Mis-hiring of sales reps is THE number one sales management mistake. And once this sales management mistake is committed there is no corrective action that will make up for it.

I am continually amazed at how many dumb companies have no formalized sales management hiring process. They do not use sophisticated sales profiles, they have no pre-determined structured interview questions, they have no training for interviewers on how to conduct sales simulation interviews. They do not use pre-hire sales assessment tools that can predict success. They do not conduct adequate reference checks. They do not conduct background checks or DMV checks. They have no way to verify previous income.  And – this is huge – they have no formalized 90 day ‘onboarding’ process for new sales reps.

No wonder only 20 percent of their sales reps are producing at high levels.

If you hire the wrong sales candidate, no amount of sales training, sales coaching and/or mentoring will make up for this mistake!

If you want to increase your odds of hiring a sales super star you would be well advised to (a) benchmark the position you are hiring for by identifying the talents, skills, attitudes and behaviors that the position requires; (b) profile each sales candidate prior to interviewing them to determine if they have the “right stuff”; (c) conduct sales simulation interviews to determine how the sales candidate performs under pressure; and (d) conduct thorough background checks, including department of motor vehicle checks, drug tests, previous employment and income verification.

If a candidate doesn’t have enough of the most critical traits, they do not get hired because you can’t train them to perform in one way when their DNA, personal attributes, or other strong tendencies are inconsistent with sales success.

If you do hire them, make sure you have a 90 day detailed ‘onboarding’ plan that will get them up and running quickly. If during the 90 day ‘onboarding’ process you find you have made a hiring mistake  simply terminate them and start the entire process again.

No matter how well your process, you will make some hiring mistakes – just don’t hold on to your mistakes and try to make “chicken salad out of chicken manure”.