Page 39 - The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million - PDFDrive.com

Step 2: Screen the Search Results Using the Details in the
Candidate's LinkedIn Profile

There was a lot I could learn about a candidate simply from his profile. A brief
screen helped me to focus my sourcing efforts on the highest-quality people. The
top elements I looked for in candidate profiles were:

Indicators of sales excellence. These include rankings on their team,
consistent quota attainment, President's Club attendance, and so forth.

Longevity at their current/former employers. This was especially relevant for
candidates at companies I knew had high-performing sales teams. Even a
poorly performing salesperson can survive at a company for a year. A
mediocre salesperson might survive for two years. However, when I spotted
folks that had made it three, four, five, or more years in a high-performing
environment, I knew they were likely to be high-value candidates.

Alignment between the prospect's current buyer context and our buyer
context. Are they currently selling to large enterprises or SMBs? Are they
selling a commodity or a complex product? Is their sales process more
relationship-oriented or transactional? These factors help me assess the
learning curve for potential candidates. If these aspects do not match my
buyer context, that is not a showstopper. I am just looking for some low-
hanging fruit.

School and major. As we discussed, “intelligence” and “prior success” were
predictors of sales success for me. The quality of their school, the difficulty
of their major, and their academic performance were all correlated with these
characteristics. To be honest, I think the second-tier schools produce the best
candidates. Trust me—I hired plenty of successful salespeople from the
MITs and Harvards of the world. Some ended up being top leaders at
HubSpot. However, many grew bored within a sales organization and wanted
to achieve career progression faster than we could accommodate.

Quality of LinkedIn profiles. To be honest, this had limited impact on my
screening process. However, a weak, photo-less profile was a huge red flag
for me. With the growing importance of social selling, how can a poor social
presence be acceptable? On the other hand, a great profile with a
professionally taken photo, 500-plus connections, and loads of
recommendations from high-level executives made a really positive
impression on me. Again, I would not get carried away here, but any
candidate at either end of the profile quality spectrum would influence my