When it comes to finding the perfect candidate, it’s natural to trust your gut instincts and intuition. However, relying solely on these feelings can be misleading and result in costly mistakes. Here’s why…

So, what’s the problem with trusting your gut feelings?

While gut feelings might seem reliable and instinctive, they’re often influenced by unconscious biases and personal preferences. Depending solely on intuition can lead to subjective judgments and cause you to overlook important objective criteria.

Acknowledging this issue is the first step towards a more objective and effective hiring decision process.

Gather evidence during the interview process.

The interview is your chance to collect evidence and gain valuable insights about the candidate. Instead of relying on first impressions or gut feelings, ask specific questions that allow candidates to showcase their accomplishments and provide real-life examples.

By focusing on tangible evidence, you can better evaluate a candidate’s fit for the sales role and their potential to achieve results for your company.

Address unconscious biases.

Unconscious biases can have a significant impact on the hiring process. We all have experiences and beliefs that color our judgment of others. But, these aren’t necessarily useful or accurate. It takes awareness and a conscious effort to push back against yourself when you start getting strong feelings about a candidate. And these feelings can be positive or negative!

Push back against yourself.

The remedy to this comes from a few places. First, of course, is a disciplined use of a system for questions and scoring. But when you feel your gut taking over, the simplest antidote is to seek contrary evidence – ask questions that challenge your assumptions or feelings to see just how real they are based on the evidence you can gather. This is not easy! But it’s worthwhile.

Embrace a data-driven and structured approach to hiring.

To ensure the best fit for your team and drive success for your company, embrace an objective, structured approach to hiring. Don’t let gut feelings lead you astray—rely on evidence, insights, and a well-informed decision-making process to find your next “A Player”.