What skills/talents do you look for when hiring sales reps?

Speaking from an Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Call Center perspective - It’s all about the quality of the ‘Humanware’ you deploy to begin with.

Hiring the wrong Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Agent is the Root Cause of most Call Center 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 an Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Call Center environment.

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

(Above Average) 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 - deliver great Customer Service & Support - can always be counted upon - need little direction & work extremely well with everyone.

(Average) 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, Sales Closing and Customer Service standpoint.

(Below Average) 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) Agents have Higher Levels of Absenteeism - Lower Levels of Productivity & Sales - Poorer Performance & Customer Satisfaction Ratings - and they generally have a Negative Impact on Team Morale.

(Below Average) Agents represent the real problems in an Inside Sales/Telephone Sales Call Center workforce. While (Average) & (Below Average) 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– and a negative impact on Sales Results, Service Levels, Customer Satisfaction and Brand Reputation.

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

The skills/talents tend to be more obvious so it’s important to look for less obvious, but even more important attributes like:

Level of Commitment to Sales – will they do what it takes or only what’s comfortable

Level of Motivation – how badly do they want sales success

Weaknesses that would interfere with execution of strategies and tactics

Skill Gaps – areas where they will require training, like listening and questioning skills, consultative skills, etc.

Non translatable skills/experiences – things that allowed them to be successful elsewhere that won’t help them here

Required skills – areas of challenge that have caused others before them to struggle or fail – our new candidates must be able to handle those challenges

These attributes – and dozens more like these – can’t really be observed in an interview and must come from a sales specific assessment.

We look for an appropriate combination of thinking styles, job related behaviors, and occupational interests. The appropriate combination is determined by studying the successful sales reps, the average sales reps, and the below average sales reps. The whole process takes about an hour of each sales rep's time and a few hours of the manager's time.

Above and beyond classical sales skills sets I would say:
Ability to Listen
Ability to hear correctly what is being said
Eye contact
Will to Win
Patience
Ability to communicate effectively ( written,verbal)
Ego
Ability to absorb and use training
Pride in self
Drive
Pride in appearance ( not just expensive clothing)
Manners
Passion for sales
Love of people
Temperment
Time Management Skills
Above Average Social Skills
Someone who has taken the time to research my company before the interview
Firm handshake with eye contact
Voice pitch
These are just a short few i could go on for pages

Empathy and a thick hide (a tricky combination) are the most key. You can teach most other skills (though it's nice if they can troubleshoot). But don't bother hiring someone who's going to get frustrated easily or not be able to understand what the customer is feeling. They can have all the skills in the world, but they won't be able to make customers happy.

past sales records, achievements, taking initiatives, convince capability, social behavior, flexibility. the sales person should be having all the above skill set. sales person first quality is to take achieve sales target. In order to achieve one should be more convincing capability and good leasing power.

http://www.nichesuite.com/

There are two categories of characteristics. The first for us are general categories that include optimism, enthusiasm, accountability, integrity, self improvement, ability to make the team better, a desire for a merit based environment and a hatred of passive aggressiveness. These are the 'fit' issues for us to make sure they will add to our culture and not clash with our values.

Then we use a firm called Profiles International to further assess fit. We had our top performers go through an assessment which identified for us some of their critical sales behaviors; prospecting, call reluctance, closing the sale, self-starting, working with a team, building and maintaining relationships, and compensation preference. We have candidates go through this test and evaluate them against our top performers.

Finally, we have an assignment that the candidates have to perform live; a whiteboard discussion of our offering - this shows us their ability to grasp and communicate complex concepts in a story telling manner.

In summary; cultural fit first; characteristics of our top sales people second; live performance third.

Great answer Bob at the top of the page, I agree the right attitude, i.e. being highly motivated or driven is the ingredient that moderates all sales behaviour. In abundance these qualities can make up for shortcomings elsewhere and spur the person on to make up their own shortcomings over time. When lacking, experience, skills and knowledge mean next to nothing.

High energy
Big Ego ( will to win)
Team player
Strong skill sets
Strong listening skills
Willingness to learn everyday
Great eye contact
Confidence
Confident
Good financial sense
Solid computer skills
Great client references
Proven stability ( work or school or military)
Fearlessness
Great oral and written presentation skills
Controlled patience
Open and receptive to constructive critiques
Solid probing skills
A burning desire to grow
Someone who asks for the order
There is alot more but these are key