Hiring the right salespeople is an essential step in building your business. To create a powerful and productive sales team, employers must identify what qualities to look for when interviewing prospects.
Douglas P.B. Freeman, head of sales for The Muse, describes how to identify the best in the business of sales in a recent article published on Forbes.com.
4 Qualities of Outstanding Salespeople
1. Work Ethic: Number 1 on Freeman’s list is a strong work ethic—great salespeople not only work hard, they work smart, and are always honing their skills and improving performance.
Freeman suggests interviewers ask candidates about their personal goals and how they have reached them.
For example: “Tell me about a time in your life that you set a stretch goal and achieved it. Take me through the process you took to achieve that goal.”
The response will offer a great deal of information: What are the prospect’s ambitions? Has he overcome difficult challenges? Is he persistent? Does he follow through?
2. Competitiveness (The Right Kind): Successful sales people are like athletes—they enjoy winning. It is important they have both the confidence to win and the humility to prepare.
3. Coachability: Freeman explains that the willingness to be coached equals the ability to grow. He advises employers to take the candidate through a trial run of a sale, as if he were already a company employee.
After the exercise, Freeman asks the candidate to assess his or her own performance and then he offers feedback. He runs through a second trial to see if the candidate demonstrates improvement or coachability. While this step may take extra time, it measures coachability and receptivity to feedback.
4. Desire for a Sales Career: Last but not least, Freeman is a firm believer that the best salespeople want a life-long career in sales. He wants the members of his team to set long-term goals and work hard to achieve them. He is careful to select sales professionals who will become happy and effective contributors to a productive team.
To read the original article in its entirety, please visit Forbes.com.
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