Category: Sales Recruiting

84% of Talent Acquisition Teams Now Use Remote Processes: How to Adapt in a Post-COVID World

Posted on by hiredna

To say that 2020 has been a bit chaotic would be a gross understatement. COVID-19 shook the entire world to its core, and we’ve all encountered massive challenges we’re still recovering from. One particular branch of the business world that’s been forced to rapidly adapt is HR. 

With traditional face-to-face interactions greatly limited or altogether eliminated, HR teams have had to scramble to come up with viable talent acquisition solutions. And the biggest tool in their arsenal is making the shift to handling the recruiting and hiring process remotely. 

Here’s the details and how to adapt in a post-COVID world. 

Technology Has Created a Paradigm Shift in Recruiting and Hiring

Although many HR teams have used technology in some capacity in recent years, COVID has been the catalyst for widespread technology usage in 2020. More specifically, HR teams are rapidly implementing it to find, interview, and onboard new employees 100% remotely. 

COVID has really lit a fire under HR, and out of sheer necessity, most are now using remote processes to handle recruiting and hiring from end to end. 

Stuart Gentle of online recruitment magazine (Onrec) offers perspective on this trend saying, “84% of talent acquisition teams are adapting their processes to work remotely. This demonstrates the agility of talent acquisition teams, their leadership and commitment to deliver candidates to their companies to help build the business, even in times of adversity.”

The pandemic has shown just how essential it is to adapt by leveraging technology, and the companies that flourish are usually the ones that make it an integral part of their framework. 

And This Trend is Unlikely to Stop Post-COVID

COVID dealt the economy a major blow and one that will take a long time to completely recover from. That said, it is starting to recover, which is evidenced by growth in the Dow Jones Industrial Average during the past six months plus. 

Here’s where it was on March 23, 2020, when COVID was in full swing in the US. 

And here’s where it’s currently at on October 27, 2020. 

Restrictions on face-to-face interactions are starting to ease, and life is gradually returning back to normal. However, a large percentage of HR teams plan on sticking with the technology they’re currently using for remote hiring moving forward. 

“Most employers are now comfortable using technology for talent acquisition, with 82% of hiring managers saying they will continue to interview using video once the pandemic is over,” Stuart Gentle adds. 

That’s largely because of the major benefits that remote hiring technology provides, including:

  • Greater efficiency
  • Time savings
  • Reduced costs
  • Streamlined onboarding 

You just can’t put the genie back in the bottle on something like this, and it’s clear that a growing number of talent acquisition teams will continue to embrace remote processes in the future.  

How to Adapt Post-COVID

Now the question is, how exactly can you get your HR team up to speed with remote hiring technology?

Maybe you had already made some small initiatives prior to the pandemic. Or, maybe you hadn’t made any initiatives at all. 

What are some specific steps you take to adapt moving forward?

Here’s the general four-step formula you’ll want to follow. 

  1. Examine Your Current Recruiting Process

First, you’ll want to map out the process you’re currently using step-by-step so that you have a bird’s eye view of your methodologies, technologies, tactics, and so on. 

  1. Identify Which Recruiting Steps Could Be Done Remotely

Next, look over your current recruiting process to identify specific areas where technology could potentially be implemented to be done remotely. Maybe, for instance, it would be possible to interview candidates through a video conferencing platform without skipping a beat. 

Or, rather than having HR members meet with one another physically to assess candidates, they could use a recruiting and hiring platform to find top talent based on core selling competencies. 

  1. Determine Which Technologies Could Be Used

Once you know the areas where technology could realistically be applied, you’ll want to figure out which specific technologies you could use. For interviewing, you may want to use a leading video conferencing software like Zoom. And for candidate assessment, you could use HireDNA, which assesses candidates on 21 core selling competencies such as motivation, desire, and coachability. 

  1. Implement Those Technologies In Phases

From there, it’s just a matter of putting those technologies to use. The key to being successful is getting everyone in your company to buy in from the top down. It starts with senior leadership and trickles down to HR leaders and eventually everyone else within your HR team. 

Move in phases so as to not overwhelm anyone, and offer a comprehensive knowledge base featuring answers to FAQs, videos, and tutorials to make it simple for your team to learn the new technology. 

This quick guide from Atif Siddiqui of employee engagement platform Achievers should help make the transition as seamless as possible. 

Helping HR Adapt to a New Recruiting Reality

COVID has drastically changed many aspects of how modern businesses operate, and HR is no exception. Basically overnight HR teams have been forced to figure out new techniques for recruiting and hiring, with the vast majority adapting their strategy to accommodate remote processes. 

And this is something your company can do as well by following the four key steps listed above. That way you can find and onboard top talent regardless of what happens next. 

See how HireDNA can help improve your hiring, while embracing a more remote-centric approach. 92% of recommended candidates reach the top of the sales force within a year of being hired. 

Book a live demo now. 

The 3 Biggest Reasons Why Top Performing Salespeople Leave (And How to Lower Turnover)

Posted on by hiredna

Turnover. It’s one of the biggest causes of stress and frustration for employers. And if left unchecked, it can waste time, erode profits and bring company growth to a grinding halt. 

What’s concerning is the sheer number of people leaving their jobs these days. “The percentage of US employees quitting their jobs is at an all-time high,” says Gallup. Further, “67% of US employees are disengaged at work, and 51% say they’re actively looking for a new job or are open to one.”

In this post, we’ll get to the heart of why top performing salespeople leave and go over some specific steps you can take to address this problem. 

The 3 Biggest Reasons for Turnover

SiriusDecisions, a global B2B research and advisory firm performed extensive research to identify the main reasons why top performing salespeople left the companies they worked for. 

Here’s what they found:

  1. Insufficient compensation – This was the reason why 89% of salespeople left
  2. A lack of connection with leadership / Incompetence of leadership – 60 – 80% 
  3. Concerns about their company’s ability to meet market needs – 75%

Note that a certain amount of turnover is normal and shouldn’t cause any major disruptions to your business. Currently, the average turnover rate for sales organizations is hovering just under 35%. But if the number gets much higher than that, like it does for one in 10 companies with a turnover rate above 55%, it’s definitely a cause for concern and something that should be addressed right away. 

