Hiring The Right Sales Person

Sales is one of the most crucial positions you will ever have to hire for, after all they are not only the face of the company but also the ones that bring in the revenue. The sales field is so diverse and unique that each position requires a different type of personality and set of skills, depending on the company and the products they are selling. Often times candidates are better prepared for interviews than the interviewer themselves, but that doesn't necessarily make a candidate qualified. So the better prepared you are, the better the chance of finding the right candidate you will have.

THE PREPARATION
Before you even think about sorting through the hundreds of resumes that you probably already have in your inbox, you must first take some time to prepare yourself before going into the battlefield. First and foremost you need to get together with your sales team and create an "ideal candidate" profile; deciding what would make a salesperson successful in your company. Just because someone was the #1 sales person at cruise line does not mean that they will be a top seller in your organization that sales computers. So, identify some key players in your team, see what qualities have made them successful, what qualities have hindered them, go through candidates that haven't worked out in the past and see why they didn't last. Once you have created the "ideal" candidate, you can begin the hunt for your next star. After all, you can't find what you need if you don't know what you are looking for.

THE RESUME
Being able to identify and differentiate a good resume from a bad one is a key step in your search for the next superstar. A resume is the first indicator of many things such as communication, but also their attention to detail, written skills, presentation, how they sell themselves, how successful they have been in other positions and employment longevity along with many other things. Reviewing the resume carefully and knowing exactly what you are looking for in your next hire will allow you to only move forward with those that you truly feel will add value to you team. Although a resume is only a limited representation of a candidate, it is one of the most important ones too. So, if a resume looks like they only spent an hour on it; chances are they probably did.

THE PHONE SCREEN
This to me is one of the easiest parts of the process as far as deciding whether or not I will continue on to a face to face interview or not. When you think of a great sales person you think of someone you can click with, someone that's engaging, personable, likeable and a great communicator. If you feel like you have to drag answers out of them during the phone screening, if the conversation doesn't flow naturally, if they are not enthusiastic and spark your interest than most likely your clients that they will be selling too will see them the same way. At the end of the day people don't buy from a name brand they buy from the people they like and people they feel comfortable with. So if they can't sell themselves, you cannot expect them to successfully sell your products/services to anyone else.

THE INTERVIEW
This is where it can get tricky. A lot of people present well, have great personalities and might have relevant experience but might not be the best for your position. Don't be afraid to ask questions and really dig into their metrics; how they measured in comparison to others and really put them in the hot seat. The truth only has one face, so no matter how many different ways you ask the same question the answer should remain consistent. Ask questions that will that will expose synergies, strengths, specifics, situational questions, their drive, their competiveness, passion and accomplishments. But never settle for just a superficial answer; ask what they did to get there, how they accomplished it, what made them different, how they remain competitive, etc... It's a job interview and you are in control, so take control and keep asking until you feel you are satisfied with the answer. The interviewer should only talk 10% of the time; the rest should come from the candidate.

THE DECISION
At the end of the day you can only uncover so much during the hiring process, but the more you can uncover and the more prepared you are to interview, the better off you will be and the more educated the hiring decisions you make will be. So take your time in creating an ideal candidate profile, review resumes very thoroughly, don't be afraid to ask uncomfortable questions, and always remain open minded on where your next superstar can come from. The identifying and hiring process is an important part of finding great sales people but what happens after you hire them? How are you keeping them satisfied, challenged, and motivated? Recruiting goes far and beyond just interviewing. Good luck and happy hunting.

How To Spot Biggest Applicant Lies

Over the last few years we have seen a significant rise in unemployment rates nationwide, some of the highest in the last few decades actually. To some recruiters this is a dream come true due to the overflow of applicants that they now have, but to the true Talent Scouts this is a complete nightmare. Why? Because now it is that much more difficult to find that top 1%. I have always been a firm believer that a resume is a limited representation of the candidate. So if this is indeed the case, what does this say about them when the majority of the information in their resume is fabricated and/or inaccurate? It says that they are dishonest and they were willing to lie to get the job. Thus, chances are they will be dishonest once they are hired and with the economy being what it is, there are very few companies that can afford the huge expense of a bad hire.

Being aware of the common lies applicants tell, allows you to arm yourself with the knowledge and tools necessary to minimize the chances of a bad hire. Some of the most common things lied about in resumes and applications according to a nationally recognized background screening firm (esr.com) include:

1- Job Title/ Responsibilities: Working in a fast growing call center environment has exposed to me to thousands of people from all backgrounds and walks of life and it seems the more people you interview the easier it becomes to spot inaccuracies, lies and exaggerations. What I have found to be the easiest way to spot these types of "self- proclaimed promotions" is by asking them very specific questions. So if they claim to be a store manager (even if you don't know in specific what they do- you kind of have an idea of what is expected of them) you would ask questions such as: A) How did you measure your team's performance? B) How did you deal with employees that weren't performing? C) What were your individual goals as a manager and team goals? Questions like these should be no problem for someone who has been in the position, but to someone who hasn't its a surefire way to stop them in their tracks. Another easy way would be by checking their references (but this would only work if their references are accurate).

2-Claiming a degree not earned- This seems to be a very common trend nowadays and it it comes in many different forms. The first one is where people award themselves a degree even though they still had credits to complete or only attended for a few semesters. The second one is where people claim to have graduated from schools they never even attended- now that's gutsy because with the internet what it is today and by simply asking some probing questions this is the simplest one to catch. Lastly there are those that simply buy there degree online for "3 easy installments of $49.95". They purchase these degrees from Degree Mills, these "Mills" often offer transcripts and even phone numbers that employers can call to verify that they attended. Talk about committing to your lie. But again, this can be verified by running an education background check.

3-Dates of Employment: No one wants to look like they are a job hopper, inexperienced or unstable so this is something that is common regardless of position or age. If this is not dug up during the interview process than the next easiest way to verify this is by calling references or simply running an employment verification check. But remember if your gut is telling you that there is something not right- than chances are that you are probably right and you should dig, dig, dig.

4-Compensation: Times are tough and its ok to exaggerate a little about your salary history so we can get that nice bump in pay, right? Wrong! There is no excuse for being dishonest, period. Every application I have always seen asks for the desired salary, so why not be honest with what you are looking or hoping to make- if they are qualified and deserve it than chances are they will probably get what they are looking for regardless of what they were making before. But when they sit in front of me lying to me and telling me they were making $50k a year when they only made $30k and are looking to make $60k- this is not only unacceptable but can also cause your company some major bucks.

5- Criminal Background- Different companies have different standards and different tolerance levels on what is acceptable and what isn't in the background checks. One thing I do know is that most applications if not all, specifically ask if they have ever been convicted of a crime and to please specify. So, this to me is their amnesty period in which they need to be 100% honest. If not, no matter how small the infraction if not declared up front is considered dishonest and a possible reason for termination.

These are just some of the things that people tend to lie about in their resumes and applications but as I mentioned before some of these can easily be verified during the interview process by asking very thorough and specific questions, as you should be doing anyways. If a pre-screening/ background check is not in place in your workplace I would highly suggest that you implement one as it is a smart business investment. Remember that there is nothing wrong with trusting as long as you verify.