{"id":1156,"date":"2009-02-09T12:51:12","date_gmt":"2009-02-09T19:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.comblog\/are-your-sales-candidates-producers-or-posers-peak-sales\/"},"modified":"2019-09-11T19:45:58","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T19:45:58","slug":"are-you-sales-candidates-real-producers-or-posing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/are-you-sales-candidates-real-producers-or-posing\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Your Sales Candidates Producers or Posers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Right now with a lagging economy, there are more sales reps on the street or looking for work. Many companies with
\n open sales positions have a deluge of applicants, desperate to secure a job.<\/p>\n

Successfully screening sales applicants is one of the toughest jobs at the best of times, but when there is intense
\n competition for a limited number of open positions, candidates are more inclined than ever to \u201cdress themselves up\u201d
\n in the role and tell you what you want to hear.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the techniques we use to determine who is for real and who is posing:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Match experience and abilities to the role \u2013 not all sales roles are the same. While there is a long line-up of
\n people who want your job, desire alone will not allow them to be successful. You need specific proof from their past
\n that they can effectively sell in a selling situation similar to yours, rather than theory on how they might sell
\n for you.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Be clear on reasons for leaving (RFL\u2019s) \u2013 why did they leave their previous employment? There was a
\n \u201crestructuring and most people were let go\u201d or \u201cwe decided to part ways\u201d often means they were under-performing.
\n Make sure you know whether they resigned or were terminated.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Get real references \u2013 the most critical references are previous supervisors, who can speak to work habits and
\n results, but we are increasingly seeing people present phony references. Make sure the references you call are
\n actually who they say they are and did actually supervise the candidate in the past.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ask for proof of income \u2013 candidates who say they hit quota have documentation to back it up. Ask for this
\n during the screening process as another way to ensure accurate information (note \u2013 each country has different
\n privacy laws so make sure you respect the laws in your country about what information you are allowed to ask for).\n<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Beware of \u201cexcuses-itis\u201d \u2013 there are always obstacles and the best reps find a way to overcome challenges and
\n sell under any conditions. If you hear things like \u201cthe company didn\u2019t support the sales org\u201d, \u201cthe downturn killed
\n our business\u201d or \u201cthe product didn\u2019t work\u201d, proceed with caution. While these are sometimes actually true, it
\n usually doesn\u2019t impact the top performer\u2019s results.<\/p>\n

Tried and true methods such as benchmarking, candidate profiling and third party reviews also work well. Whatever
\n your mix, the number of new reps at target within the first year, will give you an indication of whether your
\n methods are working (see also our earlier post on Bottom Line Hiring the Jack Welch Way<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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