There’s a plumber, a doctor and a lawyer and you’re going in for surgery… is there any question which of the three you would want performing it?

When it comes to hiring top sales professionals, the answer should be just as obvious. When it comes to hiring a sales professional, sales people do it best. Here are 3 main reasons sales people make the best sales recruiters.  

1) We’ve been there.  

In our sales careers, we have been invited to the bake off several times, lost and won. Those losses become invaluable experiences in understanding the gaps in our sales processes and as a result, we redefine them and move forward with greater success . The wins remind me of why we do this but also reinforce our approach, execution, etc. By experiencing both, several times over we develop an understanding what it takes to be successful in sales. Having carried a bag makes this familiar territory for us, like the surgeon in the operating room, but is it enough?

2) We know what good salespeople look like.

When it comes to evaluating sales talent, it’s not enough to know the characteristics of top sales professionals. You have to be able to evaluate the candidate against them. 

It begins with a complete understanding of the job. Working with prospects on a daily basis, we’ve fined-tuned our process and through effective probing, the key take away is that we align ourselves with what our client’s trying to accomplish with this hire. From there, we can make the best recommendation based on numerous factors (not just if the resume says they hit quota).

Why is this important? Because almost every resume does suggest they’ve hit quota! Sales people know how to interview and package themselves well. As a result, it’s critical to be able to interview in a way that puts the sales candidate into action. When sitting across the table from a candidate, we begin to assess their body language, their polish, and how they react in real sales scenarios. Instead of wondering if they can recount a time where they were tasked with several deadlines, we may ask them to diagnose a scenario where their largest committed opportunity just went sideways. Their response, their line of questioning, and their thought process can all reveal critical facts about their suitability for a role.

3) It’s the thrill of the hunt…

Being a sales professional in the recruitment world matches with our natural tendencies..first, we seek to build ROI for our client based on our value proposition, which when done correctly results in a search. Then, we probe to understand what our customer is looking for. Next, we get to literally hunt for the ideal candidate, scouring the market to satisfy the competitive juices in knowing that we found what others couldn’t..and finally, we negotiate towards a win-win scenario..and get rewarded for it.  

By having skin in the game and knowing that our family’s well being is directly involved, we become fully vested.

So next time you’re faced with having to hire a sales professional, think about your health in the aftermath of a surgery performed by the plumber and lawyer, or call an expert in sales!