Today we are talking about how to hire rock-star sales people.
These are the folks that you need to build and explode your business.
You’ll find out the number one mistake when hiring salespeople and the secret to find the rock stars.
I also cover the two types of sales, inbound and outbound, and how to make sure you have a rock star in both roles.
Here’s the overview:
What’s the secret to hiring a rock-star salesperson?
Before we can get to the secret, the number one mistake is not understanding if the person that’s going into the sales role has the right personality style for the job they’re doing.
If you’ve got the wrong personality style in a sales role, it won’t matter how much money you spend educating them, incentivizing them, etc. No amount of motivation, tricks, or treats will work.
If you take a High S or C personality style and put them in an outbound sales calling process, they’re never going to be rock stars in that role. To them it’s conflict. If you have someone more High D or I, they will enjoy the challenge. The more D, the less its conflict.
“But Chris, this person has been in sales for five years!”
They may have five (or more) years in sales. Do they have five successful years in sales? If so, what was their process before? Does it make the role they’re currently in? If they’re struggling, probably not. Where does a High S or C personality style flourish in sales and inbound calls? If the calls are coming to them and they get to serve the client as opposed to make a call or sale, the conflict drops considerably. Now, it’s a different story. It’s also not a role you’d want to put a High D or I personality style in. They’ll make it for a little while but eventually, they’ll get bored.
Classic Example: I had a guy come up to me at an event and talk about how he’d been very successful in his sales role but the company’s owner was transitioning him to a different position – outbound calls. He was a High S with a decent amount of C. Of course, he didn’t want to do outbound calls because it felt like a major conflict. I told him to go back to the owner and explain why he was doing so well in his current sales role and make sure the owner understood why he was killing it in the inbound sales role.
Next, if you’re going to have a rock star salesperson, they’ve got to understand who they’re selling to. Yes, they need to understand not only their personality style but the personality style of the customer too. You’ve got to make sure the personality style of the salesperson fits the industry they’re selling to. If it’s a High D selling to a High S (ex. ministry), it’s not going to happen. Understanding who you’re selling to matters immensely.
If you haven’t walked through DISC with your team, do it today. Get personality profiles for your entire team here
Who are they?