Now let’s take a closer look at these three main reasons for turnover and discuss some potential solutions. 

#1 – Insufficient Compensation

Above all else, not being paid what a rep thinks they’re worth is the number one reason why they head for greener pastures. And this is nothing new. 

Just like with nearly every other industry, those in sales are quick to jump ship if they can earn more somewhere else. This is especially true for SaaS salespeople where there’s been an explosion in the number of companies that were launched in recent years. 

So, what exactly is considered adequate pay? According to recent data from PayScale, the average salary for a salesperson in 2020 was $45,676. 

If you’re paying well below that, especially in a larger market, high turnover is an inevitable issue that’s going to plague your company. The solution though is quite obvious — pay your reps more so that it’s competitive with other sales organizations in your area. 

And if possible, consider offering your top performers rewards like bonuses, health benefits, and recognition awards, which collectively help boost your employee value proposition (EVP). A study by Gartner found that effectively delivering on your EVP can lower annual turnover by 69%. 

#2 – Leadership Issues

The second biggest culprit for high turnover is when there’s either A) a disconnect between sales reps and company leaders or B) a perceived incompetence among leaders. Liz Ryan of Forbes chimes in on this saying, “Turnover is a leadership problem. When you as a manager are told over and over again that your employees will get raises and over and over again, the raises don’t come through, you become part of the problem.”

Admittedly, this isn’t usually something that’s a quick fix and often requires a fundamental cultural shift. That said, there are some specific techniques higher ups in your company can take to become better leaders. Lolly Daskal, President and CEO of Lead From Within, offers some great insights, including:

  • Accepting criticism
  • Being open to feedback from salespeople
  • Being authentic, honest, humble, and transparent
  • Taking a “practice what you preach” approach to leadership
  • Constantly striving to improve communication skills
  • Being quick to praise reps for a job well done

#3 – Concerns About a Company Meeting Market Needs

“‘Marketplace needs’ is a marketing concept that relates to the functional or emotional needs or desires of a target market,” explains college marketing professor Neil Kokemuller. “Generally, a successful company identifies when a segment of customers is not effectively served by existing providers and develops and promotes products or services to match.”

But when a company fails to do this effectively, it can create concerns for salespeople, where they have anxieties about its long-term growth and success. And this is understandable given that nearly 400,000 startups close their doors each year. 

Couple that with the negative impact COVID-19 has had on the economy, and concerns from salespeople are definitely justified. 

By these numbers, it’s clear that companies need to have a pulse on market needs — both functional and emotional — and be constantly evolving to stay relevant. It’s also important to develop a strong unique value proposition (UVP) and offer products that give your brand a clear edge over the competition. Not only is this important for carving out a sustainable niche, it lets your salespeople know that they have job security, which reduces the likelihood of excessive turnover. 

Keeping Turnover In Check

Turnover has become a serious problem for many of today’s organizations. BambooHR found that nearly a third of people have quit a job within the first six months, and 68% of those people left within the first three months. 

While there’s no magic bullet for turnover, understanding the root causes we’ve discussed here should help you gain a better understanding of what compels top salespeople to quit. Then, implementing solutions like offering competitive pay, developing better company wide leadership, and better meeting market needs should help you get it under control.

And with the right effort and focus, you can keep your most elite salespeople around for the long haul. 

Another big part of increasing retention is improving your recruiting process. Find out how you can use HireDNA to attract and recruit better candidates using science-based sales assessments. 

Here’s How to Develop a Winning Sales Recruiting & Selection Process

Posted on by hiredna

As many as 80% of salespeople fail to hit the mark, and 55% of them should actually be doing something else, according to the National Association of Sales Professionals. These numbers illustrate just how difficult it is to succeed in sales and shows that the CEOs and sales leaders responsible for hiring reps have their work cut out for them. 

But in this post, we’ll outline a definitive strategy you can use to develop a winning sales recruiting and selection process to ensure you only hire the best of the best. Let’s jump right in.  

First, Identify the Most Important Areas That Influence Success

Each company is different. Therefore, a one-size-fits-all approach is seldom effective. Instead, you need to start your sales recruiting campaign by pinpointing which specific areas most influence success in your business. 

In their eBook Best Practice to Recruiting the Hardest Role in the Company, SG Partners says “Best Practice Sales Team Selection process commences with a clear understanding of the criteria for success in your market. You need to identify the candidate’s experience in the 20 most important areas that will influence success.”

They then go on to list some examples of factors like:

  • Markets where your company operates
  • Your customer base
  • Competitors
  • Sales cycle
  • Method of compensation 

Screen Candidates Objectively with a Sales Assessment

Before you look at a single resume or begin interviewing, you’ll want to use a candidate sales assessment to get an objective snapshot of selling skills to determine which candidates have what it takes to thrive. 

“This unique screening process was developed exclusively to identify those salespeople that WILL be successful in specific sales environments,” explains SG Partners. “It separates out those candidates that may look like salespeople and sound like salespeople but simply won’t sell.”

There are many different tools out there, but the main one we suggest using is the sales assessment from Objective Management Group (OMG). It’s based on a massive amount of data, including over 2 million salespeople from more than 30,000 companies across 200 industries. 

And its predictive validity rate is unparalleled, with 92% of suggested candidates reaching the top half of the salesforce. This will analyze 21 sales core competencies like the will to sell, motivation, coachability, and so on to filter through your list of candidates and narrow it down to the most elite. 

Phone Screen Shortlisted Candidates

Now it’s time for the actual interviewing process to begin. For the first round, you’ll want to phone screen the candidates who successfully completed the sales assessment, possess the right skills you are looking for and match your unique selling environment. 

This should be brief at around 15 to 30 minutes and is simply meant to see how well they engage with you, as this will be a great indicator of how well they’ll engage with leads if hired. 

