Today I want to look at the second point in our article 2 weeks ago – how are you doing with hiring salespeople?
If you are doing OK, that is no good.
Remember that contentment is the greatest enemy of success.
Unless you are doing great – unless your sales team is extraordinary – keep reading.
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Let’s look at 3 of the major problems and how to handle them.
1/ Testing them before you hire them.
No one wants to be tested and few of us want to tell prospective employees that they are going to be tested. But testing does work, and it can save you tens of thousands of dollars and more.
Have you ever looked at what a bad hire costs you?
Do your prospective sales reps take a personality test before you hire them?
Why not?
These tests really work and will show you some things that you cannot see – especially if you like the rep and they have sold you on hiring them.
Be careful, you know that old saying:
“I think the last sale this rep made was me on hiring him/her.”
(If you need a company that can help you with testing, let me know).
Second, if part of the rep’s job will be to make calls, then you need to test them, right?
So many business owners seem to be afraid to put prospective sales reps through a rigorous process before they hire them…
If they cannot pass the test, how are they going to do the job? You will be amazed at how many people who claim to be sales reps cannot do it on the phone.
1 hour on the phone will eliminate them and save you both money and time.
I can still hear one of my clients telling me after they administered a personality test,
“I really wanted to hire that person, but wow, am I glad I ran them through the test. It would have been a big mistake to bring them aboard.”
Click here to get more detail and learn more: Listen to this discussion with The Coach on his Podcast:
2/ If you clearly define expectations, it is very clear when they are not met.
What do you expect from the sales rep?
When do you expect it?
From daily tasks to sales results to work habits.
Lay out what you expect from them before you make them an offer, and then when you make the offer, have them sign off on it.
Now it works both ways.
You also need to ask them what they expect of you.
This also needs to be document and signed off on.
No gray areas. I hate gray.
All clear.
Now when they don’t follow the expectations, you can clearly see it.
3/ Do not hesitate to terminate reps who fail to meet expectations.
No one wants to fire anyone.
If you hired someone to run a cash register and they just could not learn how to do it, you would fire them.
If you hired a plumber and they could not put pipes together and make sure there was no leak, you would fire them.
If you hired an accountant and they could not balance the books, you would fire them.
So why when it comes to sales reps are we so slow to take action?
A salesperson has a job, as a goal and a timetable.
If they are not even close – then what should you do?
You don’t know how many business owners I meet who are losing sleep, getting distracted and losing productivity because they just can’t fire the rep. This is why laying out expectations upfront is so critical.
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I hope this helps you as the business owner to get your sales team on target.
If you want to talk further about how to make this work in your organization, then connect with me.
Read to spend 15 minutes and let me learn more about you and your organization?
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