The Sales Boss

CHAPTER 6 Understanding the Market for Hiring

What is this mythical creature called the superstar salesperson? If you’ve ever had one on your team, you know the value that such a person adds. They consistently out-perform their peers. They relentlessly slay dragons, bring home the bacon, and make it look easy. They live to sell. This chapter is designed to help you get them on your team. Once you have one, make sure you take good care of him or her. These people will make everything else you and the company need to do easier.

Why Hiring a Superstar Salesperson Is Tough

Perhaps nothing is more difficult and more important for the success of a business than hiring the right salespeople. Remember, in any business nothing happens until somebody sells something! Nobody pays the mortgage, no kids are sent to college, no retirements are funded until the salespeople can close business and bring revenue in the door. Unfortunately for many companies, hiring a salesperson has become a bit like buying a boat, the happiest day being when one is bought (hired) and the second happiest being the day it is sold (fired).

Just consider your experience. You decide the time is right to add a salesperson to the team and you excitedly begin tallying up how an “X” increase in the business will solve so many of the challenges facing your company. You know that additional customers and revenue will create the exact thing your company needs right now to achieve its goals. You post the job, you sort ...