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Hiring sales team members requires art and science. Pat McGrew talks about adopting a hiring strategy that is in sync with your sales goals.
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About Pat McGrew
Pat is a well-known evangelist for inkjet productivity. At McGrew Group, she uses her decades technical and marketing experience to lead the industry toward optimized business processes and production workflows. She has helped companies to define their five-year plans, audited workflow processes, and developed sales team interventions and education programs. Pat is the Co-Author of 8 industry books, editor of A Guide to the Electronic Document Body of Knowledge, and a regular contributor to Inkjet Insight and WhatTheyThink.com.
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Discussion
By Wayne Lynn on Sep 06, 2022
Good article Pat. Very detailed, clear and useful. If, in the hiring process, you intend to use an assessment or test it might be helpful to mention that and briefly state why. That can be helpful in shooing away most of the "tire-kickers". If you're going to post on one or more of the social media platforms tire-kickers can clog your pile line and waste your time. You want at least 3 good final candidates. It will normally take 25-30 applicants to get there. I used to get 70-90 on Linked In. By the way we recommend using assessments. If you're clear on what you're looking for a good assessment tool will eliminate people who look good on paper but will never meet your needs. Just food for thought...
By Pat McGrew on Sep 06, 2022
Oh, Wayne! You are singing my song! Assessments are an excellent tool! Thanks for the comment!
By george gross on Sep 06, 2022
There are a great many assessment tools. Do either of you have an opinion on which are useful?
Do you recommend assessing those of us already in the company as a source of information on who would be complimentary?
By Wayne Lynn on Sep 06, 2022
George, you are absolutely right. There are a lot of assessment tools out there. They number in the dozens. I have used 5 or 6 over my career. In 2013 I was introduced to the Harrison assessment by Jerry Scher, formerly of Prisco. I have used it exclusively since. A big advantage is that I have 6-8 different behavioral profiles for different types of sales roles to use as the situation dictates. You get to use the profile that best fits your needs and company goals. Answering your second question should be done with a certified reseller in a 20-30 minute phone call. Pardon me for being self-serving here but my company is a certified reseller. There are over 200 of us in the USA. But the short answer is yes. You should assess your current players and determine what is already working for you.
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