The Kauffmann Group, LLC

Outsourcing Expert Mini-Briefing

HIRING EXCEPTIONAL SALESPEOPLE

January 2008

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Hiring Exceptional Salespeople

• The Exceptional Salesperson

• Hiring Process

• Characteristics

• Understanding of Sales Methodologies

• Competitive Knowledge

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The Exceptional Salesperson

• In short, exceptional sales professionals don’t think like salespeople; they think from their customers' perspective and look at the situation through a similar lens. They aren’t worried about making the sale or being impressive. They are focused on understanding their customer's view, their world, and the unique requirements their customer may have.

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Hiring Process

• Step One: Carefully Define Your Requirements* Develop a detailed job description

• Step Two: Know Available Resources* Identify the names of top sales performers who are working for your competitors * Target top sales performers in companies that sell complementary products to

your customer base

• Step Three: Sell the Job* Company Vision* Unique Sales Proposition* Competitive Strategies* Growth and Advancement Opportunities

• Step Four: Understand the Skills and Traits of Top Performers

• Step Five: Develop A Rigorous Process* Build the right interview team including different personality types from a cross

section of your company (sales, marketing, finance, and human resources)* Train each interviewer on behaviorial interviewing skills* Assign different topics to people* Record team member written feedback after interviews* Implement sales assessment testing process

* Conduct a 360 degree background check* Offer

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Characteristics

• Protect Their Customer’s Self Esteem

• Don’t Present

• Driven: Sense of urgency and a need to accomplish the task at hand.

• Confidence: Believes in their own abilities.

• Outgoing: Project a great first impression and is energized by social interactions.

• Assertive: Effectively control interactions.

• Funny: Engages customer emotions, is likeable and memorable.

• Structured: Leads the customer through the process, organized and follows through.

• Relational: Cares about the person, not just the sale, effectively identifies customer needs.

• Focused: Doesn't get sidetracked, knows the final destination.

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Understanding of Sales Methodologies

• Have an appreciation for different sales methodologies

• Can clearly articulate the values of each• Understand how to incorporate sales methodologies in

a real world sales environment

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Competitive Knowledge

• Intimately understands competitive strengths and weaknesses

• Understands their sales approach• Identified their Unique Value Proposition• Developed a detailed comparison with competitive

products/services• Has an appreciation for competitive customer

agreements

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Additional Information

• For more information on this topic feel free to contact this presenter directly at:

Marc KauffmannPresidentThe Kauffmann Group, LLCCHANGING THE WAY BUSINESS DOES BUSINESSTelephone: (201) 797-4541Facsimile: (201) 797-0676E-Mail: mkauffmann@thekauffmanngroup.comWeb site: http://www.thekauffmanngroup.com