Hiring top-flight sales rep’s can be a struggle.
They often present well in an interview but there can be a gap between the “talk and the walk” once they are on the team. To help solve the problem, moving past our possible pre-conceived notions of the ideal sales representative makes for a good start. Please consider the following.
Some years back the President of a decent-sized manufacturing company called me suggesting he was rather confused. He joined the business in October and had gone to the office Christmas party that December. His confusion surrounded the fact that during the Christmas party the National Sales Director introduced him to the two best sales rep’s in the entire country. They were painfully shy and promptly, as the President described it, “hid behind the curtains” for the remainder of the party.
Of course, the President was calling me to better understand how the very best sales rep’s on the company roster were so successful yet massively introverted. It turned out that his sales environment was one where introverts shine – one-on-one sales.
People who are on the reserved side are actually quite relaxed and effective in small group sales environments, enjoy spending time on the road and being remote from head office. They typically are very independent, do not need a great deal of positive reinforcement and are usually thorough and well prepared in their sales presentations. They also usually make more sales calls than the really outgoing types.
So next time you are looking to hire someone in sales, if the situation allows for it, please think about the introverts. They can often turn out to be some of your finest on your sales team. And do consider using an assessment instrument to help with your selection process. There are many good psychological tools available to help in identifying the best in the world of sales.
To give you an idea of what you can expect from our Performance Assessment Series in the coming months, we will be drawing on data from more than 1000 organizations and companies who rely on our proprietary assessment product to field their very best under the highest performance demands in the world! To that end, we will be reporting on research from professional sports, the world of business and elite military units, including commentaries on the Navy SEALS.