You’ll want to create a basic script for your phone screening to ensure all candidates get the same questions and have the same opportunities. SG Partners recommends intentionally putting candidates under pressure to see how they respond to gauge their overall effectiveness. And you’ll also want to use quantitative scoring to rate a candidate’s response to each question (e.g. a 1 to 5 rating). 

For a full rundown on how to effectively use phone screening, check out this previous post we wrote. 

Conduct Short Interviews with Top Candidates

Once you’ve narrowed down your candidate pool even more, it’s time for a round of more detailed but still relatively short interviews of around 35 minutes. Ideally, this will be done face-to-face, but given the current climate post-COVID, doing it over video conferencing software like Zoom should be sufficient, specifically if they will be selling virtually. 

“The candidate is screened on issues or concerns with their work history or suitability based on their resume and also issues that were identified through the [sales assessment],” says SG Partners. “This interview is again designed to measure the ability of the candidate to respond to challenging objections while seeking to gain control of the interview process.”

The exact questions you ask can run the gamut, but Meg Prater of HubSpot highlights 10 sales interview questions that should help get the ball rolling. You can also download our interview questionnaire for a more detailed list of behavioral style interview questions. 

Perform In-Depth Interviews on Your Top 2-3 Candidates

At this point, you should have narrowed it down to your top two or three candidates who all show great promise. You’ll then want to have highly in-depth interviews with these candidates and really dive in deep to figure out what they truly bring to the table. 

“This interview is a very extensive process that requires the candidate to take you through a structured overview of their work and experience following a clear chronological order,” writes SG Partners. “This process can take up to two hours and is designed to separate truth from fiction in relation to the past history of the candidates.”

And don’t forget about reference checking. 

Given the amount of preparation that in-depth interviews like this take, it’s crucial that you perform plenty of planning and preparation in advance. 

Hold a Final Interview for the Candidate You Want

The last step in the sales team selection process is to have a final interview, which is where you go over the formalities and get everything squared away. Here are some specific things that SG Partners suggests covering. 

From there, it’s just a matter of making an offer.

Rinse and Repeat

Rockstar salespeople don’t grow on trees. And we’ve seen time and time again that haphazard hiring practices and selecting candidates based on “a hunch” lead to unfavorable outcomes. 

While nothing is 100% foolproof, following SG Partners’ sales team selection process can promise with near certainty that you’ll find the right salespeople that fit in perfectly with your company culture. 

Once you have the formula, rinse and repeat. 

For more on how to level up your recruiting, download Best Practice to Recruiting the Hardest Role in the Company. 

And to learn about which mistakes to avoid, read The Top 5 Reasons You Are Failing at Recruiting Consistently Great Sales Teams. 

How to Ensure You’re Hiring Based on Actual Skills Rather Than Just “Personality”

Posted on by hiredna

Have you ever encountered a candidate who oozed charm and charisma? Who said all of the right things? Who had the “it factor?”

People with great personalities naturally make a great first impression, and more often than not, they end up walking away with the job. In fact, personality was deemed the single-most desirable quality in an employee by 78% of hiring professionals, according to an executive survey. 

And while it’s certainly a nice trait to have, it’s important to ensure that you’re hiring based on skills rather than solely on “personality.” Here’s why. 

A Long-Standing Misconception 

SG Partners, a professional sales training and coaching company, wrote an eBook entitled The Top 5 Reasons You Are Failing at Recruiting Consistently Great Sales Teams. In it, the first mistake they mention is evaluating “personality” rather than job skills. They talk about how many CEOs and sales leaders think that personality traits like high energy, honesty, and strong work ethic practically guarantee success. But that just isn’t the case. 

“Many consultants and distributors of pre-employment tests maintain that certain personality factors help ensure management or sales success and offer psychological theories to support that belief,” explains SG Partners. “However, solid statistical research from many objective sources shows little correlation between personality factors and any specific job factors. Producers of these tests (like the Myers-Briggs) admit that they are useful for self-awareness and training but not for hiring.”

While having a great personality can certainly help a sales rep, especially when it comes to interactions with leads and their colleagues, there’s no clear evidence that it will result in success. And on the other end of the spectrum, just because someone is shy and doesn’t have a magnetic personality doesn’t mean they can’t succeed. Geoffrey James of Inc.com even talks about how introverts often make the best sales reps these days, mainly because of the growing distrust of “fast-talking, backslapping salesmen” who come across as hyper-aggressive. 

These days, many leads prefer to deal with more introverted reps because they tend to be better listeners and take a more empathetic approach. 

The Dangers of Hiring Based on Personality

And in some cases, CEOs and sales leaders can get themselves into trouble when they focus so much on personality that they overlook a candidate’s obvious lack of other skills. As humans, we can’t help but form first impressions of others. It’s how we make a baseline assessment. Jean Baur, a career coach and author of The Essential Job Interview Handbook, even says that it only takes about three seconds for someone to form an initial impression. 

But it’s far from foolproof and can often be a red herring that leads to making the wrong hire. After all, someone with a stellar personality may be likeable and get along with everyone, but it doesn’t always mean they’ll necessarily add value. If their ability to close deals and general skill set are lacking, they could be quite costly because you’ll have to start the entire hiring process all over again. 

With the U.S. Department of Labor calculating that “the average cost of a bad hiring decision is at least 30% of the individual’s first-year expected earnings,” this can be a major blow to your company. 

How to Objectively Assess Potential Sales Reps

This begs the question. How exactly do you make an objective assessment and ensure that a candidate checks all of the right boxes? 

We recommend using a tool like the sales candidate assessment from Objective Management Group (OMG). This assessment is based on an immense volume of quantitative data, where OMG analyzed over 2 million salespeople across 30,000+ companies in 200 industries. 

From their findings, they were able to pinpoint some specific factors that determine a salesperson’s likelihood of success, including the will to sell, possessing the right “sales DNA,” being coachable, having core competencies, and more. 

And the numbers speak for themselves. By using the sales candidate assessment, a staggering 92% of salespeople who were recommended reached the top half of the sales team within their first year. 

On the other hand, three quarters of candidates that weren’t recommended but still hired failed within six months. 

