Hiring excellent sales reps is the key to connecting your product or service to an end customer. Whereas sales associates sell directly to a consumer, sales reps typically handle B2B sales. Often, wholesalers and manufacturers depend on excellent sales reps to promote and deliver their products and expand business opportunities. As a result, filling these positions with the right candidates is critical to reach sales quotas and annual goals.
Consider these tips when thinking about how to hire sales reps.
1. Know how to measure a candidate’s understanding of the service or product
Each product or service differs greatly between company and industry. However, having knowledge on current industry trends, competitors, and the product itself is necessary to win trust. A part of the sales process is knowing the right questions to ask to understand need. What makes your product or service necessary for others to have? Great sales reps know how to customize their discussions depending on the client’s needs.
During the interview process, ask questions to reveal how much the candidate understands about your company and product. Do they have prior experience at a similar company or industry? For those who aren’t coming from similar backgrounds, how would they sell a product they are familiar with? Regardless of the example, their pitch should be highly personal and not generic.
2. Look for personable and trustworthy personalities
Above all, the key to any excellent sales rep is the ability to communicate efficiently and build trust with others. The position depends strongly on creating and cultivating relationships with clients that could potentially generate revenue for years. Sales reps make these relationships by understanding what the client needs and how they can best communicate the benefit of their service or product. Charisma and persuasion skills help reps naturally work around client objections. A good sales rep will understand the subtle differences between being pushy and convincing.
In addition, communication skills will go a long way to help transmit information between a manager and the sales rep. The sales rep should have good accountability to frequently check in with the employer. This consistent communication helps everyone be on the same page about quotas and reporting.
3. Identify transferable skills in past experience
Typically, a sales rep position doesn’t require a specified university degree. However, a marketing, advertising, or similar bachelor degree may help to understand the sales supply chain and marketing methods. An education in the specific industry of your company is also a huge advantage. By looking out for candidates with industry know-how, you can cut down on the learning curve for lingo and concepts.
For the candidates who don’t possess prior experience in a sales rep role, transferable skills exist in other customer service and commission-driven positions. Request quantitative measures of a candidate’s past success to have an idea of how successful he or she was.
Finding qualified candidates can be both time consuming and expensive. A staffing agency can help save money, time, and inefficiencies, no matter your industry. If you’re looking to leave the risk and guesswork behind for how to hire sales reps, contact Corporate Job Bank.
Additional resources:
