What to look for in your next salesperson

Friday Funnel Focus Blog by EPOCH Sales Management Solutions

You decided which sales role or sales roles you need for your next salesperson.  Now, you need to determine what that means and what you will be looking for as you interview candidates.

Person Traits

We recommend that first you ensure candidates are the type person you want to be a salesperson on your team. 

This starts with candidates that match your company core values.  In chapter 4 of his book ”Traction”, Gino Wickmad describes the People Analyzer. It is basically a tool that evaluates people against your company’s core values. For each value, he recommends one of three ratings:

• +    Rating when they exhibit that core value most of the time
• +/-  Rating when they exhibit that core value some time and some time they do not
• -      Rating when they don’t exhibit that core value most of the time

The recommended bar for a company with five core values is three pluses, two plus/minuses and never a minus.  Consider using a People Analyzer throughout the interview process.

As for Person Traits for a salesperson.  Here is a list that we developed for you to consider as you plan to hire your next salesperson.

First, what ATTITUDE traits do you want?

• Optimistic, but a realist.
• Has a bit of skepticism
• Empathetic
• Caring, seeks to understand
• Curious
• Very, very curious

Second, what ACTION Traits do you want?

• Initiative
• You can’t push a rope
• Self-discipline
• They need to be able to take care of themselves
• Accountability
• They need to own their results

Third, what IMPACT Traits are you looking for?

• Persistence and Determination, but not a nuisance
• Chet Holmes called it, “Pigheaded discipline and determination.”
• Resourceful
• They find creative solutions to help their customers
• Competitive
• They love to win

What COMMUNICATION Traits are key?

• They listen and connect with their prospects and customers

How do they make a difference?

• They use all the traits above to be persuasive and influence decisions, but not coerce or force bad decisions.

You need one more trait to add icing to this cake

• Coachability
• No one is perfect and when one stops growing, they start dying. You want coachable salespeople

Selling Skills

What selling skills are you looking for? Here is a list of twelve skills to evaluate in your next salesperson.

1.      Effective time management
2.     Commit to ongoing improvement.
3.     Disciplined new business development.
4.     Build strategic target lists
5.     Develop compelling sales messaging
6.     Conduct proactive outreach 
7.     Prepare, Open Call, Establish and build rapport
8.     Discovery and Qualification
9.     Build Value and Create Desire
10.     Overcoming Objections
11.     Gain Commitments
12.     Timely follow-up

Job Performance Model

We also recommend that you build a Job Performance Model to help you build your Job Description.  We can guide you through this process.

• You select a Library Model that most closely matches the sales position.
• You complete a Job Analysis Survey
• We use your data to build a rough draft Job Performance Model
• Together we determine any necessary adjustments

A job performance model is a benchmark you will compare individuals against to establish the degree of Job-Person Fit. The Job Performance Model considers the full view of a person to include: Thinking Style (numerical and verbal reasoning and skill), Behavioral Traits, and Interests.

We feel so strongly about this process to know what you are looking for, that we will help you build a  Job Performance Model for your next sales hire for free.

Would you like someone to guide you in this process? 

Schedule a 30-minute conversation here.

Want to Find More Qualified Sales Candidates?

Click here  to enroll in our free August 30, 2022 webinar  with a panel of 3 recruiting experts

Download our guide to help you Put the Right Salesperson on Your Team in the Right Sales Role

Would you like someone to guide you in this process to get ready to hire? 

Schedule a 30-minute conversation here.