10 Steps to Hiring the Right Reps amp Building an Unstoppable Sales Force

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$563500

Thatrsquos the cost of a sales rep mis-hire

Hiring the Right Person

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Greatness in sales cannot and should not be measured by selling skills alone

Rather what makes a sales rep successful is the relationship between the candidate and the company Itrsquos a two-way street

The Sales Hiring Myth

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Whatrsquos the best way to do this

Have a consistent well-thought-out hiring process

How to Hire

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1 Clearly Identify Your Needs for the Role2 Determine Roles and Responsibilities for the Open Position3 Write a Compelling Job Description4 Source Top Candidates5 Initial Phone Screen

10 Steps to Hiring the Right Reps

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1 Clearly Identify Your Needs for the Role2 Determine Roles and Responsibilities for the Open Position3 Write a Compelling Job Description4 Source Top Candidates5 Initial Phone Screen6 Take-Home Sales Exercise7 In-person and Mock Call8 The Culture Interview9 Conduct Your Reference Checks10 Make the Offer or Thank the Candidate and Part Ways

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10 Steps to Hiring the Right Reps

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For a more in-depth look at hiring visit the full and

complete guide to hiring on the PersistIQ blog

1) Clearly Identify Your Needs for the Role

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Assess your teamrsquos abilities and identify whatrsquos missing What role if filled will have the largest impact on your teamrsquos overall performance If you donrsquot know exactly what yoursquore looking for how will you know when yoursquove found it

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1) Clearly Identify Your Needs for the Role

After you identify missing links in your team examine what characteristics and personal attributes are important for your team The performance indicators that we use to find the best sales reps are

bull Drive and ambitionbull Coachabilitybull Positivity and optimismbull Empathybull Curiosity

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1) Clearly Identify Your Needs for the Role

2) Determine Roles amp Responsibilities

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A great way to do this is to identify the phase in the sales process the candidate owns then describe the responsibilities for each phase

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2) Determine Roles amp Responsibilities

Example for Sales Development Rep

bull Lead generationbull Lead qualificationbull Objection handlingbull Account strategy (more applicable for Account Based Sales Development)

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2) Determine Roles amp Responsibilities

Example for Account Executive

bull Account strategybull Objection handlingbull Needs developmentbull Pricing Negotiationbull PresentationDemobull Account management

3) Write a Compelling Job Description

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How can you make your job listing stand out from all the other listings for sales roles What matters most is why they should work for you Inspire people

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3) Write a Compelling Job Description

Paint a picture of your company culture and make it about being part of something bigger

Hiring mistake making the job posting about how much money they can make at your company

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3) Write a Compelling Job Description

ldquo111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154111315411131541113154

111315411131541113154111315411131541113154Job descriptions should sell the job If you canrsquot capture their attention and interest who the hell cares about the fine

printrdquo

-Trish Bertuzzi President at The Bridge Group

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4) Source Top Candidates

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Just as sales reps are responsible for keeping their pipeline full with prospects itrsquos your job as a sales leader to keep your hiring candidates pipeline full

Donrsquot wait to start the hiring process until you need someone ndash or it will be too late It always takes more time and energy than you anticipate to find hire and ramp employees

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4) Source Top Candidates

Here are some of the best channels to source candidates

bull Manually prospect on LinkedIn AngelList and other professional social site for top talent

bull Utilize staffing and recruiting firmsbull Use your networkbull Get employee referrals

Donrsquot rely on any one single source Use 3+ to keep your funnel full

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4) Source Top Candidates

5) Initial Phone Screen

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The first step in the interview process is the phone screening Limit these to 20-30 minutes Make your decision to cut them or move to an in-person interview quickly

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5) Initial Phone Screen

Things to looklisten for

bull Was the candidate on timebull Was the candidate well spoken and did the

candidate communicate clearlybull Was the candidate comfortable on the phonebull Was the candidate able to build a relationship

sell himherself well and determine next steps

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5) Initial Phone Screen

6) Take-Home Sales Exercise

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The take-home test is intended to provide you with more data not to be the tool to make the hireno-hire decision It will help you confirm performance indicator matches and mismatches The mismatches reveal areas that need to be explored more in the in-person interview

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6) Take-Home Sales Exercise

Here is our full SDR candidate exercise (click to download)

