How to Interview and Hire the Right Salesperson

Sales hires are a different type of role than anything most business owners have hired before.

Unless an owner was previously in sales, it can be difficult to know what to look for.

And many times, confidence is confused for competence.

A history of impressive numbers appears to settle the question. Even arrogance can slip through as evidence that someone possesses the personality required to sell.

But what are those signals actually measuring?

A candidate may have an extraordinary track record and still be completely wrong for your business. Their results belong to a particular offer, market, company, sales process, and moment in their career. Once those conditions change, the résumé can become far less predictive than it first appeared.

In this newest episode of Sales is NOT a Dirty Word, I examine the assumptions that cause business owners to misread sales candidates and make expensive hiring decisions.

The traits commonly associated with great salespeople deserve more scrutiny. So do the qualities that rarely sound impressive in an interview, yet may reveal far more about how someone will sell, collaborate, and respond once the easy momentum disappears.

Listen in to consider:

• What a candidate’s previous results can and cannot tell you
• Which familiar “sales personality” traits deserve closer examination
• The interview questions that reveal how someone thinks beneath the polished answers
• What compensation preferences may expose about a candidate’s expectations

Hiring a salesperson requires you to see deeper than the performance happening across the interview table or the story on the resume.

If you are preparing to hire a salesperson or your current team is underperforming, book a Grow Your Sales call with me. We’ll examine your sales process, compensation plan, KPIs, and the conditions your team needs to perform consistently:

https://calendly.com/aleasha/salesteam-levelup

You can also take the free Sales Personality Assessment to uncover your natural sales strengths and learn how to use them instead of forcing tactics that do not fit you:

https://assessment.aleashabahr.com/salespersonality

KEY TIMESTAMPS
01:00 | How sales candidates sell business owners during the interview
02:00 | Why previous sales success may not transfer to your offer
03:00 | The revenue consequences of hiring someone motivated only by commission
04:00 | When industry relationships disguise deteriorated sales skills
05:40 | Interview questions that reveal empathy and collaboration
06:20 | Why a lone-wolf salesperson can become a serious liability
08:00 | What a large base salary request may reveal
08:40 | Structuring commissions around the behavior your business needs
10:00 | Why winging your first sales hire becomes painfully expensive
11:00 | Getting support with your sales process, KPIs, and compensation plan

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