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Education

Your goal should be to find out if an individual is
hungry enough for success, as well as whether the
person is coachable and willing to do the neces- Don't just share the good stories
sary work. You want people with realistic goals.
Find out if the person you're interviewing can self- and the glory with applicants. Share
regulate, or whether he or she is jumping from one the hard road ahead, and let them
gig to another every few months – every time an-
other opportunity sounds a little bit better. People know there will be many ups and
who are constantly switching jobs or employers downs. Everybody wants to be a
are generally not the candidates you are looking millionaire, but very few are willing
for, because success takes time, and you are look-
ing for someone who can stay the course. to do what it takes to become one.
3. Beware of merchant consultants. Two words
that are the biggest red flag in recruiting sales
agents are "merchant consultant." These words The third group is composed of the pretenders
form a title that underperforming salespeople who only take on new positions to make them-
generally elect to use, because it subconsciously selves feel like they're doing something, but in
helps them to justify their lack of production. If reality, they never will do much of anything. In-
you call yourself a "salesperson," you are expected stead, they will drain your time and energy. And,
to perform and sell; if you're just a "consultant," you guessed it, the merchant consultants fall into
you can technically keep walking out of every the third category.
business without a sale, and no harm is done to
your ego, because you "consulted" with them. This 5. Place value on integrity. It is imperative that
is laughable. the sales professionals that will be representing
your company conduct themselves very ethical-
In all of my years in this industry, I have yet to ly, so you must look for individuals that display
meet a "merchant consultant" who was also a a certain level of integrity and professionalism. I
strong salesperson. So, if you see "merchant con- recognize that this is easier said than done, but
sultant" on a resume, skip that resume. And dur- unfortunately, I have found that many ISOs justify
ing an interview, if someone tells you, "I consider an agent's unethical selling practices as aggressive
myself more of a consultant than a salesperson," selling. This could not be farther from the truth.
thank the person for taking time to come in for an The truth is that a very good MLS does not have
interview and show the person the way out. to resort to unethical tactics. It's when sales agents
lack the selling skills that they feel the need to re-
4. Remember, experience doesn't guarantee suc- sort to lies and misrepresentations. And when one
cess. I have hired very seasoned sales agents with of your MLSs does this, it reflects negatively on
years of industry experience who turned out to be you, your organization and the entire industry.
complete flops, and I have also hired MLSs who
didn't know the first thing about our industry So, to set your company up for sales success, review your
who became tremendous successes. Industry ex- hiring strategies, employ the best sales professionals the
perience alone does not automatically translate industry has to offer, and provide them with training
into success in sales. and the tools they need to prosper. Leave the merchant
consultants for your competition.
I have learned that when you are hiring MLSs,
you typically find three groups of candidates. The Aaron Nasseh is the founder and Chief Executive Officer at Finical Inc.
first group comprises those very motivated peo- His extensive sales and management experience includes having previ-
ple who are looking for an opportunity to change ously served as the General Manager of CardPayment Solutions and
their lives, and they will fight through obstacles to Vice President of Sales at iPayment Inc. He may be reached at anasseh@
do the work. The second group consists of those finicalinc.com or at 818-330-4055.
who are looking for an excuse not to do the work.
This is the group that usually says the industry is
"too competitive."

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