hiring salespeople

  • The Chainsaw Massacre and Building Sales Teams

    • September 14, 2021
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Despite the existence of both a science and a process for hiring salespeople, most efforts also tend to be hit or miss and the emphasis always seems to be on miss.  There are plenty of reasons why, and we can discuss some of them, but the biggest and most insane reason is…

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  • A Home Run – How the Right Data Can Help You Hire Your Ideal Salespeople

    • July 13, 2021
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    From time to time I’ve posted some compelling top/bottom sales team analyses using sales assessment data from Objective Management Group (OMG).  From nearly 250 data points in 21 Sales Core Competencies, we identify the specific findings and scores that differentiate a company’s top 3 performers from their bottom 3 non-performers.

    There are several reasons for doing this:

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  • Why More Salespeople Are Being Recommended for Difficult Selling Roles

    • June 24, 2021
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Something else we haven’t done for quite a while is revisit Objective Management Group’s (OMG) sales selection statistics on the percentage of people that are recommended for various selling and sales management roles.

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  • Startups Almost Always Get The Sales Thing Wrong

    • March 19, 2021
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Typically, founders of start ups put it all on the line – everything – their house, savings, loans from friends and family and perhaps bank loans, angel investments and more.  As brilliant as they are, in most cases, sales is not one of their strengths and it’s not until the business has a logo and a website when they realize that success won’t come until somebody sells something.  Oh-oh, now what?

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  • Key to Successfully Hiring Salespeople: Getting it Right Versus Getting it Over With

    • December 21, 2020
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    Recruiting salespeople doesn’t need to be difficult or complicated, but it is a process and needs to be completed thoroughly and correctly.  Ask yourself this question: eighteen months from now, would you prefer to have spent five months to get it right and have a productive new salesperson, or three months getting it over with, only to have to do it again four months later, and again four months after that. 

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  • Masks and Sales Assessments – You Lose a Little Freedom and Control for Safety and Confidence

    • September 18, 2020
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    The same thing happens when clients use Objective Management Group’s (OMG) accurate and predictive sales candidate assessments.  They lose a little freedom because they no longer arbitrarily interview salespeople who they feel like interviewing, and refrain from simply offering positions to people because they have a gut feeling about a candidate.   However, they lose some control because one half to two-thirds of the candidates will not be recommended when they aren’t great fits for the particular sales role for which the company is hiring, or simply aren’t very good salespeople – period.

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  • How the Correlation Between Restaurants and Covid 19 Applies to Sales Assessments

    • September 17, 2020
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    But does it really matter whether this is causation?  Is there that big of a difference?  Is correlation enough?  It depends on what you are trying to show.  Let’s take sales assessments for example.

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  • The Best Solutions for Hiring Great Salespeople for Your Company

    • August 28, 2020
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    These are all examples of inappropriate solutions to the simple question, “What is the best way to get there from here?”

    How about the simple question, “What is the best way to assure that the salespeople I am about to hire will succeed in the chosen role?”

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  • One Thing Your Company Must Do Right Now to Increase Sales

    • May 13, 2020
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    For example, since the 30 million who temporarily lost their jobs are receiving unemployment at more than 100% of what they were earning before, they aren’t facing the hardship the media would lead you to believe and the money is there for a reboot when it comes.  But the really good news is for companies that are able to hire salespeople.  Consider this!

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  • The New York Times’ Misleading Article on Assessments and Their Use Cases

    • March 3, 2020
    • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
    • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

    The New York Times, which is often accused of publishing fake news, published an interesting article comparing personality tests to astrology.  The story included specific assessments like The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, The Hartman Personality Profile (Color Code), Plum, and DiSC.  Myers-Briggs reports on sixteen dimensions of personality, the Hartman Profile has four dimensions of personality, Plum uses AI to predict cultural awareness, teamwork and communications, and DiSC has four dimensions of behavioral styles.

    I had so many reactions to this article and I have attempted to collect and assemble them into a coherent article that I believe will be worth your while.

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