by Greta Schulz

Created on: September 25, 2009   Last Updated: October 01, 2009

(re)Grow the Right Sales Team, From the Beginning

In light of the news that the economy is beginning to tick up, I would like to talk about what a great opportunity you now have. The ability to re-grow your organization that you have likely already stripped to bare bones. The opportunity is to build the right team from the start-or restart-.

If your doctor told you that you had high cholesterol and you needed to eat right immediately if you were going to stay healthy you would do as he asked. You would throw out all of the junk from your fridge; fill it with the fruits, vegetables and other healthy food that he recommended for you. You would follow the new regimen not because you want to, but because it is necessary.

A few months later you go back and he tells you your cholesterol is the best he has ever seen it. So do you stop at the local grocery store on the way home and fill up the fridge with Oreos, cakes and ice cream? Not if you have a brain so let's not make the same mistake in re-growing your sales team.

What I mean is let's hire right the first time, for the right reasons. First I recommend using an assessment to hire. It is important not to go solely on your "gut". Why? Because your gut is an emotion and making decisions emotionally can be problematic. Use an assessment to either confirm or bring up question to use in addition to your gut feeling. I recommend a sales assessment that looks at actual beliefs of the salesperson as opposed to experience. We all have hired for experience and though, in theory this should work but typically, it doesn't.

Assessments allow you to look at the person that looks "great on paper" or "came highly recommended" through a non-judgmental eye. Whether we admit it or not, we often hire in our own likeness. We bond with people that are like us because we feel comfortable with them. Human nature draws us to people we feel comfortable with and people we feel comfortable with are not always the best candidates.

Have you ever heard yourself say, "This guy/girl reminds me of myself at that age...?" Unfortunately whether they do or don't they probably aren't like you enough to make you happy with the hire and even if they are like you, what if you could improve on that... if that's even possible...

There are things that we believe, typically learned early in life, that influence the way we think. For example if you were taught that the right way to buy is, "never pay retail", "wait for a sale" etc. then whether you know it or not , years of that message being embedded into your brain will make it difficult for you to justify a client paying full price without some sort of discount, no matter what you are taught. Why? Because our subconscious is much stronger and more influential then our conscience. An employee who does a better negotiation with you to try to get the client a discount probably has this belief.

This is only one example of many beliefs we have that influence our success in sales. These are things you will not find out in an interview without help. Often the best sales job they ever do is on the interview with you. Then you spend the next 6 months-or longer- on justifying their poor results because your "gut" told you they would be successful. This is why an independent review is so important in making the right decision the first time.

Good luck and be careful in refilling your fridge. You have an opportunity to grow a healthy company. Start now.

Learn more about this author, Greta Schulz.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.