The art of finding sales and service people.

Sales and service, two of the most important functions in any financial services company, are slipping away, says James E. Schneider. The reason: "Companies are increasingly hiring and promoting employees into roles for which they aren't well, suited."

Schneider is president and CEO of Schneider Sales Management Inc. of Englewood Colo., says the fierce competition for sales and service workers had led companies to hire and promote people without regard to "job role fit." The consequences of that process are low productivity, high turnover and customer dissatisfaction.

A three-year study of the financial services industry, conducted by Schneider and by Cliff Young, chairman of the marketing department of the University of Colorado at Denver' business school, concluded that the skills needed by sates and service personnel are significantly different from those required for other jobs.

"We found that superior salespeople outperform average salespeople by two to one and outperform low performers by 10 to one," Schneider says. "The sales opportunity cost for retaining employees who aren't a good fit for their job role is enormous."

What is the "core competency" for sales and service personnel? Schneider says it's emotional intelligence: the ability to sustain optimism in the face of demanding pressures, the ability to empathize with the views of others and the ability to manage your own emotions and to motivate yourself in the face of setbacks. To develop a stronger sales force, hire employees who score the highest on emotional intelligence and provide learning opportunities that will help...