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Finding Sales Candidates With The Right Talent

How many times has this scenario played outTheir preference is for a position in which
in a company? The candidates resumemost of their talents are engaged. This
indicated that he had extensive success indesire manifests itself in their activities
our market and had progressed in each of hisinvolving more than simple selling. They may
positions. When we brought him in for anbecome interested in marketing plans, product
interview, he was a good communicator,development, customer service and so forth.
likeable, well-groomed and focused on ourThese broad interests and activities will
industry. We hired him and he was andilute their sales effectiveness since they
absolute stiff. He wouldnt call leads, heend up spending time on non-sales activities.
couldnt qualify prospects and he never closed
a significant deal. We fired him 12 monthsThe mitigating factor here is whether there
later. The only reason why we waited so longis a skills path for the salesperson to
was because his forecast was loaded withfollow within the company. If the
large opportunities that were perpetually 45salesperson is provided an ascending path
days  away  from  closing.with a reasonable time window, they will
often grow into a larger position of
This expensive scenario is all-too-common inresponsibility within the company.
corporate America today. Yet, companiesUnfortunately, this path is not always
continue to follow the same hiring processavailable  within  the  hiring  company.
when looking for solid salespeople. To quote
Albert Einstein, Insanity: doing the sameIf the abundantly talented salesperson is not
thing over and over again and expectingrewarded by the material trappings of
different  results.success, and the position rewards them
materially, they will seek out a new
Successful sales hiring requires 3 main focalopportunity which requires a broader talent
points for success work experience,set. Hence, hiring these sales candidates
objective assessment and in-person abilities.into a misaligned position may lead to
I would rank them all at 30% importance andshort-term success but is often doomed by a
leave 10% to other fit factors (compensation,short-term  tenure.
writing  ability,  travel,  etc.).
--Right  Talent--
The focus of this article is the objective
assessment portion of the decision and,The Holy Grail of hiring is finding the right
specifically an item that is often presumedtalent for the position. Most companies
talent.approach this goal with a belief in hiring
the salesperson with extensive experience in
Talent is a fuzzy word. What that means istheir industry and an abundance of talent.
that you could ask 10 different people toExperiential hiring is an entire article unto
define it and you would receive 10 differentitself. But the right talent is the target
answers. In the context of this article,and finding it requires an often overlooked
lets define talent as a persons naturalstep profiling  the  sale.
aptitude a characteristic feature of their
abilities. To be clear, talent is differentProfiling the sale involves defining the
than  skill.parameters of one typical sale. Some
criteria  to  consider:
Our hiring process allows us to measure a
candidates talents and compare those talents-How many initial contacts are needed to
to the positions requirements. This gapeventually  close  one  sale?
analysis provides insights into a candidates
abilities that no interviewer could ascertain-What is the monetary size of an average
even after hours of interviews. Talent isorder?
deep seated and in conducting these
assessments, we consistently encounter 3-How much time is spent selling new accounts
levels  of  talent.vs.  existing  accounts?
--Wrong  Talent---How  long  is  one  typical  sales  cycle?
This sounds simple; the candidate simply doesThese are just a handful of questions that
not fit the position since they lack specificpaint the picture of what talents are most
talents. No, wrong in this context refers toeffective within the requirements of the
a misalignment between the talents of theposition. The important point is to first
sales candidate and the requirements of theunderstand what is needed before trying to
position.tackle what talent is available. The key
point in this process is simple you cannot
The most frequent example we encounterask a new salesperson to do something 10, 20
involves a candidates empathy. A salesor 50 times (closed deals) if you cannot
position for a quick, 1 or 2 call close saledefine  for  them  how  to  do  it  once.
typically requires a candidate with lower
empathy aptitudes. The salesperson needs toThe right talent requires strength in the
be quick, concise and dispassionate. Thespecific areas defined by profiling the sale.
salesperson will have a short window toYet, there is a follow up piece to this
qualify a prospect before closing them orinformation that has to be pursued how does
moving  on  to  the  next  prospect.the candidate use the talent? An attribute
of the right talent is the ability to
Conversely, a relationship sale, with aneffectively apply that talent. We often
extended sales cycle, requires a candidatestate that just because a candidate has a
with more developed empathy aptitudes. Thistalent, it does not mean that they use it.
sale requires rapport, even aThe application of their talent can only be
friendship-building talent that will steadilydiscerned by asking specific questions during
move the prospect through the sales cycle tothe  interview portion of the hiring process.
a  successful  conclusion.
Selecting a salesperson with the wrong talent
If you hire the salesperson with lesswill lead to the quickest exit of any
empathetic aptitude and place him in thenewly-hired salesperson. This salesperson
relationship sale, you will see him covermay attempt to prolong the inevitable, but
much ground but close few deals. Typically,their misaligned talents will force a
these salespeople attempt to push theseparation.
prospect faster than their decision process
will allow. This approach has anSelecting a salesperson with an abundance of
unsophisticated clumsiness to it when viewedtalent may work in the long run as long as
firsthand.the salesperson is challenged in multiple
areas. The end result in this situation most
Salespeople with strong empathy talentslikely will be the salesperson moving on
rarely succeed in the quick-close sales role.either into a greater position within your
They over-empathize with their prospects andcompany or to another company which offers a
tend to draw out the sales cycle well beyondgreater  challenge.
two calls. This approach has a slow softness
to  it  that  leads  to  few  closed  deals.Selecting a salesperson with the right talent
requires a detailed profile of your sale.
--Abundant  Talent--That profile becomes the blueprint which is
then used to define the candidates with the
This level of talent is the most difficult toright blend of talents for success in the
comprehend. Essentially, an abundance ofposition. This analysis can only occur with
talent will often lead to a short tenure fora combination of objective talent assessment
the salesperson. An abundance of talentfollowed by an interview to pursue the
means the salesperson has many naturalfindings  of  the  assessment.
aptitudes and is searching for a position in
which to apply these many talents. TheseIf you define the specific talents your sale
salespeople can grow weary of a position evenrequires, your search for the right talent
when  they  are  excelling  in  it.will lead to the strongest sales candidates.



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