At the end of the day, it’s about taking a science-based, data-driven approach to hiring that gives you a comprehensive, objective view of candidates. That way you can efficiently narrow down the candidate pool without getting caught up in surface level traits like personality that don’t guarantee success. 

Keeping Your Hiring Process Objective

Hiring isn’t easy. It’s something that even the world’s top companies struggle with at times. 

Therefore, it’s common to fall back on natural human tendencies like confusing having desirable characteristics like a great personality as being an indicator of success. But as we’ve just learned, taking this approach comes with some definite pitfalls and can be more of a hindrance to hiring than an asset. 

The key to making consistently sound hiring decisions is to focus on actual skills, ideally using a tool like the sales candidate assessment, to gain an objective understanding of a person’s abilities and likelihood of success. And while having a likeable personality is a plus, it should by no means be the main factor when selecting a sales rep. 

To learn more about this common hiring mistake, along with others, check out The Top 5 Reasons You Are Failing at Recruiting Consistently Great Sales Teams by SG Partners. 

And to learn about how to improve your hiring process, check out Best Practice to Recruiting The Hardest Role in the Company. 

92% of Recommended and Hired Candidates Succeed. Here’s Why.

Posted on by hiredna

How many times have you chosen a salesperson who had an amazing personality and checked all of the right boxes, only to later find that their performance was less than stellar?

This is a common experience among many CEOs and sales leaders, and according to Shep Hyken of Forbes, 57% of sales reps fail to hit their quotas. But fortunately, there’s a way to get it right nearly all of the time. 

In this post, we’ll discuss a proven system you can use to take the guesswork out of hiring salespeople to ensure that you consistently select elite performers. 

Accurately Predicting Sales Success

Objective Management Group (OMG) has conducted rigorous assessments over the years to compile a massive amount of data on the sales force selection process. Here are some specific numbers that went into their research.

As you can see, they’ve analyzed over 30,000 companies, more than 86,000 hires, and over two million salespeople to determine what contributes to success. The volume of data is staggering and has generated some fascinating insights into what sales recruiters, sales leaders, and CEOs should look for when assessing and hiring sales candidates. 

For example, OMG found that having the will to sell, where a person possesses the right level of desire and commitment, is a key factor in success. They found that being trainable and coachable is critical. They also found that having 21 core selling competencies, like being a “Hunter, Consultative Seller, Qualifier, Closer, and so on are vital — something they can quantitatively measure. 

In short, OMG found that there’s a science behind hiring quality salespeople — a formula sales recruiters, sales leaders, and CEOs can use over and over to find top talent and retain them for the long haul. 

Check out more data from OMG, see how your sales team compares to the competition and the sales DNA of top performers in your industry here.

92% of Recommended and Hired Candidates Succeed

Through their findings, OMG has developed what they call The Original Sales-Specific Assessment, which measures sales capabilities rather than just behavioral and personality traits. This assessment takes a data-driven approach to finding the best of the best candidates and is so effective that it’s been rated the #1 sales assessment for 9 consecutive years by Top Sales World.

And here’s where it really gets interesting. OMG found that a whopping 92% of candidates that are recommended and hired through The Sales Assessment succeed and reach the top half of the sales force within just 12 months.  

This shows how important it is to make hiring decisions based on data, rather than merely a hunch. And this is something that more and more organizations are actively embracing, with a PwC global data and analytics survey finding that 61% of companies want to rely more heavily on data analysis and less on intuition when making hiring decisions. 

On the other hand, OMG also found that “75% of candidates who aren’t recommended but hired anyway fail within six months.” 

This just reaffirms the importance of assessing candidates based on concrete data and how utilizing a sales-specific assessment can be a real game changer. 

Why it Works

Now let’s take a closer look into the details as to why using the assessment works. 

First, it’s customized to your unique selling environment. “Your customized Role Specification allows you to specify the unique requirements of your position. Candidates are then assessed against your criteria to create a recommendation custom-tailored to your needs.”

In other words, it doesn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach. Rather, the assessment looks at your exact business and identifies which characteristics the ideal sales rep, manager, or leader should possess. 

Next, it uses a Candidate Analyzer to quantitatively score candidates based on their abilities via an easy-to-use portal. This allows you to seamlessly filter through candidates and pinpoint the ones you’re most interested in for later follow-up. 

And finally, OMG has a recruiting system called STAR (Sales Talent Acquisition Routine) that allows you to deploy a more structured approach to recruiting sales talent over a four-week period and looks like this:

During the first week, there’s the initial setup, where OMG configures their assessment for the specific role you’re hiring for, creates the optimal applicant tracking questions, and writes an ad that articulates the traits, skills, and experiences a candidate should possess.  

The second week is when sourcing takes place, where the ad is placed on relevant job sites and candidates are searched for on resume databases. Then, OMG provides tactics to help you filter through the results to confirm that applicants meet base requirements along with training on how to narrow the list down through phone screening calls. 

The third week is when the top candidates are interviewed in-person or through video conferencing. This is where you go more in-depth and really get to know each candidate and see what they bring to the table. The fourth week is when the final interview takes place to identify the true rockstars and when a candidate is officially chosen for the position. 

As you can see, the process is very streamlined and can be used again and again to ensure you consistently make the right hires. Also, note that The sales assessment is designed specifically for sales, sales management, and sales leadership roles, making it extremely accurate. 

Hiring Candidates Based on Science

74% of sales reps are ineffective and fail to hit the mark, while only 6% are considered to be elite performers. At first glance, this may seem like the odds are stacked against sales recruiters, and it’s true that finding quality people can be tricky.

But comprehensive research has found that selecting salespeople based on hard data that’s generated through tools like The OMG Sales Candidate Assessment enables you to make decisions with relative certainty. It’s just a matter of putting the data to use and objectively selecting candidates based off of it. 

Interest in a free trial of the OMG Sales Candidate Assessment? You can register for a free test drive here.

For more helpful information on improving your sales hiring process, there are two eBooks to check out below. 

