How To Streamline Hiring Salespeople

From Job Description to Onboarding: Mastering the Sales Team Hiring Process

A successful hire can significantly impact your company’s growth and profitability. Unfortunately, many companies can take over a month to locate, interview, and hire new sales staff because of the pressure to find quality hires.

The problem is that the time it takes to bring in new sales staff can hinder your sales team’s ability to do their job effectively and result in lost potential revenue for the business. And a flawed hiring process will cost you time and resources.

This is why it’s critical to streamline your hiring procedure to make it more effective and efficient.

Here are some essential things to remember when building a better hiring process.

Know What You Want

Hiring new salespeople involves a significant financial investment. With this in mind, you should first create a detailed and precise job description.

Your ideal description should include particulars about the job profile and the skills necessary for the position. In addition, include related keywords so that your job posting will appear in the relevant searches.

When crafting your job description, consult with the relevant department heads in formulating an appropriate description. Concentrate on the characteristics and qualities you seek in the prospective employee and your performance expectations.

Qualified candidates actively searching for a new sales position will be more likely to apply if the job description is detailed and easy to understand. However, if you don’t take the time to do it right at the beginning, you could wind up spending a significant amount of time vetting a pool of poorly-matched applicants.

Check that the job description includes what expectations and relevant skills you desire for the role.

Optimize Your Screening Process

Designing a complex round-by-round interview process only sometimes results in the best hiring. Instead, it can bury you in extra work while, at the same time, wearing the candidate out. However, if you plan your hiring process carefully, you can complete more work in less time and swiftly fill your open positions with successful salespeople.

Phone screening is often an effective tool for determining if an applicant satisfies your fundamental requirements. You can use this screening to confirm the details listed on the resume, tell them about the position, learn about their expectations regarding compensation, and fill in any information gaps that may have come up. It’s also a great opportunity to “sell” the candidate on the opportunity and get them excited enough to continue the process.

Moving forward, schedule the one-on-one interviews. Try to schedule up to three in one day. Write out your questions ahead of time and have all your notes prepared in advance. This gives the interviewee a good impression of the company and allows her to be more prepared. You can even share these questions with the applicants so they are better prepared.

Following this, you can move on to a skills test and schedule an interview with executive-level decision-makers, if applicable.

Make Things Easier for Everyone

Leverage technology that makes organizing meetings, sending reminders, and scheduling candidate interviews simple. You can do this with any number of applicant tracking systems available commercially. Make the data shareable with other hiring team members, so everyone is on the same page.

Consider whether the platform (online or otherwise) the applicant is using to apply for the position is user-friendly and simple to use. Ask yourself if the details you request are necessary for a good interview. Make most of your questions that may not be answered by looking at their resume.

You can also make it easier for the applicant to find the posted sales position, to begin with. Choose a few well-known and related job sites to publish the advertisement on, use social media, and take advantage of professional forums like LinkedIn.

Evaluating the Candidate

Confirm prior employment experience and perform background checks when needed. Verbal and numerical reasoning tests can be helpful, as can tests on logical reasoning. It’s best to ensure that professionals conduct these for the most accurate results.

Tests and background checks aside, consider the value a candidate will bring to the company and the technical qualifications needed for the position when hiring. Consider the candidate’s attitude and mindset to find a sales team member that will serve your company the best.

Specific Steps Companies Can Take to Streamline Hiring

You can simplify hiring and build a positive candidate experience by streamlining your process and respecting everyone’s time. Here are the specific steps to take:

Recruitment – Go to where the candidates are. Check LinkedIn and social media, or use the talents of a professional sales recruitment agency.
Screening – Choose the applicants you wish to spend time interviewing. Not every applicant who performs well during the screening process will be hireable.
Interviews – The goal of the interview is to learn more about the applicant and decide if they are a good fit. The typical difficulties at this stage include first-impression bias, poor communication, failure to prepare targeted questions, and ineffective use of technology.
Hiring – According to research, the time it takes to make a job offer after an interview is more than a month, which can, unfortunately, lower acceptance rates by 16%. Look to reduce the time it takes to hire new sales staff to stay competitive.
Onboarding – Onboarding gives new employees their first authentic taste of a typical day at your company. Successful onboarding boosts worker satisfaction, engagement, and retention.

Finding Top Talent with Rainmakers

The process of hiring top-tier salespeople should be a manageable burden. But, at the same time, successful hiring will greatly impact your business’s culture and success.

This is where you should consider the help of a professional sales recruitment firm for your hiring needs. An experienced sales recruiting agency such as Rainmakers can help guide your company to further growth and profit by finding and matching the very best sales candidates with your company.

Ready to start building your dream sales team? Create a free account with Rainmakers and start browsing candidates!

by Joe R

Hiring

Maximize Your Sales Hiring Efforts with a Sales Recruitment Agency

Streamline Your Sales Hiring with a Sales Recruiter

Finding quality tech sales representatives or management can take work. There’s a high demand for top talent, and many skilled prospective candidates may be currently satisfied with where they are. You must find that talent, reach out, and draw them to your company.

It’s essential for your business’s success to source top talent on your team. The issue is that many small and medium-sized enterprises don’t know how to approach this. Networking yields some results, but this approach doesn’t do enough to attract top talent to your door in the long run.

That’s when working with a sales recruitment agency can make a difference. Here’s how.

1) They Connect You to Candidates Not On the Job Boards

A sales recruitment agency can connect with other professionals and find talent not listed on active job boards. Salespeople confident in their abilities tend to only show up on job boards. Instead, they go directly to recruiters and wait for the right employer to get in touch with them.

When you require a top-notch sales representative or sales manager, a recruiting agency will match you up with the best candidates for the position. They are constantly networking, making connections, and interviewing potential employees, so they have access to talent that you do not.

2) You Need New Talent Right Away

How long will it take to find new sales talent and get them on the job? It could take a month or more. You could be missing out on potential sales as you go through the long process of searching, interviewing, and hiring.

This procedure can be sped up by a sales recruitment firm, cutting down on the time it takes to source and onboard a new hire. In a matter of days, not weeks, a professional can have qualified candidates waiting for you at your desk.

3) You’ve Got Enough Going On

Finding applicants involves more than just advertising open positions and hoping someone with the necessary talent will express interest. You must develop a strategy to source candidates effectively, which takes time.

Building applicant personality profiles and thoroughly analyzing the job specifications are just the beginning. Finding passive candidates and ensuring the caliber of those who advance to the top of the list are the main goals of talent sourcing.

The truth is that you don’t have enough time to handle everything. You’re too busy building the kind of company that attracts top talent. Hiring an experienced, well-connected sales recruitment agency to manage your sales candidate sourcing frees you up to take on other tasks, such as increasing your company’s revenue.

4) They Have Industry Expertise

An effective sales recruitment agency will have specialized professionals who work with clients in various industries. Work with a recruitment agency that is familiar with your particular business sector. They will be able to provide you with industry-specific information about sales trends, salary levels, and the skills necessary to be successful in your industry.

