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[E72] Recruiting Week: Why does your candidate want a sales job?
Of course, your sales candidate wants a
job.
Of course, they want to make piles of
money.
That is what most sales hiring managers
assume about salespeople.
But that isn’t true. They don’t care
about money.
So why do they want your sales job?
Episode 72 – Transcript
Welcome to episode 72 of the
sales experience podcast.
So glad that you’re here
listening. This is a recruiting week, whether you’re a recruiter, sales
manager, or salesperson on the floor or on the phone. My goal is to make this
episode of clickable to you, something valuable, and something that you can
take with you and help with your career in whatever role that you’re in.
For today’s episode, for part
two of recruiting week, I wanted to focus on and hammer down on why the why
matters. So why does a recruits a salesperson and applicants, why their why
matters? Now, I’ve covered it in many episodes.
You can go back through all
of the shows and find it. Week one, I think in week three I’ve covered it
several different times. Even in the Q and a episodes, I did it as well. So
let’s start with the why.
What is your why? Well, on a
big philosophical level, it’s you know, somebody’s purpose. It’s why they’re in
existence, why they’re here, what they’re supposed to accomplish with their
life. It could also be, you know what gets them out of bed every day.
What makes them want to get
up and take on the world or go to work. And I think that’s important at a
certain level. Now the big caveat and what I’ve learned in life is that you can
have what you think is your purpose or your why or what’s important to you. And
that’s just in this time frame.
That’s a snapshot at this
moment, at this season of your life and how that applies to you. Now I know in
different phases of my life as I’ve gone through, there’s been different
reasons for why I’m doing different focus, a different purpose, and at no
period if I look back, is that really where I’m at now?
So I didn’t know what my big
picture wise and I still don’t, I’m 43 years old. I don’t know what my whole
life is going to look like and where it’s going to go and I wouldn’t even
pretend to try to figure that out. Now some people have that benefit, some
people have the ability to understand their purpose, their why they’re driving
that direction, they’re giving it all they can, all of their energy. And even
with that being said, I know that we’ll still shift for most people over time.
What I’m talking about for
this is why does that sales person want to come in and close deals and make
money? So obviously we’re talking about a role that you have available. If
you’re hiring, that’s a some kind of base plus commission or Commission only
some kind of bonus potential where their performance, their effectiveness,
their ability to close more sales will lead to them earning more money.
What you want to know through
the hiring process and the managing process is what is that thing that they’re
working for? Why do they want to make more money? What’s important in their
life and what goals do they have? What does that money mean for them? And
again, it’s not about money.
Money is just a vehicle. It’s
just energy is just this thing. But it’s a way for somebody to get something
that they want. Whether that’s a car, house, vacation, a new cell phone, paying
off debt, or it’s the security that comes. Some of those things like having a
house or having the freedom to travel. And your goal should be to dig down as
deep as possible to find the root of why they want to be successful in that
sales role. What is it that they’re trying to accomplish with their life at
this moment with your job?
So again, the reason I say
that this is valuable, even if you’re a salesperson listening to this episode,
is because you want to know that for yourself. I’ve talked about it so many
times, is you want to know what drives you. You want to know what’s important,
why you’re doing what you do, and why.
If you’ve heard no 50 times
today, why you’re going to pick up that phone or have that 51st meeting or
knock on that 51st door, why you’re going to do that for you. And what that
opportunity in that potential sale means to you, not anybody else.
So if you’re recruiting for a
salesperson, you gotta always know why they want it. Now, of course, what does
every sales person that you interview going to say, I want to make more money.
I want to make bank, I want to have lots of money.
I want to do like, but why?
Well, I want to buy new car. Why? Like as deep as you can go as it’s
comfortable for you on the recruiting side, as deep as they will let you go on
their side personally, go for it. Ask as many questions as possible.
Find out why that’s important
to them. Why does it matter? What is driving them? What would they put on a
vision board? What is it that they hold dear and drives them? What are they
gonna get up for on Monday morning and being excited about the opportunity.
What are they going to get up
on Thursday morning and come to the office and still be excited for the
potential of closing deals even if Wednesday wasn’t successful, even if they’re
tired towards the end of the week, what’s going to drive them day in and day
out, week in and week out. And I’ll tell you based on experience that the
bigger that why is the more emotionally tied they are to that individual thing.
What they’re looking for,
what they’re trying to accomplish or what they need to pay for. The bigger that
is, the harder they’re going to work, the more effort they’re going to put in
place. And the more that you’re going to have to probably pull them back from
how hard they want to work and how much they want to get done instead of trying
to push them forward and motivate them.
