve a LOT of pain for you and everyone in your family.

Think about a time you were talking to a salesperson. And whatever they were saying, you just wanted to buy. You felt GOOD talking to them. They had an ABILITY to move you in their direction, to make it EASY for you to go along with them. THAT is a rare, rare talent. Can you train THAT talent? Maybe, in some cases. But our data shows it mostly does NOT work. I’ve talked to some of the best sales trainers on the planet. They tell me they’re OFTEN handed salespeople who just CANNOT sell. Their personality does not mesh with sales.

They can’t quickly establish rapport. They can’t think on their feet. Lousy language skills. And more than ANYTHING, they CANNOT take rejection and keep on going. A salesperson has to deal with disappointment after disappointment after disappointment. That’s why only 3% of the population shine at sales. All the rejection just kills them. It takes a very, very, very special person to handle constant rejection. And whatever sales hiring process you’re using right now, you are NOT finding those special people who will stick with it, no matter what. And it’s not easy to find them, because they are so rare.

And THAT is why you need Advanced Hiring System. I’m Alan Fendrich. Give me a call.