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BENCHMARKING
Behavioral
Scientists and some testing companies believe that you should benchmark
before you test candidates. We don't. Behavioral Scientists
would say something like, "we studied 3,000 salespeople for 10 years and
have determined that the top performing salespeople have the following
12 common traits. That would be true, but the lousy salespeople may have
those traits as well. Back in the 80's we began to look at the
difference between top salespeople and their unsuccessful counterparts
and we learned how they were different instead of what top performers
had in common.
When a
testing company suggests benchmarking, they apply the same theory as the
behavioral scientists but to a smaller group; your group.
They want to know what your top performers have in common and then they
look for those same traits from among your candidates. At first
glance this probably makes sense but there are several reasons as to why
it does not consistently net companies strong, successful salespeople.
This process is only
as good as your top performers who might not be all that strong and
successful to begin with.
Most companies
misidentify top performers, confusing them with top account managers,
salespeople who live off their extensive existing business but who do
not go out and find new opportunities, grow their account base and
their revenue.
Traits that these
people have in common may not have anything to do with what makes
salespeople successful.
At Objective
Management Group, Inc., we already know what makes a salesperson
successful and when we marry our criteria to your criteria, we are
able to recommend with 95% accuracy, sales candidates who will achieve great success
selling for your company.
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