Hiring? How to Sell ‘A’ Players Using Your Sales Compensation Plan
If you aren’t selling ‘A’ players on sales compensation potential in your interview process, they will go work for someone else. I recently wrote about alienating ‘A’ players with your sales compensation plan. One of the main ways to do this is to start interviewing reps without the telling them how their role at your company will translate into dollars. Let’s be honest: ‘A’ players have choices where they work because they produce. If Peyton Manning was a poor performer, the 3 week love fest he just had with the Niners, Titans, Dolphins and Broncos would have never happened.
Let’s put this into context. Picture the process you go through before investing in a new stock. Once you locate a stock that interests you, the first thing you do is look at the performance. How is it priced today? What is the 52 week high/low? What are the historical earnings per share? What about competitive stocks? Has the price appreciated or depreciated? In other words, you are doing your homework before making an investment. Your company is like one of many stocks an ‘A’ player sales rep will consider, and the good ones have lots of choices.
Here are 4 ways to make your “stock” stand out in the interview process:
1. What am I buying?
- What is the territory?
- How many customers and prospects will I have?
- What is the total addressable market (TAM)?
2. What are the comps?
- How has the territory performed the last 3 years?
- What was the % attainment to quota?
- What did the previous sales rep in the territory earn as a % of target earnings?
3. What is the potential?
- What are the drivers for compensation?
- How does my quota goal ramp?
- How much will I earn if I hit the goal?
- What does peak performance pay?
4. What about the competition?
- What does your overall pay plan look like?
- How does that stack up against the competition?
- How does it compare to world class?
If you need a little help with how to tell your story in a compelling way, download these "Why 'A' Players Work Here" slides that shows how to answer the above questions using easy to understand concepts. ‘A’ players are looking for opportunities where they can excel and maximize their earnings. If you want to differentiate yourself during the hiring process, sell them on how your sales compensation plan will help them achieve their financial objectives.
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