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I’ll get to the content related to the title, but first, some context.
In March, at the beginning of the pandemic, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking and slammed my big toe into a door. I destroyed the nail. Not wanting to lose it I superglued it back in place and several months after it turned black, it fell off, revealing an emerging new nail that had grown half way to the tip of my toe. It took 8 months for a new nail to fully replace the old nail but my replacement nail was perfect and clearly an upgrade over my tired, old, destroyed nail.
Let’s discuss what that has to do with hiring salespeople.
There are typically two approaches to hiring salespeople: choosing between getting it over with, or getting it right.
Getting it over with involves a lot of short cuts, and in more than 50% of the cases, disappointment and frustration because you got it wrong. If you got it wrong there are two more options: living with it or taking the shampoo approach: rinse and repeat.
It’s a vicious cycle of hiring the wrong way, making the wrong decisions, needing to start over, and repeating the process again and again and again. Groundhog day. It can take months or even years before you get the right salesperson into that role.
On the other hand, what would happen if you took the broken nail approach? Sure, it might take longer, but instead of just getting it over with and dealing with the consequences of your choice, you choose getting it right and being done for the long term.
What does getting it right involve?
A sales manager at an OMG client told a candidate they were going to move forward subject to the results of the OMG assessment. The sales manager’s approach was a huge mistake. He interviewed prior to assessing when he should have assessed first. He fell in love with a candidate, but still had to assess because it was company policy. That suggested to the candidate that the assessment was the defining criteria when in reality, the assessment is one of around a dozen additional data points that all matter, including, but not limited to cover letters, resumes, experience, expertise, fit, phone presence, interviews, references, intelligence, professionalism, respect, employment tenure, and background checks. The sales manager raised the candidate’s expectations only to destroy those expectations and get upset when the assessment did not recommend the candidate. You must know that BEFORE you waste everyone’s time interviewing and getting emotional!
Recruiting salespeople doesn’t need to be difficult or complicated, but it is a process and needs to be completed thoroughly and correctly. Ask yourself this question: eighteen months from now, would you prefer to have spent five months to get it right and have a productive new salesperson, or three months getting it over with, only to have to do it again four months later, and again four months after that. Choose getting it right over getting it over with.