The last that you’ll need to
have spiffs and bonuses and contests and carrots that you dangle in front of
them to bribe them to work harder because they are there for the big money, the
big bonus, that’s what they want. And so you don’t need as much the character
of the stick because they’re going to drive themselves for why they are there
and what matters to them.
So what do you do when
somebody doesn’t have that, when they don’t have a big why, when they’re not
really driven well, you can hire them, bring them on board?
It depends obviously on the
nature of what you’re selling, your sales cycle, the level of experience and
professionalism you need from your sales team, tissue. When you’re hiring
somebody in, you know, if you’re hiring them, it’s business to business and
they’re an SDR, so they’re setting appointments or just doing the initial phone
calls.
Maybe that doesn’t matter as
much, but I’ll tell you based on my experience, having somebody on the team who
doesn’t have a very big Y or doesn’t have a big reason, they’re just looking
for a job because they feel like they should have one and they know that it’s
important and they don’t really like the other options and this one sounds like
it would be good or easy.
That person will be somebody
you always have to push. You will have to push them with the carrot or the
stick for a lot of their sales career if they’re not intrinsically motivated to
crush it.
Now on the flip side,
depending on your company, your comp structure, the progression plans of where
they could move up to and what they could do within your organization. You may
also find that somebody who has a giant y who’s got this big drive and the
skills to back it up to make it happen may not stay with your organization very
long.
Depends again, on your
structure. Where I’ve seen some organizations where you know there’s a range of
people that are good for it, but if somebody is just amazing, then they’re
gonna Max out at that company.
They’re not going to make as
much money as they know they could in some other organization or a different
product, different price point, different structure, commission, whatever that
might be, and so they’re going to get to the point where they’re just, they’re
done, they’re too big, they’re too successful, too skilled for where they’re at
with you.
They’re going to move on, and
that’s fine as well. I’m totally okay with all of those kind of reps because
they’re going to give every day and they can, they’re going to close lots of
deals. Everyone’s going to win while they’re there and then they’re going to
move on and that’s fine.
The other end of the spectrum
are the people you have to push constantly. That’s the ones you want to watch
out for. Those are the ones that you don’t want on the bus. Those are the ones
you don’t want along for the ride on the sales team because they will require
so much work by management, by HR, pushing them all the time.
Now again, this isn’t a
skills function. I’m not talking about people who are good at sales versus not
good at sales. I’m not talking about experience like somebody who has the pages
of sales jobs on their resume versus somebody who is let’s say fresh out of
school or has been working retail.
Now they want to get into a
telephone sales job or work at your retail location. I’m not talking about
that. I’m talking about the tri. I’m talking about the why. I’m talking about
their attitude and their what is moving them forward and what they want because
if they have the drive and the y, they can learn the skills. Sales is a skill.
Closing deals is a skill.
Reading a script, talking to people, persuading people, active listening. All
of those are skills. But if somebody is not motivated and driven for their own
reasons, it’s going to be like trying to push a giant boulder uphill and it
just doesn’t work. And if it does work, it takes too much effort and you should
put your effort into other areas. So for me, when I used to interview people, I
got to the point where I didn’t really care about what the resume was.
I just had a conversation
with somebody. What was on paper, didn’t matter because they’re just making up
a story or telling me a story anyway. I want to know who they are, what are
their interests, you know, kind of get a vibe for how they are and then
literally like what drives them, what gets them up in the morning, why do they
want the job? What is it they’re trying to accomplish? You know, what income
goal do they have when it comes to bonus and commission? Like where do they see
themselves and then what’s that money for? It can’t just be for the sake of, I
need more money. What is that for?
All right. Hopefully that
helps in your recruiting efforts. Again, if you’re a sales person, listen to
this. If you don’t have something that’s driving you, you’re already realizing
that it’s a struggle for you every day to stay motivated and to be doing what
you need to, and maybe sales is not the right thing, or maybe you just need to find
a big why and reconnect or connect with what it is that you like.
What wakes you up every day?
What you want to accomplish, your big goals, maybe like travel, whatever that
might be. Managers, recruiters, you already know this. Make sure to subscribe
to the show wherever it is. It’s everywhere online. If you can’t find it, send
me a message. Cutter consulting group.com you can also find me on LinkedIn.
Always. Remember that
everything in life is sales and people remember the experience you gave them.
