{"id":12496,"date":"2025-03-08T21:27:51","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T02:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/?p=12496"},"modified":"2025-03-08T21:27:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T02:27:51","slug":"hire-for-attitude-train-for-skill-does-hiring-inept-salespeople-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/hire-for-attitude-train-for-skill-does-hiring-inept-salespeople-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill: Does Hiring Inept Salespeople Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill: Does Hiring Inept Salespeople Work?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The phrase <em>\u201cHire for attitude, train for skill\u201d<\/em> has become a popular mantra in sales hiring. The idea is that technical skills can be taught, but personality, drive, and coachability are more innate. However, does this approach hold up when applied to sales? More importantly, does it justify hiring people who are completely inexperienced\u2014or worse, inept\u2014at selling?<\/p>\n<p>The short answer: <em>It depends.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Sales is an art and a science. While product knowledge, negotiation tactics, and closing techniques can be trained, some fundamental traits separate successful salespeople from those who will never quite make it. Drive, resilience, communication skills, and a genuine ability to connect with people are difficult\u2014if not impossible\u2014to teach. If a candidate lacks these qualities, no amount of training will make them a great salesperson.<\/p>\n<p>However, hiring individuals with the <em>right<\/em> attitude\u2014even if they have little experience\u2014can be a winning strategy. A motivated, coachable individual with a natural ability to engage others can quickly develop the necessary skills. In contrast, a technically skilled but unmotivated salesperson will struggle to perform consistently.<\/p>\n<p>That said, hiring truly inept salespeople, hoping to \u201ctrain\u201d them into success, is a recipe for high turnover and lost revenue. The key is balance: prioritize attitude and trainability, but ensure candidates have a baseline level of competence. Look for individuals who show persistence, curiosity, and emotional intelligence. If they have these qualities, the skills will follow.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the best sales hires are those who combine a strong attitude with at least <em>some<\/em> aptitude. Training can refine skills, but a salesperson without the right mindset or ability to connect with prospects will always struggle. Hiring managers must learn to distinguish between those who <em>can<\/em> be trained\u2014and those who never should have been hired in the first place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill: Does Hiring Inept Salespeople Work? The phrase \u201cHire for attitude, train for skill\u201d has become a popular mantra in sales hiring. The idea is that technical skills can be taught, but personality, drive, and coachability are more innate. However, does this approach hold up when applied to sales? More [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3188,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3188"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12496"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12497,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12496\/revisions\/12497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}