- February 10, 2011
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
And now it’s time for our regular segment on Assessments That Come to Life! While nearly every assessment comes to life when we speak with, email or interview candidates, we don’t get to hear about them all. Today’s email of the month comes to us courtesy of a sales candidate who let his difficulty controlling his emotions, inability to recover from rejection, excuse making and closer skills of zero, contribute to his rant. He had no need for approval, thus his lack of concern over what his potential employer might think of his email.
A few points prior to sharing:
- The candidate took the assessment twice – for two different potential employers – and this email came after the 2nd attempt.
- His Sales Posturing Index – how he presents himself, differentiates himself and becomes a trusted advisor was a 31 on a 0-100 scale.
- He had 100% of the Hunter Skill Set – the apparent reason he thought he was above it all.
- The company he refers to did not share any information with him even though he made it sound like they did.
- The company has a very professional web site and is nothing like the candidate portrayed them to be
Here we go!
“Interesting, I have over 21 years of Sales & Marketing experience, not quite Entry Level! I have also managed large Geographical Areas and Multiple Personnel, who reported to me on a daily basis. I have sold multimillion dollar National Accounts on a regular basis. I have coordinated sales and marketing for multiple companies covering multiple municipalities. Also, high volume sales do not come from a quick close. You need a little time to build relationships and rapport with your customer. Having a large book of repeat customers is a true indication of a successful salesman.
“Looking at your site it looks as if you employ simple minded, handicap, people to stuff boxes. I find that to be quite Entry Level. Furthermore, judging people solely based around the results of an online assessment is quite short-sided and to be honest very unprofessional.
“I wish you luck in your search and honestly after reviewing your site I do not feel you would have been able to afford a quality professional like myself. I truly am not looking to work for a nonprofit organization, too many bleeding heart liberals and individuals educated at the State level.”
End of message.
The lesson here is that you don’t want people like this working for you! It doesn’t matter that they can hunt. They will blow up every prospect who they think could be rejecting them! Our candidate assessment accurately identifies folks that you shouldn’t even bother talking with, and helps you identify those who will succeed in sales at your company.