View all episodes
By Jason Cutter
4.9
3535 ratings
Of course, your sales candidate wants a
job.
Of course, they want to make piles of
money.
That is what most sales hiring managers
assume about salespeople.
But that isn’t true. They don’t care
about money.
So why do they want your sales job?
Episode 72 – Transcript
Welcome to episode 72 of the
sales experience podcast.
So glad that you’re here
listening. This is a recruiting week, whether you’re a recruiter, sales
manager, or salesperson on the floor or on the phone. My goal is to make this
episode of clickable to you, something valuable, and something that you can
take with you and help with your career in whatever role that you’re in.
For today’s episode, for part
two of recruiting week, I wanted to focus on and hammer down on why the why
matters. So why does a recruits a salesperson and applicants, why their why
matters? Now, I’ve covered it in many episodes.
You can go back through all
of the shows and find it. Week one, I think in week three I’ve covered it
several different times. Even in the Q and a episodes, I did it as well. So
let’s start with the why.
What is your why? Well, on a
big philosophical level, it’s you know, somebody’s purpose. It’s why they’re in
existence, why they’re here, what they’re supposed to accomplish with their
life. It could also be, you know what gets them out of bed every day.
What makes them want to get
up and take on the world or go to work. And I think that’s important at a
certain level. Now the big caveat and what I’ve learned in life is that you can
have what you think is your purpose or your why or what’s important to you. And
that’s just in this time frame.
That’s a snapshot at this
moment, at this season of your life and how that applies to you. Now I know in
different phases of my life as I’ve gone through, there’s been different
reasons for why I’m doing different focus, a different purpose, and at no
period if I look back, is that really where I’m at now?
So I didn’t know what my big
picture wise and I still don’t, I’m 43 years old. I don’t know what my whole
life is going to look like and where it’s going to go and I wouldn’t even
pretend to try to figure that out. Now some people have that benefit, some
people have the ability to understand their purpose, their why they’re driving
that direction, they’re giving it all they can, all of their energy. And even
with that being said, I know that we’ll still shift for most people over time.
What I’m talking about for
this is why does that sales person want to come in and close deals and make
money? So obviously we’re talking about a role that you have available. If
you’re hiring, that’s a some kind of base plus commission or Commission only
some kind of bonus potential where their performance, their effectiveness,
their ability to close more sales will lead to them earning more money.
What you want to know through
the hiring process and the managing process is what is that thing that they’re
working for? Why do they want to make more money? What’s important in their
life and what goals do they have? What does that money mean for them? And
again, it’s not about money.
Money is just a vehicle. It’s
just energy is just this thing. But it’s a way for somebody to get something
that they want. Whether that’s a car, house, vacation, a new cell phone, paying
off debt, or it’s the security that comes. Some of those things like having a
house or having the freedom to travel. And your goal should be to dig down as
deep as possible to find the root of why they want to be successful in that
sales role. What is it that they’re trying to accomplish with their life at
this moment with your job?
So again, the reason I say
that this is valuable, even if you’re a salesperson listening to this episode,
is because you want to know that for yourself. I’ve talked about it so many
times, is you want to know what drives you. You want to know what’s important,
why you’re doing what you do, and why.
If you’ve heard no 50 times
today, why you’re going to pick up that phone or have that 51st meeting or
knock on that 51st door, why you’re going to do that for you. And what that
opportunity in that potential sale means to you, not anybody else.
So if you’re recruiting for a
salesperson, you gotta always know why they want it. Now, of course, what does
every sales person that you interview going to say, I want to make more money.
I want to make bank, I want to have lots of money.
I want to do like, but why?
Well, I want to buy new car. Why? Like as deep as you can go as it’s
comfortable for you on the recruiting side, as deep as they will let you go on
their side personally, go for it. Ask as many questions as possible.
Find out why that’s important
to them. Why does it matter? What is driving them? What would they put on a
vision board? What is it that they hold dear and drives them? What are they
gonna get up for on Monday morning and being excited about the opportunity.
What are they going to get up
on Thursday morning and come to the office and still be excited for the
potential of closing deals even if Wednesday wasn’t successful, even if they’re
tired towards the end of the week, what’s going to drive them day in and day
out, week in and week out. And I’ll tell you based on experience that the
bigger that why is the more emotionally tied they are to that individual thing.
What they’re looking for,
what they’re trying to accomplish or what they need to pay for. The bigger that
is, the harder they’re going to work, the more effort they’re going to put in
place. And the more that you’re going to have to probably pull them back from
how hard they want to work and how much they want to get done instead of trying
to push them forward and motivate them.
