Do you find it hard to hire new sales reps?

It depends what your industry is.
Take sales reps in exporting field as an example. There are lots of exporting companies in China, big or small. Thousands of graduates flood in to this field to be sales reps. Most of them are not good at English but all of them can find jobs.
But lots of them are not good at English and lack of experience so that they have done few of orders around the whole year.
I think in China hire new sales is not a hard thing.
The hardest is that how to find the ones who are stable and quick-learning?
Just based on the situation in China.

Cheers
Alison

Here is the secret to interviewing for sales positions: It’s just another sales call and you are selling the product you know best – yourself.

In the interview process I watch for candidates who get this simple fact and I watch how they execute a sales call. Do they listen? Do they ask good questions? How do they control the conversation? How do they articulate their “benefits”? Do they close?

Best of all, I throw out an objection, like “I don’t think you are right for this organization”. And I watch their reaction, how they handle it.

By extension, I watch how they manage the entire sales cycle: before; during; and after the interview.

Speaking from a Call Center perspective - hiring the wrong TeleSales/Inside Sales Agent is the Root Cause of most Performance Issues. It’s also a significant drain on your Budget & Bottom Line – on Customer Satisfaction - and on overall Sales Results. Every failed hire represents wasted dollars down the drain. Not to mention the Lowered Productivity, Poor Morale & Higher Absences associated with a Poor Job Fit.

While most everyone can use a telephone - not everyone is cut out to work in a Telemarketing or Inside Sales Call Center environment. Someone may have “The Right Stuff” to deliver great Customer Service & Support – it doesn’t necessarily follow that the same individual is also a good fit for the more demanding & sales-oriented requirements of Up-Sell/Cross-Sell/Inside Sales or Outbound Telephone Sales.

Typically there are 3 grades of Agents found in a Sales Call Center: (Above Average), (Average), and (Below Average).

(Above Average) TeleSales Agents seem to have “The Right Stuff” that pushes them to succeed & a natural compatibility with the duties of the position. They work hard - exceed expectations - do more than asked - achieve high-quality consistent sales results - can always be counted upon - need little direction & work extremely well with everyone.

(Average) TeleSales Agents perform their duties adequately enough “to get by” - but no better. They are the partially competent. Generally they’re strong from a Skills standpoint but missing a key ingredient or two from a Job Fit and Sales Closing standpoint.

(Below Average) TeleSales Agents are the people who just don’t fit somehow. Sometimes they’re good people in the wrong jobs. They need extra coaching & supervision just to achieve average results. Often they cause unnecessary conflict. (Below Average) TeleSales Agents have the Highest Levels of Absenteeism, Lowest Levels of Productivity & Sales, Poorest Performance & Customer Satisfaction Ratings, and generally have a Negative Impact on Team Morale. They represent the real problems in a Telemarketing Call Center workforce. While (Average) & (Below Average) TeleSales Agents may seem fully qualified at the Interview Stage – they’re a Poor Job Fit – the cost of hiring them is enormous – with little value add to an organization.

Top performing Call Centers drive their Revenue & Performance through superior hiring tactics. We help employers gain better insight & more accurate predictions as to which applicants from a pool of Candidates would perform up to, or beyond their established standards. You can find out about a Free Trial of SPAS Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software at http://www.telesoftsystems.ca/64201.html

David makes a great point-- "... from a Call Center perspective - hiring the wrong TeleSales/Inside Sales Agent is the Root Cause of most Performance Issues." I have found that to be true for the last 18 years from most all perpectives.

"Using a single test or procedure will provide you with a limited view of a person’s employment or career-related qualifications. Moreover, you may reach a mistaken conclusion by giving too much weight to a single test result. On the other hand, using a variety of assessment tools enables you to get a more complete picture of the individual. The practice of using a variety of tests and procedures to more fully assess people is referred to as the whole-person approach to personnel assessment. This will help reduce the number of selection errors made and will boost the effectiveness of your decision making. This leads to an important principle of assessment.

Do not rely too much on any one test to make decisions.
Use the whole-person approach to assessment."

The above is from "TESTING AND ASSESSMENT: AN EMPLOYER’S GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICES, U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration 1999. The Table of Contents is listed below.

1 - Personnel Assessment
2 - Understanding the Legal Context of Assessment...
3 - Understanding Test Quality—Concepts of
Reliability and Validity
4 - Assessment Tools and Their Uses
5 - How to Select Tests—Standards for Evaluating Tests
6 - Administering Assessment Instruments
7 - Using, Scoring, and Interpreting Assessment Instruments
8 - Issues and Concerns with Assessment
9 - A Review — Principles of Assessment

Appendix
A - Sources of Additional Information on Personnel Assessment
B - Glossary of Assessment Terms

The publication is very useful and if you'd like to receive a pdf formatted copy please email me at bobgately@verizon.net with "Send DOL Report" as the subject.