1. Part IV SALES FORCE COMPETENCIES
Chapter 7:
Recruiting and Selecting Sales Personnel

2. Chapter 7: Outline Recruitment And Selection Planning Recruit
Candidates
Select
Prospects
Validating
the Process

3. Planning Process: Personnel Needs. Company Culture. Job Analysis.
Job Qualifications.
Legality of Job Qualifications.

4. Planning process
The recruiting planning process should include a preliminary analysis of personnel needs, company culture, a job analysis, job description with the necessary job qualifications.
Proper planning will help ensure the success of the recruiting process and provide more time for locating the best candidates.

5. Planning process Personnel needs :
The number of new salespeople needed will depend on several factors, including sales growth targets, distribution strategies, changes in sales force organization, and sales force turnover.
Understanding the reasons for salesperson turnover is an important factor in assessing personnel needs.

6. Planning process
Turnover means the rate at which salespersons leave jobs, which is calculated using :
Turnover rate = separation per year/average size of the sales force
So if 30 people leave each year, and the size of the sales force is 150 , the turnover rate would be =30/150 = 20%
This number is nothing as a number if we are not conducting a detailed analysis to know the truths behind such numbers, and this number should be compared to the other competitors, and to the industry average to know your real position.

7. Figure 7-1: Sales Force Turnover Rates by Industry
Consumer
Industrial
Services
10%
12%
17%
66%
33%
19%
78%
50%
15%
0-10%
11-16%
More than 16%
Figure 7-1: Sales Force Turnover Rates by Industry

8. Turnover Rates in Selected Industries
Industry Rates
Construction %
Office Equipment
Retail
Wholesale (Consumer Goods) 18.5
Electronics
Business Services
Pharmaceuticals
Banking
Real Estate
Source: Dartnell’s 30th Sales Force Compensation Survey (1999), p.187.

9. Planning process Company culture :
In addition to the analysis of personnel needs, and other factors, a specific definition of the organization’s culture is necessary for the planning cycle validity.
The process of connecting the company recruiting strategies to its core culture should help attract and retain higher performing salespeople, who fit with the company culture.

10. Planning process Job analysis :
Before managers can effectively recruit new salespeople, they must clearly understand the activities, tasks, responsibilities of their sales representatives.
A job analysis is a systematic way to describe how a job is to be performed, as well as the tasks that make up the job.
There is a number of different procedures that can be used for performing job analysis, one of those method is the job analysis interview, or using questionnaires.
Job analysis should focus on those critical success tasks through which high performing salespeople are compared with those who have low performing salesperson tasks.

11. Planning process
Job description: Information from the job analysis should be used to produce a job description, which is a written document that spells out the job relationship and requirements that characterize each sales position.
A complete job description explains:
1) to whom the salesperson reports
2) how the salesperson interacts with other staff
3) the customers to be called on by the salesperson
4) the specific tasks to be carried out
5) the mental and physical demands of the job,
6) and the types of the product to be sold .

12. Planning process
Job qualification: It refers to where job description focuses on the activities and responsibilities of the job.
Job qualification refers to the aptitudes, skills, knowledge, and personality traits necessary to perform the job successfully.
A statement of job qualification would typically include education, previous work experience, technical expertise, aptitudes, and interests.

13. Planning process
These qualifications are based on the job description, serve as a set of selection criteria that will help sales managers choose the best prospects from among those who apply.
In addition to creating a job description, some large firms evaluate the personal histories and skills of current salespeople to build a profile of the successful salesperson with their company.

14. Planning process Research :
There is an extensive volume of research investigating the relationship between personal characteristics and sales performance.
From this research, two themes emerge that have implications for recruiting:
certain personality traits have been linked with higher performing salespeople (recent studies indicate that extraverted sales people, as compared to other types of personality tend to perform better.
the importance of personal characteristics that are more developmental in nature, (studies found that the highly successful salespeople have excellent time and territory management skills .

15. First Year Cost of a Salesperson in the U.S.
Compensation
(trainee average) $35,500
Benefits (approx.21.5% of
compensation) ,600
Field Expense ,000
Direct Expense $59,100
Training Costs ,100
TOTAL COSTS $66,200
Source: Dartnell’s 30th Sales Force Compensation Survey (1999).

16. Planning process Buyer’s perspective:
A survey of 205 purchasing agents concluded that the most valued traits of salespeople were those shown in table 7-1, the results suggest that sales managers should hire people who are loyal to the customer, willing to fight for them, detail oriented, and able to follow through on promises.

17. What Purchasing Agents Like About Salespeople
PERCENT OF RESPONDENTS
TRAITS WHO RATED MOST VALUED
Willingness to fight for customer:
Thoroughness/follow through:
Market knowledge/
willingness to share:
Knowledge of product line:
Diplomacy in dealing with
operating departments:
Imagination:
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

18. Planning process Sales versus technical skills :
One of the complex dilemmas for sales managers is whether to hire technicians and teach them to sell or to hire experienced salespeople and teach them the technical aspects of the job.
Either strategy can succeed, the key factor is the company’s approach to selling and the training capability of the firm.
Legality of job qualification: although a list of qualification are useful in recruiting for sales positions, they must be employed with caution.
The main concern is to avoid employment discrimination caused when qualifications are used to exclude some individuals from certain jobs.