The last that you’ll need to
have spiffs and bonuses and contests and carrots that you dangle in front of
them to bribe them to work harder because they are there for the big money, the
big bonus, that’s what they want. And so you don’t need as much the character
of the stick because they’re going to drive themselves for why they are there
and what matters to them.
So what do you do when
somebody doesn’t have that, when they don’t have a big why, when they’re not
really driven well, you can hire them, bring them on board?
It depends obviously on the
nature of what you’re selling, your sales cycle, the level of experience and
professionalism you need from your sales team, tissue. When you’re hiring
somebody in, you know, if you’re hiring them, it’s business to business and
they’re an SDR, so they’re setting appointments or just doing the initial phone
calls.
Maybe that doesn’t matter as
much, but I’ll tell you based on my experience, having somebody on the team who
doesn’t have a very big Y or doesn’t have a big reason, they’re just looking
for a job because they feel like they should have one and they know that it’s
important and they don’t really like the other options and this one sounds like
it would be good or easy.
That person will be somebody
you always have to push. You will have to push them with the carrot or the
stick for a lot of their sales career if they’re not intrinsically motivated to
crush it.
Now on the flip side,
depending on your company, your comp structure, the progression plans of where
they could move up to and what they could do within your organization. You may
also find that somebody who has a giant y who’s got this big drive and the
skills to back it up to make it happen may not stay with your organization very
long.
Depends again, on your
structure. Where I’ve seen some organizations where you know there’s a range of
people that are good for it, but if somebody is just amazing, then they’re
gonna Max out at that company.
They’re not going to make as
much money as they know they could in some other organization or a different
product, different price point, different structure, commission, whatever that
might be, and so they’re going to get to the point where they’re just, they’re
done, they’re too big, they’re too successful, too skilled for where they’re at
with you.
They’re going to move on, and
that’s fine as well. I’m totally okay with all of those kind of reps because
they’re going to give every day and they can, they’re going to close lots of
deals. Everyone’s going to win while they’re there and then they’re going to
move on and that’s fine.
The other end of the spectrum
are the people you have to push constantly. That’s the ones you want to watch
out for. Those are the ones that you don’t want on the bus. Those are the ones
you don’t want along for the ride on the sales team because they will require
so much work by management, by HR, pushing them all the time.
Now again, this isn’t a
skills function. I’m not talking about people who are good at sales versus not
good at sales. I’m not talking about experience like somebody who has the pages
of sales jobs on their resume versus somebody who is let’s say fresh out of
school or has been working retail.
Now they want to get into a
telephone sales job or work at your retail location. I’m not talking about
that. I’m talking about the tri. I’m talking about the why. I’m talking about
their attitude and their what is moving them forward and what they want because
if they have the drive and the y, they can learn the skills. Sales is a skill.
Closing deals is a skill.
Reading a script, talking to people, persuading people, active listening. All
of those are skills. But if somebody is not motivated and driven for their own
reasons, it’s going to be like trying to push a giant boulder uphill and it
just doesn’t work. And if it does work, it takes too much effort and you should
put your effort into other areas. So for me, when I used to interview people, I
got to the point where I didn’t really care about what the resume was.
I just had a conversation
with somebody. What was on paper, didn’t matter because they’re just making up
a story or telling me a story anyway. I want to know who they are, what are
their interests, you know, kind of get a vibe for how they are and then
literally like what drives them, what gets them up in the morning, why do they
want the job? What is it they’re trying to accomplish? You know, what income
goal do they have when it comes to bonus and commission? Like where do they see
themselves and then what’s that money for? It can’t just be for the sake of, I
need more money. What is that for?
All right. Hopefully that
helps in your recruiting efforts. Again, if you’re a sales person, listen to
this. If you don’t have something that’s driving you, you’re already realizing
that it’s a struggle for you every day to stay motivated and to be doing what
you need to, and maybe sales is not the right thing, or maybe you just need to find
a big why and reconnect or connect with what it is that you like.
What wakes you up every day?
What you want to accomplish, your big goals, maybe like travel, whatever that
might be. Managers, recruiters, you already know this. Make sure to subscribe
to the show wherever it is. It’s everywhere online. If you can’t find it, send
me a message. Cutter consulting group.com you can also find me on LinkedIn.
Always. Remember that
everything in life is sales and people remember the experience you gave them.