Sales Interviewing & Hiring Archives

A Salesperson Sold Me in the Interview… Why Isn’t She Able To Sell Successfully Now?

Every hiring manager has encountered that one sales candidate who was confident, charming and surely a perfect fit for the position during the interview, only later to turn out to be a poor performer on the job. Predicting how a candidate will perform once hired, based only on a simple in-person interview is no easy task, even for the most experienced hiring managers. After all, as they say in the entertainment world, “Every actor can give one great performance.” The same is true for an interview. So how can we increase our chances of hiring a salesperson who will perform

“Drive” Comes in Many Forms

By now, you know that we would never recommend hiring anyone as a salesperson that did not have a high level of Drive, as verified by a sales aptitude test and a behavioral interview. These objective assessment tools that accurately assess the Drive within a candidate are necessary because unfortunately, it is easy to fake Drive over the short term. Evaluating a person’s attitude and personality can reveal what kind of salesperson someone might potentially be. However, stereotyping based on a first impression of someone can often produce inaccurate results. “Drive” Comes in Many Forms was last modified: December 8th,

You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

We cannot tell you how many times we have spoken to business owners and managers who hire star athletes or other big men on campus who would seem to have everything it takes to sell, only to have them wilt under the pressure of professional sales. The managers cannot understand why a star middle linebacker or the president of a fraternity cannot muster the same skill sets to deliver as a salesperson. Here is the problem. You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover was last modified: June 27th, 2013 by Dr. Chris Croner

Stop Hiring Sales Candidates Who Fail to Deliver

Gerhard Gschwandtner, publisher of “Selling Power Magazine,” recently interviewed Dr. Christopher Croner regarding testing and interviewing sales candidates. The interview covers a range of topics, including how high-Drive candidates handle the interview, the drawbacks of hiring based on industry experience alone and the importance of optimism in long sales cycles. The interview was released this week and you can watch it below. Watch Gerhard Gschwandtner’s interview with Dr. Croner here: Stop Hiring Sales Candidates Who Fail to Deliver Selling Power Dr. Christopher Croner, Principal, SalesDrive, LLC Runtime: 5:54 Stop Hiring Sales Candidates Who Fail to Deliver was last modified: October

Does a Technical Salesperson Need Drive?

Many sales managers hiring technical salespeople (for complex solution sales) place primary emphasis on the candidate’s technical expertise or industry knowledge. They may prioritize a technical background over sales experience or aptitude, thinking that they can always train sales skills later, and that a buyer would prefer a low-key “consultant” to a high-drive salesperson. So, the sales manager at a manufacturing company, for example, may look for someone with an engineering background to fill an account acquisition role. To be sure, buyers enjoy dealing with salespeople who know their industry well and are adept at answering questions. However, the

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

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A Salesperson Sold Me in the Interview… Why Isn’t She Able To Sell Successfully Now?

“Drive” Comes in Many Forms

You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

Stop Hiring Sales Candidates Who Fail to Deliver

Does a Technical Salesperson Need Drive?

The High Stakes of Hiring a Salesperson