Hiring a veteran for sales positions is a great way for hiring managers to bring on employees able to not only hit their own quota goals but also motivate others to do the same. Besides being skilled to work under pressure, veterans have a lot of traits that make them great sales hires. In fact, 88% of employers found veteran skills relevant to civilian careers, according to a survey by military.com and Monster. We’ve compiled six skills veterans have which should make hiring managers consider servicemen and women for their next sales role.
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MILITARY VETERANS ARE PROCESS DRIVEN
Military veterans are trained on how to use and implement processes. This same diligence can be applied cycles and outreach processes. Having a strong team able to replicate successful ways to generate leads or bring on clients is the goal of a sales department. Especially in today’s sales environment, having strong operations for how sales development representatives and enterprise sales teams work to tackle different territories and verticals is what drives a company’s revenue. Particularly for startups, the ability to take an internal process and scale is invaluable. Assessing a situation, understanding directions, following orders and being able to repeat this process is both a veteran and a startup’s mission.
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VETERANS HAVE STRONG COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Veterans come out of service with an understanding of the role of respect and highly developed communication skills. They are able to communicate quickly and effectively, which can be helpful for a sales team, and have great executive presence, which can apply to c-level selling. They know how to present succinctly, answer appropriately, and represent their team well. In enterprise sales, this can be a key responsibility for successful employees.
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MILITARY SERVICE CREATES TEAM PLAYERS
Veterans serve in units, teams, and squads. They understand the need to ensure their teammate’s success as well as their own. Although military servicemen and women are competitive and independent, as a sales person should be, they don’t isolate themselves. Looking out for others on their team ensures their own success and betters their entire unit. This mentality is ideal for sales employees as the overall goal should be to better their company with their other sales partners. Finding a strong salesperson able to perform well within a team can be a challenge for many companies, making veterans great potential employees.
88% of employers found veteran skills relevant to civilian careers, according to a survey by military.com and Monster.
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VETERANS HAVE STRONG LEADERSHIP TRAITS
With the high-pressure nature of military service, veterans all possess strong leadership traits. Regardless of department, or whether or not they faced combat, veterans all must be quick decision-makers. They must be able to make intense decisions in limited amounts of time and dictate the outcome of many events. They carry the confidence of their training, knowledge, and ability to do their job in everything they do. Having a sales employee that is motivated to understand what they are doing so as to be able to make decisions with confidence is a great way for companies to bolster a small sales team. Having empowered sales representatives means they will take initiative and find success without having to be continually told how to move forward.
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SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN ARE DRIVEN BY PERSEVERANCE
Serving in the military creates strong employees that are highly dependable. They develop strong endurance by learning to work through challenges instead of avoiding them. These employees are not afraid to tackle hard clients, put in the essential research, or get discouraged by a setback. Challenges do not deter veterans but rather serve as motivators, which can be extremely valuable in a high-pressure job such as sales, which faces a lot of rejection.
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VETERANS HAVE POWERFUL DISCIPLINE
It’s no secret that training to be a serviceman or woman is an intense program. It permeates every aspect of daily life and requires dedication and focus. The people who successfully complete this kind of training continue to implement the same techniques throughout their daily life during and after service. As sales employees, veterans set and achieve strict goals, continually push themselves, and are not deterred by failure. They know that effort creates success and can handle the ups and downs the sales industry presents. Sales leaders can rely on these employees to maintain their innate drives.