Episode 19 – Kevin Cook Discusses Assessment Tools and the Hiring Process

When it comes to recruiting new salespeople, many hiring managers are at a loss for how to uncover what really makes the candidates they interview tick.  Enter Kevin Cook of Target Teams.

Kevin Cook is Director of Business Development at Target Teams, a Cambridge, Mass. organization that creates performance improvement solutions applicable for use with individuals, teams and executives.  Kevin has 15 years sales management experience with both startup and Fortune 100 companies.  He’s interviewed hundreds of salespeople over the course of his career, and has, by his own admission, made every mistake possible when it comes to hiring.  He is always looking for ways to help sales executives make better hiring decisions.  Kevin joined us on this episode to discuss how using assessment tools can do just that.

Making great hiring decisions is no easy task, and it can be even more difficult when hiring managers “fly by the seat of their pants”.  Kevin first encouraged managers to slow down in the interview process and not be in such a hurry to get a body in place that they overlook indicators of a possible bad fit.  He recommends a focus on the needs of the particular position and the of the stake holders (i.e. peers, managers, customers, etc.).  He asks managers to consider where they would rather spend their time: in the hiring process to make sure they get a great candidate, or in the re-hiring process when the person they hired too quickly falls out?  The choice is clear.

With an acknowledgement that gut feelings and intuition are important to the hiring process, Kevin recommends an approach that also includes a clear, unbiased assessment of the character traits and behavioral styles of the candidate.  In other words, you want to pay attention to how the sales rep is going to get the job done.  This can be difficult to determine in the hiring process; after all, we’re talking about interviewing salespeople, people who build relationships and rapport for a living.  That certainly increases the difficulty of the task!

One of the best pieces of advice Kevin offers is to slow down, take your time, and not rush into hiring decisions.  Always remember: no breath is better than bad breath in a territory.

Thanks again for listening, and feel free to share this episode and any others you enjoy with your peers and associates.  Also, we encourage you to leave your comments and feedback below.

Brad & Jerry

 

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