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6) Take-Home Sales Exercise

Herersquos what you should be looking for

1 Can the candidate follow instructions2 How much attention to detail does heshe have3 How much research did heshe do on the people

company and industry 4 How proficient is the candidate with written

communication skills

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6) Take-Home Sales Exercise

ldquoThe best predictor of how someone will perform in a job is a work sample

test (29 percent)rdquo

-Laszlo Bock Googlersquos VP of People Operations

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7) In-person and Mock Call

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Hiring mangers are constantly on the hunt for the best questions Here are some of our favorites

bull Since you have decided to make a job change what criteria are you using to select your next job

bull What steps did you take to prepare for this interview todaybull No one is perfect ndash what is one thing that you are working to improvebull How do you create value for your clientsbull How do you stay up to speed on the news and trends in your industrybull What books have had the most impact on your sales career

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7) In-person Interview and Mock Call

bull What do you do to continue and we develop your sales skillsbull How do you research prospects and companies before calling thembull What do you feel it takes to be successful in sales bull How do you feel salespeople should be managedbull Rejection is a big part of sales-how do you handle it

Itrsquos not enough to ask these questions one after another and go down the list until yoursquore done For each answer dig a little deeper with probing questions

The full list of 30+ questions here

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7) In-person Interview and Mock Call

The second part of the in-person interview is the mock call For SDRBDR candidates we do a mock qualification call For AE candidates we do a mock demo call

1 Give them all the backgroundinfo they need2 Conduct a 5 minute mock call3 Let them do a self-assessment then give your feedback4 Conduct another mock call (did they incorporate your

feedback)

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7) In-person Interview and Mock Call

8) The Culture Interview

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Before you think about how to hire for cultural fit you must define and understand your current company culture

Each new hire that you bring on should not only fit into your culture but enhance it

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8) The Culture Interview

If yoursquore hiring for a more sales senior role have at least one person junior one person senior and one peer to that candidate This will give you a chance to get multiple perspectives Furthermore it will help suss out people that are overly focused on politics

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8) The Culture Interview

Herersquos a list of some good culture questions to ask

bull What can you add to the teambull What gets you out of bed and excites you to start the daybull If you won the lottery what would you dobull What one factor would you attribute to your successbull What do you like to do on the weekends and in your spare timebull How do you define successbull What does your ideal role look like

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8) The Culture Interview

ldquoYour company doesnrsquot have a culture It is a culturerdquo

-Simon SinekAuthor Speaker ConsultantldquoStart With Whyrdquo

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9) Conduct Your Reference Checks

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When yoursquore calling the references donrsquot expect someone to give you all the nitty-gritty dirty details on their former employees In fact most people will be highly reticent of talking bad about them

Rather a great question to ask is ldquoGiven what you know about this person in what type of sales environment would heshe thriverdquo Another one is ldquo ldquoWhat advice would you give to Janersquos new bossrdquo

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9) Conduct Your Reference Checks

Here are a few baseline questions to ask

bull What is your relationship to the candidatebull Can you confirm the candidatersquos job title dates of employment and

work dutiesbull What sales activities was the candidate mainly responsible forbull Why did the candidate leave a positionbull What do you think the candidate needs to really continue his or her

career development and professional growthbull Is there anything else I should know about this candidate

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9) Conduct Your Reference Checks

10) Make the Offer or Thank the Candidate and Part Ways

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The final decision shouldnrsquot fall on any single person Itrsquos important to debrief with your team to get a wide variety of perspectives

This is where a hiring scorecard can come into play

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10) Make the Offer or Thank the Candidate and Part Ways

Herersquos our full sales rep score card(click to download)

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10) Make the Offer or Thank the Candidate and Part Ways

If your candidate passes then make the offer

There should not be any new information in the offer

There is no downside to providing a candidate with a great interview experience

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10) Make the Offer or Thank the Candidate and Part Ways

If you decide not to move forward itrsquos important to follow up in a timely manner You donrsquot want to part ways with a bad taste in either partyrsquos mouths You never know what people will say on social media and you never know who is listening

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10) Make the Offer or Thank the Candidate and Part Ways

ldquoGreat vision without great people is irrelevantrdquo

-Jim CollinsAuthor of Good To Great

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For a more in-depth look at hiring visit the full and

complete guide to hiring on the PersistIQ blog

PersistIQ

PersistIQ

MeasuringSalesMetrics

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Move faster and sell smarter than ever before

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