Recruiters that specialize in specific fields also have access to individuals whose skills are relevant to those same fields.

Agency Recruitment Vs. In-House Recruitment

The entirety of the hiring process can be a very stressful, time-consuming, and expensive endeavor that, if not handled properly, can have far-reaching repercussions for both you and your company. Most employers—including internal HR Teams—say that recruitment is part of their job that causes them the most stress.

The time may have come to consider outsourcing this process to an agency specializing in recruitment. This company could relieve some of the burdens and enable you to return to the vital work of building your business.

Here are some benefits and drawbacks of working with a recruiting agency instead of tackling the task alone.

Using In-House Recruitment

There are some pros to handling sales staff recruitment yourself. First, you remain in control of the entire search and hiring processes and don’t pay agency fees. You can also personally review all the candidates to see how well they fit into your company’s culture. You also decide when and where a job posting is made.

On the other hand, the time spent posting, searching, vetting, interviewing, and hiring takes a considerable amount of time. This is time you and your team can better spend developing and selling your products or services. The process can take even longer if you’re handling recruitment all on your own.

Another drawback is your limited knowledge of companies with many qualified salespeople employed who may be interested in new opportunities. That makes it more challenging to fill the post you are looking for successfully.

Using a Sales Recruitment Agency

One of the first and most important advantages of a sales recruitment agency is that you will get access to a team of experienced recruitment consultants rather than just one individual who will be trying to find your candidates. Also, professional recruiters have access to a broader pool of qualified applicants. Recruiters spend their days contacting hundreds of new people monthly via social media and job-hunting websites, fostering new relationships. As a result, even if a good candidate is not looking right now, a recruitment consultant will typically be the first to know when they are looking or open to a better offer.

While internal HR teams deal with many tasks daily, the sole mission of recruitment agencies is to locate high-quality candidates with the skill sets and attributes needed to satisfy your business’s needs.

The only real drawback is that you will have to take some time to nurture a relationship with your sales recruiting agency so they fully understand your business’s culture and needs. And while it’s true there is a fee for their services, in nearly all cases, this fee only comes into play after your ideal candidate accepts a job offer and starts work.

Rainmakers: Your Premier Sales Recruiting Agency

The level of expertise possessed by a company’s salespeople directly correlates to that company’s level of success. Consider conversing with an experienced tech sales recruiting agency such as Rainmakers to help guide your company to further growth and profit.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.

by Joe R

Hiring

Building a Strong Sales Team: Traits and Qualities to Look For

Avoiding Hiring Mistakes: What to Look for in Sales Candidates

What should you look for when recruiting sales professionals? What qualities should they possess? How can you tell if a potential hire will succeed or if they are just good at doing interviews?

There are several time-tested traits you should keep an eye open for. By selecting sales reps with these qualities, your business will be more profitable and more likely to succeed. Consider reviewing these traits among your current sales staff to see who might need some coaching.

Consider the following candidate traits and skills:

They Understand the Importance of Following Up

Effective follow-up is one of the abilities that separates the all-stars from mediocre sellers.

Deals are closed through follow-up, so if a candidate understands this as early as the hiring process, you can be more assured that they will be effective at following up with clients and sales.

As essential as conducting follow-ups is, how they do so is also an important indicator of success. Avoid candidates who give off a strong sense of desperation and argumentativeness.

A Thick Skin

A strong sales close consists of three components: asking early, asking frequently, and accepting the answer “No.” Unfortunately, some salespeople become agitated when a customer rejects them—some end a call with an abrupt hang-up or by taking on a hostile tone.

A good salesperson understands that they may need to move more quickly or that the customer has legitimate reasons for hesitation. They know how to get past a “no” and how to ask, “What’s the process we need to go through to get you ready to buy?”

Or, an insightful salesperson knows when it’s time to move on and not let it threaten their ego or sense of self-worth. In any of the above cases, the best salespeople also know when not to burn any bridges with poor responses to rejection.

They’re Proactive and Ambitious

Top performers are inspired by an intense drive to succeed. As a result, they react favorably to competition, which you can leverage using friendly sales contests, and take great satisfaction in closing deals.

While some individuals may find the sales process tiring, a top-notch sales representative will feel invigorated by the challenge and always be on the lookout for the next big sale.

Accepts Feedback Well

This can be tricky. Everyone says they’re open to feedback—and some will actively seek constructive criticism—but many push back or ignore feedback. Unfortunately, this means problems with performance or teamwork may end up continuing.

What’s worse is that it can be challenging to identify those who are serious about accepting and taking advantage of feedback. If possible, look for instances where the candidate can demonstrate integrating feedback into improving performance.

Solid Communication

An effective salesperson needs excellent communication skills. They need to talk a good game, have empathy, be good listeners, and have solid writing skills—particularly when composing emails.

When communicating with prospective hires, listen to how they speak. For example, are there many pauses, mumbled words, or confusing phrases used? Likewise, are their email communications clear and free of typos or poor grammar?

All of this counts. Your salesperson is a representative of your company, and the first impression many customers have with your company is through your representatives’ phone calls and emails.

A Positive Attitude

Much of a salesperson’s time is spent interacting with several different types of people—not just prospects but coworkers, management, customer support, and others. They must therefore exude a positive attitude that uplifts anyone with whom they come into contact.

In addition, the candidate should be open to new experiences, accepting of others, and genuinely interested in developing relationships. This can be tricky to determine during an interview, but try to understand the candidate’s energy level at work.

what are the most desired traits in a salesperson

What Are Some of the Biggest Red Flags To Look Out For?

There are a few negative traits you may want to watch when conducting interviews. In addition, certain warning signs can inform you what candidates will likely not be a good fit for your company.

They lack professionalism – This should be pretty easy to spot. A professional candidate speaks well, dresses well, and conducts themselves like they are trying to make a good impression.
They are risk-averse – Candidates who take a long time to come to a decision—particularly a big decision—may have similar problems going after big-ticket customers. You want a salesperson who is willing to take some risks.
They seem to have little self-awareness – Asking candidates about their biggest strengths or weakness are valid interview questions. However, candidates who take too long to come up with an answer or a weak response may have some blind spots when it comes to how well they can perform or suffer from a lack of honesty about themselves.
They don’t have a growth mindset – Ask the candidate when was the last time they learned a new skill or did something to improve their performance. Salespeople who don’t look for ways to change or advance themselves do not do well in long-term sales positions.
They confuse confidence with arrogance – Be mindful of whether a potential sales hire seems too confident. It can be subtle, but some people turn confidence into a sense of arrogance, making them more challenging to coach. They can also be less receptive to feedback.

Common Mistakes Made During the Recruitment Process

You need a solid hiring procedure with checks and balances in place if you want to recruit well. Here are some common mistakes to avoid.

