Winning People Who Win Deals: How to Hire Top Salespeople

Wednesday June 8, 2016

● Phone lines are muted - please use

the chat box for questions

● Tweet us using #qualityofhire, @datafoxco and @lever

● $100 Amazon Gift Card for the most useful tweet

Kiran DhillonContent Marketing ManagerLever@kirandhillon4

Thanks for joining us!

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Our featured speakers

Michael GallagherSales Recruiter at lever@Lever

Ben BrocklandDirector of Sales at DataFox

@BenBrockland@Datafoxco

Newsflash: Hiring keeps getting harder

Source: Bersin by Deloitte, 2014

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Avg. time to fill a position (days)YoY change in talent acquisition spending

Agenda

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1. Set the structure2. Get on the same page3. Build a pipeline4. Streamline your interviewing process5. Sell the salesperson

1. Set the structure

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● Assign ownership

● How many interviews can the hiring manager / interviewers give per week?

● Which team members are expected to interview?

● What is the equity / salary package for the role?

Photo credit: ©iStockphoto.com/monkeybusinessimages

2. Get on the same page

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● What skills will your dream candidate possess?

(Rank them)

● What attributes will your dream candidate

posses? (Rank them)

● Tell me about the best salesperson you’ve ever

worked with. What qualities made them so

successful?

● What would the candidate’s responsibilities be?

● What will a normal day look like?

, not necessarily

3. Build a pipeline

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1. Dump your skills-based job descriptions 2. Write a role profile 3. Go proactive

a. Referralsb. Sourcing

Dump your job descriptions

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“Most job descriptions are incredibly inefficient – even counterproductive – talent-screening tools.

A typical job description lists a catalog of required skills, experiences, academic degrees, and personality traits.

Over the last 20 years, my firm has presented to more than 400 business groups like Vistage and YPO. At the beginning of each session we ask, ‘Who would you rather hire, someone who had all of the skills listed on a job description, or someone who could deliver the results required?’ Except for one dubious company owner in New Jersey, roughly 10,000 leaders have answered “results.” I’m guessing you would, too.”

- Lou Adler, Founder and CEO of the Adler Group and creator of Performance-based hiring

Write a role profile

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Performance-based

Get the right people excited

Focus on what a person can achieve, not the skills they need to reach the achievement

Go proactive (Part 1: Referrals)

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Recruiter: “Hey do you know any great account executives?” Vs.

Employee: LinkedIn export + Recruiter: Export review

Employee: “Oh yeah, I forgot about her!”

Employee: *Shrug*Vs.

Go proactive (Part 2: Sourcing)

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5 quick sourcing tips:

1. Diversify: Consider sources like GitHub (technical talent), Dribble (design talent), Twitter, Facebook, Amazon reviews, Quora

2. Send from: Don’t send from a generic email (info@company.com) If possible, send as hiring manager

3. Personalize: Look for commonalities, compliment their work4. Follow up! Imagine if salespeople sent one email and called it

quits 5. Just ask: Don’t be afraid to ask for referrals

“If you don't find yourself a fit and/or the timing isn't right, feel free to reply & let's sync up on any possible networking referrals you could toss our way?”

Photo credit: LinkedIn Global Talent Trends 2015

4. Streamline your interviewing process

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Interviewing process

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● Framework for speed while being detailed

● Let’s get on the same page

● Nailing the mock call

● Topgrading as your secret weapon

Format

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Rigorous process and deep interviews are your candidates first interaction with the company.

● 30 Minutes: Initial screen with recruiter

● 30 Minutes: Phone screen with hiring manager ○ What do you know about us?○ Deep dive on current role to understand applicability

● 45 Minutes x 2: Onsite

● 1.5 Hours: Onsite

Four buckets we test

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Consistency on what’s important helps decrease bias

1. General cognitive ability

2. Role based knowledge

3. Motivation

4. Culture fit

Four buckets we test

#qualityofhire @datafoxco @lever

Consistency on what’s important helps decrease bias

1. General cognitive ability

2. Role based knowledge

3. Motivation

4. Culture fit

The mock call

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Understand the benchmark and test for coachability

Topgrading

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Topgrading

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What does it encompass?

1. Life trajectory starting in high school

2. Every job and transition

3. Self appraisal

4. Plans and goals (get ready to sell the candidate)

Topgrading

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What does it encompass

1. Life trajectory starting in high school

2. Every job and transition

3. Self appraisal

4. Plans and goals

Topgrading

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Tips and tricks

1. Two-person team

2. Don’t lead the witness - this is meant to be hard

3. Upfront contract (“We need you to be brief”)

4. Close with a much nicer question (e.g. “What do you do outside of work for fun?”)

Avoiding interview bias

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Tips and tricks

1. Enter scores before all interviews are complete (avoid eye contact with other interviewers).

2. Lean back on top grading for discrepancies

3. Scores should be 1, 2, 3, 4

4. Framework enables new backgrounds

5. Make the sell

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During the interviews

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Topgrading

1. What are the pros of joining DataFox?

2. What are the cons of joining DataFox?

3. What other companies and roles are you applying to?

Gain funnel

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“Whether you come work for DataFox or another company”

“One year from now you’re having coffee or a beer with a friend”

“What are the 3 things you learned that year which you’d proudly tell your friend about?”

Offer like you teach to sell

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Follow ups are important

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3 ways to improve your process in Lever

1. Get the whole team involved. Chrome extension email

sync democratize sourcing and referring. Use the @-mention

feature and automatic feedback reminder for quick

collaboration with hiring managers and interviewers

2. Set up an interview kit for each role so your interviewers

look like they know what they’re doing.

3. Improve candidate experience - “I still breathe a sigh of

relief whenever I see a Lever application form for a position.” -

Lever Applicant

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Q & A

Michael GallagherSales Recruiter at lever@Lever

Ben BrocklandDirector of Sales at DataFox

@BenBrockland@Datafoxco

Request a demo at www.lever.co