Distributors that haven’t learned how to hire top-performing salespeople will suffer the consequences.

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In studies to determine what separates top-performing sales managers from average sales managers, one trait separates the best from the rest: the ability to consistently recruit high-achieving salespeople. If they fail at that one task, managers risk sluggish revenue growth, lost sales opportunities and dwindling market share.

All distributor managers and owners covet “A player” salespeople. They’re the top achievers who exhibit desirable traits such as drive and ambition, good presentation and communication skills, and a sense of urgency, tempered by maturity and critical decision-making abilities. 

While it’s easy to recognize those traits in salespeople already on staff, it’s much harder to determine if the sales candidate sitting across the desk from you in a freshly ironed shirt and neatly combed hair fits the bill.

Learning how to hunt down and snare A players is crucial, lest you find your staff loaded with mediocre performers you’d prefer to see working for your competition. How do you determine in the hiring process if someone has the qualities you desire? For starters, brush up on your interviewing skills.

“Often, the person doing the interview takes the role of seller and tries to sell the company to the candidate. This is a mistake. The candidate should do 80 percent of the talking,” says Lisa Steele, director of assessment services for Sogistics Corporation of Twinsburg, Ohio, which focuses on helping companies with sales productivity improvement. 

Ask questions. Then, ask some more.
Don’t make it easy for a candidate to give you a desired answer. Don’t ask loaded questions such as, “Do you consider yourself competitive?” because almost any candidate, regardless of their competence or skill level, will tell you “yes.”

“Go beyond simply asking someone if they have good communication skills. Ask for specific examples that demonstrate that trait or ability,” says Ken Jowers, employee relations manager for Birmingham, Ala.-based Motion Industries.

Integra Integrated Procurement Solutions, headquartered in Chicago, uses a behavioral interviewing style to address education, early home environment and work experience. 

“In each of those areas, you ask open-ended questions,” says Rhonda Barnes, director of human resources. “You’re looking for specific past behaviors that exemplify, for example, drive without being obvious that you’re asking about their drive and ambition.”

If you ask, “What’s your biggest accomplishment?” Some people might say, “The relationships I’ve built over the years.” Steele says the problem with this ambiguous response is that it does not really show that the person is focused on how he or she impacts the company’s overall sales and profitability. A preferable answer would be something quantifiable, such as, “I increased sales 15 percent in a market where the average increase was 8 percent.” 

If they answer in general terms, force them to be more specific. Say, “Can you elaborate on that? Can you give me a specific example of a time when that happened?” Maybe you could role-play with them. Have them demonstrate what they would do when meeting with a prospect for the first time. 

“The biggest obstacle is to find someone who has a passion for selling,” says Jowers. “We’re looking for someone who has an aptitude for industry and mechanical things because that’s the industry we’re in. Identifying someone who has that passion for selling as well as a desire to learn the technical end of it is probably the most difficult.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean you must hire someone with industry experience. If someone has sales talent, they’ll figure out how to sell your product or service. 

“One of the things we do very well is train our people,” says Jowers. “We have an outstanding training function as far as product training and teaching the technical aspects of how mechanical, electrical and fluid power systems work, as well as vendor support. So, we can certainly prepare anyone for what they’re going to need in the field.”

Another mistake is to fall into the “just like me” syndrome, Steele says. Interviewers sometimes see characteristics of themselves in people and automatically feel they’ll be great for the job. Learn to look for traits in people that you might not personally possess.

“Don’t be overly impressed by a person’s appearance or communications skills. Pay attention to what they’re saying, not just how they look and sound,” she says. 

Also, don’t rely on stereotypes. Salespeople can come from all walks of life. They don’t necessarily have to have a college education, although they must possess the ability to communicate at higher levels within a customer’s organization. 

Jowers says Motion is working with a psychological consultant to develop an assessment tool to help managers assess the aptitude of sales candidates.

“The hiring process is not an exact science,” he says. “I don’t know that you could ever make it perfect. But you can do your best at identifying what they’ve done in the past, get examples of their behaviors that match closely with what you’re looking for that demonstrate success in the position.”

Seek outside help
If you don’t have time, energy or resources to do a thorough hiring process, outsource it. 

“Some of the best sales executives recognize that they do not have the proper skill sets or competencies needed to make a good hire, so they outsource it to someone who is an expert rather than make a poor hire themselves,” Steele says.

Integra uses a search firm to help identify candidates. Once located, however, top managers become involved in the process because they know best the type of candidate profile they’re looking for.

“In nine out of 10 cases, I’m involved myself, for the simple reason that we’re trying to build a new breed sales force,” says chairman and CEO Rudolf Huyzer. “I’m looking for a different level in terms of education and the ability to sell at a higher level in the customer’s organization. Typically, salespeople in the industrial distribution industry are product oriented or, at best, application oriented. When you’re selling a program, you need to understand the concept of the cost savings elements that appeal to higher executive levels.”

Take the test
Barnes says Integra developed an assessment grid during the interview process. The grid is a tool that helps interviewers identify specific desired characteristics, skills and abilities, such as drive, ambition and hunger. They also need street smarts, or an ability to assess a business situation, smell an opportunity and know how to take advantage of it appropriately. She says top prospects are good at building relationships, have excellent conceptualization skills and presentation skills, can articulate the company’s services intelligently, and can negotiate and close profitable deals.

To test some of those skills, Integra asks candidates to participate in a mock customer presentation. Huyzer acts as plant manager of a customer prospect, Barnes assumes the role of purchasing manager and two or three other Integra employees may play other customer roles. The purpose of the mock presentation is to assess the candidate’s presentation style and also to see how well they think on their feet.

Maturity and judgement are important. Is it someone who thinks about the consequences before they speak? Do they show consistency or stability in their behavior? What’s their selling style? Do they take a consultative approach and want to partner with a client by adding value with their products and services, or do they just want to focus on pushing a product?

“It’s a very spontaneous process,” Huyzer says. “Sometimes, we interrupt and act rude on purpose, just to test how they react. We’ll ask for the moon. If he says yes to everything, that tells us he’s not our guy.”

Another objective of the role-playing is to determine how closely the candidate listened during previous conversations.

“The listening skills a candidate must have are very important. We tell him about our vision and what we’re trying to accomplish. When he comes back, he’s more or less tested on how much he got out of those discussions and whether he can properly articulate that,” Huyzer says.

Hiring A players doesn’t happen overnight. The process of reviewing resumes, screening candidates on the phone and conducting multiple in-person interviews could take weeks to complete.

“Doing it right is a long process,” says Steele. “But it’s going to cost you less money in the long run if you do a thorough job and spend more time on the front end, than if you try to do it fast and end up hiring the wrong person.” 

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2002 issue of Progressive Distributor. Copyright 2002.

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