Hire A Sales Superstar

This may come as a shock to you…but some people are not 100% truthful on their resumes….

Well, yes it has been known to happen on occasion, but there have been times when people (and not just sales people) take a little creative license when writing their resumes.

The big untruths, you can probably pick out:

“…was instrumental in the signing of the SALT II Treaty…”

“…single-handedly responsible for wiping out hunger in the countries of Botswana, Niger and…”

“…won seven CEO Circles in six years…”

The less obvious ones are take a bit more work for you to uncover. In our continuing series on how to screen a sales resume, we delve into three tips on how to do that here:

1. Do they list their jobs by year only or by year and date?

If they list past positions by year only, they may be trying to hide something. Perhaps there was a period of unemployment they are trying to fudge over by giving years of employment only and not months. Another indicator is that if they just list years of employment and no date, then they may just be plain lazy – an indication of lack attention to detail and follow up – both important attributes to possess for ultimate sales success.

2. Are the job descriptions specific or vague?

The more specifics the better, in this case. Also, the more specifically described the accomplishment, the more likelihood that it’s true. It’s far easier to fudge a vague non-specific achievement, but a specific one is harder (and more risky) to fudge, because it can be easily checked in a background check or asked about by an interviewer.

3. If they have accolades, do they use “power words” to describe those accolades?

Sales is a combination of action and results. You definitely need someone who takes action to be working for you – especially someone who proactively creates opportunities on their own, without you have to “motivate” them to do so.

Words like “achieved”, “won”, “accomplished”, “catapulted”, “exceeded” and “generated” are action-oriented “power words”. They bespeak confidence and striving, both important traits that all high performing sales representatives possess.

However, “passive words” like “managed”, “responsible for” or “completed” are far more submissive.

You want a resume filled with “actions words” to say the least…

However, if you have a lot of accolades, but they’re all stated in passive, non-power words, then you have a disconnect. This would lead to skepticism on whether or not those accolades are 100% accurate.

Action-oriented achievers talk and write in power words, non-achievers typically talk and write in “passive words”.

If the resume still looks good, but you have questions, then that candidate may be worth a live interview just to get the specifics answered in a face-to-face interview.

To learn more about sales management, get our free video on the sidebar of this post or by clicking here.

Are you doing the same thing when it comes to screening sales resumes? Post a comment below.

Like many kids, my Dad used to tell me stories before he tucked me to bed. After running through the gamut of Big Bad Wolf, Goldilocks and the three Bears and Three Billy Goats Gruff, he used to tell me another tall tale. He’d say that when I grow up, I could be anything I wanted to be if I just worked hard enough. He said. “Anyone can become the President if they wanted it really bad and worked hard for it.”

I believed him…that is until I became a sales manager…

No offense to Dad, but the problem with the story is that it’s simply not true!

It’s romantic, hopeful, and optimistic, but it can’t be any more true than Santa Claus riding down the chimney on Christmas Eve.

Do you honestly believe that everyone is born with the exact same potential?

People are born unique, and that’s the beauty of it. We have our own strengths and weaknesses. We have different levels of potential. Some people are cut out to be doctors. Some are raised to become the President of the United States. Some are born salesmen and saleswomen.

A great salesperson is always learning new skills and knowledge on the job. But skills alone won’t drive a salesperson to excellence. To succeed in this line of work, there’s got to be another factor involved. There has to be talent.

Talent is an inherent pattern of thought and behavior, meaning it’s in the blood. On the other hand skills are learned abilities which can be taught from one person to another person.

Simply put,

Talent = “Nature”

Skill = “Nurture”

How does this apply to your work as a sales manager? Simple. Hire talented SALESpeople.

An applicant may submit a 15-page resume with a Pulitzer Prize-winning cover letter. This person is skilled enough to give someone who’s been in the business almost twice longer than him a run for his money. But even so, no killer resume can fool a competent sales manager who has an eye for scouting real talent. Remember, you can teach them new skills, but you can’t teach them new talent. Take this to heart when hiring new people into your sales team.

The skills can come from you, but the talent must come from them.

Hire talented applicants if you want your salespeople to grow and become successful in this business. If you think someone from your team doesn’t have that special something to become a great salesperson, then be a man and tell them, and maybe offer some advice, as the officer in charge of their performance, on possible career change options. In fact mediocre sales managers are the only ones who think they could change people – and their talents – at their core.

What ideas about hiring talented salespeople into your team do you have? I’d love to hear them out. Leave a comment after this post.

