Hiring sales people... do I want those with big egos or those with big empathy?

Will a big ego close the sale more frequently than empathy? Predicting future sales success is easy to do and ego doesn't seem to play much of a role.

I'd be looking for a healthly dose of both ego and empathy in the proper balance.

When empathy exceeds ego by an excessive amount, a salesperason has problems dealing with serious objections as they don't want to offend the prospect.

When ego exceeds empathy, bad deals can result from the salesperson's excessive drive to not lose a sale.

Whe the two are in balance, you have a potentially powerful salesperson.

Brian, how do we measure ego and empathy and how do we know the right balance?

Bob, you do have a knack of asking embarrassing questions. :-)

In my experience, the fulcrum for the tipping point between ego and empathy is quite broad. This means that unless there are obvious signs such as a person who must win at all costs or the person who is overly empathic person and can't say "no," I don't worry about it.

How do I determine these things? I use a thorough interview process when hiring and have a keen sense of observation when I'm on a sales management consulting assignment.

There is no magic. Just hard work and experience.

Hi Brian, I don't mean to ask embarrassing questions. Here are the things we evaluate for identifying future successful sales people. Successful sales people in the same job have similar thinking styles, behavioral traits, and occupational interests. The secret to effective hiring is to know the similarities and then identify which qualified to be hired job applicants also have those similarities.

1. Thinking Styles
- Learning Index...an index of learning, reasoning and problem solving potential.
- Verbal Skill...a measure of verbal skill through vocabulary.
- Verbal Reasoning...using words as a basis in reasoning and problem solving.
- Numerical Ability...a measure of numeric calculation ability.
- Numeric Reasoning...using numbers as a basis in reasoning and problem solving.

2. Behavioral Traits
- Energy Level...tendency to display endurance and capacity for a fast pace.
- Assertiveness...tendency to take charge of people and situations. Leads more than follows.
- Sociability...tendency to be outgoing, people-oriented and participate with others.
- Manageability...tendency to follow policies, accept controls & supervision, work within the rules.
- Attitude...tendency to have a positive attitude regarding people and outcomes.
- Decisiveness...uses available information to make decisions quickly.
- Accommodating...tendency to be friendly, cooperative, agreeable, to be a team person.
- Independence...tendency to be self-reliant, self-directed, and make independent decisions.
- Objective Judgement...the ability to think clearly and be objective in decision-making.

3. Occupational Interests
- Enterprising...occupations where they use persuasiveness and enjoy presenting plans
- Financial/Administrative...work with financial data, business systems, admin. procedures, etc.
- People Service...occupations that help people and they are concerned with the welfare of others.
- Technical...occupations that center on scientific/technical activities, research & intellectual skills.
- Mechanical...in occupations that work with tools, equipment and machinery.
- Creative...occupations where they are imaginative, original and aesthetic.

This a comprehensive method and requires asking over 300 questions but applicants can answer the questions in about an hour on the Internet. Reports are immediately emailed to the hiring manager. This method is job, manager, location, and employer specific.

If you'd like to read how to use this approach for hiring high-potential employees please read the web page.

http://www.corpu.com/weekly/article/hiring-high-potential-talent/

From an Inside Sales/Telephone Sales perspective – ’Strong’ personalities with ‘Big Egos’ may actually hurt performance.

According to recent research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, and Union College – being a ’Strong’ personality with a ‘Big Ego’ doesn’t have much to do with Call Center Agent performance.

Candidates for an Inside Sales/Telephone Sales job need to have a unique constellation of Soft Skill/Personality/Job-Fit Traits - and specific amounts of those Traits - in order to successfully complete the Job Requirements. An Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Agent’s long-term success depends much more upon these Soft Skill/Personality/Job-Fit factors than on Product Knowledge, Past Work Experience, Skill Set – or on being a ’Strong’ personality with a ‘Big Ego’. Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Agents with ’stronger’ personalities are often less effective than those who perceive themselves to be more group/team oriented.

For example - Assertiveness is an important ‘Soft Skill’ characteristic of an Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Agent. Too little Assertiveness characterizes individuals who play a passive role on the telephone – who would rather listen than talk - who lack self-confidence – and as a result have issues related to Sales Closing Orientation/Low Volume of Calls Handled/Above Average Call Handle Time. On the other hand - too much Assertiveness can be detrimental to the customers as well as the workplace.

Inside Sales/Telephone Sales work is generally acknowledged to be tedious & repetitive. An Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Agent is required to uniquely combine reliability with flexibility - and mix adherence to a schedule & procedure with adaptability in order to meet customers’ needs. Employees are rewarded for metrics such as sales quota, customer satisfaction, volume of calls, and product knowledge - to name just a few. Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Agents have to manage interactions constantly – in an environment driven by targets – while their job is constantly monitored electronically.

Over the telephone - Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Agents are generally pursuing an individual customer rather than an organizational one. When they are pursuing an organization - it's more common for the buyer to be a purchasing manager or other relatively low level person.

Over the telephone - product features and benefits hold sway. There is a relatively low level of interpersonal influence - since it's so easy for someone to say "no" over the phone or to avoid taking calls.

In many cases - ’Strong’ personalities with ‘Big Egos’ have issues related to handling the repetitive nature of Call Center work – and the high levels of rejection - and this can lead to very expensive “Quick Quit”/”Fast Fire” (less than 6 month's employment) turnover.

Top performing Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Departments 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

Neither - seems to me you should be more concerned with prior accomplishments, prior job successes and more substance based criteria. The two types you mention are people pleasers, outer directed and definite high maintenance personality groups.