When recruiting sales people, it's all too easy to go off your "gut instinct" or on the interview performance alone Once you've got a salesperson it's common to give them 3, 6 or even 12 months to prove themselves before you make the tough decision to let them go again. It doesn't have to be this way, though - there are clearly defined traits that you can interview and even test for -- that will help you to eliminate the losers over 80% of the time, allowing you to pick pure, high performing solid-gold sales people time after time for your business

In this article you'll learn about the top traits to look for if you want to only pick winners for that crucial new sales role - the top "hunters" who sell two or three times what your average performers sell, even more if you expect them to self generate leads. A statistical analysis was used to produce these results -- a deep psychological profile was completed on hundreds of top performing sales people and their results compared. By comparing the results, it was apparent that they shared the same core characteristics. Learn what these characteristics are from this paper. Further articles explain why they are so important to help you choose the 6 Million Dollar men & women of selling.

Below are five headings, each covering one area of the psychology of winning sellers. By building your recruitment around these, you can quickly build an exceptional team.

Sense Of Self

Your mental toughness and "inner essence" or spirit are fantastic predictors of your behaviour under stress. The hard shell of the mentally tough protects them from the knock-backs and hits that are taken on the trail of big bonus payments. You cannot afford to employ the walking wounded - they won't convert prospects into customers, they'll be wall-flowers and shrinking violets in the hot-house of your company and you'll pay dearly in time and money for the mistake of thinking you can build them up. These people will crumble in the tough world of sales and will become expensive problems you'll have to solve. Weak sellers are often lovely people, but your business is not meant to be full of needy people - you don't have the time when there are targets to be met!

Interpersonal Skills

Sales top guns are comfortable with people and have the ability to create warm, influential relationships with others quickly. The poor performer will attend a networking event and home in on their friends, because they're comfortable doing that.. Your hunters need to be comfortable knocking on doors to introduce themselves to complete strangers. Good natured -- but fierce -- competition is to be encouraged in the sales force - so make sure your recruitment looks for a competitiveness that borders on aggressive at times. Finally you'll want them to be demanding in terms of quality - getting close to the target is still failure to the top people - it's not good enough for the winner to settle for nearly - you need people who won't rest until the job is done - right.

Work Drivers

Clearly ambitious people are going to make the best sellers for you. Top sales performers are not only ambitious, they also understand the value of structure and time management, have plans for achieving their targets and keep a little extra in the bag to allow for over-achievement too. A real top performer will be committed to their strategies to ensure they deliver, rather than giving up too soon and losing sales as a consequence.} A real sense of urgency drives our perfect bionic woman to get the next sale, to make the next appointment, to close the deals. She just won't rest until the target is smashed, every single month. She probably has a very active life outside of the office, too, with activities and hobbies that would leave many gasping for air!

Controlling Tendencies

Look for people who enjoy commanding and leading a situation, not those who are content to be passengers along for the ride. They will not quietly do their own job and ignore everybody else - they'll have an opinion about their peers and tell you what to do about them, too -- nobody said that managing high performers is meant to be easy! They will refuse to work to corporate procedures that are beaurocratic and get in the way of them doing their job. They'll be arrogant and demanding SOB's, but worth all the hassle in the extra sales they produce. They're stubborn and won't back down from an argument - a terrific trait with potential clients but a potential nightmare for you to manage.

Rapport Building

Making a bold impact on people and building rapport fast is a powerful asset for a seller and something to look for when interviewing. In the first few moments of meeting somebody, you set the tone for the next 15-20 times you'll see that person Building strong relationships starts with making a good impression initially. The salesperson that creates a positive first impression will be carried through to further meetings and eventual sales success.