What’s the first step in the process of hiring a new salesperson?

Just imagine you have fired your sixth salesperson in 12 months and you are about to explode in frustration thinking about starting the hiring process for the seventh time in less than a year. Given the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, you might be open to a different approach to the hiring process. If that is indeed the case, where do you start your journey to improve the hiring process? As the Cheshire Cat said to Alice, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
Let’s look at four broad areas that are in sequential order:

  1. Recruiting
  2. Interviewing
  3. Inventorying
  4. Assessment and Decision-Making

Recruiting
Before you place an ad on Monster, CareerBoard or in the newspaper, or read a resume, do you have a functioning, salient job description? Do you know what skills, attitudes, experiences, education, past performances and behaviors you are looking to hire? What and who has been successful in that role in the past? What does “good” look like in a current employee?
Interviewing
What do you want to learn about the candidate that a resume won’t answer?  Does the candidate have awkward speech patterns, react poorly to difficult questions, respond too slowly to simple questions, appear for the interview in inappropriate attire, arrive late/early for the interview or have poor body language? Does the candidate have thoughtful questions and, with appropriate assertiveness, get agreement on the next steps in the interview process?
Inventorying
Assuming you didn’t hire the first person that walked through the office door, of the 10 or so candidates you interviewed, compare and contrast their behaviors, skills, outlook on life or special training.
Assessment and decision-making
No candidate is perfect, so which one(s) come closest to your ideal? Of the shortcomings you see, which ones are you most comfortable/confident in fixing or coaching? What does your gut say about your top candidate? If you pull the trigger on that person, will you wake up in the middle of the night screaming? Finally, are you convicted enough to hire that person and then, do it?
This is just a quick primer for your hunt. Most importantly, define the requirements for the position before you do anything.
Dave Harman is an associate with Sandler Training. He has over 30 years’ experience in sales and sales management with Fortune 500 companies as well as small, family-owned organizations. He has held positions from sales to senior management with companies such as Conoco/Vista, Amresco and Ohio Awning, and owns his own business. He earned his MBA with a concentration in Marketing from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. You can reach him at [email protected] or (888) 448-2030.