Ensuring Sales Rep Performance in a Transparent Way when Hiring
While verifying a salesperson’s achievements is crucial, relying solely on P60s, a practice used in the past, is perhaps outdated and raises privacy concerns. Today, a more comprehensive approach is needed to assess potential.
Statistics show the majority of salespeople miss their quotas. However, focusing solely on those who exceed targets overlooks valuable talent. Let’s explore solutions that promote transparency while respecting privacy.
Alternative Solutions:
- Verification: Contacting previous employers for performance references is a standard practice.
- Performance Metrics: Focus on quantifiable metrics like customer satisfaction, activity levels (calls, meetings), and pipeline growth, alongside sales volume.
- In-depth Interviews: Ask targeted questions about past performance, sales strategies, and challenges faced. Dig deeper into their understanding of your products, target market, and sales process.
By using these methods, we gain a clearer picture of a candidate’s skills and potential fit within your company culture. We can assess if their past performance can translate to success in your specific role, leadership style, and work environment.
So then let’s think about how we can make the whole interview process more transparent, because if we’re asking for more detail and transparency from those we’re interviewing, shouldn’t we also show more transparency.
So, imagine you’re hiring for a sales rep, and you share the following.
- Specific and real but anonymised data on how the team is performing.
- Specific detail around the pipeline
- Conversion rates
- Team attrition
OK, so perhaps I am hoping for a utopia which can’t exist, but why not try, what is the worst that could happen?
What do others think?
How can we create hiring process’s which lead to better hires, who stay long term, are successful and happy?
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