Sales positions are the most difficult jobs to fill for any business. Sales people are vital to a company’s bottom line and it takes just the right personality traits and the right moderation and balancing of these traits to make a successful sales person. Of course, this means that sales recruiting can be a difficult task. You might think you have found the perfect sales reps to hire on at your company, but once they start, they turn out to be duds, leave quickly, or just aren’t cut out for the business. Luckily, we have three secrets to make your sales recruiting mission a success.

1. Search Outside the Box

Most successful sales people are not scouring their local newspapers for hiring ads or looking at job banks online for new employment opportunities. If they are that good at what they do, they are already gainfully employed. Chances are that the candidates you are finding on the web, on social media, or in classified ads are currently unemployed for a reason. You will likely only find mediocre applicants, at best, or you might not find anyone who is worthy of your time and effort. This type of sales recruiting will only waste your valuable time and resources.

Instead, find innovative ways to recruit new sales employees-this might mean going after the great reps who already have jobs and convincing them that your company is a better fit for them with a brighter future. Or, it might mean asking others in the industry for referrals or even searching for up-and-coming talent at job fairs.

2 Hiring Is a Two-Way Street

Regardless of which innovative tactic you use for your sales recruiting, you need to be competitive in your hiring salaries, packages, and benefits if you want to attract the best in the business. If your budget can’t afford a high salary for a starting employee, create other incentives, such as bonuses, extra vacation days, or flexible benefits plans.

Finding the right person for the job isn’t solely based on the applicant’s skills, experience, education, and personality traits. It’s also based on you as a boss, and your company as a place of employment. The sales person might be a great candidate, but if your company is not a good fit for his personal and career goals, it inevitably won’t work out in the long run. While interviewing potential new employees, be clear as to your company’s goals and objectives and be straightforward and honest as to what the candidate can expect from the job, incentives, financial compensation, and future growth opportunities at the company. While sales recruiting, you are both interviewing each other, and both final decisions count in the process, not just yours.

3. Sales Recruiting Firms

Because sales recruiting is often seen as a difficult task, many of the top businesses engage sales recruiting firms to do the work for them. These firms have the knowledge, experience, and contacts to find you the right sales representative for your company-whether you own a multinational corporation or a small, family-run business.

Sales recruiting firms create profiles of ideal candidates based on your company’s culture, goals, expectations, and budget, and then scour the industry to find you the right person for the job. They use personality tests and aptitude tests, call up references, and perform thorough interviews for potential recruits. They do the headhunting and heavy lifting for you, so you can trust that you aren’t wasting your time and resources on unqualified prospects.

The Secrets to Successful Sales Recruiting

Sales recruiting can be a tricky undertaking for even the most experienced sales manager or recruiter. However, if you keep these three secrets in mind while you go off on your search for new sales people to represent your company and sell your products or services, you will be sure to catch some winning talent.