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How to recruit and hire sales people
You want these interactions to be positive, which is why it is so vital to have talented individuals in these roles. So how do you ensure you only hire the best?
We’ve created a guide to help! From sourcing to making an offer, you can perfect your recruiting process to capture top sales talent.
Before you begin your search for a sales rep or account manager, have a rough idea of what qualities you are looking for in a candidate. In general, qualities that make a good account manager include…
With this general candidate profile in mind, narrow in on the hiring manager’s specific needs. Notice which of their team members are already successful and determine why. Talk with the hiring manager to identify skill-gaps or ways in which your sales team is lacking. When you post the sales position’s job description on your Careers page, make sure it’s transparent and mentions benefits and advancement opportunities.
Now that you have a clear picture of your perfect candidate and inbound applicants are coming in from your job post, it’s time to focus on outbound. In the sea of individuals with sales experience, how do you make sure only the best surface?
Fetcher can help! Using Fetcher’s AI platform, you’ll find highly qualified, passive candidates. If desired, you can even narrow your search to those account managers already in your industry to curb training costs and ramp time. You’ll also be able to gauge the candidate’s written communication skills and responsiveness (key sales attributes) via Fetcher’s email outreach portal.
With a solid pool of inbound applicants and outbound sourced candidates, it’s time to start reading resumes. Consider the following tips while you review:
Interviewing for sales roles is a critical step in the recruiting process. Sales professionals should be “people persons” and there is no other way to determine this than spending time one on one with prospects. Here’s what to observe while interviewing sales candidates:
The way a candidate approaches their interview is a great indication of how they’ll approach meetings with clients. Notice…
Once your general interviews are over, have your 2 or 3 most qualified candidates sell you on the thing they enjoy most in life. Maybe it’s their favorite tech gadget or a service they couldn’t live without. They should be comfortable and passionate about the subject. Fetcher’s Head of Sales, Gregory Drinkwater, said it best:
“If they can't sell what they enjoy most, they probably can’t sell at all.”
With your sights set on a perfect candidate, it’s time to make an offer. Make sure you hire someone that you want on your team for the long haul! Don’t hire a candidate just because they check all the boxes. If a candidate is coachable and driven to succeed, you may want to look past something like a lower verbal acuity as this is a learnable skill set.
When making an offer, make sure you consider what the best compensation package will be. The compensation package will be a mix of salary and commission. The ratio will vary depending on your sales cycle, team organization, resources, and goals. Consider what your competition is paying and the cost of living in your area. You don’t want to miss out on landing the best candidate because you low-balled them.
Your sales team is the face of your organization and the right account manager can boost revenue, increase retention, and improve customer satisfaction. These aren’t positions just anyone can excel at so recruiting for them should be taken seriously. Since account managers are representing your business’s brand on a daily basis, you want to feel confident that you can trust your new hire.
Implement the advice above into your recruiting process and you’ll be ready to go when hiring salespeople! You know what to look for, how to source, interview, and hire sales all-stars.
Our mission is to help you engage talent that will transform your business aspirations into reality. Great talent is hard to find - that's why we offer a talent sourcing platform that not only gets your brand in front of the right candidates but also gives you a competitive edge in talent acquisition.
Begin building a relationship with your next great hire today, and let Fetcher handle the rest. Get started for free.