With HR departments awash in sales applicants, many with college degrees, it’s not easy finding young people suitable for grooming to join your sales team. Everyone says they’re “good with people.”
Who you hire eventually reflects directly on you. So after the initial HR interview and background checks, how do you weed out the winners from the also rans?
Retail guru Robert Mettler, Presiding Director of the Jones Group, says you start by selecting people who have certain personality traits. Do sales associates genuinely like people? Do they want to know about people? Are they thoughtfully interested in how their customers behave as people?
Additionally, don’t ask the candidate the typical “what’s your greatest strength and weakness” questions. Instead, ask them to sell you a product. This will give you an idea of the candidate’s sales ability where the “rubber meets the road.” Does the candidate listen to your objections? Do they ask the right questions? Do they anticipate a customer’s objections? And most importantly, can they close a sale?
After they’ve successfully answered your questions, let key members of your sales team interview the candidate. This will give you a different perspective and shed some light on how well the candidate can get along with his or her peers. It’s surprising how much feedback you’ll get from your team about a potential candidate’s ability to fit in and do the job.
Another way to evaluate potential candidates is the “floor test.” Ask the candidate to visit one of your stores or plants before the interview. Then ask for the candidate's observations. You can also ask them to pose as shoppers, then ask them to assess their shopping experience and what they would change if they were on the floor as a sales associate.
These days, sales managers are often faced with overqualified candidates. Berrin Erdogan, a professor of management at Portland State University says, "The assumption is that the person will be bored and not motivated, so they will underperform or leave." Erdogan’s research shows that overqualified applicants actually performed better. "People don't stay or leave a company because of their skills. They stay or leave because of working conditions," says Erdogan.
Claudio Fernandez-Araoz, a senior adviser at Egon Zehnder International and author of "The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad," says the benefits of hiring an overqualified employee outweigh the risks. "When making hiring decisions, visionary leaders don't just focus on the current needs, but on the future," says Fernandez-Araoz.
Finding the right sales associate these days is no easy task. But there are ways to identify people with the talent and skills you need to move your sales team to the top.
Image courtesy of photostock/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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