Hello, I am Steve Suggs, sales recruiting expert and author of the book Can They Sell.
Welcome to my sales recruitment video blog. 5 minutes of learning to hire the best sales
people. During the Olympics, there╒s a lot of talk about Olympic hopefulls who didn't
make it to London this year to compete with the best of the best. This reminds me of sales
reps who are salespeople wanna-be╒s. They are the dreamers instead of the doers. Many
people dream of greatness but they simply are not willing to put forth the effort and
hard work to be the best. Doers complete many tasks everyday that dreamers simply aren't
willing to do. As of today, Michael Phelps, only needs 2 more medals to become the greatest
Olympian of all time. He practices 6 hours a day, 6 days a week, no matter the holiday,
and he swims 8 miles a day. Gabby Douglas, nicknamed the Flying Squirrel on the uneven
bars started training when she was 6 and at the age of 14 moved from Virginia to Iowa
to train with her coach. At the age of 16, she is now competing for the Gold in London.
She also practices hours and hours each day. During an interview, after winning the gold
in the backstroke, Missy Franklin, the winner of the gold medal in the women╒s 100 meter
backstroke, was asked, ╥what were you thinking during the singing of the national anthem.
She said, ╥I was thinking about all the sacrifices I had to make, getting up early
everyday for practice and all the things I gave up to get to this moment, on this podium
getting a gold medal. She said, ╥it was worth it all╙. She is the epitome of the
phrase, "Successful people do the things that unsuccessful people aren't willing to do.
When you╒re involved in sales recruitment, what are some of the things sales candidates
are doing that tells you that they╒re an Olympic hopeful; that they╒re a doer and
not a dreamer. Do they focus on getting their goal of total number of sales calls completed
before they begin their paperwork? Do they consistently feed their minds by reading books
and listening to information that builds a positive mental attitude? Ask them to tell
you the names of the books, videos, and blogs they read and listen to. Do they focus on
the amount of critical sales activities completed each day rather than on the number of hours
they work each day? Ask them to show you the tools they use to track their sales results?
Are they constantly working to improve their closing ratio by sharpening their sales skills?
Ask them to tell you the name of the sales training courses they have completed. Do they
put in the extra effort to mature spiritually, socially, physically and professionally? Ask
them about the things they are doing to grow and mature. Is there evidence of actually
accomplishing their goals rather than the well spoken dreams that never come true. During
the sales interview, the dreamer looks good and sounds good, but cannot back up their
words with specific examples. The doer answers your questions with stories and examples of
their success and results. The dreamer uses their charisma and charm to engage you in
a pleasant conversation that takes the focus off of their lack of results. The doer may
not always make a sparkling 1st impression, but as the interview goes on you see a pattern
of hard work, honesty, a concern for others and a pattern of results. Build your sales
team with Olympic champions, not Olympic hopefuls. Use your great recruiting skills and interview
questions for sales to look for hard evidence of success from the doer. Don╒t settle for
the nice words of the dreamer. You won╒t always get the gold medal winner, but you
want the person who is always striving to win the gold, and doing the things that gold
medal winners do. Thank you for joining me. See you next time on the Can They Sell video
blog for more sales job recruitment training. As always, please leave your comments below
and forward this video to anyone who will benefit. If you haven't already, please register
for this recruiting sales blog. Now go enjoy recruiting the best, and have fun in the sales
interview.