19. Recruiting
The goal of recruiting is to find and attract the best qualified applicants for sales positions.
The number of applicants needed to meet personnel requirements will be larger than the number of people to be hired, not every applicant will have the job qualifications, and not everyone offered a job will accept the offer.
The number of applicants needed can be determined by using a simple formula based on the company experience from past recruiting efforts .
The number of recruits (R) = H/(S*A )
H : required number of hires
S: percentage of recruits selected
A: percentage of those selected who accept to work
If the company needs to hire 10 people, and expects to select 10% of those applying, and if 50% of those offered the jobs accept, then
R= 10/(0.10*0.50) = 200, so the company should attract 200 person

20. Recruiting Classified and on line advertising:
A advertisements in newspapers, trade journals, and on the web are often used to attract salespeople.
One advantage of these types of ads is their ability to attract a large number of applicants.
A good examples for those is: Wall Street journal and employment related web sites, such as Monster.com .

21. Recruiting Sources Classified Ads Present Employees
Reaches wide audience (trade publications may narrow the reach)
Used if high turnover
Tend to over-produce under-qualified candidates
Present Employees
Familiar with company products & procedures
Established job histories
Sales as a promotion, not require a lot of training
Over-rely on previous experience 3

22. Recruiting Sources Referrals/Networking Employment Agencies
Company executives understand needs, culture and potential fit for sales responsibilities
Employment Agencies
best if company pays
Schools & Colleges
Poised & easily trained
Lack experience & become bored
Customers, Suppliers & Competition
Good if need without much training
Legal & ethical issues
Common: insurance, stock broker, office equipment, clothing 4

23. Selecting prospects
After recruiting a pool of candidates, managers must screen out candidates who do not meet the hiring criteria.
The procedure for selecting prospects is a sequential filtering process, as described in figure 7-2.
Next we will discuss the major selection tools .

24. Figure 7-3: A Model for Selecting Salespeople
Direct recruit to control
location or phone number
Hiring
criteria
for
sales
jobs
used to
guide
selection
process
Complete application
blanks
Conduct screening
interviews
Check credit and
background
Complete psychological
and achievement tests
Secondary interviews
Make offer for sales
position
Physical exam
Modify hiring
criteria, tests or
Interview procedures
Measure subsequent
success on the job
Reject
Figure 7-3: A Model for Selecting Salespeople

25. Selecting prospects Applications forms :
A popular way to gather personal history data is to have candidates fill out an application blank.
It is easy to administer and require very little executive time because the information is in a standardized format as opposed to resume.
The basic purpose of application forms are:
1) provide information, gathered in a standardized manner, useful in selection decision
2) to obtain information that may be needed during an individual’s employment .
Managers focus on having from application, like candidate’s educational background and past employment record .

26. Selecting prospects Personal interviews :
It is a critical part of the selection process for all sales position, because interpersonal skills are so important in sales.
Interviews are typically conducted at two levels:
The first interview is used primarily to inform the candidate about the job and to look for knockout factors, which are characteristics that would eliminate a person from further consideration, such as poor speech patterns, unacceptable appearance, lack of necessary maturity.
The initial interview is followed by the main interview, in which candidates are screened in order to identify people who best match the job’s qualifications.
One benefits of interviews is that managers can follow up on information obtained from application blanks .

27. Selecting prospects
There are several types of interviewing styles from which to choose.
Patterned interviews: in which the sales manager asks prospects a set of questions and records the responses on a form, the primary advantage of such type is that they facilitate comparison of candidates when more than one person is conducting screening interviews.
It is also used when the interviewer is inexperienced at evaluating candidates.

28. Selecting prospects Semi structured interview:
A completely structured interview may not always be appropriate for choosing among candidates.
Semi structured interview, is intended to gather critical pieces of information, but the questions are not repeated word by word and the candidate is expected to take a more active role in the direction an interview takes.

29. Selecting prospects
Field observation: a special kind of interview that has proven effective for some organizations is field observation, which includes taking candidates out to observe a day of field sales work.
One major benefits is that prospects are shown exactly what the job entails, and those who feel they are not likely to meet the challenge can eliminate themselves before being hired.
Follow up: interviews does not end when the face to face discussion has ended, managers should track candidate response in form of letters, notes, or other means.

30. Background and credit checks
Testing: three types of tests are being used in sales force selections:
1) intelligence: Degree of mental capabilities
2) personality
3) aptitude tests: Determine the readiness of the candidate, or if the candidate has an interest in certain tasks and activities.
4) physical examination

31. Validating the hiring process
It means validating the relationship between the selection criteria used by the firm and job success.
Validation is most useful in large samples where information is collected on the progress of sales personnel and is fed back into the system to modify the factors considered in the hiring process.
Validation requires that managers specify exactly what distinguishes top performers form poor performers.
Validation seeks to build a set of hiring criteria that filters out poor prospects and makes offers to those who have a high probability of success.

