There are two common sales recruiting myths that are screening out top sales candidates. The first is having some sort of college degree and the second is a number of years sales experience. Wouldn't you want to see a candidate that has the talent for sales or one who has established relationships with prospective clients? You may not be attracting those people because of these two knockout questions in your hiring process.

Studies show that 55% of sales people shouldn't be in sales and 20-25% are selling the wrong product or service. So hiring experienced sales people simply recycles mediocrity and gives you an 80% chance to fail.

Lack of experience can be overcome with training. A lack of sales talent cannot. Hiring an experienced sales rep who was someone else's low performer is not a winning strategy. Ever heard about the 80/20 rule?

The 80/20 rule in sales says 20 percent of the sales people make 80 percent of the sales. Our research has proven that the selling profession requires qualities not everyone has. The high turnover of salespeople in so many organizations simply reveals ineffective sales hiring and selection processes.

The solution is to stop screening out good candidates and a sales assessment tool that enables you to hire people who match your top performers. Imagine what sales would be if you had more people like your top performers?

An effective sales assessment takes the guesswork out of hiring people for sales positions. It should assess key behaviors, including competitiveness, persistence, sales drive, energy, and self reliance. It should also predict critical sales behaviors including prospecting, closing sales, call reluctance, self starting, teamwork, building and maintaining relationships, and compensation preference.

The use of this approach will lower employee turnover in the sales department and improve sales productivity. It is a minor adjustment to the hiring process but one that can increase sales and reduce turnover costs. High turnover in the sales force shouldn't be accepted as ?normal in our industry?. It is only normal if one continues to use flawed hiring practices, while their competitors change and hire the best.