Should your next sales hire be from your industry?

So I recently spent some time with a sales manager from another company who shared with me his recent recruitment woes. He had burnt through 3 new sales executives in as little as 6 months and couldn’t understand why they had failed to see out their probation period, something I see all too often when companies hire new sales.

I began to ask a few questions to find out his thoughts on what had gone wrong. He felt that they were too institutionalised from their previous employers. All three had been from direct competitors. Whilst they all had industry experience I challenged him and said that the only common denominator was his company.

Digging a little deeper, I identified three key areas where if the process were to be re-run, the chances of the new starters committing beyond their probation period and being successful would have been greatly improved when they are already within the industry.

Interview

Do not become blinded by the sales managers previous sales achievements, big-ticket wins or industry contacts. Be sure that they are culturally right for your business. How would they interact with the rest of your team and most importantly, will they buy in to your selling methodology.

Ensure the potential employee is comfortable with your pricing strategies; value added services and USP’s. Obviously you don’t want to give them too much of your secret sauce recipe just yet. But you need to divulge just enough to get a read on your potential new salesperson to see if they will be on board.

Ask questions that make your candidate reveal their knowledge of your business. My favourite question is to ask a candidate how they currently win business against my company. If they are as good as there resume says they are to get them this far in the process, they will already know your USP’s and weaknesses and should already have a strategy in place to sell against you.

Be prepared and ensure you have identified potential internal areas of concern that a set of fresh eyes would question. If appropriate, share this information with the candidate to see how they react. The further through the selection process the more candid you can be with any shortlisted candidates.

On-Boarding

The first 1-6 weeks of any new sales individuals career within a new organisation will almost always be spent comparing and contrasting that of their previous employer. Get something wrong in this embryonic stage and the new starter will most likely be questioning their reason to change employers.

Set a training timetable and stick to it! Remember, this embryonic period for a new starter is when company culture can be embedded and should form the cornerstone of the new salespersons work ethic. Dismissing key induction or training sessions will set the wrong tone and will show the new salesperson that missing deadlines or targets may be acceptable.

Observe the new salespersons body language in and around other team members and staff. Are they exuding the same energy or mannerisms from their interview? If not, this could be a potential flag that they are not adjusting to their new surroundings. Be sure to review induction progress regularly to ensure they are happy with the pace and content.

Have the new salesperson spend time with senior sales people you can trust and gain feedback on their observations. Sales people will confide in each other so ensure feedback is frank and in context. Don’t worry if the new salesperson is negative. Use it as a training aid as this critical insight can help turn things around and improve things for future employees.

Ultimately the induction process should be used as the foundation to ensure you set the salesperson up to be as successful as they were in their previous role. It is not the time to question your own judgement. The interview process should be used to critically review and select the best candidate for the role.

Review & Reward

Be sure to set regular reviews and use these sessions to gain feedback from the new salesperson on how they are finding the induction and training programmes. If the programme is not working for either party, do not be afraid to pivot. It shows flexibility on your side and will help the new starter feel closer to the team culture you strive to create.

Set realistic targets and achievable targets. Successful salespeople are happy salespeople and happy salespeople will keep delivering. If you’re new salesperson can hit their targets or quota’s, they will feel enthused and energised, helping them transition from embryonic new starter to fully-fledged revenue generating salesperson.

As with the initial targets, ensure your reward scheme is equally aligned and achievable. Your new salesperson may well have left a lucrative reward scheme so it is vital that your scheme delivers for them early in their probationary period.

Formalise the transition from probation to permanent employee. This point is vital. The salesperson must have a point in time where they know that they are no longer classed as a “new starter”. At this stage, recognise the success they have achieved in the probationary period. If they have really impressed, the transition point is the perfect time to discuss increased responsibilities or targets.

Conclusion

Ensuring you get these three stages of the new recruit process correct is vital to ensuring your new salesperson stays the course. The right candidate on board will save you time and money further down the line and if you have hit gold and found yourself a sales superstar, you will reap the financial rewards.