Management has much to be concerned with. The economy is improving but many domestic and global threats remain. Job creation is increasing but unemployment remains high. But lurking in the shadows is a risk few companies are prepared to address.
According to the Bureau of Labor statistics the number of sales jobs will grow at a rate of 7% to 13% (industry dependent) over the next nine years. However the number of sales candidates ages 25 to 40 entering the work force will grow at less than 1%.

For sales organizations recruiting on a large scale, demand will far outweigh supply. Access to the highly desirable demographic of college educated salespeople with 3 to 5 years of sales experience will be extremely limited. An extreme shortage of college educated sales candidates with 1-5 years already exists in several markets.

Fewer qualified salespeople sets the stage for increased competition. Most salespeople who are worth their salt are already working. The pool of available sales talent is shrinking. More competition means the cost of finding and attracting candidates will increase. The balance of power is shifting from business to the candidate. Organizations of all sizes will find themselves in a war for sales talent unlike anything we have experienced in the past 5 years.

Most companies invest between $250 and $1000 just to get a single sales candidate in for an interview. With this level of investment on the line (not to mention the soft cost of time invested by recruiters) it is imperative that your hiring team put the best foot forward with potential candidates.

There is no magic pill for winning the sales talent war. The market for sales talent has changed. Many organizations are simply ill equipped to compete for sales talent in the new market paradigm. The brutal reality is if you hope to take advantage of growth opportunities presented by the improving economy, and stay ahead of your competition you must be fully staffed with qualified salespeople ready to sell.

Trends in 2012
• It will likely cost more to compete for top sales talent. Analyze your current sales recruiting budget.
• Employer branding is critical to attracting top sales talent. The best salespeople want to work for the best companies. Consider enhancing your employment brand.
• Leading edge organizations will utilize multiple recruiting sources that help them reach as many sales candidates as possible. Multiple sources improve your probability of getting in front the right sales candidate at just the right time.
• Your existing sales team is at risk when competition is high. Other companies will gladly promise your best people more money, benefits, opportunities for promotion etc., to lure them away from you.
• The pressure to increase and maintain sales headcount will place a premium on sales recruiting and retention efforts.
In 2012 the job market will be flooded with available sales jobs. With so many choices available to candidates, sales recruiters and hiring managers will be challenged with gaining the attention of potential sales candidates. Maintaining a robust pipeline of qualified candidates will become a huge challenge.

Source: The Emerging War for Talent (SalesGravy.com)
“Reprinted with permission from Ira S Wolfe and
Success Performance Solutions. Copyright 2010 Ira S Wolfe.”

When it comes to assessing a candidate’s fit for sales one size definitely does not fit all.

Traits like assertiveness, criticism tolerance (ability to take a no), and resilience may be good enough to have when “getting past the gatekeeper”and “closing a sale” are the two most critical skills required. But selling complex products or differentiating a company’s services from its competitors require consultative and relationship selling skills that many salespeople do not have.

For example, transactional sales, especially those based on primarily on price, depend upon the ability to get people to accept your call, negotiate the best deal, and close quickly. More complex selling opportunities require extensive product knowledge, broad competitive intelligence, excellent relationship management skills, and resilience. Years of experience and a decade’s worth of President Club awards are not necessarily transferrable from one industry to another, one company to another, or even one territory or product from another.

Before hiring or promoting your salesperson, here are eight questions you must ask before interviewing and assessing candidates.

1. What product or services are you selling? Success in selling requires a lot more than a few years of experience and the completion of a sales skills training. Adding value and differentiating your company from the rest of a crowded market requires finesse and advanced skills.

2. To whom are you selling? Selling promotional products to a retail shop owner compared to selling an enterprise wide human resource information system require very different sales skill sets.

3. How competitive is the market place? If you are the only game in town, or at least considered the industry leader, salespeople can lean on the company’s reputation for credibility. But what if your company or product is unfamiliar to your prospects? The most important skill a salesperson might need is the ability to build endorsement.

4. Is this a new territory or a mature one? Similar to the competitiveness of the market place, developing a new territory or working a mature market require different selling styles and skills. You are likely familiar with “hunters” and “farmers.” It’s much easier to introduce yourself as the new account manager when a customer down the street has been doing business with your company for several years than trying to get the prospect to take a chance on an unknown.

5. How long is a typical sales cycle? The longer the cycle, the more skills are required. The longer the selling cycle, the more the salesperson will have to have a process and system in place to track and follow leads and referrals. The salesperson must be patient and resilient and equipped to stick it out for the long haul. Products or services will long selling cycles often have bigger rewards but many salespeople are more motivated and skilled at shorter cycle, faster rewards. That leads us to the compensation question.

6. How do salespeople get paid? This is a complex and complicated question. But the more commission based the compensation, the more money management skills the salesperson must have to deal with the ups and downs of income, especially for longer selling cycles. Few hiring managers take this into consideration before hiring the high potential candidate. Unfortunately many sales failures have nothing to do with sales skills but the short term income to pay the mortgage and put food on the table while waiting for the big commission check.

7. Who is responsible for lead generation? If developing new business is a requirement for the job, then assessing the sales candidate’s track record or potential for identifying new customers, cold calling, qualifying them, and developing new relationships must be part of the hiring equation. For the company that has a steady stream of warm leads, finding qualified candidates just got a lot easier. Do not assume however that the ability to contact warm leads and qualify them is a predictive indicator of the ability to identify new customers and cold call them.

8. Who is responsible for writing and presenting proposals? The ability to write and present are critical communication skills in today’s marketplace. Unfortunately few salespeople have mastered these skills at a level necessary to compete effectively.

Asking these questions is one thing. Getting this information quickly and accurately is another. Sales pre-employment tests are an excellent way to complement and enhance the interview and reference check process. The right combination of assessments can confirm if a candidate has the potential to learn or meet your job requirements as well as the resilience and motivation to persist through good times and bad.

“Reprinted with permission from Ira S Wolfe and Success Performance Solutions. Copyright 2010 Ira S Wolfe.”

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, shares her tips on how to leave a great sales voice mail.

(Movie: A Few Good Men)

Sales Humor – A Few Good Salesmen

SALES: “You want answers?”

FINANCE: “I think we are entitled to them!”

SALES: “You want answers?”

FINANCE: (YELLING): “I want the truth!”

SALES: (YELLING): “You can’t handle the truth!!!”

SALES: (Continuing): Son, we live in a world that requires revenue. And that revenue must be brought in by people with elite skills. People who thrive on cold-calling, rejection and false promises. Who’s going to find it? You? You, Mr. Operations? We have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom.

You scoff at sales divisions and you curse our lucrative incentives, commissions and bonus plans. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what we know: that while the cost of business results are excessive, it drives in the revenue.

And my very existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, drives REVENUE! You don’t want to know the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at staff meetings……you want me on that sales call. You NEED me on that sales call.

We use words like value, needs analysis, return on investment and global purchase agreements. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent negotiating contracts. You use them as a punch line!

I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to people who rise and sleep under the very blanket of revenue I provide and then question the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just say “thank you” and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up the phone and make a sales call. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

FINANCE: “Did you expense the lap dances?”

SALES: “I did the job I was hired to do.”

FINANCE: (YELLING): “Did you expense the lap dances?”

SALES: (YELLING): “You’re darn right I did!”