Assessing and hiring sales representatives is an important process for any organization, as these individuals play a crucial role in driving revenue and promoting the company's products or services. However, it's also important to avoid certain pitfalls during this process, as making the wrong hiring decision can be costly and disruptive to the organization. Here's a quick brush-up on what a sales representative is and why they are still important in the current scenario.

What exactly is a Sales Representative?

Sales representatives are in charge of communicating the advantages of a company's products to increase sales. They act as the point of contact between a company and its prospects or clients, and their responsibilities include identifying and educating prospective customers and providing information and assistance to existing clients about products and services. Strong interpersonal and communication skills, as well as a Bachelor's degree in business or a related field, are frequently required. For a deeper dive into crafting the perfect resume for this role, explore our Account Manager Resume Tips.

What is the significance of a Sales Representative?

The following are the duties and responsibilities of a sales representative:

Prospective customers are sold products and services using solid arguments.
Performing cost-benefit analyses on current and prospective customers
Keeping positive business relationships in order to ensure future sales

Much has been written about marketing technology's rise and how it may eventually replace traditional sales processes. However, sales representatives continue to play an important role in converting prospects and closing deals. While an integrated marketing platform can increase the effectiveness of your sales team and streamline their workloads, technology is not a complete substitute for human interaction.

Prior to the Internet, buyers obtained the majority of their information directly from sales representatives who nurtured prospects over the phone. However, all of that has changed in a relatively short period of time. For the past few years, content marketing has been all the rage in the B2B sales world, cementing the notion that sales employees are being phased out. Several studies have found that buyers are increasingly contacting salespeople later in their journeys.

This is largely due to businesses providing content that enables decision-makers to make informed choices. However, according to Joanne Black's article for Salesforce, sales employees continue to play an important role in guiding the buyer's journey.

Modern buyers do not skimp on research. In fact, 86% of B2B decision-makers conduct independent information searches outside of the traditional sales cycle. A prospect is unlikely to contact you without first reviewing your website. This also implies that prospects are aware of your competitors' offerings. If your employees aren't proactive in managing the buyer's journey, you could easily lose business, which is especially damaging for small, growing businesses.

5 things to avoid while assessing and hiring a sales representative

A great sales team does not appear by chance. It is a procedure that begins the moment you decide to hire new employees. This process, from creating an ad to conducting final interviews, should not be taken lightly. There is no room for error when it comes to attracting the best candidates.

Remember that the sales professionals you select will have a significant impact on your team's short- and long-term success. However, many sales organizations make the same mistakes over and over again, which can be costly and waste both the organization's and the applicant's time. Here are the top five mistakes that sales organizations make when hiring new sales reps:

1. Assessments Not Limited to Sales Professionals

If assessments are used to determine whether a candidate is a good fit, make sure they evaluate sales talent. Otherwise, you risk hiring good workers but poor sellers. Unique characteristics and competencies are required in sales. Sellers should be more than just friendly; they should also be skilled armchair psychologists and active listeners. They should be able to express empathy and be fluent in nonverbal communication. These are the soft skills that are most important for sales success. Applicants may still develop such traits and skills depending on the level of sales professional being hired, such as SDRs. Nonetheless, sales-specific traits such as motivation, the ability to think outside the box, and adaptability to new situations should be assessed.

2. Do not interview anyone unless their sales abilities have been evaluated

You're about to make a significant financial investment in this new salesperson. This investment includes not only their employment costs, which are already high but also the enormous cost of missed opportunities. The cost of acquiring new customers is five times that of servicing existing customers.

The cost of generating leads
The price of marketing
The cost of support personnel
Travel expenses

The most significant cost is the cost of a lost opportunity! This is the type of sales opportunity that a great salesperson would have converted but a poor salesperson cannot. The cost of these missed opportunities to your company is many times greater than the money you will waste simply paying a 'dud' salesperson not to sell.

Use a proven, objective sales candidate assessment tool to evaluate them. If you want to know who will or will not be successful in selling your product in your market, HireQuotient’s candidate screening tool is the most effective sales assessment tool. Before you fall in love with any candidate, this should be your first step.

3. Believing someone's claims without evidence

Keep in mind that you are interviewing salespeople! Any information you desire to hear will be provided by a lousy salesperson. The following would always be true if you trust them and their CV or resume:

Never has a salesperson been fired.

Each salesperson frequently exceeded their allotted budget.

The size of their territories has always increased.

They've completed numerous sizable transactions with Blue Chip corporations.

They received a promotion.

They've never had a failure!

You can press them to show evidence, or you can choose to accept this as hogwash.

Ask them to bring in their pay stubs to show proof of their bonuses and commissions if they surpass their goals.

Ask them to bring in their sales strategies for the next three years if they have expanded their areas.

4. Depending Only on Work History

Another pitfall is depending too heavily on work experience, much like the gut feeling. Of course, it's crucial to evaluate the candidate's performance in previous roles that might be applicable to your own. All sales companies do, however, have distinctive procedures.

Furthermore, not all sales positions are created the same. Before assessing whether a candidate is a suitable fit for your company, hiring managers must take into account the kinds of goods and services they sell, the industries and work environments, as well as a candidate's drive, communication, and personality. Previous achievement does not guarantee future success in a different setting. It also shows no sign of adaptability.

5. Insufficiently diverse panel

Once a candidate has passed your initial screening, your hiring committee must reflect that diversity. Simply said, candidates' objectives have changed, and your organization must portray itself in the best possible light. It is now diversified in terms of both gender and ethnicity.

Top sales companies are aware that their client-reflective teams must exist. Applicants could get the wrong impression from a panel that lacks diversity and become uneasy with your company as a result. Additionally, your staff is best positioned to respond to inquiries and bring up significant problems and considerations. They can offer information to aid in making the best choices because they, too, have a stake in who joins.

Hiring a sales representative is a gamble without keeping the right tools in place. With skill assessments that are constantly upgraded HireQuotient provides a solution that saves time and the effort you might need to hire a sales representative for your company. Give our experts a quick call and let the, help you set up a foolproof hiring process that can help you bag the sales representative ninja that’s wort every penny you invest.

How to Assess and Hire Sales Representative?