What level of education do you look for or require when hiring new sales reps?

I would agree with Jim, it is more about how and what they learned in the process, than the level they attained. More importantly, it is more interesting to see how they see themselves applying what they learned. The ability to articulate that, and how they see execution of the sale is a better indicator than education.

To land a sales job with a top tier company in today's marketplace, at a minimum, you will need a college degree. Sales and account management roles in technology, medical, and engineering often require an MBA.

Does education impact my hiring decisions? Well yes. I am biased towards a college degree as are many hiring managers. While Tibor and Jim are correct that education is not the most important indicator of potential sales ability, I have found a higher probability of success with those who have a degree.

Does this higher probability of success correlate directly to the level of education? Probably not. There are so many factors that determine success and failure in sales. However, when making a bet that your next sales hire is going to succeed, education cannot be dismissed as irrelevant.

Education matters. I agree with Jeb. But it's not the degree per se, but what that education enables. And that's precisely where people get mixed up. Very often I hear or read, "I don't need an MBA on the sales team. I need someone who can sell." Fine. Just strap on your helmet when you're sending your sales force into the C-Suite. Maybe you don't need the "MBA Salesperson," but you sure need what he or she knows. If you can get the business literacy, the strategic and financial knowledge, the collaborative skills and leadership skills that are not only taught, but exercised, in those programs, great!

Twenty years ago, I wouldn't have recommended an MBA or similar degree as a candidate requirement. But today I do. Why? B2B selling has become more complex, more collaborative, and more knowledge driven, not less. "Street skills" are important, too, but there's a big "fail" along the way if salespeople can't hold their own in the C-Suite. I've seen too many people get chewed up and spit out because they simply didn't have the right knowledge (forget about education credentials!) to move buying opportunities through the sales cycle.

I've seen very, very few companies that are capable of teaching and mentoring the needed skills. So when they ARE needed, the closest thing I know to out-of-the-box knowledge is an MBA. Until someone shows me something better, that's what I'm sticking with.

A related blog I wrote, "Will the Next Sales Achiever Need an MBA?" http://www.customerthink.com/blog/will_the_next_sales_achiever_need_an_mba

Be careful on looking for Education - this is important but sometime we tend to pass on very good candidates just because they do not have the degree you are looking for.

This is why we get candidate to TEST DRIVE the opportunity - see them in action. This proves that education is not the most important element to the role - execution is!!

Craig Bissett www.hiringsimulation.com

When I looking to hire an experienced sales persons, an education is least important compared to a verifiable track record that can be quantified. It takes a very paticular personality to be successful in this role and I have known many top performers in different industries that don't have a formal or completed college education. In most cases they tend to be motivated by money and if successful at making it one may not decide to continue or get formal education.

Jeb,

I think the key about the higher educated people, is not so much that they are better able, but it does show a willingness to plan, commit, execute and follow through on those commitments, especially when you consider the demands of an MBA. This attribute is a key factor in sales success.

The MBA thing is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it does validate that to be successful in sales you need to understand business, the decision process, and to translate value into terms that are relevant to the buyer. On the other hand, at the risk of sounding cynical or old, hiring managers who look strictly for educated, people with letters behind their names, often do it as a CYA, thing as opposed to being the right thing.

Educational background is not so that important to make a good sales person. But more the experience on the ground.
I think there a natural and skill to convince and sell.

Well this question can not be answered in a simple Yes or No.
A holistic approach to this topic will certainly help us get closer to the answer and will help in deciding the relevance of the education while recruiting a sales representative.

When a fresher is being recruited for a sales job I believe an MBA degree certainly becomes a key factor.It is not like, that only an MBA fresher would be able to do a sales job successfully and others wont be able to do it but, owing to the knowledge one gets about the market, finance, strategy, management,commmunication skills,etc. during the MBA course the probability of an MBA guy being successful at a sales job surely increases and becomes higher than the guy without an MBA degree. Secondly while filtering and shortlisting the candidates due to the time and resources constraints it makes sense for recruiters to go for the guys with MBA degree. It is a safe bet.

Talking about the experienced persons :

While recruiting experienced persons for a sales job the few most important things which are relevant and which should be considered are 1) The past performance / Track record 2) Aptitude 3) Attitude 4) Interaction skills 5) Ability of dealing with different kind of people. Things like level of Eucation has a lesser significance here.

~Anurag

university degree, commonsense and wisdom. he needs nothing else.

If I am hiring sales staff I have to look at this full circle.

My first consideration, be it right, wrong, fair or not, is the perspective of my buyer. For certain products my buyer will likely research, not just me, but also the rep I choose to put before them. If my buyer expects to meet an MBA, then I have to consider that in my selection protocol.

In a perfect world, a sales person who came up through the ranks, knows my product inside-out and has demonstrated remarkable acumen for interpersonal communications and closing the deal would be my first choice. If they also have an MBA or other business degree, so much the better. However too many graduates have the book smarts but none of the trench wisdom, and many times none of the passion.

Together, let's put the fun back into work!
Belldon Colme
belldoncolme@gmail.com