We’re pleased to welcome guest blogger, Jay Green, co-founder & Head of Sales at Ntroduced.
It’s painful to lose one of your sales reps as each empty seat in your sales organization costs you money and puts a strain on your team. If the seat is open for too long you feel the heat when you start missing your numbers. What’s the solution?
The first step to avoid this is ensuring you recognize warning signs during the interview process. If you do these two simple things you will likely hire better-fit salespeople who will drive more production and stay in your organization longer. Just two simple things.
1. Incorporate the CLAMPS quiz into each interview. CLAMPS is an acronym for:
Challenge of the role
Location
Advancement opportunities
Money
People (co-workers and culture)
Security of the company and role
Ask candidates to rank the six criteria above (1 being most important to them, 6 being least important). With this quick exercise you’ll immediately see what motivates them the most so you can compare it to what your company and role offers. Here are some examples:
- A candidate says Location is most important to them but your role is a 1.5 hour commute each way and they’d be expected to come to the office every day. Be careful. I see it often. When the honeymoon period is over that candidate will get an email from a recruiter offering them a role 15 minutes away from their house and you’ll be dealing with that empty seat before you know it.
- A candidate says Challenge is most important to them. Your product is a complex sales cycle and this candidate has the background and drive to be successful. Early indicators show this candidate could be a serious contender for the role.
- A candidate says Money is a “4” and Advancement is “1”. They’re currently a BDR at a company that doesn’t offer many advancement opportunities and you have a BDR opening which could lead to a quick promotion to Account Executive. Your BDR position pays less than theirs but we’ve just learned Money isn’t a key motivator. This person could be a great fit.
Sounds easy? Give CLAMPS a try on your next interview and see how this data helps you make smart hiring decisions.
2. Try to scare the candidate away!
So you’re looking for a BDR? Look them in the eye and ask “Are you prepared to make 100 calls a day?” If they blink or ask questions simply say “I’m not sure this is the right job for you” and pause. If they hesitate on responding, pass. If they fight back and tell you they’ll do whatever it takes to be successful, smile, and move on to the next question.
About Jay & Ntroduced
Jay is a sales leader who has grown and scaled teams for the past 10 years. He’s the co-founder at Ntroduced, a tool used by recruiters and hiring managers to meet vetted, interview-ready candidates that are sent straight to their dashboards. Powered by AI, candidates get matched to companies on criteria far beyond a resume such as compensation, location requirements, cultural values and personality traits. Find out more by checking out www.Ntroduced.com
