Your sales team can make or break your enterprise software sales company.  In order to survive and thrive you have to attract, recruit and retain the best and the brightest salespeople.  But just what are the qualities of exceptional sales talent? Here are some of the traits you should look for when trying to identify a rock star sales candidate:

Empathy and Emotional Intelligence

A salesperson should be able to identify with his or her customers, and they should be able to demonstrate to those customers that they understand their pain points. Empathetic salespeople have the ability to quickly gain trust and establish rapport, and they are able to convey a genuine interest in helping a customer find the right solution.

In order to identify empathetic salespeople, look for answers to behavioral interview questions that illustrate:

• The ability to read the emotions of customers.
• The ability to recognize someone else’s feelings and show respect for those feelings, even when they disagree.
• Strong listening skills.
• A knack for putting people at ease.

Laser-Like Focus

Strong salespeople are focused on the task at hand. Salespeople often find themselves pulled in ten directions at once, and they must be able to juggle a variety of customers and priorities effectively. Focused individuals are organized, and they have the ability to prioritize effectively, without being micromanaged.

To identify focused candidates, look for answers to interview questions that show:

• Goal orientation – the candidate should be able to clearly and succinctly state their personal and professional goals.
• Self-motivation.
• Self-discipline.
• Superb organizational skills.

A Strong Sense of Responsibility

Responsible individuals take ownership of their successes and their failures and do not pass the buck when faced with a challenge.  When called out on a mistake or error, they are able to accept the behaviors that led to the poor result without getting defensive.

Hiring managers can identify responsible salespeople through interview answers that demonstrate:

• The ability to resolve customer issues quickly, and to that customer’s satisfaction.
• Acceptance of personal shortcomings or failures in situations that do not go their way.
• A knack for turning negative situations into positives.
• The ability to handle, and act upon, negative feedback in a graceful manner.

Genuine Optimism

Sales is an industry that can wreak havoc on the egos of even the most self-assured individuals. In no other profession are people told “no” more than they are told “yes,” and often, the “nos” can be harsh. Top sales people understand they can’t win over every prospect, and they know there will be the occasional month where they hit a real slump. However, they stay focused on the end result and don’t let the negative aspects of the job drag them down.

To identify optimistic candidates, look for answers that show:

• The ability to craft a plan to get out of a slump without coaching from a manager.
• A genuine love of the job – optimistic salespeople aren’t just in it for the money.
• The ability to turn a negative situation into a positive situation.

Identifying top sales talent can be difficult in an interview process – after all, salespeople are trained to sell. In an interview, the product is themselves and they know that product inside and out. If your enterprise software company is looking for effective ways to evaluate salespeople during the hiring process, the team at Strategic Search Solutions can help. We recruit exclusively for the enterprise software sector, and we have developed a recruiting, interviewing, and hiring plan that will help connect your organization with highly motivated, successful candidates who will drive results. For more information about our proven processes, contact us today.