Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hello, I am Steve Suggs, sales recruiting expert and author of the book, Can They Sell.
Welcome to my sales recruitment video blog where you learn to hire the best salespeople.
When I was a sales manager, a rep walks into my office and says, �I'm through the S�s
in the phone book and need some more people to call. Where do I find more leads? And,
where do I find more warm leads?� This sales rep was struggling with the number one problem
with most salespeople � having enough warm prospects to call for the purpose of setting
enough first appointments. Today, I'll talk about the reason it's a problem, the traits
necessary to master this skill, and how to look for these traits during the interview
process. During my first several years of selling, after I quickly ran out of friends
and acquaintances to call, I resorted to cold calling. This was my approach because my company
didn�t offer any training or encouragement on how to find more warm leads. I soon discovered
that very few people really understand the art and science of finding prospects and customers.
My research led me to great books by Dr. Ivan Misner and other training resources. Before
long, I was finding more business and had plenty of warm leads to call. I also had the
opportunity to begin to train other individuals on how to find more prospects. However, I
soon learned that many salespeople who go through the same training never master the
skill. For some, it had to do with a simple lack of work ethic, but for others, they lacked
the natural hard-wired personality traits necessary to master this skill. Without these
traits, many individuals will not meet their sales goals and will always struggle with
having enough warm leads to call. The hard fact is training is not always the answer
to solving a problem. For example, I could seek out the best basketball coach in the
world but I would never be able to play with the pros because I'm too short and too uncoordinated.
It's the same with mastering sales skills. There are many salespeople who desire the
skills but they simply do not possess the natural abilities to master the skills. When
salespeople don�t have the natural abilities to master the skill of prospecting, they resort
to cold calling and very seldom reach their sales targets. So, when you're recruiting
salespeople, what are these natural traits that cause salespeople to master the skill
of finding warm leads and referrals? Our studies show that there are three natural traits that
contribute to mastering the skill of networking and building relationships to find new business.
The first trait is a high desire to socialize. Salespeople with this trait have a high desire
to build many relationships for the purpose of doing business. They enjoy and look forward
to joining networking groups, getting involved in volunteer organizations, Chamber of Commerce
events, trade shows, association meetings, and many other functions that put them in
front of prospective buyers. Salespeople with this trait also respond well to plaques and
awards and public recognition that are part of most sales organizations motivational structure.
The second natural trait is social assertiveness. These salespeople have a high level of desire
to confidently assert themselves in a way that is pleasantly persistent when they�re
in social situations. When you combine the trait of social desire with the trait of social
assertiveness, you have the salesperson who gladly attends networking and social events
and has no problem meeting a large number of people while at the event. These salespeople
do not stand in the corner and talk to a small number of friends, but they enjoy meeting
new people and building new relationships. They don�t find excuses as to why networking
groups don�t work for them and falsely claim they prefer cold calling. The third trait
is a high belief and trust in others. This high trust causes them to be optimistic about
potential relationships. We�ve found that individuals who are highly skeptical and have
a hard time trusting others believe that other people are skeptical and do not trust them.
In other words, trusting people trust others, skeptical people believe everyone else is
skeptical. If I'm highly skeptical of the intentions of other people, I'm less likely
to believe that other people will trust me with referring me to their friends and acquaintances;
therefore, I hesitate to ask for referrals and network for new prospects. Most highly
skeptical people resort to cold calling rather than building a network of people who send
them referrals. So, it�s important to hire salespeople who have a healthy belief and
trust in other people. We measure these three traits primarily by using a validated personality
assessment which accurately measures these traits. We can also measure salespeople�s
level of training and desires with interview questions. Ask this question, �What training
have you had in the area of networking to find prospects?� And, �How do you go about
in finding enough leads to call in order to have enough first appointments?� Another
good question, �Put yourself in this picture. We go to a Chamber of Commerce networking
event where 100 people had gathered to network with each other. You see one of your best
friends across the room. You don't know anyone else in the room. Your mission is to spend
the next two hours getting to know as many people as possible. At the end of the two
hours, you and I meet to discuss your success. How many people are going to remember meeting
you? How did you go about meeting the most people? What are some examples in your life
where you have been put into a new situation where you had to develop a lot of new relationships?
After a week in this new environment, what percent of the new people knew who you were?
These questions will give you a sense of your candidate�s desire to be social and their
level of confident assertiveness while in social situations. To summarize, when interviewing
salespeople and trying to determine whether or not they will master the skill of finding
enough prospects in order to have enough first appointments, measure for the natural traits
of desire to be social, social assertiveness and confidence when with people, and trust
and belief in others. If your business requires that your salespeople are responsible for
finding their own prospects, make sure your salespeople won't have to resort to the dreaded
method of cold calling. Thank you for joining me. See you next time on the Can They Sell
video blog for more sales job recruitment training. As always, please forward this video
to anyone who will benefit. Now go enjoy recruiting the best, and use these interview techniques
to help you hire salespeople who will master the skill of finding prospects.