Writing unclear job descriptions – A job description should tell the prospective salesperson what the job is like, what you’re looking for, and what qualities and experience are desired.
Running a disorganized interview – It’s essential to prepare for each interview. Have your list of questions ready. Ensure the person you’re meeting with matches up with the resume in front of you. Be prepared to answer the most likely questions the candidate will have.
Hiring based solely on a resume – A resume is just a summary of where the candidate worked and what they did there. While a resume might list the skills and attributes you’re looking for, that’s no guarantee that the job candidate actually possesses them. Take time to ask detailed questions and learn about the person behind the resume.
Poor time management – If you have several interviews scheduled that day, ensure you’re leaving enough time in each interview to get to know the candidate and let them get to know you and your company. Avoid situations where there is not enough time to ask all the important questions.
Taking too long to make a decision – The best sales candidates are only on the market for a short amount of time. Additionally, every day that sales position is unfilled, the company is losing out on significant potential revenue. Make sure you set up a process, stick to it, and move quickly when you have a candidate that checks all the boxes.

Sales Recruiting with Rainmakers

How well a firm thrives depends on how skilled the salespeople are. To build your business, consider talking with an expert tech sales recruiting firm like Rainmakers. To learn more about how we can assist, create an account!

by Joe R

Hiring

Mastering the Art of Salesperson Evaluation: Tips for Hiring Managers

Evaluating Sales Potential – Checklist for Hiring Managers

One of the most challenging tasks Sales Managers must deal with is evaluating a candidate in a job interview. With entry-level positions such as Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) and even Account Executives (AEs), many won’t have a wealth of sales experience. On top of that, entry-level roles tend to get a lot of applicants, and trying to isolate the best candidates from the crowd is challenging.

The good news is that there are reliable ways to evaluate sales candidates at every stage, from initial screening to final interviews.

Here are some essential recruitment tips for hiring managers.

Reviewing Resumes

While the stack of resumes on your desk is daunting, there are simple ways to identify the best candidates among job applicants. First, use this method to kick off your screening process:

Does It Look Professional?

A resume’s format can disclose a lot about a job seeker. For example, a well-structured resume with few or no spelling errors suggests the individual is committed, detail-oriented, and possesses a sense of professionalism.

Was It Written For Your Company?

Check the candidate’s cover letter and job objectives. Does the candidate seem to understand your business, or does it seem they sent the same resume to dozens of companies? Give preference to candidates who have done some research and know your company’s needs, history, and mission.

Reviewing Work Experience and References

Every candidate should have at least a little work experience or an internship for you to review. The candidate’s work experience can provide insight into their values, work ethic, and skills.

When considering a candidate, contact their professional references to learn more about them. Avoid candidates who provide only personal references.

Reviewing Skills and Experience

Your company’s product or service may require technical knowledge or industry experience. Therefore, favor those applicants who already possess the abilities and expertise you need.

Keep an open mind when looking at skills and experience. You may discover unique yet promising skills that could prove helpful. They could even provide some fresh perspectives to your sales team.

Did They Try To “Game” the System?

This is a relatively recent phenomenon in which some applicants may try to embed specific phrases into a resume that aren’t visible to human readers but are picked up by hiring software looking for particular keywords.

While the technical know-how to pull this off may seem impressive to some hiring managers, it does suggest a certain lack of ethics and respect for the hiring process. Proceed with caution.

Are There Numbers and Metrics In The Resume?

One of the most foolproof ways to assess a sales candidate is by the numbers they have produced in past roles. This might mean emails sent, revenue produced, or contracts upsold.

A good sales candidate should never be shy or try to hide their numbers. In fact, they should be proud of any quotas or goals they have beaten in the past.

The Initial Interview

An initial interview—phone or in person—will assist you in deciding if a candidate is right for your department. Here are some things to consider.

Do They Come Across As Professional?

Look at how the applicant conducts themself. This will demonstrate how they will come across to potential clients. Professionalism is a must. So are punctuality, sincerity, and politeness. All the better if the candidate also demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of your business’s products or services.

In many ways, an initial interview is a sales pitch. Use that perspective to help assess the interviewee.

How Well Do They Communicate on the Phone?

Many sales or hiring managers conduct initial interviews via phone. This provides an opportunity to see how well a candidate communicates by phone. Considering many sales calls are started this way, it’s an essential skill to filter for. Also, have the applicant leave a sample voicemail message. This, too, will help you see how effectively they can communicate with prospects.

Do They Possess the Traits You Value Most for Your Sales Team?

Effective sales departments prioritize skills like drive, thoroughness, and communication. Create a list to score candidates on your top sales rep attributes. You can use these scores to help compare and contrast various skill levels if you have multiple applicants.

Ask Challenging Questions

How well does a candidate respond to difficult questions? Can they think (and answer) under pressure? Consider asking how they deal with rejection. Ask them about how they managed to learn a complicated skill. Ask about past challenges and how they overcame them.

The classic “what would you say is your biggest weakness?” question may seem cliche, but it helps learn how self-aware and open to feedback a candidate is. It also demonstrates how seriously they respond to the question and how honest they are.

The Later Stage Interviews

After interviewing an exhaustive list of candidates, you can narrow the search and bring in only the most promising candidates for a more in-depth discussion.

Ask for a sales demonstration.

Before they come in, request that candidates prepare a sample sales presentation. This should ideally be for one of your products or services so the candidate can display their knowledge, or they could choose something entirely different to see how well they can convince you to buy something you’re unfamiliar with.

The actual purpose of the demonstration is to see how much sales potential they have. It may be challenging, but it can give you a good feel for their fundamental sales abilities and their approach to the challenge and the process.

Take on the role of a potential customer who objects to the sales pitch. Take into account how the candidate responds to these concerns. Do they listen well, or do they immediately go on to the pitch’s next section?

After the presentation, provide the candidate with practical criticism to determine whether or not they are coachable.

Ask Out About Long-Term Goals

When you hire a new sales representative, you expect they’ll find a way to grow with your business. So inquire about the candidate’s long-term objectives and passions. Are they hoping to take on high-ticket clients? Are they interested in management? Do they have a particular affinity for marketing or customer service?

Think about how realistic these objectives are. Can you see this person progressing within your business?

Conduct a Culture Check Walkthrough

Talk a walk through the company and introduce the candidate to others. Try to hit different levels within the company, such as other salespeople, receptionists, factory floor employees, and members of upper management.

Can you see this candidate blending in with your culture, or do they withdraw when the CEO or a Senior Sales Manager is around? Remember that a candidate’s capacity for good communication with management can indicate their potential for interaction with sales prospects.

Offer the candidate the chance to see your business in operation. Invite the applicant to listen in on a sales call with one of your Account Executives. Their follow-up questions will reveal a lot about their sales philosophy and suitability for your business.

Also, after the interview, ask the people who met the candidate on your walkthrough for their opinions. Even though, as the hiring manager, the final decision is yours, input from others can always be helpful.

Recruiting With Rainmakers

Following the above should handily assist you in finding the ideal applicant for your open entry-level sales representative position. The most important factors to remember are the candidate’s professional demeanor, applicable skill set, and cultural compatibility.

