Every hiring manager in the sales sector understands how challenging it is to find the right people to fill open positions. There are so many qualities a good sales person must carry and some of these can be difficult to pinpoint simply by looking at a resume or even conducting a series of interviews. Success in sales is exclusively performance based and it’s not always guaranteed that the candidate who scores a job will score the prospects and leads their company needs them to. There are however tools you can implement into the hiring process that make these qualities (or lack there of) more transparent.
Assertiveness
As a hiring manager or recruiter, if you want to know how to identify sales people strengths you need to know what weaknesses to look out for and avoid; one thing to watch out for is sales call reluctance – an emotional hesitation towards prospecting. Employees suffering from this will do just about anything to not get on that call; often this hesitation stems from a lack of confidence or assertiveness. There’s nothing passive about working in sales though, and employees must get over any fear of rejection or confrontation they might have and start bringing in the revenue they were hired to bring in. A sales career personality test implemented at the beginning of the hiring process can weed out these hires before they’re brought on by tracking a prospective employee’s go-getter attitude using a series of skillfully developed personality questions.
Sense Of Urgency
A strong sales representative must understand that each prospective sale has a peak window – if they wait too long, the client may have already moved on or changed their mind. Therefore, salespeople must make following up a priority; they must also leave messages stipulating when they intend to call back and stick to their intended schedule. This motivational trait is measured by test providers like SalesTestOnline that provide an ideal or benchmark profile for a position, showcasing clearly whether the applicant being considered will match this need when it comes time to perform.
Emotional Maturity
New sales hires will often take negative feedback or reactions from clients personally, this however cannot stop them from giving 100% to the next call as that prospect could in fact be the one to make the company a fortune (and potentially the salesperson too, if they work on commission.) Strong salespeople do not get bogged down by rejection, rather have the emotional maturity to look at the big picture, and a sales personality tests can bring any red flags in this department to light.
Stamina
Finally, a salesperson must give their A-game – whether it’s the 1st call of the day, the 5th, or the 35th. Every interaction must be viewed as an opportunity however. But, when employees bring the energy down to fifty percent every day after lunch, they’re unlikely to bring in the numbers you need. While stamina can be developed overtime, someone with very little to begin with is likely to burn out quickly, resulting in you having to replace them. With an inside look however, you can be sure you’re only hiring candidates truly prepared to meet the responsibilities their positions entail.
