Our available assessment data and third party’s research shows that on average 10 to 30% of sales people are really suitable for their job. The more challenging the position gets, the more difficult it is to find the right people. This means a further drop in the percentage that might be out there.
One fact is also that managers sometimes lose patience during the recruitment process and try to get people in as soon as possible. Often without doing a pre-hire assessment or good reference check. This can be a costly venture. The cost of a wrong hire can be steep and can cost you your company’s reputation. In the end we might be talking 5 to 6 digit amounts or more.
Here are some steps to avoid this:
- First take time to prepare the recruitment project
- Setup the right profile you are looking for, including responsibilities and tasks
- Formulate your Value Proposition. You do want to be attractive for the right sales people
- Find and put in place a pre-hire sales assessment which has proven success and is sales specific
- Investigate and choose the right channel on the Internet to post the job
- Scrutinize the applicants, this also includes understanding that there are specialists who can make a CV very sexy
- Investigate interesting applicants on social media
- Setup a long list
- Plan and execute short telephone interviews (10 minutes) with serious candidates
- Propose to take the online pre-hire sales assessment
- Setup a short list of the candidates with good results and invite them for face to face interviews
- Make your choice and don’t forget the on-boarding process
By doing it the right way, you will be able to hire the best sales people!
If this all seems too time consuming, you can consider a professional organization specialized in recruiting Sales Professionals. Contact here.