Whom you hire is an important decision. The right candidate will
bring sales and profits to your company. The wrong one can mean serious losses
and lawsuits. On average, you invest $20,000 in potential profit, training and
payroll in each new candidate. Here are some tips from great sales managers as
to how to make the right choice of whom to hire.
In his video, Million Dollar Management Secrets, Tom
Cooksey, vice president of the world’s largest Kinetico dealership, says
you should consider hiring candidates with the following credentials.
• Home
owner. If candidates are homeowners, their
relentless mortgage gives them the incentive to go out and sell every month.
People who live with friends or relatives can get by with a lower level of
success. Renters also tend to be more transient.
• Stable
marriage. People in stable marriages offer
several advantages to you as an employer. A divorce can be very distracting. If
people have stayed with their spouses for a long time it indicates stability
that may apply to their job as well.
• Involved
in the community. While it is true that
the person who just moved to town can make a good salesperson, your best bet is
someone who has a lot of ties in the community. A person who is active in a
church, local service clubs and who has family members in the area will make
his transition to success easier and more likely.
These are factors many sales managers feel are your best bet
that a candidate will be a successful employee. One manager I know hires people
in their 50s and 60s because they tend to work evenings and rarely are in a
rush to get home.
See Them in the Flesh
Before you make your selection, perform a full demo at the
candidate’s home with family in attendance. What you see is what you will
get. If the house is a mess, you will get a candidate who may be less than neat.
If the family seems unstable, you may be taking on personal problems. If the
candidate cannot get the family to attend, you may be facing a person in a bad
relationship or one who cannot control others.
Look at the family’s reaction to the demo. Is it enthusiasm,
scorn or sarcasm? Ask the spouse if he/she believes the candidate will be
successful selling your equipment or if he/she knows that his/her spouse might
be out evenings and Saturdays.
Arrange a Ride Along
Many managers take the candidate out to do a little
prospecting, door knocking and a demo or two. They study the candidate’s
reactions and questions to see if they think the recruit has what it takes to
succeed.
Run a Credit and Police Report
In addition to reference checks, do a credit check and
police check on every candidate before you make a final decision. People cannot
sell if they have personal problems, and a credit check will tell you if they
have problems with debt. Also, before you send someone into a customer’s
home, you should know if they have a criminal record. Customers rely on you to
screen employees.
Is this a lot of work? Yes it is, but when you realize that
each bad hire costs you $20,000, it’s worth spending the time to find out
all you can and hedge your bets. When you realize that you turn over your
customers, staff, business and future to people you bring on board, you realize
what a big responsibility it is to do what you can to hire the very best.
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