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Experience tells us that the 80/20 rule applies to salespeople: 20% of our sales staffs account for 80% of our revenue. They are our A+ players and we pray for long, healthy lives for them and that they will always be a member of our team.
Good managers are always looking for the next star. It’s more difficult than ever to find ANYONE who wants to sell radio, let alone that one in a million who will be your next top performer. As we go through the interview path, how do we identify the great ones? If your experience has been like mine, great performers come in many shapes, sizes, genders, and social styles. How do we know?
There are some characteristics that all great sellers have in common. When I see these traits emerging in interviews, my heart starts beating a bit faster. I hire the “I” and train the “R”. The “I” is a person’s identity. It is who they really are. The “R”, the role of salesperson, can be trained. The “I” will remain, and if it isn’t strong, it will limit the person's ability to succeed in their role.
What do I look for?
How does the person organize their day? Are they list-makers? Do they plan days or weeks ahead? What device do they use to manage their schedules? Great salespeople are well-organized. They are planners. They are list-makers.
Can the person self-manage? One of the best things about radio sales is the amount of freedom we have. One of the worst things about radio sales is the amount of freedom we have. No one is standing over the seller 8 hours a day. Call reports can be fudged (Ok, who out there has NOT fudged one?) The great sellers make a plan and work the plan. Every day.
Does the person have what I call the Olympic Athlete Syndrome? Are they competitive not just with their teammates, but also with their own numbers. Truly great sellers are always working to beat their own numbers. They must have “A’s”. They will do whatever it takes to hit and exceed their goals. Which leads us to the next thing I look for…
Are they driven? Truly driven? Will they take that hill no matter the cost? That internal drive cannot be taught. You either have it or you don’t. Hire people who have it.
Can they focus? Every day presents many opportunities to lose focus on your work plan. Many sellers are still working remotely. They may be making calls from their kitchens. Do they let themselves be distracted by doing laundry, chasing the kids around, drinking another cup of coffee? This coffee syndrome extends to office space as well. There are time wasters everywhere.
Are they tenacious? Are they persistent? How many people have we seen come in for 3 months, realize this is a real job, and get discouraged and quit. The first year is tough. The second year is a little better. Top billers come and stay. They recognize that success comes with making this a career, not a job.
The economy goes up and down, sometimes it shuts down! Does this person have the ability to ride through it? What does their previous work history show?
And on that note, can they take rejection without resorting to substances that alter their mood? This is a hard one to know in an interview. Remember we are hiring the “I”. If the “I” has a problem, it will show up in their role. Great salespeople let the rejection roll off them and move on to the next prospect.
Is the person stable? This goes to the paragraph above. Selling radio, selling anything, is not an easy job. The great sellers have stability that comes from somewhere: family, friends, church. If their personal life is a mess, it will translate into trouble at work. It is a rare person who can separate the two and keep functioning well when their life is imploding around them. These people do exist, and I’ve worked with some of them. If you have one of these, hang on to them! If we live long enough, we all go through difficult personal times.
You hear a lot today, especially from younger people, about a work/life balance. I agree with this and would insert work/life/spirit balance. Great sellers figure out how to balance their time to accommodate all areas. In interviews, I probe this a bit. Sometimes that work/life balance leans heavily to the “life” part. Here’s the thing: if you love what you do, it doesn’t seem like work. If you exceed 8-5, you don’t mind. But if you use your time efficiently, you can get a lot done in normal work hours.
Do they have vision? What are their dreams? Are they coasting, or working toward something? No 20%’ers are coasters.
Finally, I look for a quality one of my mentors identified for me when I was a young pup seller. My manager had congratulated me on my performance that month. I responded with, “Thanks, but I am really concerned about next month.” He laughed and said something I have never forgotten. He said, “Pat all the best sellers run scared.” He is right. All the best sellers I work with run scared. I look for that to identify the top 20%.
I do use assessments to help me ferret out the great sellers. These assessments highlight many of the items above. I check references. And sometimes I get a “gut feel” for the person, especially if they are new to sales.
As they say, you find great sellers as you find eagles, one at a time. When cloning becomes a reality for humans, I have a few sellers I will gladly clone and fill openings in several stations. But until then, I continue to hunt for the great ones!
Happy selling and happy hunting!
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