Hiring for success at the buyer–seller interface

Abstract

Recently, much attention has been given to the changing role of the salesforce and the selling function. A number of trends, or forces, have been identified as drivers of the changing nature of selling, including a shift toward relational and consultative sales approaches, emerging technologies, and changes in expectations by buying organizations. A key question becomes how have these changes impacted sales managers' perceptions of the factors that are important to the success of the salespeople they hire? This article investigates the importance placed on a variety of factors related to salesperson success including skills, content knowledge, attributes, and historical indicants of performance. Respondents are 215 sales managers representing a variety of industries, goods and services, and markets. The results reveal many of the factors rated as important corroborate the recent trends in the buyer–seller interface. The findings are discussed in terms of potential benefits to sales educators and researchers, sales job candidates, and sales organizations and their sales managers.