ow would you like to hire better salespeople? The type of achievers who consistently outperform your current salespeople by 25, 50, or even 100 percent? In studies to determine what separates top from average performing sales managers, only one trait was identified that distinguishes the best from the rest: the ability to consistently recruit high achieving salespeople to their organization.

Why is hiring the right salesperson so important? Unlike other positions where turnover cost might be one or two times salary, a poor sales hire hits a company where it hurts most: lost market opportunity. When factoring in this lost sales element to the turnover equation, it's no wonder that one Northeast Ohio CEO calculated that sales turnover costs his company over $750,000 per individual!

What we'd like for you to take away from this article are some action steps that can help you avoid some of the predictable traps when hiring your next salesperson.

Action Step 1

Understand the difference between threshold competencies and differentiating competencies. Competencies are those things that separate the top from the average performers. Competencies differ from other dimensions of behavior in that competencies are not teachable. Here's a quick definition of each:

1. Threshold Competencies: Think of these as the ante in a poker game. Competencies such as self-motivation, communication, relationship-building and social skills merely allow your new hire to play the sales game - not win!
    
2. Differentiating Competencies: These competencies truly separate the high level sales achievers from the rest of the pack. For example, "Contextual Awareness" (a form of curiosity/information seeking) is a differentiating competency that comes naturally to top performers but can be unteachable to salespeople scoring low in this area. An individual who possesses this competency is constantly gathering critical information throughout the selling cycle that ultimately helps him/her land the order. Individuals scoring high in this area are often described as "street smart" in that they always "know the score" in every selling opportunity.

Action Step 2

Use the most effective sales candidate assessment methods. Assessment of sales candidates can take many forms. Smith, Boyle, and Casio have identified the most effective methods in ranked descending order (see chart below).

What the Research Indicates

Typical sales interviews, reference checking and Biodata (such as sales experience, industry knowledge, etc.) aren't very effective predictors of sales success. Personality tests (validated ones) and aptitude tests can be very helpful. But, clearly, the best predictor is the Critical Incident Process of interviewing where no hypothetical questions are asked. Instead, only a candidate's achievements, and the - who, what, where, when, why and how surrounding those achievements, are painstakingly examined for traits common only to top sales performers.