If you want your organization to grow and succeed then one of the key positions you need to define and fill is that of the sales superstar. These people are going to be representing your company to your prospective clients and shifting the products that make you money. If they’re great at what they do you’ll be well on your way to experiencing explosive growth, unfortunately many companies make poor hiring decisions when it comes to their sales team. This costs them potential revenue and can even damage their brand. Below we’ve provided some guidelines to help you find and hire true superstars:

A sales superstar will have a dominant personality

Often, sales superstars will have a strong ego, which while it has some negative connotations is also the very attribute that drives them on to ever-greater success. Their dominant personality will give them a desire to control every conversation they’re in and to direct it where it needs to go to get the sale and their drive and ambition will cause this superstar to thrive on the challenge of a high-pressure sales job.

Find a superstar salesperson by setting the bar high

When you do advertise for a role you need to make it clear that you are looking for the best. By being upfront about what you’re looking for you’ll ensure that weaker candidates are unlikely to apply for the job. If you’ve said that you’ll only employ the best then automatically those applying have a certain level of confidence in their own ability, and once at the interview phase you can ask them what qualifies them as the best in their field. A sales superstar should have the utmost confidence in their own abilities and be able to sell himself or herself.

A sales superstar must be able to connect with people

To be able to sell you need to connect with people, which require a certain amount of empathy. No matter how confident or dominant a person is, they’ll never be a sales superstar if they don’t build rapport with their clients. Test their levels of empathy by asking questions about topics such as how other people perceive them. An empathetic person should be able to give a long answer to this question, while those who have trouble either reading others or sharing will give a shorter answer. A sales superstar must have both empathy and a confidence in sharing information.

A sales superstar will need appropriate rewards

If you do not offer a great pay structure you will never be able to hire the best talent. A sales superstar will not be bothered by their base salary but will be more interested in the commission they receive for selling. By setting the bar high (see above) while offering a low hourly rate with a great commission structure you can attract the best salespeople with the highest confidence in themselves. Figure out what a kind of money a great salesperson will make after a couple of years at your company and use this as part of your job ad to lure top talent. For example while your base salary may be only $25,000 if you can show that top talent can be earning as much as $300,000 a year after two years you’ll start to attract some incredible sales people.

A sales superstar may be hard to manage

When you do start to hire superstars you’ll find that they can be hard to manage. Bursting with talent and enthusiasm, you may find their ego puts off others and rubs colleagues the wrong way. Make sure you have a great manager in place who will direct their energy and set them challenges so that you can get every last drop of performance out of your sales superstar.