When faced with many applicants, consider hiring recruitment specialists such as the ones at Rainmakers to help make your job easier. They have a proven history of matching ideal candidates with the best businesses, so everyone wins in the end.

Sign up and connect with our team today to learn more.

by Joe R

Hiring

Land The Best Tech Sales Professionals With These Hiring Strategies

A Guide To Finding The Best Sales Talent

Right now, tech sales professionals are in high demand. As a result, better sales professionals are getting calls daily from recruiters and businesses. To get the best tech sales professionals for your company, you must apply your recruiting process correctly.

Here are some practical hiring tips to help you land the best of the best.

Be Effective In Selling the Position

When contacting a potential sales representative, try to make your message personal. Experienced professionals will recognize generic templates and will be less likely to reply.

Include details about the corporate culture and any unique benefits you offer. Remember that people often change jobs because of toxic workplaces and poor management. Highlight your company’s strengths in positive workplace culture and supportive management.

You can include salary information, but remember that you need to offer competitive rates as talented sales staff are likely already well compensated.

Clearly Define the Position Offered

Be forthright about the qualities you seek in a tech sales professional, and highlight any essential qualifications. Start by outlining the knowledge, abilities, and character attributes required for the position. This is not only for the prospective employee but also for the hiring manager.

This allows you and your potential recruit to be on the same page about what the position requires and what will be expected.

Defining the position more clearly will also make keyword searches for candidates easier if you’re looking for candidates on sales databases or LinkedIn. For example, If you’re looking for those with experience in hardware, communication, or SaaS technology, use those terms when searching. That will help you find the right candidates to approach.

Keep An Eye Open For Quality Traits

Talented technology salespeople require unique skills to sell more difficult products and services. Therefore, look for these key attributes when reviewing candidates.

Proactive Sales Mentality

Look for candidates who have proven to be self-starters and highly motivated. This will give them an advantage in prospecting, cold calling, pitching, and selling your products or services.

Proactive salespeople tend to find making new sales exhilarating. As a result, they are more likely to go for closing big deals and then quickly move on to the next one.

Persuasiveness

Look for persuasion and conversational sales reps. Even though your products or services may be complicated, a talented sales rep must be enthusiastic and be able to transmit that enthusiasm to the customer. They should also be well-informed about what you’re selling and prepared to respond to any questions or hesitation from the customer without coming on too hard.

Flexible Thinking

Complex modern technologies and solutions require a comprehensive knowledge of the industry and an ability to find creative solutions to customer issues. You don’t want salespeople who get stuck thinking or doing things only one way.

Look for salespeople who can address challenges from several angles and be able to accommodate or change their approach as needed. When holding mock sales sessions, look for sales professionals willing to ask questions and work with the client to solve their problems.

Making the Best Offer

Many salespeople in tech earn well into the six figures annually, with a base income between $40,000 and $100,000 plus and incentives and commissions from hundreds to thousands of dollars. If you can’t pay competitively, your candidate will go elsewhere. Consider consulting a compensation consultant or salary guide to see what competitive pay is in your area and industry.

Also, consider what other incentives you can offer to help draw a potential star candidate further into the hiring stage. These days, flexible schedules, remote work, and sign-on bonuses are popular with employees.

Don’t Wait

When you get a response from an ideal candidate, act quickly.

From opening interviews to making the official job offer, you’ll want the process to be smooth, efficient, and with little delay. So stay in touch with your candidates during the entire hiring period and keep them informed on the timeframe for recruiting decisions. Remember, they probably have other options and recruiters reaching out to them. So the sooner you can make an offer, the better.

Common Hiring Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Sometimes, businesses get so focused on selling their products and services that they don’t spend an appropriate amount of effort finding the right salespeople. Here are some mistakes some businesses make and how they can be avoided.

Failure To Plan

When hiring a sales rep, skipping the planning stage can frequently lead to problems.

Plan out every step of the hiring process, from promoting sales positions to selecting and interviewing prospects, hiring top talent, onboarding, and considering how long it will take to train and prepare new sales hires for the workplace.

Hiring Sales Reps Who Frequently Change Jobs

At first glance, someone with a varied job history may seem appealing due to extensive experience working for various businesses and industries.

The truth is that people who switch employers frequently may have a poor aptitude to work as a tech sales rep. In addition, job-hopping can indicate they need help sticking with one employer for an extended period or have trouble working with sales teams and customers.

Not Taking Advantage Of a First Phone Call

Conventionally, hiring managers prefer to meet with candidates in person. Doing so, however, misses an excellent candidate review opportunity.

Tech sales representatives frequently speak with prospects and customers via phone. For that reason, you want to be sure they have good phone skills. By making your first contact with a potential sales rep by phone, you’re in a great position to evaluate how they might come across to clients.

This first call also gives you a chance to get the candidate excited about the opportunity. This will make them that much more interested in moving their schedule around to accommodate the rest of the interview process.

Having a Chaotic Onboarding Process

You want new tech sales representatives to hit the ground running. Unfortunately, many businesses have an onboarding process that has either slowly become bloated over the years or needs more clarity in organization and communication.

Review your current onboarding process for new employees and ensure it’s up to date, lists responsibilities clearly, notes the chain of communication, and how the sales team functions. The less confusion at the start, the more likely you will retain your new tech sales rep.

Working With Rainmakers

A talented tech sales representative is essential to how well a business succeeds. Consider consulting with an experienced tech sales recruiting agency to help advance your business.

Connect with Rainmakers today and start finding top sales talent.

by Joe R

Hiring

How To Find Sales Recruiters

Finding The Best Sales Recruiters

Job searches are many things. Among them, they are tedious, frustrating, complicated, and lengthy. This applies not only to job seekers but recruiters as well. According to the job review website Glassdoor, each corporate job attracts an average of 250 applicants for one opening.

That’s a lot of resumes to go through.

If you’re a business looking for qualified tech sales personnel, it behooves you to find that perfect recruit in as little time as possible so they can begin earning. But, simultaneously, you want to feel confident you’re hiring the best person for the position. We are in the sales recruiting business and know the best of the best.

Here is our list of the 10 Best Sales Recruiters in the US.

The Best Sales Recruiters in the US

1) Rainmakers

The leading tech recruiting platform hiring tech and SaaS salespeople. Rainmakers brings data into sales hiring and utilizes the latest sourcing technology to help companies build their sales teams efficiently. Hire qualified and diverse salespeople through a quick and scalable platform. They offer both self-service and managed solutions. Operates US-wide.

Learn more: rainmakers.co

2) Hirewell

Hirewell is a Chicago-based talent solutions provider. They have over 200 recruiters globally, focusing on sales (15+ sales recruiters). They work with hundreds of companies across the US, ranging from early-stage tech companies to enterprise tech organizations. Hirewell helps companies hire one-off sales executives and build out teams of SDRs, AEs, and GTM teams. Hirewell also partners with companies for their sales hiring efforts through its OnDemand Recruiting offering, where it embeds a Hirewell recruiter into its recruiting function.