The Top 5 Reasons You Are Failing at Recruiting Consistently Great Sales Teams

Best Practice to Recruiting the Hardest Role in the Company

Everything You Need to Know About Phone Screening Sales Candidates

Posted on by hiredna

Historically, most interviews for sales rep positions have been done in person. However, in recent years, there’s been a shift to holding initial conversations over the phone to make a baseline assessment of a candidate’s qualifications. 

And with COVID-19 greatly restricting in person interactions, phone screening is something that many companies are doing by necessity. 

Here’s everything you need to know about phone screening so that you can streamline the process and find the best of the best sales reps. 

The Purpose of Phone Screening

In an eBook called Best Practice to Recruiting the Hardest Role in the Company, sales development firm SG Partners explains why phone screening for this position is such a smart idea. 

“Because your salespeople need to engage over the phone — doesn’t it make sense to check that they can and will be able to engage effectively with your existing and potential clients? They need to convince you that they are worth progressing to the face to face interview stage.”

This is a simple way to assess how well sales candidates perform and which ones you should advance. It also provides you with instant insights into their personality, traits, sales style, and so on. As a result, you not only learn about a candidate’s hard skills but also their soft skills and how well they fit in with your company from a cultural standpoint.

Now that we better understand the context, here’s how to seamlessly implement phone screening. 

Keep it Brief 

Given that this is a preliminary stage in the hiring process, it’s not usually the time to ask in-depth, hard hitting questions that require a long winded response, says global HR consulting firm Robert Half International. Rather, the goal is to narrow down your list of candidates and pinpoint the ones you want to give serious consideration. 

Therefore, you should keep the phone screening brief — ideally somewhere between 15 to 30 minutes — and focus only on the essentials. Then, once you’ve finished this round, you can follow up with candidates who’ve advanced and dive into deeper questions during the official interview.

Create a Script

In order to accurately and objectively gauge sales candidates, you need to have a standardized phone screening process where every interaction is nearly identical. You need to have a script. 

Why? There are two main reasons. 

First, this creates a sense of homogeneity where every candidate can be viewed through the same lens, making your assessment less likely to be skewed by variables. It’s like creating the same conditions during a science experiment to ensure the results are valid.

Second, it helps you move through phone screenings faster and more efficiently. By sticking to a script and asking the same questions (something we’ll discuss in more detail in just a bit), you can navigate through the process more fluidly and not waste time. 

And this is important considering that on average, conducting phone interviews can increase the length of the recruitment process by 6.8 to 8.2 days. 

So, what exactly should a script look like?

Here’s a basic formula you can use:

  • Offer a quick introduction of who you are, what your company is about, and what you’re looking for in a sales rep
  • Ask a series of straightforward questions
  • Take notes
  • Ask follow up questions
  • Ask the candidate if they have any questions for you
  • Close letting them know when and how you’ll reach out to them next

Ask The Right Questions

The exact questions used during phone screenings will obviously vary from company to company. That said, applicant tracking system, Betterteam, has pinpointed seven key questions that work great for making an initial assessment of a sales candidate. 

Here they are.

Besides that, you may want to ask questions to see how much they know about your company and what makes them a good fit. Some examples include:

  • What products or services do we specialize in?
  • What was it that attracted you to our company?
  • Why makes you a better fit over other candidates?

Again, the goal here isn’t to know a candidate inside and out. It’s to get a basic feel for who they are, what their skill level is like, and how good of a fit they would be for a sales position. These questions should serve as a good starting point, and you can tweak them as needed. 

When it’s all said and done, shoot for somewhere between five to 10 phone screening questions, as that tends to be the sweet spot. 

Treat Each Candidate Equally

It’s also vital that you eliminate any bias and give each candidate the exact same opportunity. “Approach every conversation with a blank slate, and treat each candidate fairly and equally,” writes Robert Half. “Remain fully engaged during every call.”

This should prevent your judgment from being clouded, enabling you to make an accurate assessment of multiple candidates, which brings us to our final point. 

Use Objective Scoring

The final piece of the puzzle is to objectively quantify your results so that you use concrete data when deciding which candidates to advance. Typically, the easiest way to do this is to use a numerical rating system to rate how satisfied you are with a candidate’s response to each question. 

For example:

  • 5 is excellent
  • 4 is good
  • 3 is average
  • 2 is below average
  • 1 is poor 

Then, add these numbers up to score each candidate, and use this to decide who moves onto the next round of hiring. You should also incorporate a sales-specific assessment that uses data and science to objectively evaluate the candidate’s selling skills and capabilities to accurately predict the likelihood of success. 

Improving Overall Hiring With Phone Screening

Phone screening sales candidates is a proven way to filter through a large applicant pool and find the true rockstars. It’s just a matter of developing an efficient system that allows you to move through the process swiftly and seamlessly. 

Need help hiring sales talent. HireDNA sales recruiting platform makes hiring sales reps easy by delivering pre-screened and qualified sales professionals. Request a demo. 

These Are the Top 5 Traits to Look for in a Sales Rep Based on a Mountain of Research

Posted on by hiredna

In another blog post, we talked about the importance of making hiring decisions based on data rather than a hunch. At the end of the day, sticking to a proven formula leads to better hires who are more productive and perform at a consistently high-level. 

It’s all about using science.

In this post, we’re going to expand on this topic and break down the top five traits to look for in a sales rep based on in-depth studies and a boatload of data. Let’s dive right in. 

The Sales Acceleration Formula By Mark Roberge

There are countless bodies of research that have analyzed what makes for a successful sales rep. For instance, sales strategist Steve W. Martin of The Harvard Business Review interviewed 1,000 top tier salespeople and performed personality tests on them in 2011. 

And the University of Florida conducted in-depth research in the early 2000’s to distinguish the difference between “tellers versus sellers.”

Research like this offers a ton of value, but one of the preeminent sources for identifying key traits is the work that former Chief Revenue Officer of HubSpot, Mark Roberge, did in 2015. He exhaustively analyzed a massive amount of data to come up with what he calls The Sales Acceleration Formula, which he wrote a book about. 

