Has anyone ever accused you of always wanting to take charge?
When recruiting salespeople, it is important to realize that salespeople with the personality trait of high Need for Control will work to control all the circumstances around them to make sure they are spending enough time in front of enough prospects to hit their sales goals.
Top performing salespeople always control with a smile and pleasantly, but effectively, move sales conversations along to reach the objective of a sales transaction.
When face-to-face, conversations move at a pleasant pace, but they move in the direction of diagnosing and recommending solutions. Just enough facts are gathered to make presentations targeted at needs.
The low need for control salesperson allows the customer to dictate the speed at which the meeting will occur. Conversations wander here and yonder, pleasantly engaging the customer. The customer and the prospect begin to feel good about each other until the customer begins to wonder about the purpose of the meeting. Team members enjoy the pleasant personality of the low need for control salesperson. Managers find them easy to direct and coach, until it comes time to look at sales results. They are low. Sales calls contain too much visiting and not enough selling.
If you have ever said, “I want a salesperson who is coachable”, repent. You really mean, “I want someone who will respond to training.” High need for control salespeople typically resist coaching. Instead, mentor them in the way they want to me mentored. “Show me the road to success, now leave me alone and let me walk down the road on my own two feet. “
In my upcoming blogs, we will look at the Sales Skills that all top salespeople master and ways to measure them when recruiting salespeople.
Blessings upon your recruiting efforts.
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Steve Suggs is a partner at Sales Manage Solutions, a sales consulting firm focused on training sales managers to recruit salespeople and coach them to greatness. You can also read Steve’s sales productivity blog.