Eight Scientific Steps for Hiring the Best Salesperson

Don’t let your ‘mood of the day’ influence your hiring decision.

By Eliot Burdett, CEO of Peak Sales Recruiting On May 27, 2015

A scientific approach is essential to hiring, and when hiring managers “go with their gut instincts,” it can be a recipe for disaster.

Why? In the absence of science, subjectivity enters the equation.

Here are eight scientific steps for hiring the best salespeople:

Have a structured and consistent process: Everything begins and ends with a consistent hiring process for each and every candidate. This will offer an “apples to apples” comparison, and allow the company to determine with the highest degree of certitude whom will be the best hire. Multiple interviews involving all stakeholders in the hiring decision should be used for each candidate.

Remove subjectivity, be objective: Without science, an interviewer’s mood – good or bad – can come into play. The Halo Effect, a cognitive bias based on preconceived notions, can also falsely determine the best candidate. Removing subjectivity also has the added benefit of protecting a “green” interviewer who may not yet possess the battle-tested ability to spot salespeople who “blow smoke.”

Extensive background research: Every person will play up their successes, whether they are real or not. Verify everything the candidate claims and cross-reference it to double check. This is an often overlooked step and taking a candidate’s word at face value can lead to a failed hire.

Construct a hypothesis and then test it: Determine why the candidate will be successful in the organization. Then, put him or her through a rigorous test including multiple rounds of behavioral-based interviews with trained interviewers, with a focus on the candidate’s experiences, selling approach, personal and professional objectives, and behavioral traits. Look for correlations between a candidate’s selling success, his or her selling environment, and DNA to determine situational selling results.

Hire based on score, not feel: Create a unique point system using set criteria. Award points if they have met or exceeded their quota for the past five plus years, fit into company culture, and other categories based on a particular role.

Use third-party psychometric and behavorial testing: These standardized tests or procedures give insight far beyond what an untrained mind can see; they have enormous predictive ability.

Non-token reference checks: Calling a reference and meekly accepting canned answers about how the candidate is a “go-getter” will not get the job done. Dig deeper and really find out about his or her strengths and weaknesses, why he or she lost deals, and how he or she responded.

Analyze the results: Tally up the results and include all the stakeholders in the final decision-making process. By making the final decision based on score, not feel, in addition to the stringent, scientific approach listed above, a company will have a much higher success rate when hiring salespeople.

About the Author: Eliot Burdett is the co-founder and CEO of Peak Sales Recruiting, a New York City-based B2B sales recruiting company.