Common Flaws in the Sales Candidate Hiring and Management Cycle 

1. Using the Resume as a Deciding factor in Hiring the Candidate

First rewind the tape to the point when you were interviewing. Sales people all come into the interview with one thing in common - their resume. However, a resume is nothing more than a compilation of features, benefits and attributes. The resume does not the candidate's weaknesses that inevitably surface on the job, at your expense! Now before moving forward I just want to make sure we are all on the same page. Have you ever seen the resume that comes with Addendum A.? This addendum clearly spells out:

• The quota he claimed to have met on his resume was successively revised downwards on a quarterly basis when his manager concluded he wasn't going to meet initial expectations. 
• That great revenue number disclosed on his resume was a result of managing another sales person's sold accounts 
• How his initial positive attitude turned sour and negatively impacted other sales people when management started holding him accountable for his low production

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2. Relying on your Gut Instinct when Hiring the Sales Candidate. 

During the interview you hear yourself saying "I like this guy" Quite often we make a decision to hire someone because we think we like them based on our gut reaction to their communication method. However, this appeal is not because you like them, but because you are like them, resulting in a sales team with similar strengths and weaknesses. 

3. Relying Solely on Product Knowledge Training

At the point that we pull the emotional hiring trigger the next logical (and often counter-productive) step is to subject them to product knowledge training. That's the trick! Let's make experts out of them!

So the new hire becomes an expert about:

• Who you are
• What you do
• And what you have done for others

But they fail to develop expertise in:

• Why the prospect will buy
• Why the prospect will buy from you
• Why the prospect will buy from us sooner rather than later.

Remember the last time you made a substantial purchase. Did you buy for the sales person's reason or did you buy for your reasons?

To learn more on how product knowledge training can be counter productive, Click here to Contact Peak Performance
or, by calling us direct at 1-866-515-0794.

4. The Final Straw: Sales Stimuli

Once you have armed them with their intellectual weapons known as Features and Benefits, you send them out into the field. It is at this point that something crucial happens. It happens to all sales people everyday - they hit a wall! Each and every one of them are subjected to a bombardment of what we at Peak Performance refer to as Sales Stimuli. Sales stimuli are the obstacles, objections, lies, excuses and reason for not buying!

Ahhh, this is the way that it is in our world, therefore:

• This is the way that I must respond!
• This is the way that I must react!
• This is the way that I must defend myself!

This is the beginning of the downward spiral. When sales people become more reactive, they no longer are proactive in their business development approach. When sales people become more defensive, they are no longer offensive in their business development approach. As business owners and sales managers, we all know that sales people start a job looking to move mountains. However it isn't usually more than six months later that they are simply hope to meet quota! 

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What is it that we do that creates this transformation where their:  

Self-Esteem is depleted 

• Level of expectation drops
• Performance declines
• Productivity plummets

Now this transformation results in a management side-effect. When sales are flat or they decline, it creates an extreme condition within the company that subsequently creates extreme behaviorwithin management. So the business owner or sales manager becomes extreme in their own behavior. They go after the sales people and work on the wrong end of the problem telling them to:

• "Put in more time"
• "Put in more energy"
• "Make more phone calls"
• "See more people"

When the sales person engages in the extreme behavior he is subjected to more of the sales stimuli therefore increasing the rate of the downward cycle causing faster turnover. The key to unlocking this dilemma is handling the root cause of the problem to prevent the metamorphosis from taking place. 

To learn more about the root cause of sales problems and how to overcome them, Click here to Contact Peak Performance or call us direct at 1-866-515-0794.