When you first meet your interview candidate, your real first goal in the interview is to make them comfortable, because a comfortable candidate reveals so much more than one who’s up tight and nervous. It’s a whole lot more fun to talk to someone who is at ease.

Your next step so as to take the pressure off them, ask them what they have been told about the job so far and that you’ll fill in any details they may have either omitted or their recruiter had failed to mention to them. This immediately disarms them and allows you a few minutes to do some talking which takes “the pressure to perform” off them. This never fails to relax candidates, while serving the purpose of clarifying the exact job duties, requirements and territory for the position. It gets you and them singing from the same sheet of music. 

Describe the job territory, the description of the job, maybe throw in a little history of the position, how it has done historically, why its open, maybe add in a few words about when you started at the company. Keep your comments brief and succinct. Don’t reveal too much, but don’t be too vague, just give them the facts.  Don’t say a word to them “what attributes you are looking for in an ideal candidate”! 

This is a HUGE mistake, so don’t make it! If you let it slip, then you should probably end the interview, because you’ll never get a real answer from them for the rest of the time you are with them. That’s because if you do get into that sort of detail, the smart interviewer will immediately pick up on those clues, then gear all of his or her answers towards the character “attributes” you revealed in your intro. They’ll be so busy trying to match your stated traits that you’ll never get to who they really are. The interview will be a complete waste of time. 

Trust me, Ive made this mistake on several occasions and it was painful.

 The key is for you to tell them VERY LITTLE about what you’re looking for, but get them to tell you about WHOLE LOT ABOUT WHO THEY ARE. You will determine if it’s the right match, without them ever knowing what it is you are looking for. You hold all the cards here, they hold none at all so don’t show yours too soon.

Like I mentioned before, accolades being on the resume is important, but where they are located on the resume is almost as important.

Are they listed first under their job title (preferred) or are they listed under their lame description of what they sold, what their responsibilities were, etc? The where is a good indicator of how important accolade are to them. The higher, the more important and ostensibly, the more driven an individual they are.

Typically, if you are making a list of things, you list items in order of importance. If you’re going to the supermarket, the first item on your list is the thing you want to make sure you don’t forget, right? Therefore that item is listed first – it’s most important. It’s the same with resumes.

If rankings are listed last, then they are not as important to the person whose accolades are listed first. You want someone working for you who what they care about most is achievement. The presence (or lack thereof) of achievements and the location of said achievements on the resume tells you a lot about who you are interviewing.

As a top-performing sales manager who sets the bar extremely high, you care most about RESULTS. Does this person have the inherent DRIVE TO SUCCEED that will rocket them out of bed early, push them to stay out late, do whatever it takes, learn whatever it takes to make things happen and produce superior sales results? The candidate who has lots of accolades, listed high on the paragraph is ten times more likely to do perform in this fashion than one who does not.

Post a comment and tell me how do you consider an applicant’s accolades in a resume.

I always think of the mutual fund industry when I talk about accolades when it says “past performance is not an indication of future performance”. I always think that if that is the case, then why are the most popular mutual funds those with four and five-star three, five and ten-year ratings on Morningstar?

Its because past performance is a very good indicator of future success. Just like in the mutual fund industry, people buy into performance. You as a top-performing sales manager want a full team of “four and five star” performers. And as a result, accolades are a “must have” in any sales hire. They represent Exhibit A that shows you what the salesperson can do. The beauty is that accolades, when they are consistent and multiple, the talents needed to produce those accolades transcend the industry.

I would submit that if a sales rep can sell boxes from a box factory in excess of his peer group and do it consistently over a three to five year period, then with a little training, she could sell biologicals just as well.

My point is this: don’t focus on the nice, carefully written paragraphs that describe what products they sold at Marshmallows Unlimited. What they sold doesn’t really matter – what matters most is how effective were they in selling it. Ignore the descriptions of job responsibilities completely, what do you really care what they sold? For a sales person, activity does not sell anything. Results are the only thing that matters.

Remember: It doesn’t necessarily matter what they sold, what matters most is how well they sold it versus their peers. If they have no rankings, accolades, awards listed, then don’t bother with the interview – you’re wasting your time! Go find resumes chock full of accolades, rankings and awards won. This is the earmark of an individual who cares most about results. And if those results are superior, then you’re getting closer to hiring your new sales salesperson.

Post a comment and tell me if you have Mutual Fund Industry-like-standard when hiring a sales person.