Effective sales recruiting is both a science and an art form. There’s a delicate balance to sales recruiting, and unfortunately, many companies fail to do it correctly. But that’s all right! Failure is part of the job and you can learn from your mistakes so you can succeed in your sales recruiting down the road. Here are some common reasons companies fail at sales recruiting so you can avoid them.

No Strategic Approach

You have to think of sales recruiting the same way as every other business task you take on: you need to do it strategically. You need to first sit down, concentrate, and figure out what role you’re actually looking to fill and which ideal sales person you’re looking for. Without defining your job description or suitable sales rep, how are you going to find the one that’s a perfect fit?

You’re bound to be disappointed because you haven’t actually set any goals to accomplish with your sales recruiting process. Decide ahead of time which accounts or territories the new hire will take on, which duties will be assigned to him, and what you want him to accomplish. Only then will a picture form in your mind of the right sales person for the job. Once you’ve described the role, you might realize that there are specific skills you should be looking for.

No Structure

If you’re hiring willy-nilly, you’re success rate is going to fluctuate. You won’t know what actually worked and what failed miserably in your attempts at sales recruiting. When you create a structured approach, you’ve built a reliable way to improve your success rate by being consistent in your process.

Small Circle

If you’re only hiring the same old sales people who are in your industry, you’ll keep getting the same lackluster results. Think about it: these people are still looking for work because no one else in your industry wants to hire them, so why are you taking them on? Sales recruiting from a small circle of candidates likely won’t get you the results you’re looking for. Expand your search to other industries. After all, a sales rep is a sales rep is a sales rep.

Not Social Recruiting

Just like social selling is the way of the future, so is social recruiting. You need to be building relationships online with potential candidates so you always have a pool of qualified applicants once you have a position to fill.

Not Listing the Perks

If you’re posting want ads, you might think you only need to explain the job description and list off some of the duties so you know that only qualified applicants with the right traits and experience will reply to your ads.

However, if you want to actually recruit top talent, you need to sell yourself in your ads. You need to list the awesome perks, bonuses, and compensation that you’re willing to give to the best candidate so sales people will see that you’re way better to work for than your competitors.

Many candidates won’t apply to a job ad if the compensation isn’t listed, so make sure you’ve decided on a number ahead of time so you’re not wasting anyone’s time, especially your own.

Not Using Recruitment Tools

There are a bunch of recruitment tools at your disposal that you should be taking advantage of. Engage an experienced sales recruitment agency if you need the expertise of a specialized firm. Or, use CRM recruitment software to build yourself a network of qualified candidates to choose from when you need them. Use technology and experts to your advantage.

If you’ve committed any of these mistakes while sales recruiting, don’t fret. Just brush it off and start over. Avoid these pitfalls and you’re already on your way to a better sales recruiting experience. Start with a strategic approach, use social selling and recruitment tools, and sell yourself.