Superstar-Growth Strategy of America�s Fastest Growing Companies! By Chet Holmes Here�s a strategy that has catapulted even the smallest of companies into super-growth mode by learning how to find an army of top producers to grow your business. No matter how small your company is, you can hire a sales force that can catapult company growth like you never imagined (one company that took this advice grew 500% in two years). No matter how large you are, you�re probably using the wrong criterion for hiring salespeople. How to attract star talent to your organization? How to learn their weaknesses before you hire them (most companies have to hire a salesperson to find out all the problems they�re going to have- this will show you how to get rid of the lightweights in just five minutes). What about you? How would you stack up against top producers as a person who has a �natural� ability to build your business? One-person armies who were struggling have learned to re-think their model to hire sales-staff, and suddenly they are sold-out. Multi-billion dollar companies had to understand the unique psychological profile of top producers and why they should hire for psychological profile rather than background. The type of person I�m talking about is someone you can put in a bad situation with poor tools, no training, bad resources and still, within a few months, they begin to outsell your best salespeople or build your company in ways you never dreamed possible. Two things drive the superstar and they are both critical and work together perfectly when you can find them: empathy and self esteem�a strong sense of self). Empathy: Top producers need to bond with others, to find something likable about every person. This is a wonderful trait to find in a salesperson. They just keep going at the client every which way, trying to find more and more ways to serve that client, to please that client. Empathy is a key trait and part of your interview process must be specifically designed to weed out their empathy. Self esteem: Make no mistake; great sales results come from people with super strong self-esteem. Only a person with an extra dose of self-esteem barrels into a client eight times after the client has said no. People with weak self esteem go away after only a single rejection. People with weak self esteem fear rejection and so never actually close a sale. Studies show that 48% of salespeople give up after only one rejection. Only 4% will try more than 4 times. Yet today, it takes 8.4 rejections to get a meeting. And what makes the difference between someone who will face that rejection one time and quit or 40 times and never quit, is purely personal (self esteem). www.howtodoublesales.com has training programs that do that. But you can hire someone who, without you ever asking or training, is built that way. These people will have way more heart about getting that sale made. Another aspect of a strong self esteem is personal ambition. Don�t you love it when you hire someone who innovates, expands upon and improves every single task you assign to them? This self esteem and need to please can make these people seem overly eager-to-please in a job interview. Maybe even come on too strong. Don�t let a little bravado put you off; it is the quintessential ingredient in every superstar. In an interview, the person is the product, so they must present themselves with confidence, assure you that they are the one you�re looking for. This aggressive behavior will scare some employers, but it is exactly what you need in a salesperson. Ground Rules for Hiring Superstars First, age and background are not relevant. I�ve hired 24-year-olds who have out-sold 20-year veterans. One of my greatest finds came from a stereo store. Here was an awesome salesperson that might�ve never become the millionaire I helped him become had I not seen the traits he had. Another great find was a salesperson who tried to sell me a sweater in a clothing store. I snatched her right out of there and she ended up running three divisions of a company I ran. I recently found a 70-year-old man who has the best skills I have ever seen for getting top executives on the telephone. And he had been a line producer for feature films. So disregard age or background. Second, you must design your ad to attract this rare animal. My ads begin like this: SUPERSTARS ONLY: Don�t even call unless you are an overachiever and can prove it. The ad does not request a resume. The first thing we do is screen calls on the phone. Here�s a great way to test a top producer: Line up your candidates for a simple ten minute conversation. Tell them: �we talk to candidates for ten minutes to determine if we want to interview them.� When screening calls, I always apologize for being gruff and to the point, explaining that I am overwhelmed with responses; then I say, �Tell me why you think you�re a superstar.� I then deliberately act unimpressed and slightly abrasive. If I intimidate them over the phone, I brush them off quickly. A top producer will not be intimidated. If they can�t talk their way into an interview what makes you think they�ll ever talk their way into a client. Save yourself a lot of trouble and get rid of those with weak self esteem right off the bat. Too often you interview candidates as the nice person you are and it gives them the chance to be nice as well. Then you hire them and find out six months later that they can�t close a sale and shy away from the really big sales out of fear (weak self esteem). With the technique above, you find out early how well they handle rejection. It saves everyone a lot of time and YOU a lot of money. For part 2 of this article please go to www.howtodoublesales.com ###
