No matter the sales specialty, there is one proven way to tell when a sales person has what it takes for top sales talent: Performance under pressure. There are many sales people who can contribute higher than average sales numbers in good times, but when business conditions shift it is your top sales talent who will continue to perform despite the obstacles.

Top Sales Talent Is Not Just Based on Experience

When organizations need to add top sales talent many begin the recruitment process with the goal of hiring the most experienced sales talent possible, thinking that performance under pressure is a function of experience. Although every sales team should have its mix of experience levels, it is a mistake to think that only those who have been active in the field for years have what it takes to perform under pressure. Sales eagles who can contribute reliably in virtually any scenario can be at any stage in their career. To give your recruitment for sales talent an edge over the competition, keep an open mind on experience.

Performance Under Pressure Comes from An Ability to Adjust

One explanation for how top sales talent differentiates itself under pressure from other reliable performers is found in the ability to adjust to changing conditions. When the pressure is on it is hard to predict what may happen next, so that past experience becomes a less reliable reference point for how to proceed. Those who perform well under pressure are able to think and react quickly, and are furthermore willing to take cues from others to continually develop these abilities. Think about your top sales talent when they are under pressure, and how well they respond to:

• Feedback from you and other managers and executives
• Comments from prospects and clients that can inform sales decisions
• Learning from self-analysis
• New sales concepts and ideas from internal and external sources

Prequalifying Sales Talent for Performance Under Pressure

Once you know what differentiates sales talent that can perform under pressure, it becomes easier to tailor your recruitment and selection efforts to find and acquire reliable sales talent. In assessing this aspect of a candidate’s abilities, it is often more helpful to use interview questions and behavioral screening than it is to try to develop a reliable picture based on skills testing alone. When trying to predict how a given candidate will perform under pressure, look to the following cues:

• How he or she performs under the pressure of the interview process
• The examples he or she is able to give about past successes in performing under pressure
• The responses he or she gives to how desirable pressure is in a sales position on a day to day basis

How to Find Top Sales Talent When Your Recruiting Process is Under Pressure

Though your organization may be implementing the best practice of always recruiting for sales talent, there will be times when you need sales talent in less time than you would prefer to spend on the recruiting process. In this scenario, your recruiting process is being tested for performance under pressure, and the temptation to cut corners can be great. However, this almost always results in a reduced quality of hire than might have been realized otherwise.

The best solution to help your organization hire sales talent quickly when the pressure is on is to reach out to an experienced sales recruiter. A sales recruiter already has a candidate pipeline of pre-screened and qualified applicants who have shown the ability to deliver sales in all conditions, which saves your organization the time and stress of building a new pipeline on a reduced timeline. Furthermore, a sales recruiter can help you through the next steps in the selection process to ensure that your sales talent is top quality. Take a cue from your top sales talent and leverage your resources when performance under pressure becomes the reality.

Sales teams in the US and Canada are seeing a growing distinction between outside sales and inside sales. For sales people these distinctions can be important, as the parameters for success in these environments are different. The following common guidelines that distinguish inside sales from outside sales can help sales people at the beginning of their careers or considering a change in career direction make an informed choice.

Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales: Location, Location, Location

The most commonly accepted difference between inside sales and outside sales, and the difference which gives each type of sales work its name, is the workplace environment. Inside sales people work almost exclusively from the office and handle the majority of sales work from prospecting to order taking over telephone and email, though clients may occasionally visit the office to sign a contract. Outside sales reps also work from the office, but frequently visit prospect and client sites and may be involved in overnight travel for this purpose. This has impacts on:

• Compensation, as outside sales reps are usually given travel expense budgets and other travel-related compensation, whereas sales reps who do not travel will not receive such compensation;
• Work schedules, as it is much more common for inside sales reps to have set hours given that the majority of their work is done from the same location;
• Timeline to close, as since inside sales reps are frequently working with client bases and deal sizes that do not require face to face contact their closes tend to follow an accelerated timeline compared to outside sales.

Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales: Where and How Prospecting Is Done

Inside sales has a reputation of being a lead generation tool, finding promising prospects only to hand those prospects to outside or field sales representatives for follow up. However, in the last few years inside sales has been trending away from the lead generation aspect and it is now more common for inside sales to follow up on its own leads, except where the size or type of prospect would be better served by follow up by an outside sales representative. Still, there are differences in prospecting as done by each sales group, including:

• Inside sales does the majority of prospecting over the phone, whereas outside sales is more likely to use a mix of telephone and in-person prospecting
• Inside sales is more likely to be assigned to follow up with inbound leads, since their schedules may make them more available
• Inside sales may also be partly responsible for generating leads for outside sales through references, referrals, and research

Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales: Who is Taking Care of House Accounts?

House accounts are those accounts which have extended for two years or longer, and are therefore no longer generating commission for the sales person who initially handled the contract. In many cases these accounts revert to being taken care of either by inside sales, customer service, or the first available sales person. Smaller house accounts are generally assigned to inside sales once the initial contract has lapsed. This sales team is also most likely to be responsible for reactivating dormant accounts, where an expired contract has not been renewed but the business is still a potential repeat customer.

The exception for house accounts being generally the purview of inside sales is with highly dissatisfied or exceptionally high-value accounts. Because outside sales emphasizes face to face interaction to a greater extent than inside sales, these types of contracts are almost always handled by outside sales.

Although there are not firm definitions that separate inside and outside sales, there are generally recognized distinctions between the responsibilities of inside sales and outside sales groups. Both inside sales and outside sales play important roles in the sales process, and though the key responsibilities for each group are different, the success of the business depends on both types of sales in equal measure.

The hiring expertise provided by your organization’s HR department is invaluable when it comes to hiring sales people, and irreplaceable when hiring sales managers. Still, some organizations struggle to place where HR should be involved in the sales hiring process. Much of the uncertainty derives from HR’s traditional role in an organization, which is less focused on sales. However, although your HR department may not have specific expertise in sales, it does have specific expertise in the driver behind your sales: Human resources! Your HR department may be able to make strong contributions in the following areas of the sales hiring process.

HR Plays an Important Role in Initial Recruitment, the Beginning of the Sales Hiring Process

Though the sales hiring process differs from hiring processes for other positions in important respects, the initial stages of the sales hiring process are typically quite similar. This allows experienced HR professionals to leverage their expertise in initial candidate selection and recruitment while freeing time for the sales department from basic tasks, including:

• Writing and distributing sales job descriptions
• Comparing initial responses to posted opportunities to move the best qualified candidates forward
• Developing a blueprint for a continuation of the sales hiring process based on candidate responses

HR Can Help Sales Managers Develop and Improve Hiring Techniques

In most organizations HR is directly responsible for hiring in key areas outside of sales. It should also be noted that HR professionals generally have the strongest understanding of the legal niceties that can snare the sales hiring process and potentially cause issues for the hiring organization. By making sales managers and decision makers aware of potential difficulties, HR can contribute to the efficiency of the sales hiring process. Furthermore, sales managers and decision makers can learn from HR’s experience in hiring other professionals to improve sales hiring in a variety of target areas, including:

• Comparing candidates to established ideal candidate profiles
• Streamlining the sales hiring process by avoiding unnecessary or redundant tasks
• Sharing best practices for interviewing and assessing candidates
• Sharing effective strategies for cultivating excitement in promising candidates

HR Has Specific Competencies in Assessing Fit During the Sales Hiring Process

Fit with the corporate culture is of growing importance to organizations as brand identities and cultural styles increasingly serve to set organizations apart from one another. HR is uniquely positioned to recognize how cultural fit can be as important a predictor of success as skills and qualifications, and can assist your sales decision makers in assessing how candidates are likely to respond to your organization’s culture. For this reason, many organizations have HR conduct or participate in the initial telephone or in-person interview to assess a candidate’s cultural fit.

