Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Business of Animation Logo

What to Look For When Hiring a Salesperson For Your Animation Studio

ben marvazi 2020

Make More Money as an Animator

Check out our FREE TRAINING on How Animators Can Make Over $10,000 Per Month
GET FREE TRAINING

As a studio owner, having a successful animation business for the long term should be your main goal. To efficiently accomplish this, you will need to hire a skilled salesperson. 

A salesperson or sales representative is concerned with maximizing the profit of your animation business by identifying the needs of your potential animation clients and strategically offering them your animation services

Hiring a skilled salesperson can come as a challenge, especially if you want to hire the most competent candidate. In this article, we’ll show you what to look for when hiring a salesperson as an animator.

1) Unwavering Confidence

a salesman who's confident in his skills

GIF by theoffice via GIPHY

When hiring a salesperson for your animation business, look for someone confident in both their abilities and in your animation services. 

Your animation skills are the very services being sold.  So it is important that you hire a salesperson who believes in your animation services as much as you do. This trait will eventually reflect their loyalty toward your animation company.

In a YouTube video, Marc Wayshak, strategist, author of multiple best-selling books, and founder of Sales Insights Lab, shares that a key trait in becoming great in sales is confidence. He says, “Without confidence, you will always struggle to sell effectively.”

However, there is a difference between a confident salesperson and an arrogant one. When interviewing potential animation sales representatives, look for any signs of egotism or aloofness to avoid hiring an arrogant salesperson.

2) Ability to Empathize 

a saleswoman empathizing with clients

Image by Tim Gouw via Unsplash.com

To efficiently bridge the gap between your animation business and your animation leads, your sales representative must be able to identify what they need, understand why they need it, and determine how to give it to them as fast as possible. 

As written in the Harvard Business Review, there is a dynamic relationship between a salesman’s confidence and ability to empathize. You will need a salesperson who combines both traits and reinforces their advantages to close a sale successfully.

3) Excellent Communication Skills

two men talking to each other

Image by Linkedinsalesnavigator via Unsplash.com

While a salesperson has to be both confident and empathetic, if they lack the necessary communication skills, they will be unable to convey the crucial traits mentioned above.

The very goal of a salesperson is to close the deal by building rapport with potential animation clients. They must be able to strike a meaningful connection with their animation leads and effectively communicate the value of your animation services.

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of sales representatives with poor communication skills. 

In determining the communication skills of potential animation sales representatives, there are a couple of things to observe.

The first is their body language or their non-verbal language. Observing their body language means observing their facial expressions, physical demeanor, posture, and intuitive reactions. 

A good communicator is relaxed, maintains appropriate eye contact, and displays an interest in what you say. They are less likely to fidget and make any unnecessary actions.

The second is how they respond and express themselves or their verbal language. Their responses to your questions, concerns, and even simple statements must reflect a clear understanding of what you say. 

Take note of their ability to effortlessly express their personality, work experience, skills, and goals. Also, gauge their ability to empathize with your needs as a studio owner as well as their confidence and willingness to meet these needs. 

In the long term, hiring a salesperson with excellent communication skills will strengthen relationships with your animation clients and also encourage openness, innovation, and productivity within your animation business.   

4) Unrelenting Focus and Ambition

a salesman who likes being challenged

GIF by Memecandy via GIPHY

No matter how skilled your animation salesperson is, they will experience their share of rejections as they try to close a sale. Before hiring a salesperson, make sure that they can handle rejection and maintain their focus and ambition.

According to John-Henry Scherk, principal consultant of Growth Plays, a California-based SEO consultancy, focused and ambition-driven people set their goals and act with a purpose to succeed.

This will reflect their dedication and passion not only toward their career but toward the success of your animation business. 

Stever Bookbinder, CEO and sales expert of Digital Media Training, a global training company, says this motivation and sense of purpose is because of how personally rewarding the task is.

Additionally, if you plan on hiring more than one salesperson, their ambition will also inspire a healthy and necessary dose of competition within the team, which will increase the profitability of your animation business.

In determining the level of ambition of a salesperson, one of the things you can do is simply ask where they see themselves in 3-5 years. A focused and ambitious candidate will speak about their vision for their career and your animation business. 

5) Book-Smart and Street-Smart

sales women writing on a whiteboard

Image by Christina via Unsplash.com

Attracting animation leads and engaging in sales negotiation requires training that will enable salespeople to anticipate the different possible outcomes and ensure the closing of a deal.

While other sources note that being street-smart is all that matters, there are advantages to being both book-smart and street-smart.

A book-smart salesperson knows the principles of sales and negotiations and understands how to use them to the advantage of the animation company.

They also have an insightful knowledge of important entrepreneurial themes and historical events that could prove beneficial in crafting strategies for your animation business.

On the other hand, a street-smart salesperson has a strong grasp of the dynamic environmental and situational landscape of your animation business as they are well-versed in real-life situations.

They can solve problems practically, often basing it on their experiences and real events. This kind of candidate has developed better judgments, knowledge of trends, and most importantly, common sense.

To ensure you hire the most competent candidate, you need to look for a  book-smart and street-smart salesperson.

6) Efficient Organizational Skills 

saleswoman working on her laptop

Image by Christina via Unsplash.com

A salesperson constantly deals with different responsibilities such as company meetings, external appointments, client leads, project proposals, and so on. Therefore, you need to hire someone well-equipped to manage their multiple business affairs efficiently in your animation business.

An organized salesperson thoroughly prepares their pitches and proposals, effectively manages their time, and skillfully prioritizes their affairs. Maintaining an organized system also enables them to easily adjust to sudden changes in circumstances.

Additionally, this refers to their ability to remain level-headed and rational as they accomplish their responsibilities while the level of demands increases within the animation business.

You can determine their organizational skills by asking them situational questions and how they prepared for their interview. An organized salesperson would have done prior research and would have spent ample time preparing for such questions and situations that might occur. 

7) Eager to Learn Sales for Animators

a man who likes learning

GIF by thesimpsons via GIPHY

As an animation business owner, you should look for sales candidates who can realize their inadequacies and strive to improve. 

They must identify lessons from their experiences, whether they successfully closed a deal or not. They should be able to ask themselves, what they could have done better, what area they lacked, and which actions and decisions worked and which didn’t.

Also, they should have developed insights to craft better strategies that they can share with you to help you grow your animation business. 

Why an Animation Studio Salesperson Can Make a Difference

Building and maintaining a successful animation business requires attracting clients to ensure maximum profitability. To achieve this, you will need a skilled salesperson who can efficiently fulfill the needs of your animation prospects by strategically offering your company’s animation services.

When hiring a salesperson as an animator, look for a candidate who is confident, empathetic, has excellent communications skills, remains focused, book-smart and street-smart, is organized, and above all else, is eager to learn.

Keep in mind that not every candidate will possess all the seven traits. You should consider those who are constantly striving to improve their sales skills and help further enhance them.

With this information in mind, you can better identify top-performing salespersons who are genuinely invested in the success of your animation business. 

For more tips on animation and the business side, you can join our free and helpful masterclass and download a copy of our free marketing handbook

rocket for boa

Lacking Business Skills as an Animator?

Transform your animation skills into a profitable business with our expert-led free training.
GET FREE TRAINING
GET FREE TRAINING
Business of Animation Footer Logo
Helping Animators Succeed

Feeling Stuck in Your Animation Career? Learn How to Break the $10,000 Per Month Barrier!

X
crossmenuchevron-down linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram