There Must Be a Better Way!

If you have ever been through the pain of adding your first (or next sales rep), you know how frustrating, tiring and expensive this can be. Need more revenue? Hire some more salespeople. At first blush, it all seems so straightforward. Which is exactly how I failed in my first attempt to recruit sales talent.

I recall one of my early jobs in sales. Not long after being hired, I was put in charge of finding the next new rep. The directions were simple: “Go get us somebody who can sell!” Consider for a moment that I had reached some degree of sales proficiency; on the other hand, what I had not reached was a single clue about how to get somebody who can sell. Fortunately, my manager who lived in the faraway regions we refer to as, “remote,” spent time on the phone sharing with me the sum total of his wisdom in this area. Paraphrasing, it went something like this:

1. We have to grow so go hire another rep
2. Get the job ad and job position from HR
3. Post said “ad”
4. Scan through hundreds of resumes looking for a reason to disqualify as many as possible
5. Connect with the applicants based on their cover letter and resume
6. Interview, assess and select
7. Offer and acceptance

And the end result? Low performers, turnover, frustration, repeat. We did add some great reps (even a blind pig will find an acorn now and then) but we went through a lot of money, time and frustration in the process. I recall thinking, “There has to be a better way.”   A way that is repeatable and produces good, predictable results.

The root of the problem in finding and bringing on winners was then, and for many people, still is:

1. Ignorance: Not understanding who/what is needed
2. Insufficiency: Lack of sufficient number of candidates
3. Informality: Lack of a formal process that includes a disciplined approach to each step
4. Impatience: Settling and moving on to more important things
5. Inappropriateness: False sense of relief that the work is over once the candidate accepts

Step 1: Identifying “who” you need. What is their actual role, who will they be calling on, how will they be calling on them, what are the communication tools/skills needed… and the list goes on. The Chally Group suggests that there are 14 different types of professional sales profiles. Additionally, Chally identifies 13 sales “Specializations.” We can debate whether these are the right numbers, but the point is that there is no “One Perfect Sales Type” that will succeed in every selling scenario. Markets are different, products are different, channels are different, sales cycles are different, even customers are different. And the role the salesperson plays in the revenue acquisition and retention functions varies greatly from company to company.

Step 2: Candidate Attraction. While we don’t need hundreds or thousands of interested parties, having too few is a problem. The problem may stem from either of two areas (or both). 1. Poorly crafted and/or distributed job posting. Even if brilliantly written, if the ad isn’t being placed where candidates are looking, well, it will pull even less than your last “totally awesome and amazing” sales slick that is sitting in the trunk of your rep’s car. 2. The reputation of your company. Before you rush to blame the ad, the candidate pool in your market, the economy or your mother, ask yourself, “How attractive is my pond? Do the ducks want to land here or is it better somewhere else?” Glassdoor.com is one entertaining place to see what others may be saying about what it’s like to work in your company.

Step 3: The Process is the Process. There are specific steps to bringing on winners and there are specific steps to bringing on losers. The differences are less about the exact steps and more about the adherence to the process in the first place. Each step needs to be defined, mapped out, and handled by people trained in the activities. Think of this process as beginning from the start (understanding who you need) and continuing on through job ad, job description, ad placement, initial screening, first interview, reviews and assessments, second interview (including assignment), panel review, offer creation and presentation, onboarding and 30-60-90 day review and measurement. Each step is a series of mini-steps. As an example, once you know the “who,” it is time to create the ad and job description. These are the basic components of your messaging. How will the message be delivered? Where will you advertise? Will you solicit referrals from team members, suppliers, and other stakeholders? How will candidates respond to you? How will you handle their inquiries? What does the interview process look like? Are the interviewers trained to keep the assessment and selection stages objective? What will an offer that excites the candidate look like and who will deliver it?

Step 4: Onboarding.

Which leads us to the area that is so often either overlooked or addressed in a “by the seat of the pants” nature, the onboarding process. The statement, “How people start is frequently indicative of how they end up” is as relevant in sales as in any other competitive arena. Once you pick the right people, give them the right tools and support them with fair and consistent expectations and measurements, so that you will then be able to say, “There IS a better way!”

If you find yourself preparing to add reps, top-grade what you have, or are just considering how to bring on the right talent in the future, recognize that this is worthy of your best work. Recruiting and onboarding sales talent should be at the top of your strategic project list for any company looking to beat the competition.

I know, this sounds like a lot of work, but that’s because it is! This is one of the reasons that the process breaks down and companies end up “going with the gut” or settling. Before you fall into that trap, consider the costs of a bad hire:

1. Recruiting time and money
2. Hiring process time and money
3. Training time and money
4. Opportunity costs
5. Internal and external cancer

Let us know what some of your best recruiting and hiring practices are. We would love to hear from you. Until we meet on the street, happy selling.