One of the key parts of his system is tapping into critical metrics to not only find high level sales reps, but create a more efficient process for doing so. After parsing through the data, Roberge came up with five specific traits he found most important. 

Here they are ranked by their importance. Drumroll…

1. Coachability

Above all else, Roberge found that being coachable and adaptable is the number one characteristic to look for in a sales rep. He specifically mentions how he’s had situations in the past where a rep who had incredible success in a prior position floundered in a new environment simply because they had a rigid attitude and weren’t open to input. For example, they had the mindset of “I’ve been selling for 10 years, and I’ll figure it out.”

But in today’s ultra dynamic business world, having a willingness to accept direction and feedback is of the utmost importance. In fact, some of the top reps Roberge has encountered who have “crushed it” are the ones who have been the most coachable. 

2. Curiosity

Next, he found that having a natural inquisitiveness is huge. Being curious about how a platform works, how it fits into a company’s sales model, how to solve a prospect’s pain points, and so on plays a key role in gaining a deep comprehension, and in turn, being an adept salesperson.

And this is a sentiment that’s shared by many other sales experts, like Matt Sunshine of The Center for Sales Strategy. “Great sellers are naturally curious and they can’t help but ask questions to learn more about how they can help.” In turn, they take that information and tailor their approach to meet the unique needs of each lead head on. 

3. Intelligence

Okay, this one is pretty obvious. A rep should always have a strong intellect and a high-level understanding of your industry, customer psychology, how your platform fits into a lead’s business model, and how to nurture a lead. It’s also helpful when they possess a solid emotional intelligence (EQ), where they know how to navigate issues like addressing prospect concerns, how to collaborate with other team members, and generally how to operate with tact. 

It should be noted that Roberge places intelligence far above what many would consider conventional sales skills like convincing, which involves an aggressive approach. Instead, he says that the top performing reps in this day and age tend to act more as consultants or trusted advisors to leads. They use their business savvy to help leads make critical decisions and explain how a platform can improve operations, rather than trying to “shove a product down their throats.”

4. Work Ethic

This trait should also come as no surprise. “Someone with a great work ethic will accelerate his or her learning curve and operate in a state of constant improvement,” explains The Muse in Forbes. “He or she will always look for ways to be better.”

Naturally being driven and willing to put in the time inevitably positions a rep for success and is integral to their evolution.

5. Prior Success

While prior success doesn’t 100% guarantee success within your company, it definitely factors in heavily. As long as a rep possesses the other four traits listed above, their odds of thriving are excellent. 

When it comes to assessing prior success, David Kurlan of Objective Management Group, explains that there are two specific criteria to look for:

  1. Sales reps reached 100% of their quota or better in a previous position
  2. They were in the top 26% of all salespeople

So, these should definitely be on your radar when assessing candidates. Kurlan also points out that using a science-based sales recruiting platform like HireDNA allows companies to identify reps in the top 6% of the total sales population. 

Always Look to the Data

The Sales Acceleration Formula by Mark Roberge reaffirms what sales recruiting experts have been saying for years. Making smart hiring decisions hinges largely on looking at objective data to make assessments. 

After performing a mountain of research, Roberge was able to pinpoint the top five traits that electrifying reps possess — coachability, curiosity, intelligence, work ethic, and prior success. 

Using a science-based sales recruiting platform allows you to effectively zero in on these areas and provides you with quantifiable data to help you make the right decision. And the best part is that this is something that can easily be rinsed and repeated. 

Want to see how you can streamline your hiring process and find top tier talent? Book a HireDNA demo today. 

Why Hiring Decisions Should Be Based on Data, Not a Hunch

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Using your intuition and “following your gut” can be beneficial at times. And as humans, it’s something we’re naturally wired to do. 

In fact, research psychologist and author Gary Klein found that as many as “90% of the critical decisions we make are based on our intuition.”

But when it comes to critical business decisions like hiring, it’s better to take a data-driven approach rather than merely relying on “a hunch.” Here’s why. 

What the Harvard Business School Has to Say About It

In an article entitled The Advantages of Data-Driven Decision-Making, The Harvard Business Review (HBR) talks about how intuition has become deeply ingrained in the business world and the deep value that’s been placed on it over the years. 

“Society has imbued the concept of ‘intuition’ — of simply knowing when something is right or wrong — with a tremendous amount of prestige, importance, and influence,” the HBR explains. “The concept of intuition has become so romanticized in modern life that it’s now a part of how many people talk about and understand the ‘geniuses’ of our generation.”

They make specific mention to intellectual and business juggernauts, like Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs, who relied heavily on their instinct for guidance. And while intuition has certainly factored into the success of notable figures like these, as well as other massive success stories like Henry Ford and Jeff Bezos, it doesn’t mean that it should be the default for making important hiring decisions.

The HBR says that intuition can definitely be a helpful tool, but there’s a strong body of research that says data-driven organizations have an inherent advantage over their competitors that rely less on data. In fact, they point to a study by PwC that found the former are three times more likely to experience “significant improvements” in decision-making than the latter. 

Let’s Quantify

Given that this article is all about the numbers, it’s only fair that we quantify exactly how much hiring decisions improve by taking a data-driven approach. According to separate research from the HBR, an algorithm that based candidate evaluations off of a simple equation outperformed human decisions by at least 25%. 

Further, using the algorithm allowed researchers to increase the accuracy of choosing productive employees by over 50%. That’s impressive! 

So, what specifically makes data superior to human intuition when it comes to hiring?

Brian Connelly, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management at the University of Toronto summarizes it well by saying, “the problem is that people are easily distracted by things that might be only marginally relevant, and they use information inconsistently.”

It’s also easy to fall into the trap of being overly charmed by a particular candidate’s personality, where you end up overlooking major flaws. You may also pass up a top tier talent simply because they don’t have a striking personality or you don’t feel an instant connection with them. 

This isn’t to say that you should mindlessly rely on machines to make every single hiring decision, and human input should definitely factor into the equation. But at the end of the day, it’s clear that using data is highly important. 

And given the high-powered tools that are readily available, it would be foolish to not take advantage of them. 