HR Can Contribute to Talent Retention, Saving Time During the Sales Hiring Process

Loss of talent is a major factor driving the need for organizations to have a continual sales hiring process, as lost talent must be replaced as quickly as possible to keep sales up. Involving HR in talent retention throughout the sales hiring process and beyond can reduce your organization’s turnover, as HR:

• Assesses candidates for longevity during the initial sales hiring process, reducing the need for replacement hires
• Evaluates benefits and compensation packages for candidate attraction and retention
• Stays aware of warning signs that departure may be on the horizon for current sales people

The success of your business is reliant on the quality of your sales hires, from the entry to the management level. With this in mind, your organization should be leveraging all of the expertise at its disposal to make the best possible hires for all sales positions. This takes collaboration between your sales managers and executives, sales recruiters, and HR department. By staying aware of where each area of expertise can be best applied, you can improve your sales hiring process and generate sales results.

It takes more than a good compensation plan to encourage sales people, since if all that were required were a healthy salary sales managers would not be required to consistently find new ways to reach, motivate, and encourage sales people. Reach is an operative word in these circumstances, since even the strongest sales manager will not be able to encourage sales people who do not want to be motivated; first a sales manager must connect with what sales people need and expect. The following ideas will help sales managers and executives understand the basics behind encouraging sales people.

Communicate While You Encourage Sales People to Keep Morale High

Good sales team morale is the foundation for any and all motivation that sales people receive. If the sales team’s morale is negative or low, this will have a drag effect on anything you do to encourage sales people. Supporting high morale can be difficult for sales managers since there is much going on with a sales team personally and professionally, not all of which a sales manager can control or even be in a position to be aware of. However, using best practices such as the following can help sales managers foster positive morale throughout the sales team:

• Keep the lines of communication between sales people, managers, and executives open at all times
• Set a standard where positive attitudes and positive results are recognized and rewarded
• Tailor one-on-one or small group meetings to encourage sales people to the attitudes and working styles of the sales people present
• Be sure to keep sales people updated on changes to the business, especially where those changes may have an impact on the sales team

Encourage Sales People by Responding to Suggested Incentives

If you really want to know the top ways to encourage sales people, asking your sales team what incentives would provide the strongest motivation to push sales higher is the best way to find out. By asking each individual member of your sales team what they would find the most encouraging incentives, you may come up with surprising answers you would not have come across otherwise. For example:

• A telecommuting privilege granted based on performance might motivate better than more traditional merchandise incentives
• Where possible, personalized incentives that allow sales people who achieve results to choose their reward can be more effective than “one size fits all” methods of encouragement
• Mixing individual incentives with group incentives to support an environment of team success may give team-oriented individuals greater encouragement

Create a Consistently Winning Culture to Encourage Sales People

Sales people thrive on competition, so if your sales people are not being encouraged to compete a significant motivational tool is laying unused. Occasional contests are the most frequent way that organizations leverage competition to encourage sales people, but the encouragement provided by competition can go much further when it is made a part of the company culture. Just three examples of ways to create competition in a culture of winning to encourage sales people are:

• Internal competitions to reach new goals for the sales your organization wants to see
• External competitions to benchmark progress against other industry players, with possible compensation tie-ins
• Personal competitions to break previous sales numbers
• Small team competitions based on the sales of 2-5 individuals competing against other teams in key performance areas

One reason that strategies to encourage sales people fail is inconsistency. If incentives and motivational programs are only rolled out once in awhile to push a new offering or to save backsliding sales from reaching a critical point, no one on your sales team is being pushed to constantly do better. Yet instituting a strategy to constantly encourage sales people to do better is the only way to continually improve sales. To be successful with your tactics to encourage sales people, make encouraging the sales team a regular part of your corporate culture.

You have thought long and hard about why now is the time to leave your current sales job, and spent countless hours updating your career objectives and resume, researching your career options, and meeting with recruiters and hiring managers. Now you have received an offer from an organization that can provide you with the career growth you are looking for, but there is a problem. Your current sales job is now upping the ante by making a counter offer. Though the counter offer may be generous, there are more downsides to accepting that counter offer than upsides.