Learn more: hirewell.com

3) The Collective Search

Boutique agency specializing in sales hires for venture-backed SaaS/tech companies. They are known for their incredibly personal, meticulous, caring approach to each placement, emphasizing personality/culture fit. Strong, loyal community of sales professionals who care about thriving and succeeding. Started in SF and now have a presence on both coasts.

4) True Search

A diversified recruiting agency with a focus on working with venture-backed tech companies. They have a broad focus across many disciplines, including sales, technology, and finance.

5) Betts Recruiting

Betts recruiting focuses on sales, marketing, and executive hires for Venture Backed startups and technology companies

6) CloserIQ

The firm is HQ’d in New York and has a strong presence with East Coast employers. They specialize in Sales, Technology, and Executive Search.

7) HuntClub

An executive search firm with a strong focus on Go-To-Market leadership

8) RJR Partners

A traditional executive search and recruiting firm with experience in sales, marketing, and product, among others.

What Is a Tech Sales Recruiter?

A sales recruiter is a specialist who works with businesses to find the best candidates for sales positions of all levels, from Sales Development Representatives (SDR) and Account Executives (AE) to Sales Managers and VPs of Sales. To match job seekers with the appropriate opportunities, they work with applicants to determine their skills, experience, and goals.

Tech sales recruiters specifically aim to help salespeople with experience or interest in technically-oriented businesses—whether they be focused on hardware, software, cybersecurity, SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, telecom, or more—find the best opportunities by introducing them to jobs and organizations they may not have been aware of.

They accomplish this by leveraging excellent communication and networking skills, industry knowledge, and the ability to match job seekers with hiring managers.

How To Find a Recruiter for Your Business

Finding a sales recruiter isn’t as difficult as one might imagine. Here are the key points to keep in mind.

Industry-Specific or General?

If you’re looking for a sales position that doesn’t require much-specialized knowledge, you can go with a recruiter that works with all sorts of applicants. This can be advantageous because it gives you a larger pool of potential applicants. The downside is that you may get more misses than hits if your company focuses on specialized knowledge, such as tech.

If you choose a recruiter, such as Rainmakers, specializing in tech-related positions, you’re more likely to get promising candidates right from the start.

Long Term or Short Term?

Generally, there are two types of recruiters—staffing agencies and permanent placement recruiters.

Staffing agencies hire for temporary or temp-to-perm hourly positions and then contract them to employers, collecting a percentage of the hourly fee as a markup.

Permanent placement recruiters focus on long-term hiring opportunities. The recruitment agency finds, evaluates, and represents talent, while the hiring manager hires the prospect as a full-time employee.

Researching Recruiters Online

You can find many professional sales recruiters in various areas. Two top places to start would be Google and, perhaps better, LinkedIn. Start with some keyword searches that apply to your business or the specific sales position you intend to fill. Some examples might include:

“Sales recruitment”
“Talent acquisition”
“Headhunter sales tech”
“Sales executive recruitment”
“SDR hiring”
“Account Executive/AE tech hiring”

Word of Mouth

One of the best and most reliable ways to find a trustworthy recruiter is to contact your professional network. If the hiring manager of a business in the same industry as yours reports success using a particular recruitment platform, it’s a good bet you may as well.

The Top Recruitment Markets

You’ll want a recruitment agency with knowledge and access to candidates in the top tech sales markets in the country. Ensure your recruiter knows where to find potential salespeople in major U.S. cities like San Francisco, Austin, Chicago, New York City, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Raleigh.

What Are the Best Recruiting Tips For Tech Companies?

Hiring the best tech salespeople is not easy. However, top performers are in high demand, and working in the tech industry can be particularly challenging. Here are some tips that should better your chances of locating and hiring the right people for your business.

Clearly Define the Position

Be straightforward about the qualities you’re looking for in a sales professional before you start recruiting them. Similarly, have clear job descriptions available either as part of a hiring pitch or easily located online.

Lay out the knowledge, abilities, and other attributes required for the hire to succeed. When these are in place, it will be simpler to evaluate each candidate.

Use a Personal Approach

When reaching out to a potential hire, address them by name and avoid any appearance of their name being inserted into a form. While talking about compensation is important, don’t forget to speak about company culture and the unique benefits of working for your company.

Many leave their positions due to poor compensation and a hostile company atmosphere. Put the candidate’s worry to rest by selling them the benefits of hiring with you.

Don’t Make Them Wait

It’s become almost a bad joke—the amount of time and number of hoops candidates have to jump through to go from initial interview to final hire.

That won’t work for tech sales positions that are in high demand. You want to streamline the process or, at least, ensure the candidate knows where they are in the hiring process and the expected timeline. Tech sales candidates are likely considering several offers. You don’t want to draw the process out so long that you lose a potentially great new hire to another company because you didn’t move fast enough.

An experienced recruiting agency like Rainmakers can help make the hiring process quicker, so this is less likely.

Make the Right Offer

Many tech salespeople start with a basic salary between $40,000 and $92,000, with incentives and commissions ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars, with many earning over $100,000 annually. If you can’t give competitive pay, your candidate will go elsewhere.

Also, consider additional incentives or benefits during the offer stage to help close the deal. You may even want to consider a sign-on bonus.

Should I Connect With Recruiters On LinkedIn?

The short answer? Absolutely.

There are several reasons why looking for recruiters on LinkedIn is a good idea.

LinkedIn is the largest platform for professionals of all types worldwide. As a result, it’s often the first place companies list open positions and where hiring managers begin looking for potential candidates. Likewise, it’s where many sales professionals post their availability or interest in looking for a sales position.

Because LinkedIn is so large, it can be daunting to look for candidates individually, no matter how narrow you make your keyword searches. By looking for a professional recruiting agency on LinkedIn, you can find the right agency for your business to help you in your search.

Sales Recruitment Solutions At Rainmakers

Rainmakers accepts only quality applicants, so you can be confident that you’re interviewing the top sales talent around. In addition, when we look at potential candidates, you can see all their sales stats, such as performance, what they’ve sold, and who they’ve sold to. This allows you to save valuable time by quickly identifying candidates with the skills, experience, and fit you’re looking for.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help fill your tech sales needs.

by Joe R

Hiring

How to Set SDR Compensation Plans

Sales Development Representative Compensation Guide

On-target earnings (OTE) are a great way to motivate Sales Development Reps (SDRs). This policy will help them perform better and generate more sales-qualified leads. If their base salary and variable pay depend on performance, they’ll work hard to meet their goals.

You must consider several factors for a sales compensation plan to be effective. Failing to do so risks demotivating or depressing your SDRs—which could hurt profits and employee retention.

However, when done right, SDRs can become productive and motivated and create more sales opportunities.

But what goes into effective commission plans? What should you consider when developing yours? In this post, we’ll look at these questions in more detail and give you the steps you’ll need to follow to build your company’s sales development compensation plan.

What makes commission plans effective? What should yours include?

Here are some ideas.

Why Have a Sales Development Compensation Plan?

