Target your hiring too! Testing targets sales skills before hiring.

American Salesman, April, 1998

"I shot an arrow into the air, it fell to earth, I knew not where." said Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his often quoted poem. Doesn't that sound like the way many companies hire their sales staff? Employers respond to a great personality, then hire the applicant, trusting this choice to a "gut feeling." After several months they realize Mr. Personality can't sell and the entire parade begins again, doubling and often tripling recruitment costs. Instead of shooting randomly, wouldn't it be saner to choose a target or at least a direction to aim your recruiting arrow? Targeted hiring may be the answer. By following principles similar to target marketing when you hire salespeople, you can define what qualities to look for in a sales team before you interview them....