A few weeks ago, I agreed to meet a “friend of a friend” who was looking for employment. As I shook the person’s hand, I noticed he reeked of smoke. I immediately wrote him off as a “do not hire” and feigned interest for the remainder of our 30-minute conversation.

Wondering if I was being too judgmental about his smoking habit, I decided to poll a group of business people about this topic. I posted the following question on several LinkedIn group discussion forums:

“Would you hire asmoker for a customer- facing position such as sales or account management?”

Someone immediately sent me a private note suggesting that I should seek psychological help for asking such a stupid question.  I made a mental note to do so.

As expected, smoking is a very polarizing subject for business professionals. Respondents were very strong in their beliefs – either adamantly no or yes.

Over ninety percent WOULD NOT HIRE a smoker, offering reasons such as:

• “Smoking is not socially acceptable”
• "There is no way to get rid of the smell
• "Smokers are bad for business (more sick days,higher insurance premiums, smoke breaks during work hours, etc.)"

•  “I find it absurd and offensive not to hire aperson because of a habit”
• "Hire the best person for the job. There is no difference in ability between smokers and non-smokers.”
• "Smoking is totally acceptable in our country (UK)”

Some of the most vocal WOULD NOT HIRE people were current smokers. Apparently, they see smoking as a barrier to personal and professional acceptance.

A few attorneys joined the discussion to warn people that refusing to hire a smoker could be deemed discriminatory.  Where would we be without the lawyers?

My bottom line – Most people (in the USA) do not smoke and are turned off by people who do. Smoking is a choice – one that could become hazardous to your career.

Few would argue that military experience teaches leadership skills valuable in the corporate world. But is military experience an asset for someone who chooses a sales career?

I posted the question on several sales-focused Linkedin groups. Not surprisingly, a large majority of responders (80%) believe the ex-military make good sales people. Citing attributes such as tenacity, discipline, work ethic, and ability to work under pressure, most would not hesitate to hire these folks - assuming they possessed the right personality type.

What I found most interesting was the anecdotal comments made by those cautious of hiring ex-military:

"Are trained by the numbers. May struggle if the job requires out-of-the-box thinking."

"Reluctant to call on senior executives. Might be a result of the rank system."

"Struggle in sales manager roles. Expect sales people to follow orders and do what they are told. People don't behave that way in the civilian world."

In my opinion, military experience can be a real asset for sales, especially in challenging times. Like any other candidate, they must be fully vetted during the hiring process to make sure they possess the appropriate skills / mindset for the mission at hand.

With that said, I made one of my worst mistakes as a sales leader by hiring an ex-officer from a very elite group. Needing someone to "pioneer" a new territory, I felt he was perfect for this difficult assignment. I was so enamored with his background that I ignored red flags raised during the hiring process. As it turned out, he was severely deficient in mental toughness. How he made it through his unit's notoriously rigorous training still remains a mystery to me......

It's no secret that the cost of hiring the wrong sales people is significant. Besides the sunk costs (salary, benefits, manager bandwidth, etc), unproductive sales people have an immediate negative impact on revenue and EBITDA.

Why do most sales organizations continue to make hiring mistakes? There are many reasons for this such as inadequate hiring process, inexperienced interviewers, not defining the "success profile", etc. Becoming proficient at hiring sales people requires effort and investment - a topic we will explore at a future date.

I have personally been involved in the interviewing / hiring process of hundreds of sales people. Once you do this for a while, a person develops an acute "BS detector" that frequently goes off when interacting with a candidate for hire.

What "red flags" should you look for when evaluating a sales person for hire? I have compiled a list (by no means complete) derived from my own personal experience and contributions from colleagues:

• Shoddy appearance (especially shoes)
• Poor manners / social skills
• Several sales jobs with less than 2 years tenure
• Bad mouthing past employers and managers
• Not taking ownership of mistakes, poor performance
• References that do not include previous managers or co-workers
• Coming unprepared for interviews
• Not asking compelling questions during interviews
• Messy private life (I know...not politically correct but it is the truth)
• Poor written / verbal communication
• Unable to build rapport
• Vague about past earnings / performance

Ways to ferret out red flags in the hiring process include:

• Multiple interviews with multiple interviewers
• Include a dining or social experience in the process
• Ask for W2's to verify income, past sales performance
• Have the person spend a day in the field with a rep or manager

Learn to trust your instincts - as soon as they tell you, "there is something not right about this candidate", it's time to raise the red flag. Dive deeper into what is causing you anxiety - chances are you will find a reason to eliminate the candidate from consideration.

In a recent review of sales rep job postings, it struck me that most companies are seeking candidates with X number of years of specific industry experience. Should industry experience be a major decision factor when hiring sales people? What is the correlation between industry experience and sales success?

I posed the following question to a group of experienced sales leader:

Is it easier to teach an industry / product expert to sell OR teach a sales expert an industry / product?

People jumped on this issue and focused their comments around hiring decisions. If given a choice, 95 out of 100 sales leaders would hire a proven sales expert with no industry experience over someone with less sales success but more industry experience. In fact, many of the responders had specific examples of why industry experience should not matter.

If the overwhelming majority of sales leaders feel this way, then why do so many companies seek sales reps with industry experience? I believe this is the case for several reasons:

• It's easy for recruiters to identify and source candidates

• Some companies do a good job of training sales people and become recruiting targets for companies that lack effective on-boarding programs

• Perception that sales people who come with industry experience are lower risk

The reality is most companies do not invest the time to determine what type of selling environment experience is most relevant for the position. For example, the selling environment might include complex sale cycles (multiple steps, multiple decision stakeholders), C-level decision-making, and decision criteria based upon ROI. Granted, potential candidates from your industry most likely have this experience but what other industries have a similar selling environment?

Identification of candidates with like selling environment success can greatly increase the pool of potential hires - and bring fresh perspective to the selling process. As most sales leaders would agree, it is easier to teach a skilled sales person an industry than teach an industry expert how to sell.