{"id":1320,"date":"2012-12-13T19:30:13","date_gmt":"2012-12-13T19:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.comblog\/hiring-sales-people-the-right-way\/"},"modified":"2023-03-08T19:43:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T19:43:38","slug":"hiring-sales-people-the-right-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/hiring-sales-people-the-right-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiring Sales People the Right Way – Interview with Dana Lewis, HR Manager at Tomlinson Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dana Lewis is the Director of Human Resources at the Tomlinson Group of companies and has almost 20\u00a0years of experience as an HR professional, hiring top talent and building high performance teams. We\u00a0recently had a chance to speak to her about hiring sales people.<\/p>\n

Peak:\u00a0How has hiring sales people changed over your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dana:\u00a0<\/strong>In the mid-90\u2019s, hiring a new sales person meant calling up the Sales VP and asking for the phone\u00a0numbers for his friends. You would interview a few people and choose the guy that was the best \u2018people\u00a0person\u2019. Now, there is much more of a science to the process. A good sales person still needs to be\u00a0likeable, but they need to understand what it means to build a partnership with their customers. It is\u00a0not just about closing one deal \u2013 it is about building a long term relationship. They need to understand\u00a0requirements of their customers and continual build upon their skills.<\/p>\n

Peak:\u00a0What are some of the biggest challenges in hiring sales people?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dana:\u00a0<\/strong>Sales people can usually sell, which means they are also good at interviewing and\u00a0up-selling\u00a0themselves.\u00a0So,\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been tricked a couple of times into hiring the best interviewee, opposed to the best candidate.\u00a0So, the challenge is selecting the best candidate for the role, not the best person at interviewing.<\/p>\n

Peak:\u00a0What are some of the strategies you employ to hire sales people that become consistent contributors at\u00a0the companies you have worked for?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dana:\u00a0<\/strong>I like to get an understanding of their quota achievements, and be able to prove it with actual\u00a0documentation. I find out about new customer development and how they hold on to their existing\u00a0customer base. How do they follow the industry trends and what plans do they have to change with\u00a0these trends.<\/p>\n

Peak:\u00a0What is the role of culture in sales hiring?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dana:\u00a0<\/strong>A sales person is a front line representative of your company, they need to be a reflection of what you\u00a0want your company to represent. So, culture is very important.<\/p>\n

Peak:\u00a0How is hiring sales managers different from hiring sales people?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dana:\u00a0<\/strong>Being able to lead and motivate sales people is very different from being able to close a deal.<\/p>\n

Peak: \u00a0The sales organization and the human resource function are under very different pressures and in some\u00a0companies there is tension between the two organizations. How have you managed to work effectively\u00a0with sales organizations in your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dana:\u00a0<\/strong>Sometimes there are cowboy sales people, but ultimately sales people and HR all work towards the same\u00a0goal \u2013 making the company successful. I find that if you try to understand the other person\u2019s perspective\u00a0and explain your reasoning to them we can usually come to a solution to work together.<\/p>\n

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