Do You Really Want To Hire A Rock Star?
The short answer is yes… or at least it should be!
Let’s narrow the focus for the sake of this article. Let’s focus on salespeople. They are the face of your company to customers. They are the ones building the relationships with existing and prospective customers. Do you really need a Rock Star to do that?
Maybe it’s easier to ask the question differently; why would you want anything less than an “A” player? They are providing the fuel for your company engine, so anything less than an “A” salesperson brings you less than stellar results. Why would you want that?
What defines a Rock Star? I recently worked on a project to define the qualities of a star seller, using metrics, not just a gut feel. We polled several CEOs, owners, and sales leaders. The most prevalent metric was around revenue and profit, as you might expect. However, there was more to the story. Consistency and sustainability in performance rated higher than a one-year blowout of revenue and profit goals. Does that fit with what you are looking for?
How do you define a rock star?
- Past two roles/jobs performance vs. goal
- Performance vs. peers in that time frame
- New logos added
- New product added
- Sales cycle improvement
- Close rate improvement
- Increase average order size
- Ability to upsell/cross sell
- Their prospecting processes
- Their selling processes
- Compensation history
- Promotions history
- Voice of customer contribution to the company for product or service or terms improvements
If you were just starting your company and hiring your sales team, would you hire the team you have in place today? Would they be the ones who catapult your company to success? Are they helping you grow your business at a rate that fits your needs?
Hiring “A” sellers is not easy, but establishing a consistent process for finding talent, hiring talent, and developing talent increases your odds dramatically. It starts with defining what you are looking for. Are you looking for Rock Stars?
Jerry Phillips is the President of NineRuns. He works with companies that want to improve their sales and profits. He is the author of Always Be Looking for Stars, available at Amazon, and speaks on finding, hiring, and developing talent.
For more information contact:
Jerry Phillips
P.O. Box 34152 Austin, TX 78734
512-350-1536 Cell