What qualities are you looking for when you hire someone to do sales?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “by replacing your morning coffee“
What qualities are you looking for when you hire someone to do sales?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “by replacing your morning coffee“
Hubspot’s Chief Revenue Officer Mark Roberge gets a lot of press for his quantitative approach to hiring salespeople:
http://sales4startups.org/how-hubspots-mark-roberge-improves-sales-quantitative-analysis/
http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/07/the-science-of-building-a-scal/
In particular, he looks for:
prior success
intelligence
work ethic
coachability
I’d also suggest you consult the empirical research on the predictors of sales performance: http://www.jwalkonline.org/docs/Grad%20Classes/Fall%2007/Org%20Psy/Cases/motivation%20articles/metaanalysis%20predict%20jobperf%20for%20sales.pdf
This meta-analysis found that the personality traits of assertiveness (potency) and achievement orientation were significantly correlated with sales performance.
Great listener. Can hear underneath the words. Can ask powerful and meaningful questions. Doesn’t take things personally. Easy to train. Doesn’t manipulate. Is honest, ethical and has great communication skills. Easy to build rapport with. Goes the extra mile. WOW’s customers. Under promises and over delivers. Customer service oriented. Has the same values as the company. Is always in integrity.