When you look at your organization’s overall process for recruitment, sales recruitment is probably handled a little bit differently. But have you made sales recruitment an ongoing process, or are you still trying to staff your sales department on an as needed basis? On the surface, staffing as needed when sales people leave your organization makes sense. However, you should also be looking at whether those sales are all they could be. If you are staffing only as needed, instead of as an ongoing process designed around attracting top producers, chances are very good that your sales are not what they could be.

With Recruitment, Sales Should Come First

In almost any business environment, revenues are driven by the sales department. Without reliable sales people, there aren’t reliable revenues to keep an organization running smoothly. That’s why for successful recruitment, sales departments are placed at the core of the recruiting program. Too often when talking about recruitment, sales is the last department discussed, when it should be the first. Granted sales people need a good product or service that they can get behind, but even if your firm is the best in its industry, who will know about it if there aren’t sales people out in the field selling it? Putting sales recruitment first allows you to:

• Capture the best candidates for sales
• Be more selective in your recruiting approach
• Offer a competitive working environment, where sales people know their importance to your organization

These benefits will not only help your organization succeed, but will help those staffing your sales department succeed. Sales people often are accused of being thick skinned, but all employees want to know that their organization appreciates the work that they do. An appreciated sales department will work to show you that your appreciation is deserved.

For Top Recruitment, Sales Recruiting Should Be Ongoing

You have probably heard that in most sales departments, 80% of the sales come from 20% of the sales people. Looking at these departments’ recruitment, sales staffing is usually done on an as needed basis. This sets up the scenario where the best producers, those 20%, are a rarity rather than a rule. As needed recruiting:

• Does not time recruiting to when top producers are available
• Often prevents thorough candidate screening
• Leads to rushed decisions when a position must be filled
• Results in failed recruitment; sales staff constantly churns

Sales recruiting performed on an ongoing basis avoids these traps. If you are always hiring, but only for the best of the best, there is always room on your team for a producer who can make a real impact on the bottom line. Over time, a staff of producers will level out the sales between individuals, so that you can rely on more than 20% of your sales team to produce when you need it. By cultivating such a culture of performance, you will ensure that your sales people are motivated to be the best that they can be.

Following best practices for recruitment, sales staffing should always be ongoing. If you aren’t rushing to fill a position, you won’t be forced to choose between only those candidates who applied, none of whom might be the ideal sales person for your needs. With ongoing and focused recruitment, sales candidates can be fully vetted to determine whether they can make the contributions you expect. This builds a stronger sales department and a stronger organization.