8 years ago
April 18, 2016

A Guide to Effective Sales Recruitment

When it comes to effective sales recruitment, don’t wait until you have an open position to fill.

Rhys Metler

Effective sales recruitment begins before you ever need a new sales rep. If you wait to begin recruiting until you have an opening in your sales team, you’ll be rushed, anxious, and behind schedule. Avoid this scenario by following this guide to effective sales recruitment.

1. Create Online Recruiting Information

You should have a website to advertise to potential customers, but do you also have web content advertising to future employees? People do the bulk of their job research online, so make sure you have adequate recruiting content available in several places:

  • On your company website
  • On your blog
  • On your social media

Include information about the culture of your sales division, testimonials from your current reps, and the potential for employee growth within your company.

2. Offer Bonuses for Successful Referrals

Your current sales reps are some of your most valuable sales recruitment tools. They know all about working for your company, and they have contacts that you don’t have. Often, these contacts are just the kind of people you’re looking for.

To encourage your sales reps to refer their contacts to you, offer a bonus for every referral that ends up working at your company. This will help keep sales recruitment at the forefront of everyone’s mind so you have a steady stream of new hires when you need them.

3. Be On the Lookout

Even when you’re not actively seeking sales reps for your company, keep your eyes and ears alert for people who would be assets to your organization. One way to do this is to join LinkedIn groups where you can learn about sales people in your area and industry. When you find people who impress you with their skills and knowledge, work on developing a professional relationship with them. Then, when the time is right for sales recruitment, you have candidates to turn to.

Another way to always be on the lookout for potential sales reps for your company is to attend industry seminars and conferences and spend time networking while you’re there. Again, your sales recruitment is most effective when you are thinking about hiring even when you’re not actually in the middle of hiring. If you wait until a current sales rep leaves you, you’ll find yourself in crisis mode and you may make a poor decision.

4. Work With a Staffing Agency

In addition to creating online sales recruitment information, offering bonuses for successful referrals and being on the lookout for potential employees, you can also partner with a staffing agency to help with your sales recruitment efforts.

Staffing agencies screen and interview many different people, and if you have developed a good working relationship with your staffing agency, they’ll know what kind of sales people are most successful at your company. When someone comes into the staffing agency that would be a good fit for your organization, the staffing agency can send him your way. In this way, a staffing agency can significantly extend your reach when it comes to sales recruitment.

When it comes to sales recruitment, don’t wait until you have an open position to fill. Stay actively involved in recruiting so that when the time comes, you’re well prepared to select a sales rep that will fit in with the culture of your company, be an asset to your sales team, and take your organization to greater heights.

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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