You know the old expression “you’re only as good as your team”? Well, there’s considerable truth to that, particularly in the sales industry. Sales teams have an incredible impact on your company’s bottom line. A strong team can make all of the difference — everyone needs to be on the same page, working hard to meet quotas and increasing revenue.
If there’s a position opening up in your team, you have to take every step of the hiring process seriously. You can’t put the entire company at risk because of one mistake. It only takes one person to weaken the strength of your team. Salespeople make mistakes, just like any other industry. Even with years of experience, anyone could make a small judgment error and hire the wrong person for the job.
To optimize your hiring process, let’s explore the four common mistakes that sales managers should avoid.
1. Going with Your Gut
Sometimes, gut feelings and intuition lead to lucrative partnerships. However, more often than not, it’s much more crucial to pay attention to the numbers and facts. Even if you get a good vibe from a candidate, it doesn’t mean that they’re the ideal salesperson for your team. Check references, examine CVs, assess communications skills, and let the data do the talking.
2. Not Knowing What You Want
When an organization needs a new sales rep, they might ask an in-house HR associate to create a standard job description to send out to the usual channels. However, the problem with this kind of strategy is that those job descriptions are usually too generic.
Hundreds of people may apply who don’t necessarily meet your company’s needs. You should clearly outline specific tasks and specs required for all of your team’s positions, even for the entry-level roles.
3. Not Asking for Help
Are you the kind of manager that sometimes takes on too much? Asking for help is never a bad thing, and if you’re hiring a new employee, you’re going to need all the help you can get.
Your best bet is to work with experienced and professional sales recruiters who can help you select the best possible candidate. They’ll proactively pull from their top sales talent resources so you won’t have to worry about filtering through hundreds of CVs and cover letters. They won’t waste any time because they’ll know exactly what qualities and experience to look for in a candidate to turn your great team into an excellent one.
4. Focusing Too Much on Experience
Many managers tend to look almost exclusively on a candidate’s experience. While a potential employee’s proven track record of rich expertise is undoubtedly helpful, it shouldn’t account for everything.
It would help if you also observed a candidate’s personality. A team member’s character is just as important as extensive experience. Candidates must fit in effortlessly with your office’s culture. For an organization to operate at its highest potential, all team members must possess effective communication, interpersonal, and people skills.
Hiring can be lengthy and costly. Avoid these common mistakes to make the process go by a little more smoothly.