Sales Assessments Archives - Page 12 of 13

The High Stakes of Hiring a Salesperson

We have received a lot of feedback on our earlier column about the cost of hiring sales candidates who ultimately do not produce to our expectations. Most of the feedback was that we UNDERESTIMATED the cost. We therefore consolidated what we heard and here is how many hiring managers gauge the problem: Cost of advertising for the position Time and cost for resume review Time and cost for phone screens Time and cost for multiple interviews Time and cost for internal and external training Extra time managing problem employee(s) Extra time managing client damage control Difference between poor salesperson’s production

My Candidate Was a Star Athlete, Will He or She be a Good Salesperson?

Sales managers often look for candidates with an athletic background, particularly when candidates have limited sales experience. A former football or basketball player is likely high in competitiveness, the reasoning goes, and would therefore perform well in sales. Although competitiveness is a critical element of Drive, sales managers need to be careful when interviewing former athletes. Here is why . . . We need to ask ourselves an important question . . . Was the sales candidate’s athletic success because of his initiative only, or did he have a coach pushing him to get out and practice each day? If

My Candidate Has Years of Sales Experience, Do We Need to Use a Sales Test?

Sales managers sometimes wonder whether candidates with years of sales experience need to be tested as part of the hiring process. If a candidate has demonstrated success in a previous sales role, it can be tempting to forego a thorough vetting process, thinking he must be a sure thing. However, as interviewers, it is our job to vet each candidate carefully, regardless of experience. Here are two important considerations when recruiting an experienced sales candidate. How similar was the candidate’s product/sales cycle to yours? Some salespeople have a track record of success with established products with short sales cycles. If

The Illusion of “The Golden Gut”

Over the years, we occasionally get pushback from hiring managers who will dismiss a more scientific screening process in favor of their own intuition also referred to as their “golden gut.” A hiring manager with a golden gut is confident that he/she can pick candidates that will be successful salespeople through intuition alone, and that he just knows a winner when he sees one. Unfortunately, we have never seen the golden gut approach to be proven by the numbers. Inevitably, when we go deeper into the manager’s records it is revealed that the turnover rate is unacceptably high and production

My Candidate Passed the Test, Should I Hire Him Immediately?

One of the most exciting moments of the sales recruiting process is receiving positive testing results for a candidate. As we have noted previously, less than 20% of the population is high in Drive. So, when a candidate scores well on a sales test such as The DriveTest™, it can be very tempting to want to pick up the phone and make an offer. However, this is when we need to be careful. At this point, the test has done its job… it has helped us to weed out low-potential candidates and allowed us to focus on those with a

Sales Experience or Drive: Which is More Important?

Sales managers often look at a candidate’s level of sales experience as a key indicator as to whether he or she will be successful. Previous experience can be alluring, especially if your candidate was at the top of his company within your industry. Unfortunately, experience alone does not tell us whether the candidate will actually step up to the plate and perform. Sales Experience or Drive: Which is More Important? was last modified: March 5th, 2013 by SalesDrive, LLC

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The High Stakes of Hiring a Salesperson

My Candidate Was a Star Athlete, Will He or She be a Good Salesperson?

My Candidate Has Years of Sales Experience, Do We Need to Use a Sales Test?

The Illusion of “The Golden Gut”

My Candidate Passed the Test, Should I Hire Him Immediately?

Sales Experience or Drive: Which is More Important?

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