5 Competencies to Focus on When Hiring Salespeople

Maximizing the sales revenue is the prime objective of any profit-making organization and this is where salespeople are important in an organizational set-up. It's the salespeople who generate revenues for the organization to pay for things like the inventory, promotion and the storefront.
Given the importance of the sales function, any organization would like to have the best available talents in its sales team, in order to increase the efficiency and productivity of the sales-force.
Having the right man for the right job is important...
If we look at the entire sales functionality in an organization, a minimum of 30 competencies are required for smooth functioning of sales operations. As one person cannot have all these competencies, the sales force is divided into multiple layers such as pre-sales, sales closing, sales accounts & after-sales.
For example, someone may be extremely good in creating a network of people and building rapport but does not possess negotiating and closing skills. Such a person will be best suited for pre-sales activities. On the other hand, if someone is good at presentation/negotiation but does not possess networking skills, he may be inducted in the sales-closing team.
Therefore, it is extremely important that a person with the right competency should be hired to fit into his best-fit layer.