Before discussing how to create a sales development compensation plan, let’s review why you would want one to begin with. These are the main benefits of having a well-thought-out sales compensation plan.

Incentivizes SDRs
Increased transparency
More structure
Easier planning and budgeting

Now that we understand why let’s look at the how.

Building an Effective SDR Compensation Plan

Some of the following steps may vary based on your specific needs. Some businesses may not need all the steps, while others may need more.

Determine On-Target Earnings

On-target earnings (OTE) are an SDR’s annual base salary plus on-target commissions (OTC). Consider national, local, and regional average SDR OTE. Glassdoor and PayScale can help you calculate an accurate price estimate.

From there, you can adjust the OTE based on the following factors:

Experience
Job complexity
Product
Benefits gained
Employee Attrition rate

Decide Upon Pay Mix

Pay mix is an SDR’s base salary to variable pay ratio. This reflects the risk of earning the OTE. For instance, some SDRs could perceive a 40/60 base salary/commission pay mix as too risky.

If your base salary is too low, SDR motivation and company performance will suffer. If your base salary is too high, your SDRs won’t gain if they hit their goals. Keeping SDRs productive requires the right pay mix. Like OTE, you can check national, regional, and local averages to compare prices. In the Tech and SaaS world, we find that 65 – 75% base is fairly common.

Measuring SDR Performance

After determining OTE and pay mix, decide how to measure SDRs’ performance. On what metric will your quotas be based? Finally, focus on revenue-generating activities for these metrics.

Focusing on a metric like call volume emphasizes quantity over quality. For example, an SDR can make 50 calls per day without generating a single sales opportunity. Therefore, it’s better to use a metric tied to quality, such as sales qualified prospects (SQO) and sales qualified leads (SQL).

Setting Quotas

As an example of setting quotes, we’ll look at the SQO metric.

SDRs, on average, usually generate seven SQOs per month or about one every three working days. You can set quotas and adjust as necessary from this average, depending on your company.

When setting quotas, ensure they’re realistic. According to research, 68% of SDRs meet their quotas. With that in mind, you should aim for an achievable quota between 60 and 70% of your SDRs.

Sales Development Representative Compensation

Thresholds and Accelerators

Using thresholds and accelerators can improve SDR performance. They can recognize high-achievers and motivate low-performers.

Thresholds are minimum performance levels below which an SDR does not earn any commission. Typically, this threshold would fall between 40 and 50%.

On the other hand, Accelerators motivate SDRs by increasing commission rates once they meet their quota. Say an SDR’s quota is nine SQLs per month, and they’re paid 70/30. With accelerators, you can increase the commission for high performers.

Establishing a Performance Period

After tackling the above tasks, determine the period over which you’ll measure SDR performance. SDRs can achieve results faster than sales reps whose commissions depend on closed sales. Usually, this will be monthly, with commissions calculated at the end of the month.

Testing Your Compensation Plan

After planning, you can execute. But it’s a good idea to test your plan before implementing it on SDRs. This will show you how well it works and if you missed any issues when developing the compensation plan.

Use historical data to test your plan’s parameters. If historical data is not available, try using hypothetical SDRs. After getting the results, you should be able to determine if your pay is competitive and sustainable.

The One-Size-Fits-All Problem

In short, one size does not fit all.

As good an idea is to research what other companies are doing and paying, copying them may not work well. Instead, it would help to consider individual factors such as your business’s size, market maturity, product maturity, and customer segmentation.

More importantly, as your sales teams and company mature, you should be prepared to tweak your SDR compensation plan to keep ahead of the game.

A Plan In Action

Depending on the scale of your business and the number of SDRs you have, you may find it challenging to keep up on all the calculations at first. That’s why it’s essential to have your plan laid out in advance, tested, and adjusted where necessary.

The result should be a satisfied SDR crew who are motivated to work on developing your sales and who feel encouraged by upper management.

If you need help assembling a sales team that fits with your compensation plan, let Rainmakers help! Start browsing for applicants now!

by Joe R

Hiring

Do Salespeople Only Care About Money?

Salespeople get a negative reputation for “only caring about money.” I am sure that most of you have heard this and many probably believe it. In fact, this doesn’t seem like a controversial statement at all.

Let’s look at the data and see if this is true

As a reminder, Rainmakers is the leading software and community for hiring SaaS sales professionals like Account Executives and Sales Development Reps. We have collected data from thousands of candidates working across thousands of companies in tech.

Entry-level Account Executives and Sales Development Reps

When we look at salespeople earlier in their sales career, like SDR’s and Junior AE’s, we do see a demand for higher salaries. On average salespeople with a base salary from $40k-$70k are looking for a pay increase of ~$15K in their next role. While this may seem like a lot, these are generally people that are earlier in their career and hungrier. They likely don’t have a lot of savings and are looking to level up in their careers. Many of these folks are looking to be promoted from an SDR to an AE, which also naturally comes with a pay increase. On the hiring side, this is why it can be challenging to hire “experienced SDR’s” with only a small increase in comp. These salespeople are looking to take their career to the next level. (Side note- if you do need to hire experienced SDR’s, message me as Rainmakers has helped a lot of companies here).

Mid-level reps

Looking at salespeople in the $70k-$80k base range, they are looking for an ~$8k pay bump. These are still reps earlier in their career and they are looking to continue to move up.

However, once we get beyond that comp level, things start to change. When we look at reps with a $80k-$140k base, these reps are only looking for on average a ~$3k bump. This is pretty insignificant at these levels – only a 3% or less increase in base.

Enterprise salespeople

And let’s take a look at reps at the next level. Reps making +$140k are actually open to DECREASES in base and this decrease increases as their base increases. So these are the top, highest paid reps and they “don’t care about money?”

When we actually look into the data, we will see that salespeople don’t only care about money. When salespeople are younger and earlier in their career, building their life, learning, of course they want to get promoted and earn more. And the ones that continue to progress deserve that too, as they are generating significant value for their companies. *Remember that salespeople are what is driving the majority of revenue at most SaaS companies.* Most people in all industries, earlier in their career would be looking to make more money. This is not something unique to salespeople.

But once salespeople get to a mid-level and higher, money becomes significantly less important. These people may be looking for a small bump, of course people like to feel wanted and appreciated. But really other factors are more important than just the cash. Experienced salespeople are not looking to change jobs just to make $3k more.

Once salespeople are at the higher levels of comp, salespeople are legitimately open to make less money. Why would they want to switch jobs and make the same or less money?

Changing the narrative

Let’s change the narrative and start spreading the truth about salespeople. Salespeople aren’t just hired guns that only care about money. Salespeople care about product, culture, team, growth, and much more. They want to find where they and their skills fit best and where they can contribute strongly to their teams and companies.

by Michael Ferguson

Hiring

Selling & New Product Launches, a Conversation with Sean Shepperd of GrowthX

Sean Sheppard is one of the founders of Growth X, is a venture capital fund that helps companies optimize for personalization, not automation. As a serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience, he’s seen a thing of two that can help your business make more sales when launching a new product as a startup.

