Your Best Salespeople May NOT Work In Sales.
In my long career as a sales trainer, I have come across many best salespeople in diverse industries that shared a similar story: when they embarked upon the search for a career, sales was the last profession they considered. Many started in other jobs and simply “ended up in sales somehow,” often even outperforming longtime veterans at their new firms.
How is this possible? The answer is that, while they didn’t realize it consciously, these people had a natural talent for sales, even if they had trained for and worked in other professions for years.
Identifying these individuals, who end up becoming the best salespeople, would be beneficial to a recruiter, wouldn’t you agree? At Asher Strategies, we have found that there is a way to identify them, without relying on guesswork or having a revolving door on the hiring line.
The Craft Personality Questionnaire
The CPQ cuts through a lot of the mystery of hiring the best salespeople. By matching a prospective hire’s test scores to the scores of successful salespeople, the CPQ can reliably predict whether the person, with proper training and support, can become a sales superstar or whether he or she would be better suited for a support role — or none at all.
The test is taken online quickly and painlessly, taking about 25 minutes to complete. It is also affordable, especially when weighed against the high cost of making a poor hiring decision.
Even better for HR, the CPQ is recognized as a legal hiring toolin most jurisdictions, allowing it to be safely used to disqualify someone who isn’t right for the job based on his or her scores.(Please check the laws in your local area.)
Where to Look for the Best Salespeople
An anecdote from a branch manager in the mortgage business shows just how diverse the career paths of top salespeople can be. In this one branch, the best salespeople, all of whom were making well into the six figures, were previously:
- A bank teller making $12 per hour
- A masseuse
- A mobile disc jockey
- A grocery checkout girl
- A rugby player
What is the common characteristic in all of them? They all dealt heavily in face-to-face interactions with people. I believe this is the key to sourcing top salespeople that aren’t in sales yet — search for the ones who have heavy involvement with people on a day to day basis.
This doesn’t mean that you won’t find a couple of good salespeople in a pool of software engineers or mathematicians — but you are more likely to find them in occupations that involve people skills, as natural salespeople tend to like interacting with others.
Once a few promising candidates are identified, then put them through the CPQ and make sure that they have the aptitude for the job you are hiring them for, as inside sales and outside salespeople have different success characteristics.
The next time you are in the hunt for the best salespeople to hire — ignore rumor or speculation. Instead, put all prospects through the CPQ test and let science reveal the candidates that would make the best hires.
For more information on the CPQ, please explore this fact-filled section of our website: Asher Assessments.
