How We Hire Sales Prospects for Top Performing Companies
As sales recruiters, we’re responsible for bringing in top-performing sales professionals for our clients. This means we’re constantly looking for ways to recruit more prospects and ensure they’re on the right track to becoming successful employees…
With this amount of effort comes a lot of knowledge.
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a new business owner, knowing what type of sales recruiting methods work best can mean the difference between hiring candidates who help you achieve your revenue goals…or not.
That’s why it’s so important to know which types of sales candidates work best for your team, as well as which methods of sourcing and engaging leads will best meet your needs.
In this article, you will learn how to hire the best sales prospect for your company. I will show you the basic steps of the sales recruitment process, and talk about how our sales hiring approach is slightly different from what you may be used to…let’s dive in!
Step 1: Identify What You Want
The first step is to identify what you want your ideal candidate to do once they start working for you.
For example, do you need a Salesperson, Sales Manager, or a VP of Sales…what are your expectations of the person who fills the role?
Are there any specific skills, experiences, or qualities that make them ideal for your position?
The one thing we are not mentioning here is personality.
At this point, the personality of your potential salesperson is not the most important thing…we’ll get there (much later in the process). For now, you’re simply determining which role you need to fill.
Step 2: Find the Ideal Candidate
Now the fun begins! Several steps go into this process, but it breaks down like this (and specifically in this order!):
- Use your job posting to attract the right kind of applicants.
- Assess how well they can sell using a Sales Assessment tool.
- Interview those candidates who do well on the assessment via phone.
- Then (and only then) bring in the best candidates for an in-person meeting where you put them through a mock-sales call style interview.
- Finally, take your top 2-3 candidates and bring them in for a final in-person interview where you can focus on personality, and their ability to fit in with your workplace culture.
At the end of this process, you will have all the information you need to make an educated hiring decision if you follow the guidelines and advice we give you.
It’s vital that you rely on the readily observable and quantifiable data that is present to make the best hiring choice for your business through every stage of the hiring process. Without the data, you are left in the vulnerable place of making a potentially emotionally charged decision.
Step 3: Onboard Appropriately
It’s time to onboard your new sales rep and it’s all hands on deck! From the moment they join your team, it’s your job to ensure they are onboarded appropriately.
One of the best things you can do is to set 30, 60, and 90-day goals for them that come with clear expectations. Have the entire sales team aware of these expectations and goals so in case there is a delay in showing the new hire a task, both they and the other members of the sales team can step in to make sure they learn what needs to be done.
A key (but surprising!) tactic we walk our clients through is getting new hires out prospecting on their very first day! The only way you’ll know if they can sell is by having them sell…
Now, this doesn’t mean you should expect them to make sales. But, they should show you they’re willing to do the work, like getting on the phones, canvassing, or networking.
And if they do end up getting an appointment before they’re fully up to speed on your sales processes, a senior salesperson or sales manager can go with them to help close the deal (and show the new hire exactly what to do on a sales call).
You should always be thinking about the skill sets and experience your new hire brings with them, but remember that they can’t be expected to fully understand every aspect of your company and your products and services.
Their onboarding and training should make sure they become familiar with the following:
- Any CRM tool or software your business uses
- The key people and processes necessary for the smooth operation of your business
- All proprietary information they need to successfully sell for your business
- Your specific sales scripts, processes, and tactics
Within their first 90 days, allow them to learn in an educational and supportive environment. Give them the chance to sell and start building their network. Then watch them succeed…
When you follow the steps, success is practically inevitable.
What Makes Improve Growth Different
As you can see, we do things a bit differently, but we know (and our clients prove) that it gets results!
Our process works, and if you try to tweak it, you will compromise the value of the hiring structure we have created using our decade of experience…
We’ll help you hire the right candidate, but you still have to onboard, train, and manage them appropriately.
Part of our process is determining if your company is set up for a new salesperson to succeed…
Do you have the infrastructure for a strong salesperson to flourish?
Is your sales leadership team helping the new hires thrive?
Are your candidates aware of your expectations so that they can meet or exceed them?
We can find you the best candidate, but if you aren’t set up for them to succeed, they won’t stick around!
Mediocre salespeople are ok working for mediocre companies…but the sales superstars we hire know they can find another job at a better company any day of the week – so you have to bring your A-game when you try to hire them.
That’s why we offer a 90-day guarantee!
We’re so confident the new sales team member we help you hire will be a great fit (if you manage them correctly), that if you discover they aren’t doing the job we hired them for within the first 90 days, we’ll find you another new-hire at no additional cost.
It’s our way of offering you peace of mind…hiring a new sales team member is a big deal, and we appreciate you trusting us to support you during that process. We take our responsibility to you and our process very seriously…which is one of the reasons we get such great results for our clients.
If you’d like more information on how our data-driven hiring approach could work for you and your business, contact us here for a FREE 30-minute analysis of your current hiring needs.
We’ll break down where you are, and where you want to be, and how we can get you there as we show you how to make your sales revenue dreams a reality.