Our conversation with Sean will be focusing on the strategy around selling a new product and will help answer questions like:

What is the role of sales when bringing a new product to market?
What startups need to think about when setting up a new sales distribution channel?
What are the SPIN and BANT methods?

What do early stage teams need to think about when setting up a sales force?

Its important to keep your sales force lean, with no more than 1-2 people. You can’t expect to throw a bunch of resources at something and assume it will generate sales and move the needle. The 1-2 hand selected people, who Sean also refer to as “cheif learning officers,” need to be responsible for figuring out where their product fits in the market, what channel it is sold through and what the messaging is. This also includes deciding what data should be collected to build use cases for specific markets.

Because the early sales roles require a specific strategy and specific experience, the first mistake you should avoid is giving an existing sales force a new product that they don’t have background of selling. While it may seem appealing at the moment, it will have a double negative effect on sales: It sets up the new product up for failure since it doesn’t have the right salespeople, and it will hurt the existing sales of other products since you are taking resources away from them. Sean recommends finding someone who has experience in the particular vertical who can hit the ground running and hinder the sales of other products or services.

Early stage DNA

Your startup sales team should possess what Sean describes as the “Early Stage DNA,” meaning by nature certain types of people are more suited for the startup environment and structure.

One attribute ideal startup salespeople have is that they’re able to embrace ambiguity. they can take nothing and turn it into something. Often times this takes someone who is in it for more than just comission, but instead the “mission” of the company. They see the long term sales potential and will identify new channels and methods without much direction.

The right salesperson should also be able to communicate well across functions (product, marketing, supply, operations, etc.). They are able to identify and build the right internal relationships, and ultimatley bring all of those people together.

Closing

“Closing is not a skill, its a byproduct of being fully emerged in trying to find the fit in trying to give someone they want and demonstrating value around the way. its not a tactic or a trick or manipulation.”

Customers don’t have “objections.” They have concerns. And it’s the job of the salesperson to identify and resolve any and all concerns as soon as possible. You don’t want to waste everyone’s time by going through this process just to have one issue derail the deal when it could have been addressed earlier on.

Typically the more expensive a product is the more people will be involved in the decision making process, and Sean goes on to share his breakdown of the different types of decision makers and stakeholders you will meet.

Buyer “Types”

As your new salesperson enters the market with your product, they are going to encounter a combination of four buyer types. Being able to identify which “type” someone is will shape the way they navigate the interaction.

1. Economic buyers
Look at things from a numbers perspective with dollars and cents. they live in spreadsheets, etc. they own the budget and justify the allocation of the budget

2. User buyers
The ones who use the product or manager the process your solving. they feel the pain points and understand the benefits of your product

3. Technical buyers
They don’t have the power to say yes but they have the power to say no if they have technical objections to your product. these people usually are the ones who need things like case studies or testimonials. they need to be identified early on to get past any hurdles that may come up later on.

4. The Champion or Coach
Someone who has already used the product and understand its benefits. You want to turn the technical buyer into the champion.

On average you will speak with 7 stakeholders throughout the sales process, and if you aren’t familiar with the SPIN framework or the BANT process, it’s something you and your team should practice:

The SPIN framework

Focus on the beginning of the sale, not the end.

We use the SPIN framework to identify what the problem is and how it can be solved. The steps are:

Situation – Identify the job, the scenario, the background.

Problem – Find out what problems are associated with the job and how can your business can solve them

Implication – Ask what the implication of the problem is. How big of a deal is it, and how do you quantify it?

Need – How would your role be different in a measurable way if you made a change and is the need to make that change great enough for you to do something about it now.

These questions need to be answered throughout your conversations with the prospect customer overtime. A mistake many people make is they assume a prospect has a certain probelm when they don’t. Their problems aren’t real unless they actually say it in their conversations with you.

The BANT method

The BANT method is used to detmine if someone has the ability to do business with you, and follows the below guideline:

Budget – Can they pay for it?

Authority – Do they have the authority to do something with you and make a decision?

Need – Is there a need? This is the most important aspect. If there isn’t a need, nothing else matters.

Timing – Does the timing line up with your initial market milestone? Over a period of time you need to be able to get x amount of money back. If the customer doesn’t have the time to meet your initial market milestone, don’t force the sale and wait until the time is right and accept that they are not a fit at the moment but keep the door open for them to be a fit in the future.

Finally, the last thing you do is demo your product or service, not the first thing. Sean explains that while providing a demo might seem attention grabbing and flashy up front, it’s more efficient to determine need, key concerns, and the overall fit before going into details like a demo.

Connect with Sean Sheppard on LinkedIn

Visit GrowthX.com and sign up for the GX Academy

For more information on Rainmakers, visit rainmakers.co

by Michael Ferguson

Hiring

Where (And How) To Find Great Sales Reps in 2020

———-This is a repost from my Sales Hiring article that was published in the Acceleprise blog————-

Now more than ever, business organizations need buyer-focused sales professionals who possess the character and the competencies to deliver high value to both the customers they serve and the companies they work for.

In a highly competitive talent market, the process of finding, hiring, and keeping these high-performing sellers can be quite challenging.

Sure, technology can help heat up your metrics, but it will only go so far. Talent is the only thing that can sell your brand at the end of the day and will determine the difference between sales organizations that are well-positioned to win the future and those that struggle just to survive the challenges of the present.

As customer centricity, account-based selling, and artificial intelligence redraw the contours of business, talent will become more crucial to keeping pipelines full, flowing, and fruitful. If your organization lacks the will to attract, recruit, and retain excellent sales professionals, then you are just exerting futile efforts at postponing failure to a later date.

After all, only sales professionals with the right skills and mindset can drive meaningful conversations with prospects and orchestrate the outcomes customers expect. Today’s consumers — especially in the B2B space — are empowered buyers looking for trustworthy consultants who can help them achieve success. They are not keen on taking cold calls from desperate sellers who primarily engage people just to make a sale and meet quotas.

Why is it so hard to find good sales reps?

Forward-looking enterprises often implement aggressive recruitment and retention strategies for top sales talent. These enterprises already deploy many excellent professionals on their sales floor. Given the emerging business realities, these highly competitive companies simply couldn’t afford not to.

For one thing, businesses improve profitability by as much as 30% when they hire top-notch candidates, according to a Gallup poll. In the B2B space, moreover, corporate clients have nearly unlimited access to information about alternative products, and virtually nothing prevents them from brand-hopping at will. If your sellers lack the skills at building effective solutions and at keeping these solutions relevant throughout the customer lifecycle, then closing deals and reducing customer churn will both be very difficult. Which, as you well know, leads to diluted revenue, profit margins, and morale.

Hiring anyone just to fill the vacuum wouldn’t do, either. In fact, poor hires cost a lot more in direct and collateral damage than not hiring in the first place. A bad hire causes your team to lose a substantial amount of time, money, and energy, with some estimates placing financial loss at hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars per year just for one bad hiring decision.

