In an interview with Workwolf®, sales and business coach Belinda Aramide talked about why entrepreneurs and business owners need to know how to sell their products and services. Everyone can learn to sell, but some people are naturally better at it than others. So how can you tell if someone has a personality for working in sales?
According to Robert Dougan, founder of RAD Potential Advisory Inc., psychographic assessments can help you narrow down a candidate pool and see which applicants are most enterprising and competitive, two traits that matter in sales.
Personality isn’t the whole picture. Skills and experience still count. But soft skills often decide who does well in a sales role and who stays in it.
Finding who’s best suited for sales
To figure out whether a candidate is suited for a long career in sales, look at these six areas.
1. Self management
Successful salespeople thrive in competitive environments. They’re proactive and assertive, set challenging goals and take the initiative to go after opportunities. A candidate with strong self management and an enterprising mindset is more likely to do well in sales.
2. Motivational profile
Good salespeople are often highly competitive and self motivated. They enjoy the thrill of closing a deal and stay motivated even when they’re working alone. A strong sales candidate is driven and isn’t afraid to ask for what they want.
3. Environmental fit
The best sales candidates stay coachable and adapt to different management styles, so they can fit in whatever environment they land in.
4. Comfort with conflict
Handling objections, negotiating and presenting unpopular views are common challenges in sales. A salesperson needs to handle conflict gracefully and turn it into an opportunity. Looking at a candidate’s comfort with conflict helps you see whether they can address objections and keep their composure when things get tough.
5. People orientation
Many people assume all salespeople need to be extroverts. But plenty of successful salespeople work best on their own and don’t only get their energy from other people. That’s because many sales roles involve long stretches of working alone, closing deals and negotiating.
6. Analytical orientation
Top salespeople have a thirst for knowledge and keep looking for ways to grow. They enjoy analyzing market trends, understanding customer needs and keeping up with their industry.
Screening for these traits at volume
Looking for these traits one candidate at a time takes a lot of hours, especially when you’re hiring for the same sales roles again and again. Screening them early, before resumes and keywords narrow the pool, helps you focus on the people most likely to succeed.
Workwolf® sources candidates, filters them with AI, phone screens them with its recruiters and books the best fits into your calendar, so you only meet the finalists and make the hire. Workwolf® runs on its own AI engine, Packfinder. It screens and ranks every applicant against the profile of each client’s top performers, and it gets more precise with every placement.
Conclusion
Choosing the right salesperson means looking at personality traits alongside skills and experience. Self management, motivation, environmental fit, comfort with conflict, people orientation and analytical orientation can all help you spot candidates with a better chance of success in sales.
Hiring salespeople in volume? Book a call to see how it would work for your roles, or run your numbers in our hiring ROI calculator.
