9 years ago
January 5, 2015

Wondering Where to Find Good Sales People? 3 Places They Could be Hiding

In North America, the average sales person lasts 9 months with any given company. In our experience, it takes the average company up to 2 months to h

Rhys Metler

Hiding Under a RockIn North America, the average sales person lasts 9 months with any given company. In our experience, it takes the average company up to 2 months to hire a sales person; most of that time is spent just trying to find good sales people. Once a company identifies a good sales person, the process of hiring them usually happens quite quickly. It is important to already know good sales people before you need them. Here are 3 places where good sales people could be hiding:

  1. Internal Referrals – Good employees often know other good potential employees. The same holds true for sales people. You want more top performers and a great place to find them is from your existing top performers. Make them aware you are looking for new sales people all the time and establish an internal reward system for a successful hire. 

  2. Internal employees not in sales – Two of the most important characteristics of great sales people are attitude and drive. Look at your internal employees for people that possess these two characteristics in spades and establish a career path and sales training program to nurture them along. Sales people are made not born and you may have some future superstars in your company already… you just don’t know it. 

  3. Potential Suppliers  While I wouldn’t suggest hiring sales people from companies that supply services to you, I will suggest keeping your perceptive screen open to sales people who call on you. If someone is cold calling you or drops by the office and is polished, asks great questions and follows up with you, don’t discount them as a potential sales rep. It’s a chance to see them in action and how they would interact with a potential client of yours. I have hired people who I met while they were calling on me and they have not disappointed. 

Sales recruiting, job boards and career days are all traditional ways of finding sales people that work. The next time you are in the need for a top performer, try one or more of the ideas above. You may find yourself with your next top performer.

Rhys Metler

Rhys is a tenacious, top performing Senior Sales Recruiter with 15+ years of focused experience in the Digital Media, Mobile, Software, Technology and B2B verticals. He has a successful track record of headhunting top performing sales candidates for some of the most exciting brands in North America. He is a Certified Recruitment Specialist (CRS) and has expert experience in prospecting new business, client retention/renewals and managing top performing sales and recruitment teams. Rhys enjoys spending quality time with his wife, son, and daughters, BBQing on a hot summer day and tropical vacations.

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