But $2 million sellers are, to put it mildly, obsessive-compulsive types who never want to be out of the money turnstile for too long. “I take a lot of time off,” Pola says, “but I don’t mind talking to my production manager when I’m on vacation.” —John Caulfield is a freelance writer and editor based in New Jersey.
PICK OF THE LITTER
A hiring consultant helps contractors single out job applicants who could become prolific salespeople.
A $2 million salesperson is assertive by nature, will always urge home-owners to trade up, and expects to close every deal. But “top dog” status is meaningless to this salesperson unless he or she makes the most money.
These are some of the behavioral attributes of $2 million salespeople that The Pinnacle Group, a Media, Pa.-based consulting firm, has discerned after two decades of assessing applicants for sales jobs and their subsequent performances. Pinnacle has devised 11 behavioral benchmarks from the 20,000 people in its database, 7,500 of whom sell for contractors, says Grant Mazmanian, The Pinnacle Group’s president. He sees salespeople as “a crucial link in a small chain” that can “make or break” a small business.
To separate the wheat from the chaff in an applicant field, The Pinnacle Group gives contractors newspaper ads written to resonate with the right job seeker. Pinnacle recommends that companies pre-interview applicants before bringing them in (using a script it provides), and check references and past incomes. Applicants then complete an online survey that matches them with the product, company, and its owner.
Through this process, The Pinnacle Group compares the applicant with benchmarks for salespeople placed in various situations. Companies searching for a $2 million salesperson, for example, might favor someone for whom the sale is a foregone conclusion. “Their thinking always is, ‘The customer called us, and we are going to match his needs,” Mazmanian says. That same seller, though, gets frustrated “when anything gets in their way,” and can be dissatisfied even when their close rate is 50%.
Mazmanian says the attributes of a roofing salesperson differ from one selling gutters, in terms of his or her aesthetic acuity and technical expertise. Window and door salespeople are pretty much the same, as are siding and deck salespeople. Whatever the product, $2 million sellers aren’t afraid to talk about a product’s high price or an expensive project. “That scares the hell out of some people,” Mazmanian says. —John Caulfield