How to find the perfect vendor for your team?

I am often asked these questions in my business strategy session: “How can I find a perfect salesperson to join my team?”

If you have this question, this article is for you. So please enjoy.

At what point in my business do I have to hire a salesperson?

Remember when you first started your business, you take your product or service with an eye to making it as perfect as possible (for example, meeting your customers’ needs, making it easy to use, or delivering value to your customers).

At some point, you’ll end up with “SOMETHING” that will make your competitors green with envy.

And more and more customers have come to take your solution so that they can get the results that it promises to deliver and they don’t need to spend time and effort to build their own solutions. They are likely to stick with you for the long haul and ask “what’s next?”

Now his business is growing.

You start to get a taste of “success”.

And this would probably be the time when you start asking the question “How can I reach more potential customers?”

The solution is “I have to increase my staff”.

Your adventure to hire your first salesperson

In any case, no matter if you’re hiring your first salesperson or just adding a new salesperson to your existing sales team, it’s important to know how to spot a successful salesperson.

You need to understand what makes a good salesperson and attract the right talent to join your team and scale for success.

If you can resonate with what I said above, continue reading.

I know it can be hard to see through charisma and well-rehearsed interview tactics. What I do know is that the best salespeople have certain characteristics that cannot be overlooked.

To help you improve your success rate in hiring the perfect salesperson, I’ve identified the following steps to equip you with the right tools for your consideration.

And all good wishes when you make the decision to implement these steps…

Step 1 – Identify the Specific Needs of Your New Sales Employee

Is that obvious?

My mentor, T Harv Eker, author of Secrets of Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth, said, “The number one reason most people don’t get what they want is because they don’t know what they want.”

In our context of hiring a salesperson, there is no difference from my experience.

Before you hire a new vendor, you need to be clear about your business requirements and needs. If not, complete this step first.

Are you sure you really need to hire another seller?

Can you hire someone who can work within your current system at your business? [Note: I don’t believe any candidate is a good fit unless he is able to do so.]

What qualities do I look for when hiring another salesperson?

What are my retention strategies so I can keep this vendor committed to producing mutual benefit for my business?

Step 2 – Write the salesperson job description

The second step is to advertise.

But… when you want specific candidates, you have to specify what skills the candidates must have so that they can fulfill their roles in the most effective way possible. As a bonus tip, include your company name and contact information to allow candidates to research your company before applying for the position.

What skills do you think a perfect salesperson should have?

Interestingly, HubSpot recommends the following key qualities that make a great seller to start off on the right foot:

• Ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously

• persistence and patience

• honesty and integrity

• Creativity or Ingenuity

• Ability to learn and grow through experience.

• Strong work ethic and motivation.

• Strong communication skills, verbal and written; good communicator (both internal and external)

• Good concept; ability to make good decisions quickly in a fast-moving and constantly changing environment

• Ability to follow rules/policies and procedures. Conscious of the details.

• Willingness to sacrifice personal time for business needs.

• self motivated; takes initiative and stays busy without management intervention

Of course, I am not asking you to look for a seller with all of the above skills. Go back to my first question about figuring out what you want.

Identify the 3 specific skills listed above that you are looking for in an ideal candidate. Make sure these skills are mentioned in the job description.

Step 3: Reach the Right Candidates

In your course of searching for the right candidates, you are obviously not looking for anyone and everyone.

It’s important that you find candidates who share your core values ​​and have what it takes to be great salespeople. After all, you don’t want to spend time developing someone who isn’t going to get the job done.

Here’s a top tip: Expect finding the right candidates to be hard enough without starting with the wrong people.

Some people are perfect for the job, but they just don’t know they’re perfect.

Talk to them about what your strengths and weaknesses are, and make sure they know that you need a certain type of person who can handle your current system/processes. They may seem like a great candidate if you can tweak some of their abilities!

On the other hand, if someone is clearly not a fit for this position, ask yourself if you can offer them other positions within your company or recommend another position they could fill, even if it’s outside of sales.

Again, depending on your personality, skill set, and experience. It is better to give someone a chance than to let them go in a negative way.

Bonus Step: Develop a Clear Interview Process

We get this question at Clubhouse often: You need to develop a clear interview process.

You’ll review a bunch of resumes and select a few that represent the most qualified applicants who would go through your interview process.

A clear interview process should include clearly designed interview questions about

personal background or professional history, interests, goals

years of sales experience

The biggest weakness when it comes to selling?

Tell me about some difficult situations you have experienced in the sale. How did you handle them?

Assign them a sales task and find out how they would complete it.

Discuss their goals and how you can help them achieve those goals.

Summarize all the information after this process and compare your notes to make sure they are ideal for the job.

The result should be an offer letter, but before you send it, ask yourself what you expect from your new salesperson.

Do you expect a high level of commitment to your company or do you have room for your own ideas in the business?

What is your approach to culture and expectations?

The result of having a clear interview process

Finally, once you’ve selected the candidates to hire, you need to think about how to offer a competitive salary and regular bonuses for achieving personal goals along with other intangibles like training programs and networking opportunities.

Offer an attractive package of these extras when you make the final decision so candidates are happy to work for your team.

Sometimes it’s not just about compensation, but also about creating an atmosphere where people feel appreciated and valued for their efforts.

Even if he doesn’t seem like the ideal candidate, make an effort to contact him anyway; it might be worth it and they might have a useful idea, but only if you give them that chance.

Do not discriminate against any candidate!

You may think that one person is better than another because of their gender or age, but there is no real evidence to support this.

conclusion

Finding the perfect vendor for your team can be a daunting task.

I hope the steps above help you find the right person for your business and avoid wasting time with unqualified candidates. The 10 Qualities of a Good Salesperson outlined in this article will also come in handy when interviewing prospects so you know what to look for before they walk through the door.

If all else fails or if you need additional help finding someone qualified, please let me know so I can see if I can help. Our team would love to work with you one on one!

Some salespeople are naturals and others require training.

Either way, we’re here to help you find the best vendor for your business.

All good wishes.