How to Hire Salespeople w/ Bridget Gleason [Episode 653]

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner on Front Line Fridays.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Andy has read a book to discuss: Never Hire a Bad Salesperson Again: Selecting Candidates Who Are Absolutely Driven to Succeed, by Chris Croner, based on the idea that you can identify candidates with drive.
• Chris lays out in the book a detailed process about what drive is and how to identify it in the candidates you are looking to hire.
• Chris says there are three elements of drive. The first is a need to achieve outstanding results by virtually whatever it takes to succeed. It involves tough goals. The second element is a love of competition with self and others.
• A sale is viewed as a contest of wills with the customer. There is always an adversarial element there. The third element is optimism. They are certain of their ability to win. Andy relates to these elements. Achievement is key.
• Andy relates his love of competition to his performance in business, bicycling, and swimming. Bridget is so competitive that she has to be really intentional about ‘hobbies,’ like golf.
• Andy’s current competition in business is with himself more than against others. As Andy reflects back on top producers he has observed, he sees they have these three elements of drive.
• Andy refers to his recent conversation with Libby Gill, author of The Hope-Driven Leader: Manage the Power of Positivity at Work. Optimism is hopeful. There is a science that has risen around the study of hope and positivity.
• Hope is optimism or expectation with a plan. The ability to succeed and the desire to succeed have to be matched by the belief that you can succeed. Chris’s company, SalesDrive, offers an assessment tool for drive.
• Andy also read Recruit Rockstars: The 10 Step Playbook to Find the Winners and Ignite Your Business, by Jeff Hyman. Jeff advocates a data-driven process for hiring to mitigate the emotion from hiring. He uses a scorecard.
• Jeff advocates that three or four people interview a candidate and keep score, asking the exact same questions in the exact same order. Jeff offers example questions and recommends assessments and testing.
• Reference checks are meant to be disqualifiers, not validations of decisions you already made. First impressions can also be disqualifiers.
• Andy recommends both books for hiring salespeople.