When you are hiring a salesperson, the CV tells you where they have been, not whether they will sell for you. The skills that actually predict performance are harder to see and easy to skip past in a rushed interview. If you know what to look for, you stop hiring on charisma and start hiring on the things that matter. Here are the six worth screening hard for.
1. Listening, not talking
The best salespeople ask a good question and then get out of the way. Weak ones treat every silence as a chance to pitch. In the interview, notice whether they answer what you asked or launch into a rehearsed spiel. A rep who talks over you will talk over your customers.
2. Resilience you can evidence
Sales is a lot of rejection with occasional wins. What matters is what someone does after a knock-back, whether they reset quickly or carry it into the next three calls. Everyone claims resilience. Ask about a really bad run and listen for whether the story ends in recovery or in excuses.
3. Coachability
A coachable rep who takes feedback and adjusts will overtake a more naturally gifted one who thinks they already know it all. Ask about a time a manager told them something they did not want to hear. The good ones have a real answer, and it does not finish with them being proved right all along.
4. Curiosity about the customer
Strong salespeople are truly interested in the businesses they sell to, which is why they ask better questions and spot opportunities others miss. It is hard to fake across a whole conversation. The box-tickers ask what is on the sheet, the good ones ask the thing you did not expect.
5. Honesty about their pipeline
You want a rep who tells you the truth, including the ugly bits, rather than one who dresses up a dying deal as nearly closed every week. Straight reporting is what makes a forecast worth anything. Screen for someone who can say 'I am behind, and here is my plan' without flinching.
6. Fit for your specific sale
And this is the one most often missed. A superstar selling enterprise software can sink selling a fast transactional product, and the reverse holds too. Skill is partly the person and partly the match between them and the sale in front of them. Hiring a brilliant version of the wrong type still leaves you short.
And screening for these properly takes structure and time, and it is exactly where a rushed in-house process lets a charming mis-hire through. We read for all six before anyone reaches your shortlist. Our piece on the psychology behind great sales hires goes deeper on how. When you want people who have already been screened this way, here is how we work, or book a call.
