Hire the right sales representative and your organization’s problems will disappear. This is a bold statement – perhaps somewhat simplistic, however, in many cases, true!

What is a Sales Representative? Job Description

A sales representative or “sales rep” is someone who is hired to represent a company to sell a product or service. Their core job description would involve meeting with current clients, getting new customers, understanding their needs, achieving sales targets & keeping an eye on the competition.

Being a sales representative requires great people skills, persuasion and negotiating. They must also be using their communication skills to deal with a broad range of customers, and require confidence for when people turn them down.

Make Sure You Hire the Best Sales Representative

Study any organization and you will find that the majority of problems within that organization occur when cash is tight and bills are not being paid. There are many reasons (market shift, economy etc.) that cash flow can be an issue within a company. Most frequently, the company pain revolves around the sales team’s inability to execute on the sales plan and meet sales budgets.

Think of this – the sales department is the only group within the company that brings in income. The rest of the departments spend it! Problems occur when spending exceeds income. Hiring the best possible sales representative can ensure that your sales goals are met, and avoid your company spending more money then you are making.

So how do sales managers hire sales representative who are successful, meet sales quotas and contribute well to the team and organization? Most managers would be surprised to discover that “being a better interviewer” won’t resolve the problem of poor hiring mistakes. Perhaps these managers ask all the right questions (behavioural, situational and others) but if the candidate is capable of answering the questions (and many of them are) then all the company has is a candidate who is good in the interview with no real knowledge of how they will perform on the job.

Psychometric assessments and other online assessment tools can be added to the mix of hiring practices but most of these hiring tools don’t provide the full picture of who the manager is interviewing and potentially hiring. So, if the interview does not work and psychometric assessments don’t provide the hiring answers to your hiring needs, then what? The question of how to hire sales representative remains unanswered.

What if sales managers could tie the interview and psychometric assessment results to some practical applications that allow candidates to fully engage and perform in real life sales activities – as if they are on the job today. The hiring teams would then have a well-rounded hiring process – the interview results, the psychometric assessments and some real life engagement with the candidate. The best way to get real life engagement is through a job simulation, sales assessment & in-tray exercise. These job assessments can be a huge help when hiring for any position, especially for a sales representative.

The “How to Hire the Best Sales Representative” question can now be answered with a simple hiring formula that can be followed each time a manager wants to hire. The formula is:

Interview but don’t put too much weight on the results

Integrate Psychometric Assessments but don’t put too much weight on the results

Use Hiring Simulation Assessments (Job Simulation or In-Tray Exercise) and tie all the data together for a high quality hiring decision.

Enjoy the hiring process!!!

Craig Bissett is President of Hire Results Ltd – the developers of the Hiring Simulation Assessment process.





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How to Hire the Best Sales Representative