Finding Perfect Candidates

In a whitepaper called The Modern Science of Salesperson Selection, David Kurlan of Objective Management Group mentions how extensive research was done to identify “perfect candidates” — those that are virtually no fail and positioned for massive success.

Kurlan boiled it down to two specific criteria:

  • Candidates are top performers who reached 100% of their quota or better
  • They were ranked in the top 26% of all salespeople

Then, by using strong filters to assess core sales competencies, Kurlan was able to pinpoint candidates that were in the top 6% of the total sales population. This shows firsthand how making an objective assessment using the right data can help a company find the best of the best. 

It eliminates the guesswork and allows you to assemble a sales team based on legitimate skill and talent rather than merely a gut feeling. 

What Specific Data-Driven Assessment Tools Should You Use?

There are multiple sales assessment tools on the market, but there’s one in particular we recommend — the OMG Sales Candidate Assessment. It’s designed specifically for sales rather than simply “being tailored for sales” and evaluates 21 core sales competencies (not just personality traits) that have been objectively proven to predict success. 

Here’s what it looks like. 

And here’s a glimpse of the data that went into identifying the 21 core sales competencies that it analyzes. 

Using this tool provides you with a bird’s eye view of what each candidate brings to the table, providing you with quantitative data and allowing you to effectively predict their likelihood of success. 

Studies have found that a staggering 92% of recommended hires through the OMG Sales Candidate Assessment reach the top half of their sales force within a year and that it eliminates 96% of hiring mistakes using proven science. 

It’s even been rated as the number one predictive sales talent assessment for nine years straight by Top Sales World. 

Let’s Recap

Although there’s no denying that instinct can definitely play a role in business success, multiple studies have proven that it has its limitations, especially when it comes to hiring. Companies that choose candidates based on concrete data have a distinct advantage over their competitors that rely solely on emotion. 

It’s just a matter of using the right tool to analyze core sales competencies, and narrowing your candidate pool down to the top performers. 

Want to learn more about the process? Register for a free sales candidate assessment today. 

Are you hiring? Get pre-screened, assessed, and vetted sales candidates tailored to your hiring criteria and unique selling environment. Request a Demo of the HireDNA sales recruiting platform.

The Ultimate Guide to Interviewing and Hiring Rockstar Salespeople

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What makes someone a winner in the sales world?

More importantly, how do you pick them out of the crowd, finding the small handful of champions out of hundreds of applicants?

In this guide, we’ll explain what goes into interviewing and hiring rockstar salespeople, while looking at science-backed data. 

Look for Candidates With These 5 Traits

Mark Roberge, former chief revenue officer of HubSpot, wrote a book called The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to Go from $0 to $100 Million. In it, he talks about how every company will have its own unique sales hiring formula, where the ideal salesperson will possess a distinct set of characteristics. 

That said, Roberge also mentions that there are some specific traits based on quantitative data that rockstar salespeople share across the board and that should always be on your radar when hiring. 

Here’s what those traits are, according to Roberge. 

So, being coachable, curious, and intelligent, while demonstrating a strong work ethic and having a proven record of success should be at the forefront of your mind when reaching out to candidates and conducting interviews. And you’ll want to create interview questions that help you gauge these specific areas. 

For full details, watch this Google talk from Mark Roberge. 

Seek Out Reps Who Can Be Trusted Advisors

One of the interesting points Roberge makes is that some of the characteristics that have historically been valued in salespeople, like being able to convince leads and possessing strong closing skills, were negatively correlated in his model of success. 

In other words, being overly aggressive and “salesy” can now end up doing more harm than good, and what most leads are really looking for is someone who can assume the role of a trusted advisor.

And there’s plenty of other research that backs this up. According to Salesforce, “79% of business buyers say it’s absolutely critical or very important to interact with a salesperson who is a trusted advisor — not just a sales rep — who adds value to their business.”

There’s just one problem. Only 3% of buyers trust reps!

While it may be many hiring manager’s first impulse to seek out slick, high powered reps that are “selling machines,” this data shows that this isn’t usually the best approach. Instead, you should look for candidates that exude trustworthiness and professionalism. Individuals that you could see being a consultant to your leads and who will make them feel comfortable throughout the buying journey — that’s who you want to look for. 

Assess Verbal Communication Skills Over the Phone

These days communication can happen over a variety of different channels, including email, live chat, social media, and even texting — none of which require actually speaking to a customer. That said, research has found that 92% of customer interactions still happen over the phone, with many deals being closed this way. 

That’s why you need to pay close attention to a candidate’s verbal communication skills and look for someone who is clear, articulate, and confident. One of the best ways to assess this is by simply having a brief phone interview during your preliminary round of hiring. 

Within the first few minutes, you should have a pretty good idea of what their verbal communication skills are like, and you can filter out anyone who struggles in this department. 

Can They Give an Epic Presentation?

“69% of consumers believe a product demo best assists them when making a purchase decision.” This is what ultimately connects the dots and lets them see how your product works, what its features are, and how it will make their life easier. 

So, being able to give a killer presentation and show off your product demo is absolutely essential. While this is something that can be learned to some degree, some people are naturally better at giving presentations than others. 

One of the simplest ways to gauge their skills in this area is to have them give you a mock demo. Here are some specific things to look for:

  • The ability to instantly build rapport
  • Deep knowledge of your industry and product
  • Taking a personalized approach
  • Making smooth segues
  • Asking relevant questions at opportune times
  • Being able to seamlessly handle objections and concerns
  • And most important great listening skills

Use an Interview Questionnaire and Scorecard

A common mistake many hiring managers make when interviewing and hiring is relying on “a gut feeling.” Don’t get me wrong, sometimes going on instinct works out fine. But other times, it can be a disaster and lead to excessive turnover, which negatively impacts productivity and profitability. 

Fortunately, we’re living in an era where data is more plentiful than ever, and taking a data-driven, scientific approach has never been easier. By using in-depth analysis, the right processes, and powerful tools, top sales leaders have been able to boost sales force productivity by 200% and close 3x more leads. 

