For years, companies have been hiring salespeople based on a predefined set of traits—often focusing solely on charisma, persistence, or industry experience. While these qualities are important, research shows that we've been getting it wrong by ignoring other critical factors. Sales success isn't just about the person sitting across from the client; a complex mix of individual, organizational, customer, and environmental factors influences it.

We've Been Hiring Salespeople All Wrong

A meta-analysis of B2B Sales Studies by Ohiomah, Benyoucef, and Andreev (2020) revealed that sales success is driven by more than just traditional salesperson traits. While skills like adaptive selling and customer orientation are crucial, they must be considered in context. Organizational structure, customer expectations, and even external market conditions play pivotal roles in determining how effective a salesperson will be. Most traditional hiring practices fail to capture these nuances, leading to costly turnover and underperformance.

The Problem with a One-Size-Fits-All Approach

Many companies approach sales hiring with a fixed mindset, looking for a singular "sales profile" that works across the board. This strategy overlooks the fact that sales situations vary drastically. For example, selling to small and medium businesses (SMBs) is vastly different from selling to enterprises. The customer journey, decision-making processes, and market environments differ, meaning the traits needed to succeed in each segment also change.

The Importance of Selecting the Right Performance Metrics

One of the biggest gaps in hiring is failing to align sales roles with the right performance metrics. Success in B2B sales isn’t just about hitting a sales quota—it involves relationship building, adapting to customer needs, and long-term customer satisfaction. The research shows that the determinants of sales success—such as technical knowledge, interpersonal skills, and organizational support—vary in importance depending on how you measure success. Companies need to tailor performance metrics to the specific sales context to figure out what works.

A New Approach: Correlating Performance with Psychometrics

At Bryq, we’ve developed a process that correlates sales performance with psychometric data to identify what really works for your organization. We go beyond the usual traits to capture the broader determinants that impact success—both at the salesperson level and organizational level. This approach is highly customizable, ensuring that you identify the right performance metrics for your organization and then hire the right people to achieve them.

Closing the Loop: A Predictive Process

The only way to truly optimize your sales hiring process is to make it a living, adaptive system. At Bryq, we talk about "closing the loop"—using real-world performance data to continually refine the psychometric profiles of successful salespeople. This creates predictive analytics that allow companies to adjust their hiring criteria as market conditions evolve, ensuring that the salesforce is always aligned with what works in real-time.

B2B Sales Aren’t One-Size-Fits-All

In our experience, B2B sales require segment-specific profiles. SMB, mid-market, and enterprise customers all have unique needs and decision-making processes. The determinants of success in these markets vary, so you need different sales profiles for each segment. A sales strategy that works wonders for mid-market clients may fall flat when applied to large enterprises, and vice versa.

Why Are You Missing Out on Revenue?

The reason is simple: you're not hiring the right people for the right roles. Use Bryq today to improve your hiring process and optimize your bottom line. We help you find the perfect fit for each segment of your market, ensuring that you maximize every opportunity.