Screening for Great Sales Hires

A few months ago I was attending a Selling Power Sales Leadership event and one of the speakers, Patrick  Sweeney, shared some advice for hiring salespeople that I think is so profound, I thought I would share it with the CCS blog community.

The very first "screen" you should mentally do on a sales candidate is ask yourself, "Is this person an optimist or a pessimist?"
It will be interesting for you in the audience to share questions you use when interviewing that can reveal  optimism vs. pessimism. Patrick notes that a pessimist will never be a truly great salesperson, and that you, as a hiring manager, do not have the ability to change a pessimist into an optimist.

So, even if your candidate looks good on paper, if s/he is a pessimist, you will end up disappointed.

5 Responses to "Screening for Great Sales Hires"

1. Timo Elliott Says:
   September 19th, 2007 at 11:47 am

   Aren't you being a little... pessimistic?

2. Roger Coles, TIBCO Says:
   September 19th, 2007 at 11:48 am

   Having worked in the software sales industry for 22 years, and seen many types of people, I would always look for the "Pragmatist". The optimists tend to gloss over detail and make assumptions - the pessimists tend to cover their bases, and go looking for problems (that perhaps don't exist).
   Somewhere in the middle is the Pragmatist who strikes the ideal balance, and can submit a half-decent forecast!!

   Regards

   Roger

3. Enrique Maldini, from Argentina Says:
   September 19th, 2007 at 4:46 pm

   Couple of words that describes this competence could be "emotional intelligence", and you can evaluate a candidate on this point during the interview.

4. Tom Tomlinson Says:
   September 19th, 2007 at 9:11 pm

   Mike, Although I've been working with your Affiliates for 7 years I have yet to meet you. However, your unmatched sales perception preceeds you and I plan on being around awhile so there is still a chance. I have great respect for our mutual friend Bob Lapinski, (being a native Minnesotan from Brainerd) we have had some great visits. Thanks for your contributions to the sales profession. Best regards, Tom Tomlinson

5. Tim Sanderson Says:
   September 24th, 2007 at 12:17 pm

   This paragraph could be misleading since it is brief and without assumptions leading to the point. If you only knew that someone was optimistic, I would have to agree with Roger Coles above. It could be a starting point, but it sure isn't the acid test.

   Quite frankly, a good salesperson might be very cautious about moving to another opportunity, and seem to be pessimistic about your opportunity or company until you have properly conviced them that YOU are worth talking to. You don't want someone so optimistic that they see a better opportunity every time someone tells them about one.

   Secondly, a rookie or mediocre interviewer may not clealy diagnose the optimist while selling the potential salesperson on their opportunity. Especially if the interviewer is extremely optimistic about the opportunity, and it isn't immediately obvious to the interviewee.

   But as a general statement, you sure don't want a negative, whiney, poison pill on the team either.