Finding methods for recruiting sales people that work efficiently and with consistent results is critical to maintaining sales force effectiveness. Simply having an ideal candidate profile and knowing the type of sales person you want to hire will not result in finding the right sales person for your organization’s needs. The following methods for recruiting sales people can help you find the right candidates.

Method for Recruiting Sales People #1: Use Word of Mouth Referrals

Referrals passed by word of mouth from your current employees or others who have regular contact with your organization can be incredibly effective for filling open sales positions. Organizations that have strong strategies for recruiting sales people through word of mouth may only find it necessary to rely on other recruiting methods when the position to be filled requires a highly specific set of skills and experience. To make sure that your referral strategy works well, ensure that:

• Your employees and others from whom you hope to generate referrals have the same vision and opinion of your organization that is promoted on your website and collateral materials
• Those whom you are asking to pass on referrals understand what is needed for the position so that unqualified candidates are minimized
• Your referral system uses common Internet tools for professional networking, such as Linked In
• You implement an incentive system that rewards current employees based on the quality of hired candidates located through referral, which may escalate based on the new employee’s time or contribution to the company

Method for Recruiting Sales People #2: Recruit Candidates Before You Recruit Employees

Methods for recruiting sales people that draw on a pre-existing base of vetted and qualified candidates before a position is open generally outperform recruiting methods that start from square one every time a new position becomes available. With ‘always on’ candidate recruitment, you can continually find candidates who are interested in working for your organization, and not just looking for a job. Implement a continual process for candidate recruitment by:

• Providing processes for interested candidates to forward their resumes even when no sales position is open
• Instituting systems to continually vet resumes and applications received so that when a position is opened, you can move directly on contacting the most qualified sales applicants
• Consider extending offers to the most highly qualified sales people even if no position is currently available; the sales people who can make the biggest difference to your bottom line will be receiving offers from your competitors before long

Method for Recruiting Sales People #3: Generate Extra Publicity for Your Organization

The most in-demand employers are typically those that have publicity placing them front and center with experienced job applicants. Publicity goes beyond posting job descriptions and spreading the word about position availability and focuses more on generating awareness of an organization’s activities, mission, and goals. Make sure that your organization is known to the sales candidates you want to attract by:

• Periodically publishing press releases and other media to increase awareness about your organization and its activities in your industry
• Attending trade shows, conferences, and other high visibility events where you can network with potential future employees
• Using sales recruiting agencies to help push publicity about your open positions or interest in future candidates

When you are searching for the best method for recruiting sales people, remember that most hiring strategies are not mutually exclusive and can be deployed in tandem to provide even better results. Most sales recruiting agencies are already using the three methods above in addition to other proven recruiting strategies to fulfill the hiring needs of businesses in sales driven industries. Add an experienced sales recruiter to your strategies for recruiting sales people to find expert advice and a firm direction for your recruiting methods.