Finding the Perfect Salesperson

Several months ago you hired what looked like a perfect sales candidate. Bright, articulate, past track record of consistent success in similar sales related positions and a strong desire to be in sales in this industry. Unfortunately he has not been successful and you feel you'll have to let him go.

You just can’t understand what happened. “Past job performance is the best predictor of future success”, as you’ve heard. As you review the process you went through to hire you remember that he interviewed well and had great references. Even led his team for a number of months and you felt everything pointed to his success. What happened? Don’t worry, you aren’t alone. This happens too often in sales oriented companies. How can you ensure that this won’t happen again?

So how do you find out if what sounds and looks like a great sales candidate, will be a great sales success?

1. Job Fit or Job Match. How well a candidate’s attributes fit the needs of the position is the most important factor in his or her success. You may say, “I already know the factors such as motivation, drive, communication ability and integrity are important.” Yes, they are critically important, but they are not the only ones that are important and must be considered. For example, a person’s motivation for success may be strong, but if you're asking a highly introverted individual to go out and make a high volume of new business cold calls on a consistent basis, he or she will fail. If you're asking a highly extroverted person to stay at one workstation alone making a large volume of cold calls, he or she will soon find a way to stop calling which results in rejection (a high percentage of the time) and find a way to be with friends and co-workers who are more accepting of him.

Psychologists have known the importance of Match or Fit for a number of years, but few business people have taken advantage of it. In 1980 Herbert M. in Jeanne Greenberg published a study of 360,000 salespeople in the U.S., Canada and Western Europe in the Aug-Sept.1980 issue of Harvard Business Review entitled "Job Matching for Better Sales Performance".

In summary, the article reported the findings that

• 55% of those holding sales positions have little or no ability to sell.
• 25% have ability, but are selling the wrong product.
• 20% are doing precisely the job that is appropriate.

Important Points About The Study
• The Greenberg's study covered a variety of industries with both high and low turnover levels. They evaluated the characteristics of age, sex, race, education, previous sales experience and Job Match compared to results. Job match was the only reliable indicator of determining performance and turnover.

                                                 Job Matched       Not Job Matched
After 6 months
Fired or Quit                                24%                         46%
Top 25% of total group                11%                          2%
Second 26-50% of group             28%                        10%

After 14 Months
Fired or Quit                                28%                         57%
Top 25% of Group                      19%                            1%
Second 26-50% of Group           42%                            6%

Investing resources in selecting the right person for a sales position is a wise investment. Just as you're careful as to which vendor you select to ensure it matches your strategic needs, you must be careful of the person you select to invest your time and money in if you want a high-performing salesperson that will stay with you. For more information on how to ensure job fit, contact us today!