There is a huge difference between the ability to sell well occasionally and the ability to sustain performance consistently over time. Sales is a numbers game, and most sales calls do not result in immediate gratification. Many involve outright rejection, no matter how wonderful the presentation.
So great salespeople must have, not only, the ability to deliver a great performance, but they must also have optimism, the grit necessary to keep pursuing and the innate confidence that the final outcome will be successful, when faced with a huge amount of ambiguity and rejection. In other words, perseverance and endurance must absolutely support communications skills and presentation prowess.
In the entertainment world, there is a saying: “Every actor can give one great performance.” However, great actors perform well consistently over time, creating a body of great work in the process. Distinguishing between the two, through a defined assessment and interviewing techniques, can save us, as hiring managers, from falling for the one shot wonders.
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Dr. Christopher Croner and Richard Abraham are authors of Never Hire a Bad Salesperson Again and developers of the proprietary and patented sales test, The DriveTest™, for sales candidates. For more information, click here.
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