Chapter 9 – Sales Force Recruitment and Selection
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Chapter 9
Sales Force Recruitment and Selection
Learning Objectives for Chapter 9
• Understand the key issues that drive the recruitment and selection of salespeople.
• Identify who is responsible for the recruitment and selection process.
• Understand a job analysis and how selection criteria are determined.
• Define the sources for new sales recruits.
• Explain the selection procedures.
• Understand the equal opportunity requirements for selecting salespeople.
Definitions for the Key Terms in Chapter 9
• Job description
o A detailed description of the job outlines (1) the nature of the product and/or
services to be sold, (2) the types of customers to be called on (including
policies on frequency of calls, contact personnel), (3) the specific tasks and
responsibilities to be carried out by the salesperson.
• Internal sources
o Recruits consisting of individuals already employed in other departments
within the firm.
o Other related sales personnel.
o Staff from other departments.
o Engineers from inside the company.
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• External sources
o Recruits consisting of people in other firms (who often identified and referred
by current members of the sales force), educational institutions,
advertisements, employment agencies, and the Internet.
o Referrals from outside sources.
o Advertisements.
o Employment services.
o Educational institutions.
• Selection tools and procedures
o The tools used by management to evaluate and choose candidates for a
particular position.
o Applications.
o Personal interviews.
o Reference checks.
o Physical examinations.
o Psychological tests.
• Structured Interview
o Each applicant is asked the same predetermined questions.
• Unstructured Interview
o Each applicant is asked only a few questions to get him or her talking freely on
a variety of subjects such as the applicants’ work experiences, career
objectives, and outside activities.
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Chapter Outline
I. Recruitment and Selection Issues
II. Who Is Responsible for Recruiting and Selecting Salespeople?
III. Job Analysis and Determination of Selection Criteria
A. Who Conducts the Analysis and Prepares the Description?
B. Content of the Job Description
C. Determining Job Qualifications and Selection Criteria
D. Methods for Deciding on Selection Criteria
IV. Recruiting Applicants
A. External Sources
a. Referral of People from Other Firms
b. Advertisements
c. Employment Agencies
d. Educational Institutions
e. Internet
V. Selection Procedures
A. Application Blanks
B. Personal Interviews
C. Physical Examinations
D. Tests
a. Intelligence Tests
b. Aptitude Tests
c. Personality Tests
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E. Concerns about the Use of Tests
F. Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of Tests
VI. Equal Employment Opportunity Requirements in Selecting Salespeople
1. Conduct a job analysis
3. Develop a statement of job qualifications
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• Recruitment and Selection Issues
Suggestion: Describe in detail the job analysis process, discussing who should conduct the
analysis and the sources of information about the job. Point out that a healthy result of the
process is a discovery that what actually happens on the job may differ substantially from
what should happen.
Most students will identify current job occupants and their managers as the major
sources of information. However, some companies have surveyed selected customers to
determine how this group perceives what is actually happening compared with what should be
happening.
• Who Is Responsible for Recruiting and Selecting Salespeople?
Suggestion: Next, discuss how job analysis should lead to a carefully prepared job
description. Use PowerPoint to show the contents of a job description. Next, use the job
description to develop a statement of job qualifications. The process involves the following:
(1) Examine the job description, (2) Evaluate the personal histories of existing salespeople
and (3) Analyze the unique characteristics of employees who have failed or quit.
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Suggestion: Have students compare the job description with the job qualifications listed in
Exhibit 9.3 for consistency. It soon becomes obvious that deriving job qualifications from a
job description is not an easy task
• Job Analysis and Determination of Selection Criteria
o Who Conducts the Analysis and Prepares the Description?
o Content of the Job Description
o Determining Job Qualifications and Selection Criteria
Suggestion: Review the subject of recruitment, covering the various aspects of the sources.
• Recruiting Applicants
o External Sources
Suggestion: Next, review the selection process—a subject of considerable interest to most
students. Students who are in the interviewing process will invariable ask:
Should I take an aptitude test?
What questions do I have to answer?
What should I do if I am told that I will have to be interviewed by a psychologist?
Are personality tests legal?
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o Application Blanks
1. To introduce these factors into the recruiting and selection process requires several
steps. First, management needs to carefully define these terms so that there is a high level of
agreement as to their meaning. For example, technical mastery may be defined as: “Has
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the recruiting and hiring process. This will require asking applicants to complete a
questionnaire that measures the existence of these traits or provide other acceptable evidence
2. Computer applications: The Internet or a company’s Intranet can eliminate the
complications of traveling to a location for a preliminary interview or to complete an
application. These tech tools afford a firm the opportunity to cast a wider net during their
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3. Too feminine: Perceptions of sales person often summon up images of a rugged
individualist or slippery, pragmatic con artist. While there is a library full of research that
clearly demonstrates how well women perform in a selling career, much of that information is
4. Hiring the Competition: Hiring sales representatives from other companies is a
common practice in many industries. For small companies that cannot afford good training
programs, this practice does make good business sense. It is naïve, however, to think that
these sales representatives will not need additional sales training. Companies do not have
identical products, nor do they have identical procedures. Some additional training will be
necessary when hiring experienced sales representatives.
Let’s start with the business question, “Does it make good sense?” Snatching a staff
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non-competition agreement that they will violate when joining you firm. That agreement
could open the door to litigation for you and your firm. The person may come and work for
you with the intention of prompting their current firm to entice them back with a bountiful
compensation package. They may be after corporate intelligence. The poaching strategy
seldom makes good business sense.
Is it ethical? That question cannot be answered without a defined context. Each person
confronting the question will have a slightly different viewpoint. Upon what is the answer
based? Can the view be communicated effectively to peers? Is it legal? The contracting
Chapter 9 – Sales Force Recruitment and Selection
what role does the personal interview (or in the case of Cutting Edge Technology three
personal interviews) play in recruiting and selecting the right person?
1. Strengths of Internet:
• Provides a measure of individuals’ comfort and ability level with technology
(computer, Internet, etc).
• Enables someone to reach out to many people cost effectively.