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We see it all the time. A great sales candidate meets with a prospective employer who rejects the candidate and elects to hire someone else. Oftentimes the reasons are legitimate \u2013 such as poor cultural fit \u2013 but many times, there are no logical reasons for the decision not to consider the candidate who would in all likelihood otherwise be a strong producer.<\/p>\n
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When reliable sales talent is in such high demand because it is so important to the success of any business, excluding great sales candidates\u00a0from the hiring process for the wrong reasons is a real issue. There are several reasons why this happens:<\/p>\n
Top Performing\u00a0Sales People Are Different<\/strong> \u2013 If you spend any time with sales people who consistently perform at or above targets, you will quickly see they are different than the average sales person. The over-achievers possess higher drive and ambition, are more competitive, and exude confidence. While these are the traits that lead to sales\u00a0success, they can be misinterpreted as liabilities,\u00a0as Joseph Skursky noted in his post, Sales Thoroughbreds: The Key to Winning New Business, \u201cthe very nature and intensity of a hunter\u2019s personality frequently turns off some recruiters and people in HR.\u201d<\/p>\n Top Sales Talent Is\u00a0Rare<\/strong> \u2013 As Colleen Francis points out in her book, Nonstop Sales Boom<\/em>, only 20% of reps consistently hit well above their targets. Since the vast majority of applicants and the majority of sales people employed are average or below average sales people (see John Kearny\u2019s post, Is Your Talent Hurting Your Sales\u00a0Initiatives?)<\/em>, hiring managers are often not conditioned to spot them and instead are looking for more of what they are used to \u2013 average sales people.<\/p>\n High Producing Sales People Are\u00a0Employed<\/strong> \u2013 Great sales candidates\u00a0are not sitting at home waiting for a call from a new employer.\u00a0Sales people who are consistently at or above target are busy producing sales for another employer. And being paid well to do so. Any employer trying to recruit one of these\u00a0may find that they\u00a0may not be as enthusiastic as another unemployed candidate who\u00a0desperate for a job; any job. Often enthusiasm is mistaken for ability and a hiring manager focuses on the sales person they can easily hire rather than the sales person that will produce the desired sales results.<\/p>\n Broken Hiring Processes<\/strong> \u2013 In many companies, the hiring process is disjointed. Multiple people are involved in the hiring decision without clear and shared hiring criteria. This leads to confusion about the traits the employer is seeking and some great candidates can get nixed because someone misunderstands the hiring needs. Furthermore, it is often the case that people involved in the interview and hiring process have no formal training on how to interview or select candidates (in case you need it,\u00a0here are some tips on how to interview sales candidates<\/a>). As sales expert Dave Stein points out, \u201ca key to successful hiring is objectivity.\u00a0 Hiring salespeople on gut feel, the old-fashioned way, doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n It takes a lot of hard work and effort to attract and hire great sales people. High producing sales organizations know that the odds of attracting sales talent is greatly increased when top performing\u00a0sales people are immediately recognized and given the attention they deserve.<\/p>\n To your success!<\/p>\n References:<\/p>\n Sales Thoroughbreds: The Key to Winning New Business<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Joseph Skursky<\/p>\n Is Your Talent Hurting Your Sales Initiatives?<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0John Kearny<\/p>\n
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