5 Hiring Mistakes that Cost You Time & Money

1. HIRE BASED ON PAST RESULTS ONLY
    
   As they say in every financial investment ad “ Past performance is no guarantee of future results”. This axiom applies even more so to hiring sales people. The next time you hear that a salesperson is a “can’t miss” prospect for your open territory, here are a few of the many questions you might want to ask:
    
   
   • Did they build the territory or inherit it ?
   • Did they close the business or need extensive sales support you don’t have?
   • Are they selling on Price and theirs is lower than yours?
   • Are they calling at the right level?
   • How much supervision did they have? How much do they require?
   • How many competitors did they have?
   
    
    
2. HIRE BASED ON PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE ONLY
    
   Product knowledge is essential to sales effectiveness. However, you don’t have to know how to design a watch to sell a watch. Most hiring managers overstate the technical requirements of the sales position and vastly understate (or overlook entirely) the sales skills necessary to be successful. You will waste enormous amounts of money waiting for the technically competent person with call reluctance to make enough calls to meet the quota. A wise man once said, “I would rather be a master prospector than be a master of speech and have no one to tell my story to.”
    
    
3. HIRE ONLY BECAUSE YOU LIKE THE WAY THEY SOLD TO YOU
    
   Many hiring managers rate the selling skills of the candidates based on how they “sold” them in the interview. It is possible to rate some of the skills such as bonding and rapport, qualifying and closing ,but it is the rare interview that will allow the interviewer the opportunity to observe all of the skills needed to be successful. And it is virtually impossible to determine the self-limiting beliefs and the hidden weaknesses that a candidate possesses in a relatively short interview. Consider this: if you are a sales manager how do you know how the candidate will perform in front of a CEO, or a technical end user?
    
    
4. HIRE BECAUSE YOUR STAFF LIKES THEM
    
   With all due respect to your CFO, HR VP, Operations manager, etc. what do they know about what it takes to sell your product or service? If they hate your candidate and couldn’t stand to work with them that might be a reason NOT to hire. You can’t even count on your existing sales staff to give you the right read. They might be intimidated, protective of their territory or top spot in the rankings. Being likable is one characteristic of a successful salesperson but it is far from the only one.
    
    
5. START THE RECRUITING PROCESS ONLY WHEN THE OPENING OCCURS
    
   Always have a pipeline of potential sales candidates. If you hire when desperate you increase your chances of making a hiring mistake by 150%. You are that much more likely to make mistakes 1 thru 4 above. The candidate will have the leverage and you may end up overpaying to fill the slot. “Somebody in the territory is better than nobody in the territory” becomes the mindset and standards and expectations are lowered. Hire from strength and you will build a stronger team.