You Are Hiring for Your Clients

The most important question you are ever going to ask yourself when hiring a salesperson is this: “Is the right person for my clients?”

When you are hiring a salesperson, you are involved in a sale. You are the buyer; the salesperson is selling you on hiring them. But you are only one of the stakeholders in this sale. It’s important that you want this salesperson on your team, since you are going to be working with them. But the stakeholders you should be most concerned with are your clients and dream clients. You’re hiring this person for them.

It doesn’t matter that you like the salesperson you are interviewing if your clients aren’t going to buy from them.

It doesn’t matter that the salesperson has the right attributes, the right skills, and the willingness if they aren’t the right person for your clients.

It doesn’t matter how much you want this salesperson unless your clients and dream client will want them just as much. Ultimately, your clients and dream clients will decide whether or not you did a good job hiring.

Your competitors are bombarding your clients and dream clients, relentlessly pursuing their business. Your dream clients are going to choose to buy from one of them, or they are going to choose to buy from the salesperson sitting in front of you. Based on what you know about your clients, is this the right salesperson to win that contest?

You may believe that the value created by the salesperson sitting in front of you is that you have the headcount you need, but that’s not why you are hiring them. You are hiring this salesperson to create value for your clients.

Questions

Which of your clients and dream clients is going to be desperate to buy from this salesperson?

Are you hiring this salesperson because you need somebody to do the job, or because they are the right person for your clients?

Why would your clients choose to buy from this salesperson over some of the other salespeople you interviewed?

Would your clients and dream clients choose to buy from this salesperson over your competitor’s salespeople?