Assembling the Sales Team

published in Top Sales Magazine; August, 2018
 
Assembling the right sales team has always been crucial. As the old saying goes, “You hire your problems.” But recruitment and selection are now even more important. Data and analytical tasks have lengthened productivity ramp-up times in many sales contexts. Each hire then represents a bigger sunk cost for a longer time. As baby boomers retire and as firms seek to grow, putting more “feet on the street”—or in inside sales positions—increases hiring. Most companies look at their best reps and try to hire more like them. But you’ll never have enough stars and, in fact, don’t want stars in all jobs.
In any business, some activities exhibit high performance variability but have little strategic impact. Think about the design of power point presentations. Some people are much better than others in doing this. But how much impact do the slides have versus other sales