The Cost of Hiring The Wrong Salesperson

Finding and keeping good salespeople can be a real struggle, but it is one that’s worth having as hiring the wrong salesperson is costly, and not just for the reasons you may think.

Reduced income

It’s no secret that employees that are good at sales will make you more money than those that aren’t; they’ll bring in more business. But, the impact may be bigger than you think. Calculate, for example, how many more sales you would make, and therefore how much more money you’d bring in, if all your salespeople achieved the same sales figures as your top seller – it’s worth choosing the right people.

Increased outgoings

Whichever way you look at it, recruitment is expensive. It takes time and effort to write advertisements, review applicants, conduct interviews and make decisions. Hiring right first time prevents having to go through the process again and again as unsuitable employees walk out the door within days of walking in. It extends further than recruitment though, consider training costs and the time it takes to set-up log-ins or company accounts; excellent salespeople cost less to train than those that need to be introduced to the business as well as sales in general.

Lowers team morale

Morale is important. Happy employees are motivated employees, and motivated employees sell more. But conversely, negativity or poor sales figures from just one employee can bring the whole team down. Impacts will be greater if sales targets are team-based, but regardless, no employee wants to pick up the slack of a non-performing colleague.

Loss of Intellectual Property

Sales is all about relationships, and it’s your salespeople that are on the ground and in contact with your customers, building rapport and trust. Therefore, when your salespeople leave they take with them company knowhow, the relationships you have with your customers and potentially their details.

Bad for your image

Good salespeople need to be persuasive enough to make the sale but also efficient and motivated enough to chase up leads and follow through. Inefficient salespeople that lack enthusiasm, empathy or fail to see a sale through to the end will potentially earn your company a bad name. Reputations spread quickly on social media, so one bad review could cost you many future customers.

How to find the perfect salesperson

It takes a certain type of personality to be good at sales. But luckily, it is a profession that lends itself perfectly to psychometric testing. Identifying if potential employees have traits such as assertiveness, confidence, emotional stability and optimism will give you a good indication of how they will perform in a sales environment. Psychometric testing could be carried out at any stage of the recruitment process, but why wait? With e-Talent, it is applied at the very start, so you know instantly whether or not a candidate is worth considering. Contact us today to find out more.