An easy way to generate quantitative data when interviewing and hiring is to use a sales interview questionnaire and scorecard. By downloading a free template, you can streamline your interviewing process and ensure consistency across your pool of applicants. In turn, you’re able to evaluate candidates more effectively and identify those that align perfectly with your ideal candidate profile and hiring criteria, moving them swiftly to the next round of hiring. 

This keeps everyone on the same page and can be a massive time saver. Here’s a peak at what the HireDNA sales interview questionnaire and scorecard looks like. 

Finding Unicorns in a Sea of Donkeys

Interviewing and hiring aren’t always easy. With the average job attracting around 250 resumes, the sheer volume of applicants alone can be overwhelming. 

But developing a formula and focusing on critical areas, such as essential traits and abilities, should help you navigate the process with relative ease. Combine that with tools like a sales interview questionnaire and scorecard, and you can find rockstar salespeople who truly stand out, while developing a repeatable system. 

See how you can use the HireDNA sales recruiting platform to hire better sales talent, faster, using data and science to reduce hiring mistakes.

Here Are the Most Important Traits to Look for in a Software Sales Recruiter

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The Saas industry is on fire. According to a global forecast, it’s expected to grow from $272 billion in 2018 to $623 billion by 2023, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 18%. 

While this presents plenty of opportunity, it also comes with growing competition. And the SaaS companies that thrive are the ones with skilled software sales recruiters, as they’re integral for assembling a winning team. 

Here’s a list of the most important skills — both hard and soft — to look for in a software sales recruiter. 

A Proven Record of SaaS Success

First off, they need to have a track record of success and plenty of proven experience. Ideally, a software sales recruiter will have at least a Bachelor’s degree in business, human resources, technology, or a related field. However, this can extend into other areas of study as well. 

In terms of real-world experience, common jobs qualified experts have before becoming a recruiter include sales, operations, administrative, support, and research. 

Candidates should have a minimum of five years of experience and firsthand knowledge working with SaaS products. This brings us to our next trait. 

Being Comfortable with SaaS and Recruiting Technology

To thrive in this position, a recruiter needs to have in-depth experience both with SaaS and recruiting technology. When it comes to SaaS, this can include:

  • Sales
  • Programming
  • Digital operations
  • Virtualization
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Administrative tasks

As for recruiting technology, this can include:

  • Sourcing talent using software programs
  • Candidate profiling and screening
  • Using data-driven tools for candidate evaluation

Familiarity with Software Sales KPIs

When evaluating candidates, there’s a definitive list of key performance indicators (KPIs) a software sales recruiter should pay attention to. This allows them to make an objective assessment and determine how good of a fit a rep would be for your team. 

Here are some specific KPIs a recruiter should be familiar with:

  • First response time – How long it takes a rep to follow up with leads
  • Sales closing ratio – How many quotes a rep sends out and how many deals they close
  • Average conversion time – How long it takes for a rep to convert a lead
  • Sales targets – The number of deals that are closed over a period of time

A Deep Understanding of SaaS Trends 

As you’re probably well aware, the SaaS industry is rapidly evolving. There are currently over 10,000 private SaaS companies, and 80% of businesses use at least one SaaS application. 

At the current rate of adoption, both of these numbers should only continue to increase. Just look at how the SaaS market has grown over the past decade. 

For a software sales recruiter to be successful, it’s vital that they see the big picture and pay close attention to statistics like these. They should have a genuine passion for SaaS trends and always be up-to-date on what’s happening in this incredibly dynamic industry. 

Besides simply knowing the numbers, they need to have a deep understanding of the greater context and how everything fits together collectively, as this will inform their recruiting strategies and impact the direction of your business. Additionally, being open to new ideas, like participating in a sales recruiting training and certification programs, will help a recruiter continually evolve and stay ahead of the pack.  

A Science-Based Approach to Recruiting

Up until now, we’ve discussed the hard skills to look for in a recruiter. But there are also some essential soft skills they should possess. One of the most important is that they take a science-based approach to recruiting.

“The future of recruiting is scientific, data-driven, and businesslike,” explains author, professor, and HR advisor Dr. John Sullivan. “The roadblock to that transition is our current ‘art not science’ approach where intuitive recruiters act like artists who want 100% freedom over how they work.”

Sullivan also adds that scientific recruiting has some major benefits, including:

  • A more efficient, systematic hiring process
  • More consistency
  • Faster hiring speed
  • The utilization of concrete data to fine-tune hiring over time
  • Recruiter accountability

And in the long run, it often leads to increased team productivity because of the overall higher quality level of your hires. The bottom line here is that you’ll want to look for a software sales recruiter who turns to science rather than merely “a hunch” when assembling your team. 

Exceptional Interpersonal and Communication Skills 

The other main soft skill is being inherently gifted at communication. This role requires exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with a recruiter acting as liaison between company leaders and job candidates. It’s also a position that at times demands brutal honesty with candidates where they may have to provide unpleasant feedback.

Although certain elements of social skills like these can be learned, it’s ideal for a recruiter to be gifted with them naturally. So, how do you assess this when looking at a potential software sales recruiter?

First, see how their in-person communication compares with their resume or cover letter. “A person’s ‘voice’ or way of communicating should be similar, whether they are writing or speaking,” says career coach April Klimkiewicz. 

Next, ask a few communication centered interview questions. Some examples include, “Tell me how you go about giving bad news to a candidate that they won’t be hired for a position,” or “How do you handle conflicts that arise in the workplace?”

Finally, pay attention to how they listen because this accounts for 45% of communication. 

Landing a Top Tier Software Sales Recruiter 

Finding the right recruiter is vital to your SaaS company’s success. It improves the overall quality of your hires, lowers turnover, and gives your business a competitive advantage. 

Knowing which specific traits to look for should help you systematize your approach and base your decision on the most critical criteria.  

Note that many companies have greater success outsourcing this process to a professional technology sales recruiter. See how HireDNA can help you source, screen, and qualify candidates using powerful recruiting technology and science-based sales assessments.