Meanwhile, the challenges of selling as a field also cause most people to shun sales as a career option, even compelling a significant number of practitioners to shift their line of work. Either effect further trims the number of competent sales professionals in the market.

Best channels to find good sales reps

If your organization plans to recruit the best sellers, there are a few places you would want to check out.

Start with your personal network

Your social and professional network covers your family and friends as well as acquaintances from grade school, the fitness club, and the workplace. Your network will likely include a number of competent sales practitioners, professionals who enjoy working with people, or individuals who are good at articulating value and convincing others to view things from a particular perspective. You can reach out to these people and probe whether some are open to working in a sales organization with you.

Pros: Reconnecting with people you already know could be fun and won’t take as much effort.
Cons: The process of identifying competent sales professionals or individuals with high potential in sales would be informal at best and largely dependent on your hunch/intuition. Overpromising on the benefits may also cause a strain in otherwise friendly relationships.
Tips: Don’t overlook your alumni association from high school and college, as well as the business associations and social clubs you’ve joined in the past. Also consider sales professionals who have reached out to you regarding business matters. If they’ve managed to make you sign a subscription, perhaps they’ll be good at selling your product as well.

Ask for referrals and recommendations

If gleaning potential sales superstars from your network doesn’t work as planned, you can always request for referrals. Just like you, your friend or acquaintance knows somebody who works as a high-flying real estate agent or someone who has an uncanny ability at persuading people. Unless you have other options with higher odds of success, referred candidates would be worth checking out.

Pros: Building new relationships is easier when you have common reference points: in these case, your mutual contact and your shared interest in selling.
Cons: The competency or potential of the recommended individual depends on how the referrer defines what a “good seller” is.
Tips: Remember to request for updated contact information and as much detail about the person as possible. Also, getting referrals from acquaintances who work as recruiters or sales leaders would be doubly valuable since you can assume these recommendations have been vetted more professionally.

Optimize events and meetups

Industry events such as seminars, trade shows, workshops, and conferences are premium opportunities for relationship building. They’re also great for sniffing out and assessing potential hires.

Pros: Social events that relate to your industry help narrow the talent pool to those who are highly relevant to your business.
Cons: Most attendees would already be connected to other companies and brands. However, the vast majority of them are also likely to be looking for better career opportunities, according to HubSpot.
Tips: Tread lightly and be subtle. Limit yourself to building connections if your new prospect does not send positive signals that he or she is looking for a new employer. It’s not good to antagonize other industry players and be tagged as a “talent poacher.” Also, hang-out in places where executives and sellers usually go. There might be opportunities of discovering eager talent once in a while.

Squeeze LinkedIn dry

The planet’s largest professional network is perhaps the best place to build a shortlist of potential sales hires. The site’s powerful search functions can help you find qualified (but often presently employed) sellers in your particular market niche. You can also post job ads and reach thousands of professionals who meet your standards and qualifications.

Pros: LinkedIn is purposely designed for businesses, professionals, and everything in between. It is a vast marketplace of ideas, products, and talent.
Cons: Applying to job postings over LinkedIn is so easy your recruitment campaign might be swamped with applications too quickly for you to catch up and effectively select candidates who meet your requirements.
Tips: Require additional information, a portfolio if appropriate, and a cover letter. These will help you get more pertinent information on top of what’s already available in candidates’ account profiles. Moreover, these will help you gauge whether a particular candidate is really interested in your posting (i.e., less interested candidates will not bother to submit additional requirements). Having said that, be wary also of desperate job hunters who’ll do anything to get an interview.

Explore other social media sites

If you need an entire brigade to fill your sales floor, then you can go beyond LinkedIn to other social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, and Quora. Hundreds of millions of people visit these networks regularly to communicate their message and join conversations that matter to them.

Pros: It’s free. You can start with your online social network and expand the search from there. There are also communities — especially on Instagram and Facebook — that could be very relevant to your business. Moreover, any sales candidate gleaned from these networks can arguably be considered “social media savvy,” a desired trait for new generations of sellers.
Cons: There are a lot of noise on social media that will make your search hazy. You can easily get distracted and lose precious time navigating random distractions.
Tips: You can use market research to target specific demographics you are envisioning for your salesforce. Millennials and younger workers, for example, tend to use Instagram and SnapChat more while highly knowledgeable and opinionated professionals follow conversations on Quora.

Conduct campus recruitment

Leverage the good relationships you’ve built at your alma mater. For open internships at your sales organization, your old campus may just be the hunting ground you need. Go beyond your college to other academic institutions in the area if you need to create a larger talent pool.

Pros: College students and new grads are generally eager to enter the workplace. They are more flexible and trainable compared to candidates who have been in the job market for a while.
Cons: It may take tons of training to get young talent truly prepared for the tough world of selling.
Tips: Look for the right attitude, motivation, and behavior.

Traditional sales recruiters, headhunters, and job sites

Job sites such as Monster, Glassdoor, and Indeed.com provide the online interfaces that connect recruiters with job applicants. Like LinkedIn and specialist career marketplaces, job recruiting sites offer the best success rates for your staffing needs.

Pros: You get straightforward recruiting services. You also gain insightful job market data such as median salaries for specific positions, industry, and locations.
Cons: Getting the best results might entail costs. You will also be competing with similar recruiters targeting the same subset of applicants on the site.
Tips: Streamline and clarify your job posting. Make it stand out from the posts of rival recruiters. Use site features such as Glassdoor’s employer reviews to gather worker sentiment and find professionals who might be “open” to trying out other employers.

Fine-tune your search via career marketplaces

Online career marketplaces such as Rainmakers attract the best employers and the top practitioners in a specific field. When these parties meet, excellence happens.

Pros: Sales-oriented career marketplaces like Rainmakers already screen candidates for different sales roles and allow only highly competent practitioners to join its marketplace. Talent profiles are generally more in-depth than their accounts on LinkedIn, saving recruiters precious research time when hiring salespeople.
Cons: Top-notch services usually come with a price tag.
Tips: Use special features such as Rainmakers’ sales performance history to better assess a candidate’s credentials.

Online vs Offline?

Staffing your sales organization can take the offline or online route, or both. Depending on the situation, you can get the best of online and offline recruitment to benefit the final makeup of your sales team. So, make the best of in-person meet-ups during events and conferences. But don’t forget to put your best foot forward when hunting for talent online.

Some final tips and tactics

Sales recruitment is not only a challenging task, but one whose impact can create a powerful chain reaction far down the road. If you’ve hired the right people, then expect positive outcomes to pop up here and there. But if you enable bad candidates to come on board, the damage in terms of time, money, and morale can be devastating. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh once claimed that bad hires cost the company $100 million.

So take sales recruitment seriously. Hire specifically for the task you need done but never discount character and motivation. Technical skills should always go hand-on-hand with attitude. For experienced roles, consider the candidate’s professional selling history, relevant training, and certifications.

Don’t settle for less. Do your homework as a diligent recruiter and the rest will follow. Remember, nothing else can move your business further than highly motivated talent.

by Michael Ferguson