The success of your sales team is connected to the hiring decisions that you make. If you’re constantly hiring new sales reps who aren’t productive and can’t close deals, your team is going to suffer.

But hiring for sales is difficult, and your own success at hiring top performers is directly related to the effectiveness of your sales hiring process.

If you believe that your sales hiring process is lacking, then you need to give it a boost. Use these tips.

1. Don’t Hire in a Rush

Many sales managers only hire when they have an open position. But there’s really no bad time to hire an A player in sales. And hiring when you’re in a rush can lead to bad decisions. When you don’t have the time to keep interviewing more candidates because you need someone immediately, you could end up skipping critical steps in the sales hiring process or settling for a mediocre candidate.

Instead, make hiring a long game. Always accept resumes and conduct interviews on a regular basis. This way, you can build up a database of good candidates to call on when an open position does come up. When you’re not under a time crunch, you’ll make more thought-out decisions and also give top talent more time to apply.

2. Know Who You Want to Hire for What Position

It seems so obvious and fundamental, but many sales managers don’t know who they want to hire. They make the mistake of thinking they know enough about their ideal hire when they don’t even have a list of criteria to base their decisions on. Though many sales positions are similar, they’re not all the same. And different positions will require different skills sets and levels of experience.

Make sure you know exactly what skills, experience, and qualities you’re looking for out of your new hire before you begin the sales hiring process—this will help you narrow down your choices and avoid hasty decisions based on likeable personalities. And make sure you know exactly what roles and responsibilities are involved in the position you’re hiring for, so you’ll better understand the type of person that would succeed in it.

3. Don’t Interview Alone

You might trust your own judgment, but if you’ve made your share of sales hiring mistakes in the past, there’s no harm in asking for your team’s opinion on candidates. Put your pride aside and make hiring a team sport. Ask your top performers to come into your interviews with you—they’ll be able to tell you if someone has what it takes to succeed in your workplace, because they have the experience of being in it themselves. And because sales has an impact on nearly every part of your organization, it makes sense to let other departments in on the decision, too.

4. Don’t Forget about Cultural Fit

Though skills and experience are important factors in your sales hiring process, you shouldn’t forget to test for cultural fit as well. It just doesn’t matter if your new hire is a great seller if he doesn’t fit into your environment. If he doesn’t believe in what you sell. If he doesn’t have the same selling style, goals, and beliefs that your company is built on. It won’t work out without cultural fit. Make sure to include interview questions to assess cultural fit in your sales hiring process.

5. Invest in Recruitment Tools and Technology

If your sales hiring process is totally outdated, it’s time to give it a boost by investing in recruitment tools and technology. If you spend a little, you’ll get a lot back out of it. Applicant tracking software in particular can be extremely beneficial if you hire often and get many applications. Video interviewing software, email tracking tools, inbound marketing, and cloud-based talent management systems can also help you improve your hiring process.