Lessons for Hiring New Sales People
Hire schoolteachers as sales people? Yes, said Dan Oswald, CEO of Fortis Business Media, speaking on Friday’s CEO Panel at the SIPA Marketing Conference in Miami. His vice president of sales has found good success hiring teachers. “They’re hungry, driven, haven’t made a lot of money, are good on the phone and often great at presentations.”
Where to hire good sales people was one subject that came up many times at last week’s conference, in sessions but probably even more in the hallways. SIPA members know they have good products; often getting that across to customers is the challenge. Oswald said that his company is treating the hiring of sales people like the launch of a newsletter—in that they are putting a lot of money towards it. “Another test that we [will be doing with some new salespeople] is that we won’t supply leads. We’ll give them a database, outside prospectors. It will be a 6- or 12-month experiment.”
Brian Crotty, president/CEO of OPIS, has started to hire sales people for particular segments of the industry. “We just hired one for fleets and airlines,” he said. “If that works, we’ll hire three more people and put them on different segments. The last guy we hired was the shoe salesman at Nordstroms.”
“The big thing is building a sales pipeline,” said Oswald, “so the risk of hiring someone isn’t that great. We like to see how they are on the phone. We also get referrals; we’ll pay a referral fee. Two people came up through our customer service bureau; they will either go into sales or editorial.” It’s a good way for them to get to know the company.
Selling internationally was another theme of the panel. David Foster, CEO of Business Valuation Resources, said that they have international versions of domestic products coming out, and will have a sales person in London. Crotty said that in 2008 “we decided to expand internationally. It was big investment. We opened an office in Singapore and launched commodity type products…The international [market] is growing 30% faster than domestic.”
Here are five tips for hiring good sales people from Gaebler.com, a site for entrepreneurs and small business owners:
1. Give all your candidates the same interview. Develop a standard set of questions and tailor them to meet the criteria that you have pre-established in a successful candidate. You will be less likely to hire someone just because you “click” with him/her and more likely to hire based on your actual staffing needs.
2. Make them think on their toes. A good salesperson should be able to handle the unanticipated and meet challenges with confidence. So try to stay steer clear of anticipated questions. Instead, try asking them how they might handle a sales situation that is specific to your industry.
3. Be firm. We all know that a good salesperson can be charming and will easily engage you in conversation. Don’t allow yourself to get sidetracked. Be straightforward and don’t be afraid to ask hard questions…[and] follow up on their references.
4. Check their homework. Any serious candidate should research your company before the interview. Don’t make the mistake of telling the candidate all about your company and then listen to them regurgitate what you just said. Ask them why they want to join your company.
5. Get a second opinion. If you have a trusted salesperson on your team, consider having him/her sit in on the interview to help determine if the candidate truly mesh with the existing sales force. Part of any successful sales team is its ability to work toward a common goal…together.
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Speaking of sales, join us tomorrow
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Group Sales and Site Licenses
Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, 1 pm EST
PLACE: Your telephone and computer
Speakers: Anne Holland of Anne Holland Ventures;
Michele Givens from Editorial Projects in Education
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