Marketing Career Description

Salespeople who are experienced at delivering sales goals are always in high demand. Therefore, companies need to master the art of hiring competent salespeople as it provides their company with a greater opportunity for success.

With the use of sales recruiters often a last resort, here are some tips for you on hiring salespeople who will make a difference for your company.

1. How to source sales talent

Referrals can work – Referred salespeople can be good as long as you check them thoroughly and not just rely on someone’s word. Sales managers or sales directors will probably know a lot of candidates who they worked with previously. It is about sifting through who would be suitable for their new company and role. Sales team members can also be productive in finding candidates through their field activities.

Advertise on niche sales job boards – Although you can find candidates on popular job boards like Indeed and Monster, you could also try job boards that specialise in sales talent. More targeted marketing through job boards like Sales Job Board can assist you in marketing your job vacancies to the right applicants.

Build an Employer-Profile on the job board – Salespeople like to know more about your company before hiring. They can search the web for information, but it may not assist them in learning more about your sales organisation. Employer profiles are a great way of communicating the culture of your sales organisation, its successes and what career opportunities exist.

Use Social Media – Make it known you are looking for a new salesperson. Social media is great for sharing links to your sales job board advertisement and getting the word out there. In addition, people can pass along your information easily to potential candidates to evaluate your position and company.

2. Post clear and attractive job advertisements

Job advertisements are not job descriptions! Job postings provide an overview of the job on offer and are designed to attract people for a conversation. If you post the actual job description, you miss the opportunity to have great discussions with candidates that may be suitable with some training.

Your advertisements are aimed at millennials. These people are put off by being over formal, demanding specific skills and micromanagement. However, they can read between the lines, so you need to ensure the tone of your advertisement appeals to your audience’s profile. If you want to excel in attracting quality sales candidates, make sure you talk about career paths and company culture. What training is provided, and what flexibility there is in the role.

3. Ditch the ATS (applicant tracking system)

ATS systems are designed to respond to keywords, and the candidates that make it through are the ones with the best match of keywords in many cases. The problem is that sales candidates do not necessarily fit in a box for a job. ATS is great for standardised skill sets but not good at finding that elusive edge needed for selling.

It is time-consuming but personally checking applicants will make a difference to the quality of your interview line-up. You can grade your candidates using bespoke questions on the job board, and then it’s about reviewing their quality of resume, covering letters, how they communicate, and other factors.

ATS’s have value once you have your candidates shortlisted, and a good job board like Sales Job Board will have an ATS system within it for you to use.

In Summary:

Attracting candidates is about marketing on dedicated sales job boards and selling your company and the role on offer. In today’s market, candidates hold all the cards and do 90% of the selection process. Do they want to work for your company? This is a complete contrast to previous times where your company had a pick of potential candidates and would be flooded with applications.

Now, you may only receive two or three candidates if your job ad is well written. Just those who will be a great fit for the role. If you follow these steps, you should succeed. Good luck with your search!