Part IV

SALES FORCE
COMPETENCIES

Chapter 7:
Recruiting and
Selecting Sales
Personnel
Chapter 7: Outline

Recruitment
Recruit Select Validating
And Selection
Candidates Prospects the Process
Planning
Consumer Industrial Services
10% 12%
17% 66%
33% 19%
78% 50%
15%

0-10% 11-16% More than

16%

Figure 7-1: Sales Force Turnover Rates by

Industry
 Turnover Rates in Selected
Industries
Turnover
Industry Rates
Construction 13.8%
Office Equipment 47.0
Retail 51.2
Wholesale (Consumer Goods) 18.5
Electronics 14.1
Business Services 26.2
Pharmaceuticals 8.3
Banking 4.3
Real Estate 11.9

Source: Dartnell’s 30th Sales Force Compensation Survey (1999), p.187.

 First Year Cost of a
Salesperson in the U.S.
Compensation
(trainee average)
$35,500

Benefits (approx.21.5% of
compensation) 7,600

Field Expense
16,000

Direct Expense $59,100

Training Costs
7,100

Source: TOTAL COSTS

Dartnell’s 30th Sales Force Compensation Survey (1999).
$66,200
Company Culture and the
Hiring Process
 Develop a hiring process related to
core culture.

 What are the core cultures of these

companies?
Aligning People to Core
Job Responsibilities
 The Chally Group, a sales consulting company,

found that matching a person’s skills set with

the skills required by the sales job led to
higher performing salespeople and greater job
satisfaction.
 What skill sets are needed for the following
sales positions?

– Missionary?
– Sales Support?
– New Business?
Aligning People to Core
Job Responsibilities
 Missionary:
– Technical skills, relationship building
skills
 Sales Support:
– Empathy, relationship building skills
 New Business:
– Assertiveness, persuasiveness, time
management, ability to close
What Purchasing Agents Like
About Salespeople
PERCENT OF RESPONDENTS
TRAITS WHO RATED MOST VALUED

Willingness to fight for

customer:

Thoroughness/follow
through:
Market knowledge/
willingness to
share:
Knowledge of product line:

Diplomacy in dealing
with
operating departments:
Imaginatio
n:

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Recruiting Sources
 Classified Ads
– Reaches wide audience
(trade publications may narrow the reach)
– Used if high turnover
– Tend to over-produce under-qualified
candidates
 Present Employees
– Familiar w/ company products & procedures
– Established job histories
– Sales as a promotion
– Over-rely on previous experience
Recruiting Sources
 Referrals/Networking
– Company executives understand needs, culture and
potential fit for sales responsibilities
 Employment Agencies
– best if company pays
 Schools & Colleges
– Poised & easily trained
– Lack experience & become bored
 Customers, Suppliers & Competition
– Good if need w/out much training
– Legal & ethical issues
– Common: insurance, stock broker, office equipment,
clothing
 Direct recruit to control
location or phone number

Complete application
blanks
Hiring
Conduct screening
criteria interviews
for Check credit and
sales background

jobs Complete psychological

used and achievement tests

to Secondary interviews
guide
selection Make offer for sales
position
process
Physical exam

Modify hiring
criteria, tests or
Interview procedures Measure subsequent
Reject
success on the job

Figure 7-3: A Model for Selecting Salespeople

RESUME ANALYSIS

1. Account for all dates.

3. Examine the number of jobs and

length of time spent on each job.

5. Reasons for leaving job.

7. Is there a pattern of growth?

QUESTIONS ABOUT
INTERVIEWERS
What Research Shows
 Does extensive interviewing experience help an
interviewer to make better judgments?
 Does pressure to recruit impair the judgment of
experienced interviewers less than inexperienced
interviewers?
 When interviewing multiple recruits, do interviewers
tend to use previous applicants as the standard of
comparison for subsequent applicants?
 Will the positive effects of good appearance offset an
unfavorably rated personal history for a recruit?
QUESTIONS ABOUT
INTERVIEWERS
What Research Shows
 How much of the factual information presented in an
interview will the interviewer remember immediately
after a short interview if no notes are taken?
 How will lack of notes and factual recall affect the
interviewer’s rating of the recruits interviewed?
 How reliably can a group of interviewers rate a recruit’s
qualifications for a job?
 How reliably can a group of interviewers rate future job
performance by a recruit?
COMMON INTERVIEWER
MISTAKES
1. Failure to establish rapport
2. Lack of plan
3. Insufficient time
4. Not listening
5. Personal bias
6. Questions
7. First impressions
TYPICAL INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS
What is interviewer trying to
determine?

 What was the most monotonous

job you ever had to do?

– What are your values and general

orientation in life?

– How creative were you in eliminating

boredom?
TYPICAL INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS
1. In thinking about people you like, what is
it you most like about them?
– Reflects what person is and desires to become
2. Up to this point in your life, what do you
consider to be your biggest
disappointment?
– Have you done anything? -- more active = more
disappointments
3. How willing are you to relocate?
To what extent are you willing to travel?
– Motivation in wanting job -- involves travel
TYPICAL INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS
5. How do you feel about the way your
previous employer treated you?
– How you react to supervision & organizational
cultures

6. What are your long-term financial

objectives and how do you intend to
achieve them?
– Are you realistic & mature?
– Will this company enable you to achieve these
goals?

