Great sales people add value to an organization, and every organization knows that it needs a team of great sales people in order to succeed. However, many HR professionals tasked with finding those great sales people are unsure of where to start in order to attract the highest quality sales candidates in a constantly evolving sales job market. In fact, many HR professionals cite this as the biggest challenge in sales hiring. Look to the following channels to find out where your organization can find its next great sales hires.

Find Great Sales People Through Referrals

The best candidates are often routed through internal referrals, but in many organizations this channel is underutilized – especially when it comes to internal referrals from outside the sales department. This is despite the fact that candidates sourced from these referrals often come at a lower cost of hire. When your organization is looking to attract great sales people, encourage your employees to tap into their personal networks to find your next outstanding candidate and save time and resources in the process.

Find Great Sales People through Internet Recruitment

Part of the challenge in finding is great sales people is in giving great sales people the tools to find your organization. More and more talented sales people are turning to the internet as the first line in the search for their next career opportunity, which means that in order to capture this interested audience, your organization’s website and social media presences should be doing part of the legwork for your HR department.

• Optimize your organization’s internet sites to capture common searches by interested, top quality candidates
• Promote the benefits of working with your organization through all possible avenues
• Tie in your ordinary internet presence with recruiting through other channels for optimized results

Find Great Sales People by Looking for Sales Passion

Truly great sales people tend to differentiate themselves by being able to sell in virtually any industry, in any market. The characteristic that enables them to do this is a passion for sales. These individuals not only understand the ins and outs of selling and building relationships with prospects, but enjoy what they do on a personal level. As the first line of contact for many of your organization’s needs, your HR department is uniquely positioned to detect and recruit based on a passion for selling. Keep an open mind and turn motivated and talented sales people who are trying to sell to you into motivated and talented sales people who are selling for you.

Find Great Sales People By Maximizing Recruitment Activity

The recruitment pipeline for great sales people should never be permitted to go dormant. Consider the costs of reactivating such a pipeline and the costs of missing out on great sales people who were looking for a new opportunity and found it with a competitor instead of your organization, and it starts to become clear how important it is to always be recruiting. Other reasons to keep the recruiting pipeline open include:

• Greater success with employee and word of mouth referrals; if top talent knows that positions are always under consideration for the best of the best, these highly qualified candidates will be encouraged to reach out
• Increased ability to deal with unexpected resignations and separations without negative impacts to sales numbers
• Stronger relationships with the recruiting service providers such as job ad placement companies and sales recruiters who can leverage opportunities on your behalf

When your organization is driving for sales that transcend the norm, you need great sales people. Your sales and HR departments can find even deeper opportunities for recruiting by following these best practices, and with the assistance of a proven sales recruiting agency, your recruiting efforts can go even further. Take a look at where you are finding great sales people today and where you might find more great sales people starting tomorrow.