Never Hire A Bad Salesperson Again

Sales creates revenue, revenue fuels growth, growth creates jobs and a myriad of benefits. This is true for the clients and prospects we call on, and it’s true for broadcast companies as well. There is no denying the importance of sales.

It stands to reason that salespeople are an important part of that equation. We all want to hire and retain great salespeople. One of the first things required in that quest is to clearly define and identify what traits are necessary. You can’t find what you’re looking for if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Too often in the past we have relied on gut instinct, intuition and the candidate’s performance in the interview.

Dr. Christopher Croner and Richard Abraham in their book: Never Hire A Bad Salesperson Again, suggest that DRIVE is the most important characteristic in identifying and selecting people who can successfully sell for a living. They further suggest that DRIVE has three components:

1. The need for achievement – they posit that top salespeople have a burning need to achieve 2. Competitiveness – driven salespeople are hardwired to be number one 3. Optimism – Croner and Abraham suggest that optimism is the body armor that allows top performers to withstand the inevitable rejection.

Certainly, there are more traits required for successful selling. One that I have always looked for is curiosity. If a person has curiosity, they ask better questions, they are driven to find answers and solutions to problems.

As we accelerate into 2021, We are looking for your help. We would like to create a list of “must-have” traits. If you’re a manager, would you mind sending me the traits you look for? If you’re a seller, would you please send the traits you think make for a successful career in sales? You can send them here. We will be happy to publish the list and share it with you.

We have a partnership with Dr. Tony Alessandra, which allows our members to infuse some data-driven decision making into their hiring strategy. The Executive Summary - Sales is a multi-dimensional tool, developed over 25-years, to answer any company's hiring and selection questions. This testing tool demystifies human performance questions with concrete performance answers and recommendations. If you’re interested in learning more about testing for drive or any other sales trait you’re looking for, please visit our site here and watch the brief tutorial.

2021 can be your best year ever. It starts with sales, and sales starts with having the right salespeople on your team. Please send me your traits here.

Jeff Schmidt is SVP-Professional Development at the Radio Advertising Bureau. You can reach Jeff at Jeff.Schmidt@rab.com or follow him on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn.
Source: Jeff Schmidt, RAB