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Hello, I am Steve Suggs, sales recruiting expert and author of the book, Can They Sell. Welcome to my sales recruitment video blog. 5 minutes of learning to hire the best sales people.
During the Olympics, there’s a lot of talk about Olympic hopefulls who didn’t quite make it to London this year to compete with the best of the best. This reminds me of sales reps who are salespeople wanna-be’s. These are the dreamers instead of the doers.
Many people dream of greatness, but they simply are not willing to put forth the effort and hard work to be the best. Doers complete many tasks everyday that dreamers simply aren’t willing to do.
As of today, Michael Phelps only needs 2 more medals to become the greatest Olympian of all time. He practices 6 hours a day, 6 days a week, no matter the holiday, and he swims 8 miles a day.
Gabby Douglas, nicknamed the Flying Squirrel on the uneven bars, started training when she was 6 and at the age of 14 moved from Virginia to Iowa to train with her coach. At the age of 16, she is now competing for the Gold in London.
During an interview, Missy Franklin, the winner of the gold medal in the women’s 100 meter backstroke, was asked, “what were you thinking during the singing of the national anthem. She said, “I was thinking about all the sacrifices I had to make, getting up early everyday for practice and all the things I gave up to get to this moment, on this podium, getting a gold medal.” She said, “it was worth it all.”
All of the Olympic champions are the epitome of the phrase,
“Successful people do the things that unsuccessful people aren’t willing to do.”
So, when you’re involved in sales recruitment, what are some of the things that sales candidates are doing that tells you that they’re an Olympic hopeful; that they’re a doer and not a dreamer. For example, do they focus on getting their goal of total number of sales calls completed before they begin their paperwork? Do they consistently feed their minds by reading books and listening to information that builds a positive mental attitude? Ask them to tell you the names of the books, the videos, and the blogs they read and listen to.
Do they focus on the amount of critical sales activities completed each day rather than on the number of hours they work each day? Ask them to show you the tools they use to track their sales results. Are they constantly working to improve their closing ratio by sharpening their sales skills? Ask them to tell you the names of the sales training courses they have completed.
Do they put in the extra effort to mature spiritually, socially, physically and professionally? Ask them about the things they are doing to grow and mature. And, is there evidence of actually accomplishing their goals rather than the well spoken dreams that never come true.
During the sales interview, the dreamer looks good and sounds good, but can’t back up their words with specific examples. The doer answers your questions with stories and examples of their success and results. The dreamer uses their charisma and charm to engage you in a pleasant conversation that takes the focus off of their lack of results.
The doer may not always make a sparkling 1st impression, but as the interview goes on you see a pattern of hard work, honesty, a concern for others, and a pattern of results.
So, build your sales team with Olympic champions, not Olympic hopefuls. Use your great recruiting skills and interview questions for sales to look for hard evidence of success from the doer. Don’t settle for the nice words of the dreamer. You won’t always get the gold medal winner, but you want the person who is always striving to win the gold, and doing the things that gold medal winners do.
Thank you for joining me. See you next time on the Can They Sell video blog for more sales recruitment training. As always, please leave your comments below and forward this video to anyone who will benefit. If you haven’t already, please register for this recruiting sales blog. Now go enjoy recruiting the best, and have fun in the sales interview.