Salespeople are notoriously hard to attract and retain.
Without a solid sales team, your business won’t succeed — but how do you get the right people in place and keep the competition from stealing them away?
Unlock the Keys to Recruitment Success
Let’s face it, as important as recruitment is, it’s also expensive and time-consuming. We know how frustrating the process can be, but we also know that there are some keys to success that can help your recruitment efforts bear fruit every time.
The thing to remember is that recruiting strategy is similar to your buyer retention strategy, only your target audience are potential candidates who fit well with your team.
- Make sure you’re recruiting in the right places. Many businesses make the mistake of looking for salespeople who are actively seeking work, which means posting in the classifieds or the online equivalent (LinkedIn and other job boards).
- This strategy doesn’t really work, because most salespeople are already employed when they decide to switch jobs. Instead, stay active online in LinkedIn groups dedicated to sales, where you can network with lots of contacts — some of whom are potential candidates — and make your company look more attractive than their current jobs.
- You should also go to in-person networking events to meet promising potential salespeople.
- Be proactive. Once you’ve made contact, don’t wait for potential salespeople to come to you. Reach out and tell your preferred candidates that you’d like to get to know them better. Meet for a meal to discuss job opportunities. Even if a candidate says no today, he or she may decide to check out your company later on so nothing is ever lost by using this strategy.
- Ask contacts to share job listings. In addition to networking, make sure that you spread the word about actual jobs you’re trying to fill right now. After you post job listings on your social media pages and in your groups, ask your contacts to share them. That way, even if a particular sales candidate isn’t in the market for a new job, he or she can pass the word along to other potential candidates.
Show Them Who You Are: The Key to Candidate Attraction
Recruitment strategies are all well and good, but they won’t work if you can’t make your company attractive to sales personnel in the first place. If you want to attract A-level candidates, you need to be able to demonstrate that your company offers them an environment that’s both challenging and comfortable for them.
- Don’t use too much text. Text-heavy ads often turn off top candidates before they even read them. Long sentences and paragraphs can wear candidates out and convince them that your company involves a lot of time-intensive, uninteresting work. Make sure your job postings use a minimum of text–leave candidates wanting to know more about the job and the company.
- Allow non-sales people a chance. We’ve found that the top candidates often don’t have sales experience–or don’t think they do! Don’t list a ton of experience-related qualifications or you might chase your best candidates away. Choose one or two top qualifications and make sure to invite non-sales types to apply through the way you word them.
- Think of candidates the same way you do buyers. Candidates are simply people who want to buy a job with your company. Make sure to speak to their top needs and interests–namely, who they would be working for, what they would be doing, the benefits they’ll receive and the opportunities for advancement.
Ready to start recruiting? Check out our A Player Sales Candidate Template to help you get started on creating and posting a job today.
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