Why Defining the Ideal Salesperson Matters#
Recruitment is the starting point of every superior sales team. Most management headaches downstream — low morale, missed quotas, attrition — originate in hiring the wrong people in the first place. Selection of the right salespeople can account for as much as 90 percent of an organization’s sales success.
Before you recruit anyone, you must first define — on paper — exactly who the ideal salesperson is for your company, your products, and your customers.
Think on Paper: The “Order Form” Exercise#
Brian Tracy recommends a simple but powerful exercise:
- Take a sheet of paper.
- Write a description of the perfect salesperson candidate for your business.
- Treat it as if there were a “Perfect Salesperson Factory” and your sheet is the order form.
Once you complete this order form, you can confidently compare every interview candidate against it.
The clearer your written definition, the faster and more objectively you can screen applicants — and the harder it becomes for charisma alone to cloud your judgment.
Define the Exact Results You Expect#
A common — and expensive — mistake is hiring with a vague picture of what the salesperson must actually deliver. Build clarity by writing down:
- What the salesperson is expected to do, day in and day out.
- The specific sales results expected, and by when.
- Whether the role generates leads independently or works from inbound leads.
A real-life cautionary tale: a personnel firm hired an experienced saleswoman who passed every personality test except one — she scored low on personal initiative. They hired her anyway, but neglected to mention she would have to generate her own leads. Her first morning, she asked, “Where are my leads?” By the end of the week, she was let go. The mismatch was not in the candidate but in the unstated job definition.
What Top Sports Teams Teach About Top Sales Teams#
A sales team is, in many ways, like a sports team. Top sports teams share six characteristics that the best sales teams also exhibit. Use these as a template for your “ideal” team — and by extension, the ideal team member:
1. Clear Coaching and Leadership#
Everyone on the team knows who the boss is and who calls the shots. Excessive democracy does not work in competitive sales environments — the salesperson who thrives is one who responds well to clear coaching authority.
2. Commitment to Excellence#
Vince Lombardi’s words apply here: “Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.” Top performers want to win championships and earn the bonuses that come with it. The ideal salesperson is driven by the desire to be the best — not merely to get through the day.
If you do not make a clear, spoken commitment to be the best, you will unwittingly slip into mediocrity. Likewise, the ideal salesperson must carry that same drive personally.
3. Open Communication#
The ideal team member operates without games, politics, or hidden agendas. Information flows up and down freely. Top performers can voice concerns and ask questions without fear of disapproval.
4. Intensive People-Development Focus#
Ideal salespeople are coachable and committed to continuous personal and professional growth. According to a Sales & Marketing Management study, top-20% companies:
- Train new salespeople for 6 to 12 weeks before sending them into the field.
- Invest an average of $6,000 per year per salesperson in ongoing training.
- Achieve a return on training investment of 10× to 30× the amount spent.
5. Selective Player Assignments#
The ideal salesperson is placed where their unique strengths shine. Some excel at hunting new business; others excel at farming and upselling existing accounts. Define which “position” your role is, then hire accordingly.
6. Heavy Emphasis on Strategy and Planning#
The ideal hire understands they are part of a planned strategy, not an improvised one. As Lombardi also said:
“To build a championship team, you must become brilliant on the basics.”
Apply the Pareto principle (80/20 rule): 20 percent of your activities account for 80 percent of your results. The ideal salesperson is someone who can execute that critical 20 percent reliably.
Action Exercises#
- Imagine yourself as a general planning a campaign. What is your plan of battle, and what kind of soldier do you need on your team?
- List the specific resources, skills, and personality traits the ideal salesperson must bring to win against your toughest competitors.