7. What was the most difficult decision you

ever had to make as a leader?
– Were the leadership positions in your resume
demanding or ceremonial in nature?
– What is your leadership style & philosophy?
TYPICAL INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS
8. Why should we hire you?
– How badly do you want the job?
– What do you think of yourself?
– Do you believe in yourself?

9. Sell me this pen.

– Do you really know how to make a
sales presentation?
– Did you mention the main product
benefits?
– Did you ask for the order?
ASKING THE RIGHT
QUESTIONS
About two weeks after starting a new job,
doubts creep into your mind. The gap between
what you were told and what’s actually
happening gets wider by the day. When you’re
on the job for three weeks, you say to yourself,
“I think I made a mistake.” One way to avoid
making a costly mistake like this is to ask the
right questions when interviewing. What
questions would you ask when applying for a
field sales position to avoid accepting the wrong
job?
ASKING THE RIGHT
QUESTIONS
1. May I look at your resume?

2. Where will I get my leads?

3. May I review your sales literature?

4. When are your slow times?

5. May I go with you on a sales call?

6. May I visit your marketing

department?
PREVIOUS EMPLOYER
REFERENCE CHECK
QUESTIONS
 Dates of Employment?
 What was the Job?
 What type of selling was involved?
 How did the applicant get along with his/her
manager? Customers? Fellow salespeople?
 How did his/her job performance compare others?
 Applicants strongest points? Weaknesses we
should help him/her overcome?
 Why did s/he leave your company?
 Would you rehire the applicant? Why?
Table 7-2
Validity of Predictors for Entry-Level
Jobs
Predictor Validity

Ability composite (tests) .53

Job tryout .44
Biographical inventory .37
Reference check .26
Experience .18
Interview .14
Training and experience ratings .13
Academic achievement .11
Education .10
Interest .10
Age .01
What’s in a Signature?
Small letters such as “a,”
“e,” and “o” are more than
¼ inch in height and farther
to the right side of the page.
Small signatures, less than
1/8 inch tall with an upright
slant and placed towards the
left hand of the page
Medium-sized signatures
(about 1/4 inch).
These people tend to be
enterprising and are usually risk
takers, take charge leaders, and
pacesetters. They are your typical
salesperson.
These people tend to be objective
observers. They keep cool, don’t get
excited under pressure, and in
general make good listeners and
negotiators. They might be better
for high-level sales to established
clients.
These people are your team
players. Interaction is their byword
and they tend to play strictly by the
rules. They take calculated risks,
with emphasis on the calculations.
Not generally sales types.
 WHAT MAKES A SUPER
SALESPERSON?
Personal Computer
Manufacturer
Threshold Competencies
Communication
*Information Collection
Personal Sensitivity
*Relationship-building
Technical knowledge
Differentiator Competencies
Concern for personal impact
*Focused achievement
Initiative
*Organizational awareness
Personal time-planning
Quick thinking
Targeted persuasion
*Use of influence strategies
* These traits were found in salespeople at both companies.
Photographic Equipment
Manufacturer
Threshold Competencies
Decisiveness
*Information Collection
*Organizational Awareness
*Relationship-building
Systematic thinking
Differentiator Competencies
*Focused achievement
Interpersonal diagnosis
Job commitment
Persistence
Presentation skills
Stress tolerance
*Use of influence strategies
Table 7-5
Typical Interview Questions

Why should we hire you?

 Regardless of the company and type of sales
position for which you may interview, there are
some interview questions that are typically
asked. You may not be asked each of these
questions in every interview, but you should
be prepared to answer them all. After reading
each question, think about what the
interviewer’s purpose may be in asking the
question. What is he or she trying to
determine? What should your response be to
each question?
Table 7-5
Typical Interview Questions

Why should we hire you?

 What was the most monotonous job you ever had to do?
 In thinking about the people you like, what is it you like most
about them?
 Up to this point in your life, what do you consider to be your
biggest disappointment?
 How willing are you to relocate? To what extent are you willing
to travel?
 How do you feel about the way your previous employer treated
you?
 What are your long-term financial objectives, and how do you
propose to achieve them?
 What was the most difficult decision you ever had to make as a
leader?
 Why should we hire you?
 Sell me this pen.
 JOB DESCRIPTION
FACTORS
Selling Requirements
 New vs. established account  Written proposals
selling  Individual vs. team selling
 Selling through distributors  One time vs. systems selling
 Entertaining customers  Type of prospects/customers
 Level of buying authority  One-on-one vs. group selling
 Physical activity required  Travel: how much & what kind
 Technical knowledge  Program or concept selling
 Relocation
Nonselling Tasks
 Reports to management  Educational seminars
 Customer service and training  Collecting receivables
 Sales promotion  Marketing plans
Degree of Responsibility
 Negotiations of pricing  Travel and entertainment

Career Paths
 Compensation plan  Earnings potential
 Promotion timing  Promotion leaders
Performance Expectations
 Activity level requirements  Minimum sales volume or
profits