Download the handy Cheat Sheet for TopTalent, but first we like to put some things in perspective....

As a director or commercial manager, you would like... "Sales professionals who achieve ambitious revenue targets, who keep margins high and who know how to find and retain customers. People who are able to reduce the 'lead to order time'; who improve their closing ratios and who increase the 'customer lifetime value'. Top talent who can ensure that fewer customers walk away dissatisfied and who always have their sales pipeline filled with realistic prospects."

That's what you need as a commercial organization. But that's not so easy and not entirely without risk ....

TIP

Click here for the Masterclass on June 20, 2018
Sales Recruitment Masterclass

8 hours of pure personal growth!
entirely in line with the content of this article

How do you separate the wheat from the chaff among applicants for a sales job?
I am still impressed by the impact a good sales professional can have on your business. But there is a flip side to this beautiful coin; what if you make the wrong choice when hiring this TOP talent? In more than 70% of cases, companies report after one year that they had higher expectations when hiring a candidate. So hiring a salestopper is no easy task.

Sometimes it is disappointing to find a suitable candidate quickly. Should you then settle for less? That is not wise. Because a wrong candidate can cost your company a lot of money. Apart from the salary you paid, there are many other hidden costs associated with a mismatch. We list them for you:

Recruitment costs
Attracting potential TOP talents costs time and money, whether you incur these costs internally with your own people or hire a specialized recruitment agency to do so. You have lost this investment, without having obtained a TOP talent, you can start all over again.

Waste of time
Every new employee needs to be inducted. But for sales professionals, this time is extra long. In doing so, you must take not only the time people need to learn about the products, applications, market and customers. It quickly takes two to three quarters to determine whether a sales talent will be successful within your organization. Time in which managers, colleagues, but also your customers invest in your new TOP talent. Wasted time, attention and energy when choosing the wrong candidate.

Loss of sales
Any sales professional who is not performing will sell less. Of course, sales won't be at record levels right away and someone will have to grow into the role. But if orders are missed with existing good customers and even loyal customers walk away dissatisfied then the damage is extra great and the lost trust difficult to restore. Of course, you can't afford that or the expansion of the sales staff wouldn't be necessary.

Dissatisfied colleagues
A poorly functioning "newcomer" has a negative impact on colleagues. Commercial people are very sensitive to the atmosphere in the department. The feeling of belonging to a "winning team" is an important motivator for success. If successful colleagues have to realize more sales or smooth out mistakes too often because that new colleague just "doesn't fit in," they become demotivated. Your high-performing sales professionals may walk away if they feel they are being "pulled down." If, in their opinion, you hold the non-performing colleague's hand for too long. After which you will have to fill not only the open position, but also that of one or more colleagues.

So it is very important for you as a director or commercial manager to have good control over the recruitment process, to go through it carefully and to form the right opinion about the people who will function on your team. Add up the costs of a bad hire. You are talking about a lot of money. Recruitment processes and interviewing were probably not part of your course. Most of us therefore act in good conscience and that goes wrong more often than right. We like to help you not overlook anything with a cheat sheet.

~H. Ben Mastboom, as a sought-after speaker, advisor,coach and trainer, helps companies how to become the preferred choice and excel.

This is an article in the series, "What can you learn in the courses from the Sales Leadership Academy?".

Learn more