Three simple steps to build a bench of sales candidates

What is your favourite team sport? Football? Rugby? Handball? Whatever the sport, when you watch a match, for a team of 15 players, do you only see 15 players? Nope.

There's always a bench of substitutes. Just in case, during a match or during the season:

1. A player gets physically tired

2. A player is showing signs of a mental fatigue

3. A player gets injured

4. One or more players become too complacent

Injuries, complacency and fatigue also come into play in sales.

Having people on a bench is essential for a sport team to function properly. Well, it's the same for sales. A sales manager can also find himself in similar situations:

1. A salesperson who turns out to be inappropriate post-recruitment

2. A salesperson who becomes too comfortable

3. A sales rep who resigns

But, unfortunately, too many sales organisations don't have a bench. Obviously, you can't have employees paid to do nothing or very little. But there's no constantly renewed pool of candidates from which to draw. And why is that? There are several reasons (this is a bullet point post...):

1. Sales managers don't understand that recruitment is an activity to be constantly maintained

2. The process takes too much time, for example meeting sales people who are not actually worth the effort

3. Managers manage emergencies, not priorities (the Eisenhower's list)

4. Managers don't know how to recruit and their process is not scorecarded for this ver  function

Once a month, tips and strategies to drive sales excellence: 

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Three simple approaches to building a bench without tiring yourself out

What I explain to executives and sales managers is that recruitment is like prospecting. You always have to go looking for new candidates. But how do you ensure that your approach is not time-consuming and allows you to have a bench without avoiding the hurdles mentioned above?

A constantly refreshed job offer: I help companies to set up robust processes but, at the top / start of the process, you need to have an attractive, up-to-date offer. And an offer that attracts A-Players. Not B or C players. Actually one that signals B or C players : "No need to apply"

An assessment of sales skills before interacting with the candidate: All, and I stress all, the companies I talk to have a process that includes a conversation with the candidate at a very early stage. This is a huge mistake. For many reasons. The person in charge of recruitment, HR, TAM or whatever, doesn't understand sales and its complexity. So they ask the wrong questions. Decision-making bias leads to bad decisions. Questions are often about technical aspects. Not about the mindset. And so on. So it's key to start with a dedicated sales assessment to decide whether or not to meet the candidate. I recommend using a purely "sales" approach, not DISC-type things that are not predictive of sales performance. An example below, you can download examples here or you can contact me for more information. With a personalised assessment (an SDR, a sales manager or an account manager are not assessed in the same way), if the candidate is not recommended, no time is wasted. If they are recommended or are worth meeting, it's, well, worth meeting them.

10 minutes: 10 minutes. This is the time needed to decide whether a candidate should be interviewed. A robust scorecard should be used to validate both hard and soft skills. Pro-tip. NEVER do this interview by video. This avoids getting caught up by biases in your decision making process... And other pro-tip. Let the candidate develop the relationship. It's up to them to sell themselves. Not you! Too many companies "flirt" with their candidates. Believe me, prospects don't flirt with salespeople. Test their ability to develop the relationship...

This powerful approach enables you to build up a pool of high-potential sales people, maintain a healthy turnover and avoid "panic" situations where you need to recruit quickly and avoid recruiting in a hurry.

Une fois par mois, tips et stratégies sur mieux vendre: 

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Photo credit: Bill Dennis