Who Hired This Guy?

There isn’t a sales manager alive who hasn’t either asked, or been asked, this question… and not always in the good way.  It usually drips with accusation or at the very least, sarcasm.  The underlying message is very clear:  we are responsible for our hires and have to answer for them when they don’t work out.  (When they do work out, we’re more likely to hear “I told you that one would be a winner!”) The salespeople who don’t work out we often refer to as ‘ghosts’ because, though they’re physically gone, there are lasting side effects that linger long after they’ve left the building.  Damaged customer relationships, poor sales results, wasted hiring and training money, and frustrated clients to name a few, and that doesn’t even cover the damage to your trust relationships, if you did the hiring.

How do we avoid these ghosts and make better hiring decisions?  As in life, there are no guarantees, but you can increase your odds of a great hire if you follow some simple rules:

Really define and understand the sales role for which you are hiring.

There are a number of kinds of sales roles and success in one, doesn’t equate to success in another.  For instance, selling cell phones inside, no matter how successful you are, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to sell websites – a longer sales cycle, a much longer consultative relationship maintenance period, and a completely different budget range. There are many red flags here that can should be investigated and assessed. If you haven’t defined and prioritized the key performance indicators (what are you looking for in the interview) resume and assessment process?

Assess and evaluate candidates against the key performance indicators. 

Assessments can be a great way to compare what candidates say, and what their real beliefs and behaviors. Everyone is a ‘fanatic cold caller’ in an interview, but the reality may be very different. Assessments allow you to uncover the 90% that candidates keep hidden during the interview.  Like an iceberg, you can only see the 10% that they choose to display. They are there to ‘sell you’, so be sure you know what you’re buying.

Interviewing is not about selling candidates the job. 

If you eavesdrop on an interviewer, you’ll find them extolling the features and benefits of the company and the job and trying to entice the candidates’ interest.  If we were really to check their job fitness rating, we’d be pushing them away, not enticing them.  After all, won’t they be hearing negativity from prospects every day on the job?  To check for their adversity quotient, try telling them you don’t think they could do the job and gauge their reaction. 

Don’t be afraid to ask the really tough questions. 

Ask ‘proving’ or ‘testing’ questions.  For instance:  If I asked your present employer what your greatest sales strength is, what would he tell me?  Or: tell me about a time when you thought you had a sale, but lost it at the last minute and weren’t sure why.  These questions force specific information and experiences from them.  Get them talking about how they react to real sales situations that might happen in your company.

Ask a senior salesperson you trust to sit in on the interview.

Having someone with you that can picture the candidate in front of your customers is a good way to gauge cultural fit.  Their role is not to ask questions, but simply observe and report. Make sure they are a long-term, mature salesperson who understands what it takes to be successful in your world and doesn’t feel threatened by others’ success.

Finding the right candidate can avoid the ‘Who hired this guy?’ question.  Prospecting and finding, assessing and interviewing candidates is a critical part of a sales managers’ job. These are the people who bring revenue into the company and making a poor hiring decision can cost you time, money and frustration.