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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 salespeople.
My friend, Bill Cates, the Referral Coach, will teach you a process for getting referrals from your prospects and clients. The successful business networking organization, BNI, or Business Networking International, will teach you to build a network of people who send you business. Another successful networking group is eWomen. They provide meetings and training on connecting with people for the purpose of doing business.
The list goes on and on for resources for improving the sales skill of finding more new prospects and for organizations that provide opportunities for networking in the community. Add to these organizations the new opportunities to build an online community for the purpose of doing business, and it’s surprising why many salespeople struggle to find new prospects.
I am asked on many occasions by salespeople for advice on networking to find more new business. Many times when I make suggestions they say,
“I tried that, and it didn’t work for me.”
After a couple more questions it becomes clear to me that this person is looking for all the reasons something won’t work in order to justify not having to attend the meetings.
When recruiting salespeople, there are two personality traits in the sales profile that will determine one’s natural ability in this area of hunting for new prospects.
The degree to which a person possesses these two traits will determine the amount of energy that it takes to get out the office and participate in prospecting activities, and to a large degree, the level at which they will master prospecting skills.
High Social Drive + High Social Confidence
The first trait is social drive. People with high scores on the social drive trait are motivated to develop a large number of relationships for the purpose of doing business. It takes very little energy for them to attend the social events designed for business networking. Layer on top of this social drive trait the trait of social confidence, and you have the person who is also very confident in social situations. While they are attending social networking events, they confidently develop new relationships and quickly become known in these new circles. They typically take on leadership responsibilities that help them continue to build credibility and relationships inside their network.
Low Social Drive + Low Social Confidence
Individuals with low scores on the social drive and social confidence scale struggle in these social situations. They are the salespeople who find excuses in order to avoid these activities. This avoidance behavior is almost always the root of their struggle with having enough prospects to call.
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Here’s a sales interview tip to measure these personality traits during the sales interview process. Read this scenario to the candidate and then ask the questions. As you read this question, pay close attention to their facial expressions. Here’s the scenario.
Put yourself in this picture. We go to a Chamber of Commerce networking event where 100 people have gathered to network with each other. You see one of your best friends across the room. You do not know anyone else in the room. Your mission is to spend the next 2 hours getting to know as many people as possible. At the end of the 2 hours, you and I meet to discuss your success.
How many people are going to remember meeting you? How did you go about meeting the most people? What are some examples in your life when you were put into a new situation where you had to develop a lot of new relationships? After a week in this new environment, what percent of the new people knew who you were?
Remember, there are plenty of training courses, books and networking organizations to give any salesperson ample opportunity to grow their referral network. However,
only those individuals who are hardwired for success with high levels of social drive and social confidence will most likely master the sales skill of networking for success.
Thank you for joining me. See you next time on the Can They Sell video blog for more sales job recruitment training. As always, please leave your comments below and forward this video to anyone who will benefit. Now go enjoy recruiting the best, and have fun in the sales interview.
Learn more about the following:
• Where to find sales people, where to find sale reps
• What to look for while recruiting salespeople – 5 Dimensions of the Best Salesperson Profile Hiring sales, hire salespeople, hire sales people, hiring sales people, hiring sales reps, IT sales recruitment, recruiting sales people, sales job recruitment
• How to look for the 5 Dimensions – get questionnaires – interview questions for sales, interview questions for salespeople, sales interview, interview questions for sales people
- Sales test, sales assessment, CPQ, Craft Personality Questionnaire
- Sales interview tips
- Sales job description – page 79, Can They Sell book
- Tips for screening resumes – Chapter 13, Can They Sell book
To YOUR Success,
Steve Suggs
SalesManage.com/Recruiting
CanTheySell.com