The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Selection is defined as the action or fact of carefully choosing someone or something as being the best or most suitable.

It's Monday morning, and a seller has just told you that they are resigning. Maybe that's a good thing, or maybe it isn’t, but either way, you find yourself with the need to fill a position.

But before you do that, you need to know what you are looking for in order to find it. The first step should be to have a job analysis process that clearly defines exactly what you need in your open position. To determine that, you may ask yourself these kinds of questions.

Finding talented salespeople has never been easy.

Finding naturally talented salespeople has always been more difficult than finding successful sellers. Far too often, we confuse success with talent. We go after the big name at the big competitor who has some big sales numbers. Experienced salespeople tend to have bad habits that follow them.

We default to looking and hiring experienced salespeople over inexperienced talented salespeople because it's easier.

72% of the population wants hybrid work for the future, so more businesses are forced to adjust to this new setup. But finding a balance between working from home and being social can be challenging. 

For instance, you still need to conduct regular team meetings and manage different personality types. Thankfully attracting sales talent is only one part of the puzzle when shifting to a remote staff management strategy. 

Here's how to ensure everyone's voice is heard at work, even through a screen.

Would you manage your people differently if you had your next Sales Superstar sitting on the bench, ready to jump in?

What if you had a Talent Bank full of these talented people?

If you are like most leaders, you would probably hold your people more accountable for meeting expectations, and you would refuse to tolerate poor performance.

In a tight job market, finding candidates, qualifying them, conducting interviews, and hiring are all rushed and stressful.

Many managers are in the position of having open positions on their teams that they're desperate to fill and having candidates enter and leave the job market quickly, so having a well-thought-out interviewing plan is vital. Equally important is learning to look and listen for the talents necessary for success in sales.

Every business needs a skilled sales team to generate a positive ROI, but on-the-job performance is rarely the product of training alone. In fact, a marketing novice could keep up with an unengaged expert provided they use the right motivation and productivity strategies.

However, it’s much harder to motivate staff than it is to train them. There’s no one size fits all approach to motivational tactics, as every employee is unique and requires wildly different incentives to sell. Understanding these differences will allow you to use your talent effectively.

On a coaching call last week, a manager and I were discussing a seller new to his team. On pulling up this person’s sales assessment, all I could think was, “WOW! Look at all that talent!” This person was strong across the board.

So much potential.

Unfortunately, this seller was definitely not reaching their potential. Struggling, not making budget, not willing to learn, and a poor attitude. So, what was happening? Why was this highly talented person struggling, and is coaching them worth the effort?

Hiring and coaching salespeople would be a lot easier if people had their own manuals or care instructions that listed their top strengths and included advice for helping them reach their full potential.

Wouldn’t that help you select and retain more top performers?

92% of potential candidates have abandoned online job applications without finishing them. Tedious, repetitive application processes send candidates a message about the employer that isn't great.

To attract better candidates, it's time to dump the old system. Instead, recruit employees and sales talent by thinking outside the box. 

Although recruiting qualified candidates is a different process in different fields, anyone can try one of these six surprising strategies to recruit great candidates.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

You’ve probably heard that wise Chinese proverb before. In the business world, the best time to start recruiting was before you had a job opening, but the second-best time is now.   

If you're a hiring manager, recruiter, or HR professional tasked with recruitment and selection for a sales team, your number one priority involves making sure you have the most talented people in the right places on your team. There is no doubt that matching talent to a task in this way will determine the success, or failure, of your sales organization.