Your Future Earnings Potential May Be Reduced

As soon as your sales job makes a counter offer, you know that the compensation package is not as equitable as it once seemed. The next time you become eligible for a compensation review you can expect that the increases you received under the counter offer will be a point of contention. Furthermore, if you needed to announce your imminent departure in order to initiate negotiations, what else can you do if negotiations are refused in the future?

Loss of Trust Is an Unfortunate Possibility

Most organizations assume that employees who are performing well are staying for the long term until they receive notice otherwise. Once you have made your intention to leave your sales job clear, the trust that you intend to contribute for the long term is unfortunately severed, and it can take a long time to reacquire that confidence. Similar issues can occur when:

• Other sales employees know that you were made a counter offer, and are now earning better compensation
• Greater responsibilities become available, but uncertainty over your tenure harms your competitiveness for assuming these tasks
• Clients find out that you considered making a move, and are not sure how long you will continue to support them

Your Current Sales Job May Be Less Secure

While it speaks to your strengths when your sales job is willing to make a counter offer to keep you on board, it is important to consider other reasons for your sales job to extend a counter offer. It is possible that the offer is a delaying tactic to keep you producing while replacements are sought, which means that your position might not be secure after you accept the counter offer no matter what your sales numbers are.

You May Lose the Bridge to the Organization Making the First Offer

If you have given your current sales job enough information that they know there is another offer on the table, it is likely that you have already gone a long way to accepting the offer made by another organization. In any case, you have successfully passed the interview process, which took time – yours as well as theirs. If you accept your sales job’s counter offer, the organization with which you were interviewing may not be willing to extend an offer a second time if you ultimately leave your current sales job later.

Your Reasons for Leaving Your Sales Job Go Beyond Money

Most counter offers involve better compensation packages, and some may include more vacation or flexible time. However, were compensation and personal time your only reasons for looking for a new sales job? No counter offer can automatically fix the underlying reasons for dissatisfaction with a sales job, whether those are career growth, lack of culture fit, or similar mismatches. If you accept your sales job’s counter offer, these problems will still be there – which is why most employees end up leaving within a short time even when a counter offer is accepted.

There are many other reasons to refuse a counter offer from your sales job, yet perhaps the simplest reason is the strongest of all. Your sales career should always come first and if you were considering leaving your current sales job, better opportunities await regardless of the counter offers made.

Sales meetings foster communication between sales people and management and provide the guidance your sales team needs to overcome conflict, and are an important and necessary component of your sales team’s overall agenda. If too many sales people are not actively participating in your sales meetings it can have a damaging effect on your sales strategy, yet oftentimes your sales meetings are not achieving the buy-in you need to see to make them successful. A lack of structure could be an underlying cause for this issue. Structured sales meetings are more than agendas; they are a configuration for success that informs every other aspect of your sales strategy. Here are three reasons why you should be working towards more structured sales meetings.

Structured Sales Meetings Keep the Focus on What You Need to Discuss

The number one reason that sales meetings without structure fall short of stated goals is a diffusion of purpose. Diffusion of purpose can happen when the meeting leaders disagree on the topics to be covered, or cover topics with little relation to one another; when sales people use opportunities to ask questions or take the floor to direct the meeting on a different bearing; or when the sales meeting has an unclear purpose, such as “touch base to discuss sales trends.” As a sales meeting leader it is up to you to implement structured sales meetings so that these diffusions are discouraged and the focus is directed firmly towards the most important business at hand.

Structured Sales Meetings Allow You to Develop Specific Actions and Outcomes

Would you rather have a sales meeting that is recapped as “we discussed…” or a sales meeting that is recapped as “we decided…”? The ability to point to specific outcomes and actions that came out of a sales meeting indicates that a meeting was productive and a good use of your sales team’s time. Structured sales meetings allow you to reach decisions and agree on future actions in a way that is rarely achieved with unstructured, general purpose sales meetings. Instead of distributing a flexible agenda, consider moving flexible items to the end of the allotted meeting time and beginning the sales meeting with items on which you want to form firm guidelines for moving forward. You can also insert key actionable items on the agenda for structured sales meetings so participants know how to prepare and contribute to the meeting's success.

