As a hiring decision maker you have competing demands on your time, and the ongoing needs of your business don’t stop when you need to seek out qualified candidates for a sales opening. To go in depth with a single candidate takes time, but multiply that by the number of inquiries you are likely to receive on a given position, many of whom will be selected out because they lack the skills and experience you need in a candidate, and you’ll see why using a sales recruiter makes sense. A sales recruiter can help alleviate the pressure on your time by allowing you to source the candidate selection process, and an experienced sales recruiter will use their knowledge of the sales and recruitment process to ensure your time is spent on only the best candidates.

Targeted Strategies to Reach the Best Candidates

Successful sales recruiting requires a strategy apart from hiring strategies in place for other positions as the skills and characteristics that make a great sales person are highly specific, and you generally won’t find great sales people using the same channels as you use to staff for other positions. A sales recruiter helps you target sales people who:

• Rebound quickly from setbacks
• Are self-motivated and self-disciplined
• Accept personal responsibility for results
• Are exceptionally outgoing, even to the coldest contacts

The sales people who have these characteristics are well connected in their industries and will leverage these connections to discover their next career move. In addition to using standard recruiting channels, sales recruiters can reach these individuals through referrals by their connections, which are the strongest source of exceptional talent.

Proven Selection Processes to Narrow the Candidate Pool

Past performance is a key indicator of future success, but it takes time and energy to uncover a candidate’s performance history. To really understand a candidate’s potential, a thorough screening process that verifies past income, employer references, and skills is needed. Ideally, this screening will occur even before an interview has taken place, to make sure that face-to-face time will be devoted to the best sales people available to your organization. This is another area where sales recruiters are essential, as they can conduct:

• Pre-interview screening
• Telephone interviews to advance the selection process
• Initial face-to-face interviews, to recommend only top candidates for your interview time

Sales recruiters also maintain databases of previously vetted applicants who can be reviewed for your open position. Successful full service sales recruiters can constantly cycle candidate databases of qualified sales people by reaching out to new job seekers through proven job portals as others move into permanent positions.

An Efficient Recruiting Process Leads to Top Hires

Once you find a top producer, it is critical to hire quickly. Sales persons with a history of success know that they are in high demand. Even as you move through the recruiting process with these candidates, other hiring managers will be looking to entice these individuals to their own firms. By using a sales recruiter, you can ensure that the hiring process moves quickly and the best candidates are captured before a competitor has the opportunity.

Sales recruiters streamline the hiring process for greater effectiveness at a reduced cost. By using technology in addition to industry experience, recruiters can maximize the quality of your candidates while speeding up the hiring process. Sales recruiters are uniquely positioned to use industry contacts with sales executives, managers, and other recruiters to identify and vet sales candidates, and can help you select select proven individuals with the characteristics and skills you need in a successful sales person.