Summary
Hiring the wrong salesperson can have severe financial consequences. Given that most sales managers are only occasionally involved in this critical decision making process, few learn to approach the selection process in a systematic way. As a result too many hire candidates who then fail on the job or chronically under-perform. This two-day program helps sales managers move beyond their own biases and subjective reactions during the hiring process by providing them with a structured process that minimizes poor hiring decisions. Participants learn to handle interviews in a way that enables them to get behind the facade that candidates often present in order to learn how they really will approach the target position. Sales managers will also learn how to help candidates understand what will be expected of them in a way that enables new sales people to assume responsibility for their performance and to become productive more quickly. Participants learn how to prepare an ideal candidate profile, how to ask tough questions without fear of making legal errors, what to listen for in an interview and how to make good judgments about candidates' responses. The program helps sales managers learn how to paint an accurate picture of the job and handle the interview in a way that reflects the way they manage; thereby improving the odds of selecting candidates who are well matched to the rigors of the job and the management style of the sales manager.

Sales managers are responsible for delivering excellent results through the sales people and administrative staff who report to them, but the critical first step in this process is to hire the right people. This is a challenging task that can prove cripplingly expensive when poorly executed. There are no magic tricks which guarantee the right people will be recruited, screened, interviewed, selected and hired each time, but there is a family of proven concepts, procedures and techniques which can substantially improve managers’ skills and the likelihood that they will indeed select the best of the candidates available. 

Course Outcomes
Participants will come away from this course with a thorough understanding of the overall process of recruitment and selection. They will refine skills needed to:

• Clarify selection criteria and profile the ideal candidate for each vacancy;
• Develop the best sources for access to qualified candidates;
• Develop clear and attractive advertisements for vacancies;
• Assess resumes effectively and consistently;
• Develop clear interview agendas and solid behavioral questioning techniques which “put the candidate on the job” and increase the manager’s ability to identify each candidate’s knowledge/skills match with critical job needs and required sales competencies;
• Gain insight into candidates’ interest in the job as well as their determination and ability to perform successfully; and
• Develop an individual action plan to improve their own ability to conduct successful hiring efforts. 

As a result of implementing this program in your sales organization you can expect an immediate increase in your managers’ “batting average” in selecting men and women who will perform successfully on the job, with concurrent improvement in each unit’s performance, stability, and employee job satisfaction.

This course uses a case study, a series of discussions and table-group exercises, mini-lectures, video examples, role plays, and an individual improvement planning task for facilitating each participant’s learning. Participants develop actual position analyses and sets of behavioral interview questions, role-playing an actual interview, and then review a model process for making final candidate comparisons and selections.