Nothing drives the bottom line forward like a strong salesperson.
A top sales performer - a "sales wolf" - will consistently produce 10-20 times that of a bottom performer - a "sales vampire" who will suck the lifeblood out of your bottom line.
Despite the evidence, few CEOs and sales managers of small to medium-sized companies commit to hiring only sales wolves. Given this fact, the commitment and execution of a "sales wolf only hiring strategy" can become a powerful competitive advantage.
There are three primary reasons why CEOs and sales managers do not hire more sales wolves.
- Relationships - People are loyal to others - and often blind to the performance challenges even when they are obvious to everyone else.
- They do not know what they do not know - Perfect information does not exist. CEOs and sales managers are unaware of the advances / best practices in hiring sales talent.
- The fear of making the big change / initial heavy effort- Making the decision to hire only sales wolves takes time, energy, and commitment that intuitively CEOs and sales managers know they must do to become successful but are unwilling to climb the first hills and mountains to get there.
It takes commitment to only hire sales wolves.
Following are seven powerful strategies necessary to execute a "Sales Wolf Only Hiring Program".
- Decide. The most important decision in any decision is to decide. Why is there a failure of execution? Most times it is because management did not decide to implement despite the challenges. Remember... Interested people do what is convenient - they make excuses about why something cannot be done - they give up. Committed people do WHATEVER IT TAKES. Commit to only hire sales wolves and then never, ever go back.
- Be a "sales wolf magnet". If you carefully cultivate a reputation of being a high performance sales team, then sales wolves will come to you and sales vampires will stay away. Like an actual wolf, sales wolves want to and expect to work with sales wolves. It is an unwritten law.
- Look to your competitors from hell. Who do you hate to run up against in the marketplace? Hire sales wolves away from your competitors.
- Confirm that a particular sales candidate is in fact a sales wolf. There are many posers who sell great products and services who look like a sales wolf but as soon as they move into another company, they perform like a "sales vampire". The only way you can confirm that you in fact have a sales candidate who is truly a "sales wolf" is to use a multi-science sales personality test.
- Look to your current sales wolves. ;Birds of a feather flock together. Sales wolves do not accept mediocrity in who they associate with. Ask your current sales wolves who they know.
- Always be hiring. "Get it" CEOs and sales managers ALWAYS have room for a game-changer sales wolf. When you run into a sales wolf, hire them immediately. You cannot go broke hiring only sales wolves.
- Do not rush the hiring process to fill an open position. Average CEOs and sales managers rush the sales hiring process because they have the mindset that the position must be filled as soon as possible. Take your time. Never sacrifice the future to fill an open position now.
Ultimately, the choice is yours. The legacy is yours to maximize and protect. Ask yourself, "What would Steve Jobs, John Wooden, and Peter Drucker do when it comes to hiring great sales talent?
