With all the advances in every area of life, you’d think hiring the right salespeople would be an exact science at this point. It isn’t. Hiring the right people is a combination of science and philosophy and you have to use both effectively in order to hire someone who ultimately “makes it.” Here are the aspects to “employ” in order to employ the right salespeople.

Keys to Hiring Top Sales Reps

Hiring tip #1: Only hire employed winners.

An unemployed salesperson out looking for a job is a major red flag. Unless someone’s company just blew up, or there is some other crazy extenuating circumstance, a salesperson looking for a job should, at the very least, still be employed. That said, an employed salesperson out looking for a job is a yellow flag. People do switch jobs for a variety of perfectly legitimate reasons related to family or other solid personal reasons, just make sure the reason is a good one and they can back up the stellar sales skills they claim to have. In reality, most salespeople are looking for a job because they can’t sell and they either got let go, or are about to. Don’t hire someone else’s problem without a lot of due diligence.

Hiring tip #2: Only hire within your industry if you recruited the person.

If you find a stellar salesperson you want working for you instead of the competition, great, otherwise avoid your industry like the plague. Someone within the same industry looking for a job elsewhere does so because they can’t sell. Again, unless there is an extenuating circumstance with the company or product, the problem is the salesperson.

Hiring tip #3: Always be on the lookout for good salespeople.

Even if you are not hiring right now, build your list of candidates for when you are. That great salesperson who just sold you your car, boat, or home alarm system is a good prospect to come work for you now or at some point in the future. It’s simple, winners win. A winning salesperson in another industry can learn to sell just as effectively in your industry. Also, truly great salespeople can make the transition from products to services and from phone sales to in-person sales and vice versa.

Hiring tip #4: Hire self-esteem, self-confidence, and the right attitude.

Lacking any of these three is the number one reason salespeople fail. A lack of activity, blaming the economy and other outside circumstances, and ultimately not doing what needs to be done every day whether you feel like it or not, all come down to an issue with one or all of these three.

Also, you want someone with a strong work ethic who is seeking a career instead of a job.

Hiring tip #5: Have a hiring process.

Have several people put their eyes on a potential hire. Meet all their decision makers such as spouses. Do all your testing, check all paperwork, cross all your T’s and dot all your I’s. Don’t take shortcuts, have a process and stick to it like a pilot doing preflight.

Hiring tip #6: Shake up the testing process.

Telling an applicant you are about to hire that they did not get the job, bringing them to an event with an open bar, playing golf with a candidate, or visiting them at their home, are some great ways to find out what people are really like. While you should absolutely use personality tests, in-office interviews, and other standard, accepted hiring practices as your foundation, realize that most tests can be beaten, and most people can put their best mask on temporarily. To find out what people are really like, move them out of the typical hiring environment.

Hiring tip #7: Be skeptical of references, especially personal references.

Anyone can find a brother-in-law, friend they went to college with, or a third cousin twice removed to say the candidate is the best thing since the wheel. If they are that good, the wheel never would have been invented.

Hiring tip #8: Start not with what your company can do for them….

Be wary of people who lead by asking what the base or draw is and what benefits they will get.

Hiring tip #9: Candidates should be transparent and forthcoming.

Yes, applicants should be willing to give you access to all their social media information, and all their other information for that matter. That said, you should be able to find enough information on applicants without having to get social media passwords. It’s just another good test to see if the applicant may have something to hide. Also, someone with a very small or no online footprint is an orange flag. Investigate further.

Hiring tip #10: Have standards and stick to them as if your life depends upon it….

Because the life of your business does depend upon it. In addition to hiring standards, you need performance standards and time lines that are agreed upon. Accountability is extremely important.

Hiring tip #11: Hire slowly and fire quickly.

Do the work and don’t cut corners. A lot of work on the front end will avoid a lot of pain once you hire the person and they don’t work out. Also, once you realize you have a duck instead of a swan, and they are not living up to the standards agreed upon under tip #10, cut the cord fast.

Hiring tip #12: Provide the right environment.

It doesn’t help to hire the right people if you bring them into an environment where chronic underperformers, negative people, a lack of support, and other similar cancers exist.