0:00
[MUSIC PLAYING] LOREN PADELFORD: At Shopify we don't hire great salespeople, we hire great people and we build them into great salespeople. Shopify hires a lot of people each year. And we interview almost 30 times the number we hire. Our interview process takes patience but is designed to ensure we get the best people for each role. In this lesson, I'll teach you the six critical attributes we look for in a potential salesperson that helps us eliminate or advance the right candidate.
0:35
The first thing you have to do when looking for great candidates is have a great story to tell them about your company and how it's going to revolutionize your industry or change the world. People want to work for companies with a great story. So make sure you work on yours. So how do we hire a sales force at Shopify? Well, you might be surprised that we aren't that interested in resumes or what people have done previously.
1:03
We're more interested in who you are than what you've done. Specifically, when we are looking for great salespeople we look at the following six key personality traits. Number one, intelligence, it's not necessarily booksmarts but general intelligence. Are they smart can you see it in their eyes. Number two, work ethic.
1:25
Sales is a 24/7, 365 career. If candidates aren't ready to roll up their sleeves and do whatever it takes, whenever it needs to be done, then we pass. Number three, a history of success. For this one I don't particularly look for sales success, rather of success at any level in something else for example a varsity of pro athlete, concert pianist, professional artists, you get the picture.
1:55
We're looking for someone who knows how much work it takes to be really good at something. These people also know how to get back after being knocked down. If you're a lead at anything, you know what I'm talking about. Number four, entrepreneurial. Start a company from scratch and then ask us why we like people with this trait.
2:18
Sales is like running your own company. So people who are entrepreneurial make great salespeople. Number five, creativity. We don't have time to handhold people at Shopify. And sales is always changing. So we look for people who come up with novel ways to solve problems and then they just go out and get it done. And number six, competitiveness.
2:44
Sales is a team sport but it's played by individuals. Sales is also competition with yourself, your teammates, and the industry as a whole. We look for people who hate to lose and won't stop until they win. It's not good enough to be annoyed by losing we want them to really hate it. Remember that these traits are inherent in people.
3:10
You can't learn them. Our philosophy is to hire the things we can't teach and teach everything else. We can teach you how to sell, how to forecast, how to manage a CRM, I can't teach you to get out of bed every day and go work your butt off. On top of having a great company story and looking for those six critical attributes, there are a few more tips I have on how to find and hire the best talent.
3:40
Write interesting job postings, no one likes the boring standard formatted jobs. Have an interview or have a personality and interview with that personality. People want to work for other people not robots don't do the normal linear biographical interview. Switch it up, role play, ask open ended questions, tell me your life story.
4:04
Drill down on things you want to know, figure out are they really engaged in what they're doing now or just counting days. Also it's important to be able to tell your story. Is it compelling enough, does it get people excited? If not keep working on it until it does. This will be key in attracting great talent. [MUSIC PLAYING]
