Oliver Watson: use robust techniques.

One: obtain demonstrable proof of a salesperson’s track record.

That track record needs to be investigated; it needs to be probed and it needs to be referenced (with clients if necessary). ‘There are an awful lot of “deals” that have been done by salespeople out there that either haven’t been done or they were part of a team of ten that once did a deal, or that deal was phoned into an organisation…’ Use robust techniques to verify a track record. For instance, ask to see a candidate’s P60; one of the best ways to find out whether a person has hit a target is to see what they earned. Note that this works in certain environments; it doesn’t work for everybody.

Two: use a rigid, competency-based framework for hiring a salesperson.

Don’t get lured into generic chitchat with a salesperson coming for an interview. Depending on the type of role the person is being hired for, it’s very important to understand exactly what their capability is. ‘A lot of people within the sales profession are perfectly capable of spinning a good story about their capability by demonstrating a bit of market knowledge and dropping a couple of deals into the interview.’

Three: don't over-assess people.

‘Just to counter the above, a lot of organisations, I think, go the other way.’ Putting together very intense and detailed assessment days for salespeople that bear no real relevance to somebody’s ability to sell is not necessarily productive. Don’t set your skills requirements too wide even if you want to develop that person into other types of roles. ‘Very often your best salespeople are going to be salespeople and are probably going to pursue their career in sales. And that’s what they’ll do and be good at.’ Accept that the best salespeople very often come with certain limitations. Limitations are not necessarily a bad thing; very often it’s those limitations that make them good at what they do. Instead, the way forward may be to structure your department differently rather than expecting your salespeople to be good at everything, for instance administration and organisational planning.

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