Part Three: Why Even Talented Sales Teams Fail

In the final part of this 3-part series on hiring successful Sales Reps by Mike Campanella, President & CEO of Prevue, he discusses the common reasons that salespeople fail, and how to avoid those mistakes.

The key to building a successful sales team is hiring truly talented, resilient individuals that thrive in a high-stress environment.

But make no mistake, these people aren’t easy to find. In fact, sales candidates are often adept at convincing hiring managers that they have exactly what it takes. Moreover, they may actually believe that they do, regardless of how poorly qualified they may be. Even an impressive resume may contain exaggerations or outright lies as Time.com reports that 56% of candidates lie on their resume.

Using an Assessment to Determine Fit

Prevue Assessments coupled with a Prevue Benchmark quickly allows companies to identify their ideal candidates without having to rely on faulty first impressions. Furthermore, this metric determines just how much potential a candidate has, irrespective of training and experience, as these things aren’t always reliable indicators of future performance. Using a Sales Hunter Benchmark, for example, allows employers to see exactly what a potential hires strengths and weaknesses are, in order to determine if they’ll be able to withstand the “boiler room” environment.

It is important that employers only hire people with a high workplace aptitude and that show potential in the role. As such, staying as close as possible to the ideal benchmark for each role is the key to success. If they don’t, then managers will find they allocate most of their energy compensating for hires that simply don’t thrive in a high-stress environment.

Why Talent Fails

Once a company acquires a talented roster for its sales team, it has the most crucial element for future success. With that being said, there are myriad ways it may fail, even with the best of the best. For one thing, even the most talented group of individuals may struggle under poor management. And this is especially true in sales. Since sales hunters are fiercely independent, emotional people, they won’t flourish under micromanagement.

With that in mind, absentee leadership won’t promote success, either. Each member of the team needs to understand the company vision, as well as exactly what steps they’ll need to reach it. As such, managers must create a clear, detailed description of each goal as it relates to this vision. Once they do, their team will feel inspired.

Similarly, leaders mustn’t leave star performers by the wayside. Often, the poorest performers receive the most coaching; however, success depends upon the team as a whole. No one should feel that their development plateaus due to a lack of engagement. In fact, star performers should receive a great deal of attention, too. For one thing, these individuals are driving future growth. Not only do they acquire more revenue, but they motivate the team at large. As a result, focusing on their development will reduce employee turnover, and drive the team ahead.

To learn more about hiring to the Lightning Bolt benchmark, please contact Prevue for a free demo.

You can find Part Two of this three-part series here: How to Hire the Most Talented Candidate for Every Sales Role

You can find Part Three of this three-part series here: Why Even Talented Sales Teams Fail