6 New Guidelines on Hiring in the 21st Century

1. Create Demand - Can the person stimulate demand?  Gone are the days when salespeople could just pick the low hanging fruit.  To be a solid performer in today's world, a salesperson must not just ride demand, but drive demand.
2. Different Conversations - Can the candidate engage senior-level executives in conversations outside of their offerings, i.e., products and services?  C-level executives are not interested in hearing about the "features & benefits" of your products and services.  They are looking to salespeople to add value to their long-term strategy and this is where new conversations must focus.
3. Connect to Strategy - Does the sales candidate understand business strategy and know how to add value to the customer's business strategy?  In today's world it is absolutely critical for salespeople to understand how the business game is played so that they can engage in strategic discussions that go beyond the tactical.
4. Analytics - Does the candidate possess strong analytics?  Is the individual capable of abstract reasoning?  Can the person cut-through-the-clutter to learn where a prospect might need help - even if the prospect is unaware of that need?
5. C-Factor - Is the person you are considering above a threshold level relative to their understanding of complexity?  This is what we refer to as a person's "C Factor".  Customer business models are increasingly complex and therefore, does this salesperson have the ability to not only absorb and understand these models, but also add value to them?
6. Achievement Drive - Does the person demonstrate strong achievement drive?  Is the person proactive?  Do they bring a "make it happen" attitude to the job?  Not only is a person's drive key, but what drives them also matters.  For instance, there are 3 types of intrinsic motivation:
• Need for affinity - the person has a need to belong to groups and have strong people interaction.  There is a strong desire to be liked by others.
• Need for control - these individuals tend to be perfectionists who like to have control because they are sensitive to criticism.  They also tend to need some structure because they are reticent to take risks.
• Need for achievement - this person ties who they are to what they accomplish, often a form of competitive drive.

The key here is to be careful to not fall for those individuals with a strong need for affinity because while they tend to be great at getting in new doors, once in, they really struggle to progress the cycle - there are lots of opportunities, but little closure.