32. RESUME ANALYSIS Account for all dates.
Examine the number of jobs and length of time spent on each job.
Reasons for leaving job.
Is there a pattern of growth?

33. COMMON INTERVIEWER MISTAKES
Failure to establish rapport
Lack of plan
Insufficient time
Not listening
Personal bias
Questions
First impressions

34. TYPICAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
What is interviewer trying to determine?
What was the most monotonous job you ever had to do?
What are your values and general orientation in life?
How creative were you in eliminating boredom? 8

35. TYPICAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
In thinking about people you like, what is it you most like about them?
Reflects what person is and desires to become
Up to this point in your life, what do you consider to be your biggest disappointment?
Have you done anything? -- more active = more disappointments
How willing are you to relocate? To what extent are you willing to travel?
Motivation in wanting job -- involves travel 9

36. TYPICAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
5. How do you feel about the way your previous employer treated you?
How you react to supervision & organizational cultures
6. What are your long-term financial objectives and how do you intend to achieve them?
Are you realistic & mature?
Will this company enable you to achieve these goals?
7. What was the most difficult decision you ever had to make as a leader?
Were the leadership positions in your resume demanding or ceremonial in nature?
What is your leadership style & philosophy? 10

37. TYPICAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
8. Why should we hire you?
How badly do you want the job?
What do you think of yourself?
Do you believe in yourself?
9. Sell me this pen.
Do you really know how to make a sales presentation?
Did you mention the main product benefits?
Did you ask for the order? 11

38. PREVIOUS EMPLOYER REFERENCE CHECK QUESTIONS
Dates of Employment?
What was the Job?
What type of selling was involved?
How did the applicant get along with his/her manager? Customers? Fellow salespeople?
How did his/her job performance compare others?
Applicants strongest points? Weaknesses we should help him/her overcome?
Why did s/he leave your company?
Would you rehire the applicant? Why? 13

39. What’s in a Signature?
Small letters such as “a,” “e,” and “o” are more than ¼ inch in height and farther to the right side of the page.
These people tend to be enterprising and are usually risk takers, take charge leaders, and pacesetters. They are your typical salesperson.
Small signatures, less than 1/8 inch tall with an upright slant and placed towards the left hand of the page
These people tend to be objective observers. They keep cool, don’t get excited under pressure, and in general make good listeners and negotiators. They might be better for high-level sales to established clients.
Medium-sized signatures (about 1/4 inch).
These people are your team players. Interaction is their byword and they tend to play strictly by the rules. They take calculated risks, with emphasis on the calculations. Not generally sales types.

40. WHAT MAKES A SUPER SALESPERSON?
Personal Computer
Manufacturer
Photographic Equipment Manufacturer
Threshold Competencies
Communication
Decisiveness
*Information Collection
Personal Sensitivity
*Organizational Awareness
*Relationship-building
Technical knowledge
Systematic thinking
Differentiator Competencies
Concern for personal impact
*Focused achievement
Interpersonal diagnosis
Initiative
Job commitment
*Organizational awareness
Persistence
Personal time-planning
Presentation skills
Quick thinking
Stress tolerance
Targeted persuasion
*Use of influence strategies
* These traits were found in salespeople at both companies.

41. Table 7-5 Typical Interview Questions
Why should we hire you?
Regardless of the company and type of sales position for which you may interview, there are some interview questions that are typically asked. You may not be asked each of these questions in every interview, but you should be prepared to answer them all. After reading each question, think about what the interviewer’s purpose may be in asking the question. What is he or she trying to determine? What should your response be to each question?

42. Table 7-5 Typical Interview Questions
Why should we hire you?
What was the most monotonous job you ever had to do?
In thinking about the people you like, what is it you like most about them?
Up to this point in your life, what do you consider to be your biggest disappointment?
How willing are you to relocate? To what extent are you willing to travel?
How do you feel about the way your previous employer treated you?
What are your long-term financial objectives, and how do you propose to achieve them?
What was the most difficult decision you ever had to make as a leader?
Sell me this pen.

43. JOB DESCRIPTION FACTORS
Selling Requirements
New vs. established account selling
Selling through distributors
Entertaining customers
Level of buying authority
Physical activity required
Technical knowledge
Relocation
Written proposals
Individual vs. team selling
One time vs. systems selling
Type of prospects/customers
One-on-one vs. group selling
Travel: how much & what kind
Program or concept selling
Nonselling Tasks
Reports to management
Customer service and training
Sales promotion
Educational seminars
Collecting receivables
Marketing plans
Degree of Responsibility
Negotiations of pricing
Travel and entertainment
Career Paths
Compensation plan
Promotion timing
Earnings potential
Promotion leaders
Performance Expectations
Activity level requirements
Minimum sales volume or profits