Hire a 10 - a Sales Management Myth

For many years as a sales manager, I would only hire the stereotypical sales representative. You know the type—on a human relations continuum or scale of zero to ten, with the ten representing a candidate who is totally gregarious and outgoing and the zero, someone who is introverted with few people skills, I’d always recruit the ten. As an advisor to businesses and professional service firms on how to build an effective sales team, I would also council my clients to hire “tens.” Big mistake!

As outlined in an article in this series, Pareto’s principle or rule is afact of life in almost all companies or professional organizations. After more than 27 years of working with literally thousands of sales representatives and service industry professionals as an advisor, trainer and coach, I have learned an important truth—that the ten personality is rarely found in the ranks of the top 20 percent of the sales professionals, who produce 80 percent of the sales. For this reason alone, I now hire candidates that fall about a six on the personality continuum

and I council my clients to do the same.

Introverted 0 _______________________II________________ 10 Extroverted

Why hire a six? Because as suggested above, the six personality makes upthe vast majority of today’s top sales producers. And, they are successful at selling, simply because they have a six personality. They are a bit reserved and a lot less outgoing than someone with a ten personality, but they still have the people skills

to communicate well. They do less talking than a ten and they listen a lot better, giving them a decided edge in communicating effectively.

Although the six personality has less charisma than the ten. These professionals have a greater ability to deal with the myriad of details that make up the selling and prospecting processes. This helps them to consistently find new prospects and to organize their day to get more done than the eight to ten personality. Their ability to produce leads, the effective use of time and their systematic approach to presentations, gives the six personality a selling edge.

Most sales professionals with a ten personality absolutely loath prospecting, paperwork and organizing themselves, so they simply rely on their personality and charm to achieve their sales objectives. Tens (the stereotypical sales

personality) make up the vast majority of the representatives and service industry

professionals in the 80 percent bracket , who sell only 20 percent of the goods and services in the country today.

You have to hire smart to develop a sales team that are all “top producers.” The good news here is that you don’t have to live with an 80/20 rule driven sales team; if you truly understand the personality of the sales or service industry

professionals who make up the 20 percent and then only hire candidates that fall into this personality demographic. However, as suggested in an earlier article, you can rarely find a candidate that is in the top 20 percent, who is actively looking for new employment. And, a

company or firm would be crazy to let their top producers leave them. Most employers usually do everything in their power to retain their best performers. Therefore your only recourse, if you want to succeed at hiring the right people, is

to hire someone from the 80 percent grouping with potential to be a top producer. Then teach and coach them to become a superstar.

About the Author:
Virden Thornton is the founder and president of The $elling Edge, Inc., a sales consultingfirm specializing in sales, customer relations and sales management training and sales coaching. Clients include Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of 101 Sales Myths and the best selling Building & Closing the Sale, published by Thompson Learning.

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