Structured Sales Meetings Can Provide a Format to Energize the Sales Team

When your sales team starts checking devices, writing out ideas that are not related to the sales meeting, and generally not focusing on the meeting itself, your sales meeting has already lost its purpose. Holding structured sales meetings is the most effective way to prevent this drift because once you have a structure in place that suits the business to be covered you have a template for what you can do to keep the sales team engaged for the duration. When thinking about formats, consider:

• Interactive internet components allow off-site sales people and contributors to become more active participants in the meeting
• Sales people with busy schedules tend to leave a sales meeting at the earliest opportunity, and by scheduling optional agenda items like discussion at the end you may be losing part of your audience
• A break for discussion and free interaction during a sales meeting can keep sales people fresh – especially for sales meetings that last longer than an hour

Structured sales meetings can improve the image of sales meetings in your sales team’s eyes, and gives you more actionable items to report to other sales managers and executives. The positive impacts of adding structure to your sales meetings are visible beginning with the first meeting, and have an add-on effect over time. Especially of your sales meetings are not accomplishing what you want to see, try adding structure to improve those outcomes.

There is always room on an organization’s sales team for another great sales person, but what makes a great sales person? Businesses with sales hiring experience know to look for select attributes that a great sales person will demonstrate in nearly any setting. In fact, you will see a great sales person putting these attributes into action not only with prospects and managers but with peers, acquaintances, and anyone else with whom they come in contact. Businesses can rely on great sales people with these behaviors because these are the sales people who will be able to build long term relationships with repeat clients in nearly any market.

A Great Sales Person Supports the Business, Not Just Personal Sales

It almost goes without saying that a great sales person will consistently deliver great sales. Yet there is more occurring in this dynamic than a drive for personal success; a truly great sales person is making sales that support the business, not just his or her own earnings. This involves thinking for the long term with every sales decision, even when this might pose the more difficult route.

A Great Sales Person Is Willing to be Personally Accountable

In adverse market conditions you may hear sales people talking about how conditions are negatively impacting their ability to sell, but a great sales person will acknowledge those factors and work to overcome them without allowing negativity to hold him or her back. By acknowledging that there are influences a great sales person is able to work around them, without laying external blame for personal performance.

A Great Sales Person Has Considerable Powers of Observation

Great sales people tend to listen more than they talk, and when listening are not just looking for key words or attitudes. They are also observing the speaker and the attitudes of others involved in the conversation, and allow these positions to influence their own approach. These observational powers and the willingness to adjust allow great sales people to make those with whom they are working more comfortable with the interaction whether the stakes are high or low.

A Great Sales Person is Excited About the Business’s Brand

Excitement for the brand that he or she is representing distinguishes a great sales person from an average one, as that excitement can be contagious with prospects and clients. However, to truly work, such enthusiasm must be genuine: Prospects who are being asked to spend a portion of their budget on a product or service will pick up on deception and respond to it with a firm “No, thanks.”

A Great Sales Person Always Has a Plan

You will never hear a great sales person arriving at the office and wondering, “What should I tackle first today?” A great sales person already knows what he or she must do to meet personal goals for the day before the day has officially begun. Similarly, when a great sales person is pursuing a major contract, you can be assured that he or she has already devised a plan for how to close that contract. With these plans, great sales people:

• Are looking for mutually beneficial results
• Are allowing room for modifications and adjustments as needed
• Are maximizing their time to be more efficient and effective in everything they undertake

A Great Sales Person is Career Focused Each and Every Day

Great sales people don’t tend to think in terms of the next day, the next contact, the next sale; they think about how each action they take is building their career. A great sales person’s focus is on results and reputation. This might be why a great sales person is more willing to tackle the ambitious goals, and is certainly why a business can always rely on a great sales person to do the right thing – a career focused individual is never willing to compromise personal or business integrity.