Recruiting and Selecting the

Sales Force
 IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD
SELECTION PROGRAM
 Improves sales force performance
 Promotes cost savings
 Eases other managerial tasks
 Sales managers are no better than their
sales forces
 PROBLEMS OF POOR
SELECTION
 Inadequate sales coverage / lack of
customer follow-up
 Increased training costs
 More supervisory problems
 Higher turnover
 Suboptimal performance
 LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
 Lawsemphasize two concepts in
employment:
– nondiscrimination
– affirmative action
 SCOPE OF SALESFORCE
STAFFING
 Determine the number and type of people
needed
 Recruit a number of applicants
 Process the recruits and select the most
qualified
DETERMINING NUMBER OF
PEOPLE NEEDED
 What should sales managers consider?
– Turnover rate
– Sales forecasts
– Proposed changes in products,
markets, and market coverage
 TURNOVER

Turnover Rate =
Separations per year
Average Sales Force size
FIRST YEAR COST OF A
SALES PERSON
COMPENSATION $24,752
BENEFITS (24%) 5,940
FIELD EXPENSES 20,397
TRAINING COSTS 16,177
TOTAL COSTS $ 67,206
NUMBER OF APPLICANTS
R =H/SxA
– R = number of applicants
– H = number of hires
– S = % of recruits selected
– A = % of those who accept
 DETERMINING TYPE OF
PEOPLE NEEDED
 Job analysis
 Job description
 Job qualifications
 JOB ANALYSIS
 …a systematic way to describe how a job
is to be performed, as well as the tasks
that make up a job.
 JOB DESCRIPTION
 …a written document that spells out the
job relationships and requirements that
characterize each sales position.
 FROM THE INTERNET…..
 Writing an Effective Job Description:
http://www.onlinewbc.org/docs/manage/
descriptions.html
 COMPONENTS OF JOB
DESCRIPTIONS
 Job title
 Organizational relationship
 Duties and responsibilities
 Hiring specifications
 Summary: technical requirements and
demands of the job
 USES FOR THE JOB
DESCRIPTION
 Selection and hiring
 Sales training
 Compensation plans
 Performance appraisal
 JOB QUALIFICATIONS
 Aptitudes,skills, knowledge, and
personality traits necessary to perform a
job successfully
ISSUES CONCERNING JOB
QUALIFICATIONS
 Uniqueness
 Degree to which each trait must be
possessed
 How essential is each quality?
 TRAIT CATEGORIES
 Mental (intelligence, planning ability)
 Physical (appearance, health, speaking
ability)
 Experience (education, sales, other)
 Personality (ambition, interest, tact)
 Environmental (membership)
RECRUITING CANDIDATES
 Recruit 20 people who are interested
 Review of applicants will eliminate 10
 The initial interview will eliminate 6 or 7
 The 3 or 4 finalists are screened by
further interviews, tests, etc...
 One person is finally hired
 SOURCES OF RECRUITS
 The present sales force
 Other company employees
 Other companies
– Competitors
– Customers
 Educational institutions
 Advertisements
 Voluntary applications
 Employment agencies
 Internet
 THE PRESENT
SALESFORCE
 Why should the salesforce be consulted?
 Use of incentives
 OTHER COMPANY
EMPLOYEES
 Why look elsewhere within the company?
 COMPETITORS
 Should a firm hire salespeople from the
competition?
 68 percent of sales managers stated that
the first place they look is to the
competitors’ sales force!
 CUSTOMERS
 Can purchasing agents become sales
people?
 What are the risks associated with hiring
from your customer’s company?
 EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS
 Types of positions?
 Placement centers
 Relationships with professors
 ADVERTISEMENTS
 Newspapers and trade journals are the
most widely used media
 Use your ad as a screening device
 Ads must attract attention and have
credibility
COMPONENTS OF A GOOD
RECRUITING AD
 Company name
 Product
 Territory
 HiringQualifications
 Compensation plan, benefits
 How to contact employer
VOLUNTARY APPLICANTS
 Record retention system
 EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES
 “Recruit” the agency
 Agencies can perform initial screening
 Compensation
 INTERNET
 Employers can post their jobs on-line or
search one of the many resume
databases.
 FROM THE INTERNET...
 TheJob Factory
<http://www.jobfactory.com/>
 FACTORS INFLUENCING
CHOICE OF SOURCES
 Nature of Product
 Nature of Market
 Policy of Promoting from Within
 Availability
 Sales training provided
 Is your company hiring career salespeople
 Sources of past successful recruits
 Money available for recruiting
 SELECTION TOOLS
 Graphology
 Application blanks
 Personal interviews
 Psychological tests
 References and credit reports
 Physical examinations
 Assessment centers
 SELECTION PRINCIPLES
 Least costly tools first
 A series of tools should be used
 Tools aid managerial judgment; are not
substitutes
 GRAPHOLOGY
 Graphology (a.k.a. Handwriting
Analysis) is the art of interpreting a
person's character from his/her personal
handwriting.
 FROM THE INTERNET….
 Graphology / Handwriting Analysis FAQ
<http://web.singnet.com.sg/~tjlow/gclub/
grapho.htm>
 APPLICATION BLANKS
 Serve as an initial screen
 Basis for probing in an interview
 Ask for information you intend to use
 Experience (education and work)
 Environmental qualifications
 RESUME ANALYSIS
 Account for all dates
 Examine number of jobs and length of
time spent on jobs
 Reasons for leaving
 Is there a pattern of growth?
 PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
 Get to know the candidate
– Determine fitness for job
– verify facts on application
– two way communication device
 Validity
 COMMON INTERVIEWER
MISTAKES
 Failure to establish rapport
 Lack of a plan
 Insufficient time
 Not listening
 Personal bias
 Questions
 First impressions
 OVERCOMING INTERVIEW
SHORTFALLS
 Standardized rating form
 Train interviewers
 Patterned interviews/multiple interviews
INTERVIEWS: FOUR BASIC
ISSUES
 Is the individual qualified?
 How badly does the individual want the
job?
 Is there a goal fit?
 Will the applicant work to the fullest of
their ability?
 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
 What was the most monotonous job you
ever had to do?
 What do you consider to be your biggest
disappointment?
 What was the most difficult decision you
ever had to make as a leader?
OTHER INTERVIEW ISSUES
 Non directed interviews
 Interviewing the spouse
 Stress interviews
 PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
 Controversial
 Types
– Intelligence
– Aptitude
– Interest
– Personality
 WHEN TO USE
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
 Large number being hired
 Hiring inexperienced salespeople
 Cost of hiring failure is high
 REFERENCES
 Employment
 Personal
 Credit
 PREVIOUS EMPLOYER
REFERENCE CHECK
 Dates of employment?
 What was the job?
 Type of selling involved?
 Get along with
mangers/clients/coworkers?
 Applicants strongest points/weaknesses?
 Why did she/he leave company?
 Would you rehire? Why?
 PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
 Salesjobs are physically, mentally, and
emotionally demanding
 Medical insurance coverage
 DRUG SCREENING
 Identify the drug user prior to
incorporating him/her into the employee
population.
 Methods of testing are generally urine,
hair or combination of these two
 ASSESSMENT CENTERS
A centralized, comprehensive evaluation
procedure involving
– tests
– interviews
– simulation exercises (business games,
discussions groups, presentations)
 FROM THE INTERNET...
 EvaluationThrough Assessment Centers
<http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/docs/
Publications/pub00024.txt>
 EXTENDING THE JOB
OFFER
 Timing
 Who makes the job offer?
 When extending the offer
– review specifics
– let the recruit talk
 Accept rejection with grace