Sales Recruiting

Sales Recruiting: Hire a Racehorse

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Sales Recruiting is arguably the most important element in building a successful company. Without a solid sales team to spread the word and secure orders, companies are facing an uphill battle.

If you're in the market to hire a new salesperson or wondering why the salespeople you've hired in the past aren't producing, here are some important characteristics of top salespeople that may help you improve your Sales Recruiting skills.

Hire a Racehorse

Based on my experience, top salespeople are a special breed. Salespeople are kind of like horses. Some horses are destined to be racehorses, while others are better suited for plowing fields or carriage rides. Top salespeople are similar to great racehorses in that both seem to have huge drive and huge egos. Racehorses can be a bit tempermental, even tough to work with at times, but their inner drive helps them win and deliver more sales for their companies.

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Companies and sales managers hoping to jumpstart their sales production hire racehorse-like salespeople. One of the biggest mistakes I see companies make with their Sales Recruiting efforts is that they look for and ultimately hire "nice", as in "I think he/she will fit in nicely with our team". In other words, they hire a plow horse. Plow horses are nice. They work 'til they drop and don't have and aggressive bone in their bodies. They tend to move rather slowly, and so will your sales if you hire salespeople like this.

To be successful in sales, customers must like and trust their salespeople, and the salesperson needs to have the skills to move a customer forward quickly. I'm not suggesting that you hire overaggressive salespeople, just likable, positive people who have honed their selling skills.

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